Wednesday   

We will slow-read eight speeches and additional selections from Lincoln on Democracy, edited by Mario M. Cuomo. We will follow Lincoln’s development as a politician, how he responded to the threat of the spread of slavery in the 1850s, and his delicate balancing act between constitutional rule of law and emancipation during the Civil War. As we confront autocratic challenges from Russia, China, and others, we are well served revisiting how Lincoln articulated his struggle to preserve and strengthen American democracy.

This class will discuss favorite science fiction authors, their books, and the human, political, and scientific issues they raise. The books and authors will be chosen by Sydney from suggestions by participants. This is a fun, free-flowing gathering of science fiction enthusiasts. Please join us and bring your ideas, insights, and suspension of disbelief.

Chico State's tradition of academic excellence goes back more than 130 years. With over 900 faculty members and 14,200 students, the University's teaching and learning community is thriving. Discover the imagination, cutting-edge research, and expertise that flourishes in our own backyard!

Chico State's tradition of academic excellence goes back more than 130 years. With over 900 faculty members and 14,200 students, the University's teaching and learning community is thriving. Discover the imagination, cutting-edge research, and expertise that flourishes in our own backyard!

Formerly "French for Travelers," this course is for those who want to focus on pronunciation, politesse, and practicalities – the vocabulary and idioms helpful as an introduction to French and for travelers in French-speaking countries. The class is conducted mainly in English, with the aim of explaining how to say and understand basic French expressions. Note: flirting WITH French, not flirting IN French!

The Writer's Workshop serves a community of writers interested in sharing their writing and responding to other writers' work. We will focus on fiction, memoir, creative non-fiction, poetry, travel writing, stories for children, and other types of writing. Following a workshop format, this class will be an opportunity for students to receive feedback for their written work and provide meaningful support to fellow writers.

OLLI students will have an opportunity to look at the prints in the Janet Turner collection at Chico State and write about them. This class is for beginning writers as well as experienced ones. Jean Varda and Joan Goodreau, authors and OLLI members, will guide students through the art-to-writing process. There will also be a print exhibition at the Turner gallery in the fall that we will be using to inspire our poems and short fiction/non-fiction.

The Arts of Islam introduces the architecture and arts of the western Islamic world dating from the seventh through the seventeenth centuries. We will review Islamic monuments on the Arabian Peninsula, throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Turkey, and Iran. Particularly, we will look at the art of the book, paintings, ceramics, and metalworks.