Wednesday   

In this 8-week course, we will continue to explore the wonderful medium of watercolor painting! Through warm-up exercises designed to refine your value studies, we will focus on composition planning before you start painting. This will help ensure you start with a successful design...and painting! Each class, we will work with a photograph that needs some compositional editing. By practicing thumbnail sketching and quick small value studies, we will pre-plan for larger and more successful colorful paintings. This course assumes that you have had some watercolor painting and drawing practice. You are encouraged to paint from your own reference photographs or set up a still life in front of you from which to paint. This course is taught entirely online through the Zoom platform. 

Economics plays a central role in the functioning of every aspect of society. This course addresses a set of prominent policy issues where economics is at their core. We will explore their origins as policy matters, the underlying data and evidence, and what policy levers are available to deal with them. Lectures will be standalone, taught by a subject matter expert – all of whom have a Ph.D. in Economics. Potential topics include Climate Change, Healthcare Economics, Social Security, and many more. The topics presented will be determined by what is most topical at the time of the course.  No reading is required prior to the lectures. 

The Black Plague, also known as the Bubonic Plague or Black Death, brought an apocalyptic sickness to Europe, never experienced, that those who lived it believed death itself had touched down on Earth. For our course, we will be diving into what it took to survive and what life was like for the survivors. Touching upon themes of medicine and politics, deciding whether surviving was based on random pure luck or something more. We will also be discussing the community and mental consequences, how were the survivors able to move forward and rebuild. 

Join the ultimate dance-fitness party that beats a boring exercise workout any day!  Zumba (r) Gold is part of the popular Zumba (r) dance-based fitness program, and is specifically designed for active older adults.  The class includes the same wide variety of Latin and Other International rhythms, but without any high-impact moves.  It's not a dance class, though, so there are no right or wrong moves.  Stand.. sit in a chair... alternate between the two.  Just let the music move you! Wear workout clothes and sneakers, and be sure to hydrate. 

Everyone has a story, and journaling can be a powerful way to make sense of your thoughts and experiences. We will explore different approaches, from structured prompts to more open-ended reflection. You don’t need to be a “good writer” or have a current journaling practice. Each session will include time to write and optional opportunities to share. This course is ideal for anyone looking to better understand themselves or someone who is curious about what journaling is all about! 

Rediscover Shakespeare as we take a deep dive into Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night. For each play, outside of class, participants will be expected to read the play and view a selected film version. The texts we will use are the Folger Shakespeare Library editions (under $10 apiece and/or available for free download from the Folger Shakespeare Library). However, any editions of the plays are acceptable. Both required films are available for rent, but they may be viewed for free on Zoom (courtesy of the OLLI office). In class we will discuss the plays in the contexts of Shakespeare’s life and times as well as the historical periods of the plays, with reference to major critical research. Our goal is a rich appreciation of Shakespeare’s work. 

Amidst enormous social upheaval after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Isabel Wilkerson published her book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. In it, Wilkerson drew connections between racism in America and the caste system of India (as well as the ideology of Nazi Germany). Is the caste system the same as racial discrimination? Is there a caste system in the U.S.? What can the experiences of millions of marginalized caste people in India and the U.S. teach us about inequality, identity, and justice? In this course we will discuss these questions guided both by Wilkerson’s book as well as the experiences of instructor Mahesh Admankar, a member both of an oppressed caste in India as well as a person of color in the United States. Course Note: This class was taught in Fall 2025 and has been updated with new material and content. Purchasing and reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is not required for this course. Readings will be provided by the instructor.