-Osher Online   

Most conversations about aging focus on lifespan, but brainspan (how long our mind stays sharp) matters more. In this course, we will explore how the brain ages and what science reveals about protecting memory, balance, and clarity. Topics include normal changes versus early dementia, neuroplasticity, nutrition, sleep, stress, social ties, and purpose. Each session blends accessible science with self-tests and take-home practices. We will also build a personalized Cognitive Health Scorecard to track habits and strengthen resilience.

Scott Fulton, an internationally recognized leader in positive aging, teaches Lifestyle Medicine and Aging and serves on the True Health Initiative Council. Author of WHEALTHSPAN, he created the MEDAC system for optimal aging. A former National Aging in Place Council president, Fulton is also a multiple Ironman triathlete and innovator in aging design.

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Art in the streets (including graffiti, murals, stickers, and paste-ups) gives voice to marginalized communities, shapes urban environments, and challenges institutional norms. This course explores graffiti and street art in the U.S. and around the world, examining their histories, motivations, and social impact. Participants will consider the rise of global mural movements, efforts to preserve and present street art, and its evolving role in activism, community identity, and social change.

Heather Shirey, PhD, is Professor of Art History at the University of St. Thomas. Her research examines race, identity, migration, and the role of monuments and street art in shaping public space. She co-created the George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art Database, exploring street art as activism, healing, and critical engagement

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California is more than a state—it is an idea, a dream, and a contradiction. In this course, we will journey from its earliest Indigenous cultures through Spanish, Mexican, and American rule, exploring missions, the Gold Rush, the railroad, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley. We will challenge myths, highlight overlooked voices, and examine how migration, innovation, and cultural change shaped the Golden State. We will discover what it has meant, and still means, to be Californian.

Anthony Antonucci, PhD, is a historian specializing in U.S. history since 1750, focusing on foreign relations, nationalism, race, and immigration. A Fulbright fellow, he has held research appointments at major historical institutions and teaches U.S., world, and California history, as well as ethnic and gender studies, at Southern California colleges.

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Comics (blending words and pictures to tell stories) stretch from cave paintings and the Bayeux Tapestry to today’s Batman and Spider-Man. Far more than superhero tales, comics are a versatile literary artform, capturing intimate and epic stories, social issues, and cultural moments through panels and word balloons. In this course, we will trace their history, explore their power, and read and discuss works including Understanding Comics, Watchmen, Maus, Fun Home, and Persepolis.

Arnold Blumberg, PhD, is a publisher, author, artist, and pop culture historian. He’s taught courses in media literacy and other cultural topics at several Baltimore area colleges. Blumberg spent 15 years in the comic book industry, curated a pop culture museum, and runs his own publishing company, ATB Publishing.

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Frank Lloyd Wright designed nearly 1,000 buildings and helped define modern architecture. This course explores highlights of his practice, from Prairie houses to Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum, alongside lesser-known projects like affordable housing and city planning. We’ll examine how Wright’s work reflected cultural shifts in technology, science, and politics, offering a deeper understanding of his lasting influence on architecture and modern design.

Jennifer Gray, PhD, is vice president of the Taliesin Institute at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. She researches how modern architects used design for social change and has curated major exhibitions, including Frank Lloyd Wright at 150 at MoMA. Gray has taught at Columbia, Cornell, and MoMA and served as Curator at Avery Library.

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The death of Pope Francis and the election of the first US born Pope have been in the news repeatedly in the last few months, capturing the imagination of many people, including non-Catholics. Who are these men? What are their life stories? How were they similar to and different from each other? In this course, we will discuss the lives and dominant perspectives of the last ten Popes, exploring their most significant positions and their influence on world affairs.

Oliva Espín, PhD, Professor Emerita at San Diego State University, pioneered feminist therapy for women from diverse cultures. She completed postdoctoral work at Harvard and authored Women, Sainthood, and Power and My Native Land is Memory (2021 San Diego Book Award). She received APA’s Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology Award.

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Have you ever wondered who writes presidential speeches? This course traces the evolution of speechwriting from George Washington’s administration to today. Yes, Hamilton helped draft Washington’s Farewell Address, but no, Lincoln did not scribble the Gettysburg Address on an envelope. We will study the writing process presidents used and examine drafts from FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter, and George H.W. Bush. We will view clips from speeches and from former White House speechwriters describing the process.

Diana Carlin, PhD, Professor Emerita of Communication at Saint Louis University, has spent 30 years teaching and writing about First Ladies. She co-authored U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies and Remember the First Ladies, and publishes widely on women in politics, presidential communication, and political debate.

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Science is full of surprises. Dyes, accidentally discovered, launched the modern pharmaceutical industry. A failed experiment opened the door to new physics. Discoveries are never just facts. They are moments of creativity, struggle, and chance with far- reaching consequences. In this course, we will explore the human side of science, tracing breakthroughs in biology, chemistry, physics, and more. We will ask not only what was found, but how and why it matters.

Dr. Johnnie Hendrickson is a Teaching Professor in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University; he holds a PhD in chemistry and is the author of the textbook “Chemistry in the World.” His academic work focuses on science communication, the reciprocal relationship between science and society.

