History and Current Events   

This course will explore the history of the Boston Public Schools system, from its inception in 1642 through the tumultuous busing crisis of the 1960s and 70s and to the district’s present-day realities of charter school competition, Exam School politics, and school mergers. As the first public school system in the nation, BPS holds a unique position within our city and country’s history – this course will allow participants to consider how BPS has changed over time and to explore what lessons the district’s history holds that can help to shape the future of public education in Boston and beyond. 

The United States has always interacted with foreign nations but only in the late 19th Century did it go abroad and begin to compete directly with other great powers and intervene violently in other nations. Since that time, the U.S. has been involved in many wars and smaller conflicts too numerous to enumerate. Are many Americans really aware of key realities of these numerous conflicts? What does the history of American foreign policy over the last century or so have to teach us about ourselves and our interactions with other peoples? Is it true that the United States has gone to war only reluctantly in opposition to the threats and aggressions of other states and individuals?  Has Washington always fostered and promoted democracies and avoided conflict at all costs? Can we identify the underlying motivations and aims for specific policies carried out at different times? How may a critical examination of key episodes in the nation’s foreign affairs from the late 19th Century to the present help us grasp the dangers of the modern era? This course will examine: the Annexation of Hawaii, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War.  

The course will look at the past, present, and future of unions and the world of work. In the late 19th century, unions established a presence in our political and economic life, facing constant violence and opposition. Workers organized on an unprecedented scale in the 1930s, leading to a long period of prosperity and labor peace in the post WWII era. Millions of Americans entered the middle class and established organized labor as a vehicle for social mobility. In the late 1970s and 1980s the business community, supported by an emerging right-wing political opposition, launched an assault on union influence and drove an agenda that diminished the percentage of American workers in unions from 35% to 10%. Globalization and the fissuring of the economy contributed to labor's decline as well. There are signs of creative forms of organizing in the changing workforce – among low- waged workers, women and workers of color, and workers in the new "innovation economy.” The last two sessions will focus on the increasingly precarious conditions at work, the gig economy, some of the new forms of organizing, and whether organized labor can challenge fundamental issues of income inequality and global corporate power. This course was previously offered in Fall 2025. 

This course offers a comparative exploration of mayoral elections in three distinct urban and political contexts: Boston, New York City, and Hyderabad. By examining how campaigns are crafted, how candidates position themselves, and which strategies lead to electoral success, the course highlights both the similarities and the unique political cultures shaping each city. The course pays particular attention to how minority communities—across race, caste, religion, class, gender, and migration histories—experience electoral politics differently. OLLI students will learn how political messaging is tailored to specific identities and how these identities shape political belonging and exclusion. Participants will critically reflect on how urban democracy operates in practice, how representation is negotiated, and how questions of power and access unfold in everyday governance. The course ultimately encourages learners to engage in broader debates on citizenship, political participation, and the prospects for inclusive democratic futures across global cities. 

Join us for a tour of Boston’s colorful religious history. What basic beliefs did the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims share? Did Cardinal Cushing support Billy Graham’s Boston Crusades? How did Malcolm X’s pilgrimage to Mecca lay the groundwork for the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center? What does the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge symbolize? You’ll learn answers to these questions and many more. Boston is home to the spiritual and the skeptical alike; if you’re interested in local history, this course is for you. 

This course aims to unveil the dark, draconic dealings of the early Cold War with a particular focus on the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in shaping American interventionist policies worldwide. The topics covered will range from: U.S assistance of former Nazi personnel for their own gain, regime changes in countries such as The Philippines, Guatemala, & Iran, the earliest US involvement in Southeast Asia, obsession with Cuban regime change, and the domestic sociopolitical dynamics that made such foreign policy possible. Fundamentally the goal is to uncover and come to terms with the dark origins of American hegemony.