Skip Navigation or Skip to Content
University of Minnesota Logo
View Course Catalog

Welcome to OLLI at the University of Minnesota > History/Social Sciences

History/Social Sciences   

If you do not see the “add to cart” button, you need to create an account (new members) and add a membership to your cart, or log In (returning members).

  • 31109 Everyday Life in Cold War Berlin: The Fall of the Wall           
  • Dates: 6/26/2025 - 6/26/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    Day of Week: Th
    Sessions: 1
    Building: Online
    Address:  , MN
    Room: Zoom
    Instructor: Briana Smith
    Fee: $0.00
    Seats stil available: 324
    In-Person
     
 

  • 31110 Self-Care for Introverts: Getting What You Need in Our Extroverted Culture            
  • Dates: 6/24/2025 - 6/24/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    Day of Week: Tu
    Sessions: 1
    Building: Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Minneapolis
    Address: 4100 Lyndale Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55409
    Room: The Commons
    Instructor: Peter Vogt
    Fee: $0.00
    Seats stil available: 3
    In-Person
     
 

  • 31111 The History of Great Lakes Cruises           
  • Dates: 6/18/2025 - 6/18/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    Day of Week: W
    Sessions: 1
    Building: Online
    Address:  , MN
    Room: Zoom
    Instructor: Ric Mixter
    Fee: $0.00
    Seats stil available: 389
    Online
     
 

  • 50118 Dakota History Bus Tour
  • Dates: 6/20/2025 - 6/20/2025
    Times: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
    Day of Week: F
    Sessions: 1
    Building: Various Locations
    Room: Field based - Multiple locations
    Instructor: Steve Benson
    Fee: $60.00
    In-Person
    This all-day bus tour of southwest Minnesota features stops at historic sites connected to the 1862 Dakota War. The first stop will be the 1861 Traverse de Sioux treaty site in St. Peter. We will then stop for lunch at the renowned Kaiserhoff Restaurant in New Ulm. Finally, we will travel along the Minnesota River to the Lower Sioux Agency near Morton, where in the hot dry summer of 1862 the starving Dakota were denied their promised food allotments and the war was ignited. Visit the museum of Dakota Life, walk trails through prairie grass & summer flowers, and participate in a discussion of the past and contemporary life of the Dakota community. Park free all day at Bethlehem Lutheran church, 4100 Lyndale Ave S Mpls. Bus leaves Bethlehem at 9 am sharp and will return around 5:30pm. No refund if dropped <7 days before trip. 

     

    Course Full and Waitlist Closed.

 

  • 31103 Genocides, Mass Atrocities, and Environmental Destruction: From the Holocaust to Syria and Ukraine
  • Fee: $0.00
    Item Number: SS31103-01
    Dates: 6/9/2025 - 6/23/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    Days: M
    Sessions: 3
    Building: Online
    Room: Zoom
    Instructor: Ellen Kennedy

    Mass atrocities devastate societies with lost lives and ecocide, wanton environmental destruction. We look at three ecological crises: the Holocaust and wars in Syria and Ukraine. The "environmental Holocaust" includes deforestation, resource pillaging, and pollution of air, water, and soil. Syria's long-civil war has irrevocably damaged the country's natural world. Ukraine’s ecocide includes Russia’s bombing of the Kakhovka dam. Floodwaters wiped out villages and farms, spreading toxins in one of Europe’s biggest ecological disasters in decades. The course concludes with global and local punishment and sanctions for ecocide.

    REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.

 

  • 31104 Books for Those Too Busy to Read
  • Fee: $0.00
    Item Number: SS31104-01
    Dates: 6/3/2025 - 6/24/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
    Days: Tu
    Sessions: 5
    Building: Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Minneapolis
    Room: Harrisville Room
    Instructor: Jim Martin

    June 3rd: Merrily Mazza discusses Hammer and Hoe by Robin D.G. Kelley, which examines labor, racial, and social unrest in Alabama during the Great Depression.

    June 10th: Morning Session, John Fredell discusses Julian Baggini's How to Think Like a Philosopher: Essential Principles for Clear Thinking.

    June 10th: Afternoon Session, 12:30-2:00 pm, James Martin, Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro. 

    June 17th: no class

    June 24th: Sherrie Marcy takes on Brian Klaas' Fluke: Chance, Chaos and Everything We Do Matters—a deep dive into the phenomenon of random chance and the chaos it can sow.

    June 24th: Afternoon Session, 12:30-2:00, Steve Birch will discuss Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

    REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.

 

  • 31108 Great Decisions
  • Fee: $0.00
    Item Number: SS31108-01
    Dates: 6/6/2025 - 6/20/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    Days: F
    Sessions: 2
    Building: Online
    Room: Zoom
    Instructor: Kay Jacobson, Kate Schaefers

    Join us as we partner again with the Ramsey County Library, Global Minnesota, and the Foreign Policy Association for our annual Great Decisions series on the most critical international issues facing America. Study the issues and join the discussions led by expert speakers. Ten copies of the Briefing Book for this series are available for checkout through the generosity of Global Minnesota.

    June 6: AI and American National Security: What are the key AI policy debates and what are the opportunities and limits on global AI rules of the road? How will the AI revolution impact American national security? How can the US secure the benefits of AI and guard against its dangers?

    Christi Siver is a Professor of Political Science at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. She holds a BA from Lewis and Clark College, a MA in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a PhD in political science from the University of Washington.

    June 20: U.S.-China Relations: What is driving the deterioration of Sino-American relations, and what are America’s strategic options in the face of Chinese power and ambition?

    Rick Olson is a retired professional with a variety of educational and life experiences. He has worked as an economist, an attorney, a certified financial planner, an agricultural loan officer, an agricultural cooperative president, a State Representative in Michigan and a public-school business manager.

    REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.

 

  • 31112 Minnesota Life and Culture in the 20th Century: Learning and Researching at the Minnesota Historical Society Library
  • Fee: $0.00
    Item Number: SS31112-01
    Dates: 6/4/2025 - 6/25/2025
    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    Days: W
    Sessions: 4
    Building: Minnesota History Center
    Room: Gale Family Library
    Instructor: Kerri Teske

    Join the MNHS Library Staff in exploring the diverse resources available in the Minnesota Historical Society's collections. This course uses Minnesota History in the 20th century as a focus. Participants will learn how to navigate search systems, original source materials, and microfilm, and they will select a topic for their own guided hands on research. Parking at the History Center is $6 per day; free street parking available nearby. No fee for library entry.

    REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.

 

Some Title



Your Cart

×