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Throughout his 1000-day presidency, John Kennedy pursued peace through a broad spectrum of initiatives. He saw a connection between learning and leadership and sought to use military deterrence, diplomacy, and soft power in novel ways. In this course, we will explore how his character and life experiences were the origins of those efforts. We will evaluate his powers of persuasion by listening to key speeches, and we will assess his successes and failures and their relevance to today’s world.

Charles Blum served as a U.S. diplomat and trade policy official for 17 years before founding a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and Central Europe. He has developed over 40 courses on global politics, war, peace, and international cooperation, and holds degrees in history and international relations from Eastern University and the University of Pennsylvania.

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Music has always sparked controversy— through bold originality or scandal. Classical composers like Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Smetana shocked audiences, while Broadway and Hollywood works such as Annie Get Your Gun and South Pacific face modern scrutiny over race, gender,and consent. This course asks whether political correctness enriches art or erases cultural heritage and if works with outdated views should be altered or preserved. We’ll also examine plagiarism and musical borrowing in pop and film music, including disputes involving The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Peter Frampton. With audiovisual examples and anecdotes, this lively course explores music’s most provocative debates.

Emanuel Abramovits, MBA, is a mechanical engineer and veteran concert promoter. He has worked with world-class artists like Itzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, and Sarah Brightman, producing awardwinning orchestral events and premieres. Former cultural director at Union Israelita De Caracas, he now teaches and lectures widely across the U.S.

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How much of who we are is shaped by the places we live and experience? This course invites reflection on the psychological and emotional relationships between people and their environments. Drawing on psychology, geography, architecture, and design, we will explore environmental psychology and how physical environments shape behavior, cognition, identity, and memory. Using place-based methods, we will discuss concepts such as place attachment, identity, and cognitive maps. We will reflect on memory, home, trauma, displacement, and nature’s role in well-being.

Fernanda Blanco Vidal, a PhD candidate in Environmental Psychology at CUNY, researches how environments shape identity and memory. She holds degrees in Psychology and Sociology, published on displacement and nostalgia, and explores place-based methodologies. Her dissertation examines shifts in sense of place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Siberia covers three quarters of Russia’s territory but is home to only a quarter of its population. Yet its role in shaping Russia as a vast and wealthy empire is profound. In this course, we will explore Siberia’s economic significance, indigenous cultures, and history as a penal colony, along with its importance for climate change, environmental issues, and RussianChinese relations. We will also consider Siberia’s role in both the rise and possible fragmentation of Russia.

Asya Pereltsvaig holds degrees in English and History from Hebrew University and a PhD in Linguistics from McGill. She taught at Yale and Stanford and specializes in language and history. Author of Languages of the World (2023), she has led OLLI programs nationwide and hosted the Baltic trip in 2017.

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This course will examine the cultural transformations in thinking and living that reshaped America and Western Europe between World War I and the Great Depression. Known as the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, and the Lost Generation, this period redefined values and norms. We will explore the vibrant world of 1920s Paris through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited and Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, and Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, considering the lasting legacy of the era.

Ferdâ Asya, PhD, Professor of English and author, has taught at universities worldwide and lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Specializing in 19th–20th century American literature with a focus on Edith Wharton, her interests include international literature and American expatriate writing in Europe.

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In July 1925, Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, and others converged on Dayton, Tennessee, for the Scopes Monkey Trial—an eight-day clash over religion, science, public education, free speech, and textbooks broadcast nationwide. One hundred years later, these debates continue. This course explores why the trial happened in Dayton, how Bryan and Darrow became involved, what occurred in the courtroom, whether Inherit the Wind reflects reality, who won and lost, and why it still matters today.

Doug Mishkin, a seasoned trial lawyer, collaborated with Americans United for Separation of Church and State to promote dialogue in Dayton, Tennessee, home of the Scopes Trial. He has interviewed leading experts, including Pulitzer Prize winner Edward J. Larson, civil rights attorney Fred Gray, and constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen, on law and history

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Why do so many great violinists also become composers? This course will explore the fascinating legacy of violinist-composers, including Baroque virtuosos like Heinrich Biber, Romantic legends like Niccolò Paganini, and 20th century innovators like George Enescu and Grazyna Bacewicz. Through listening and discussing, we will examine how these artists wrote music tailored to their instruments and themselves. Taught by a professional violinist, this course offers a behindthe-strings look at how performance and composition intertwine.

Ilana Zaks, First Violin with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera, trained at the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music under Donald Weilerstein and Ani Kavafian. She worked with Itzhak Perlman for nearly a decade and now teaches at Boston University Tanglewood Institute, connecting audiences through music and storytelling.

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The personal essay, one of the oldest forms of creative nonfiction, blends storytelling, reflection, and analysis to give voice to lived experience. In this course, we will explore the personal essay as both art and self-expression. Through readings, discussion, and writing exercises, we will study elements such as narrative arc, scenesetting, and reflection. We will draft our own essays, discovering how this enduring form helps us find our voices and tell our stories with clarity

Lisa Stolley, professor of English at UIC and Northwestern, is an award-winning fiction and nonfiction author. Her stories have appeared in leading journals, earning honors like the Illinois Arts Council Award and a Pushcart Prize nomination. She also teaches scientific writing and works as a legal writer for immigration attorneys.

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