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There are over 200 species of owls in our world and they have amazing abilities and fascinating lore. We’ll visit with some of North America’s species to learn their anatomy, characteristics, and importance in the natural world. And we’ll delve into some of the legends and lore associated with owls. It’s an “OwLLI” course, for sure!

This course covers our night sky, the constellations, our solar system, and aspects of the universe that puzzle and delight humans. The content also includes a look at some of the more “weird, wild and wonderful” of astronomy’s facts, and the role amateur astronomers play in increasing our knowledge of the heavens. Topics also include meteors, and the quest for finding other life in our universe.

June 6 – Shelley Blanton-Stroud – Copy Boy, Tom Boy, Poster Girl, An Unlikely Prospect

 

 

This course will expose the scandal of a massive mountain of discarded clothing in Chile that is visible from space as well as the way our clothing discards are undermining the local clothing industry in Ghana West Africa. From production to disposal, the fashion industry has three major negative impacts on the world's water supply: high usage, high levels of chemical pollution, and high microfiber pollution.

Drawing from a variety of time-tested disciplines, this class offers effective, results-producing movements designed specifically for the OLLI student at whatever your level is. These exercises will add strength and elasticity to your muscles and frame while protecting and strengthening your back. You will also work your heart in a very gentle way and achieve freedom in movement and less pain. Best of all, we're doing all this to the music we know and love: '50s, '60s and '70s. It is not too late to rejuvenate your body! Wear comfortable clothing.

In 1851, San Francisco mayor Charles Brenham referred to his numerous French constituents as "one of the two great elements (with Americans) that compose the population of California." This strong French presence so early in the history of our State, remains one of the little-known facets of that world-wide epic.

In her first session, Claudine will explore, with pictures and original texts, what triggered the rush of Frenchmen to California starting in September 1849. How they escaped from endless riots and the collapse of social order in their embattled nation, only to land, after a six-month voyage around Cape Horn, in a city that had no law, no infrastructure, no sanitation, no raison d'être except for gold. They survived, prevailed, and with their special talents and skills, they helped shape the city so often called "Paris of the Pacific."

In her second session, Claudine will show how prevalent these pioneers were in the goldfields as well so that "French" is the most common name of nationality in the toponymy of the Gold Country. She will follow the success stories of three lucky Frenchmen who found a fortune on the banks of the Yuba and Bear rivers, will touch on Baptiste Charbonneau’s life story, and provide a few examples of valuable early reports on our gold towns by French visitors.

Climate change is nothing new. A few thousand years ago, much of North America was covered in ice and glaciers. They are still retreating, the climate is warming once again, and the land is still rising now that it is relieved of some of the weight of the ice. This lecture explains how glaciers formed then and now, how they scar the ground beneath them, and how important they are to the water cycle.

Growing up in the American West is an adventure steeped in mythology, the gilded lore of cowboys and Indians, the rugged individualist, tall in the saddle, taming the wilderness, prying a living from the land. That's the legacy. The West was always just west of wherever we were at the time. Kentucky was way west when Daniel Boone carved the Wilderness Road out of the Cumberland Gap. In that sense, we all are a product of the Mythologies of the Modern West. This is a study of conflict between that romantic notion and the practical outcomes of "settling" the region, of trying to come to terms with the iconic images that inspire us and the disquieting realizations that come our way. This class looks at both the legendary and the practical worlds of the Modern West, the real people and their fictional counterparts, the cowboys and Indians ordinary and extraordinary both met along the way, living with the Blackfeet people, and buying movie star Gary Cooper's home. It's the story of a city boy finding his way in the contemporary West that is presented via lecture and multi-media with discussion.

It is the hidden force accelerating climate change, Methane accounts for around 1% of total greenhouse gases but around 21% of global greenhouse emissions. Even though much less methane is emitted than carbon dioxide, methane is 84+ times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years of its emissions. We'll examine ways that methane pollution is being reduced from cows and new and old wells.

This class examines music, media, and culture at a time of profound social upheaval. The intersection where they met in post-War America was pivotal, the effect they had on each other was unprecedented and altered them in ways that still impact society today. At its core is a classic struggle between art and commerce, innovation and orthodoxy, freedom and control. And it's only rock 'n' roll. With a mix of lecture, audio-visual, music, and discussion, we study why it's a story worth remembering and retelling through our personal narrative of the time.

Did you know? The e-waste output in one year weighed the equivalent of 350 cruise ships? Or if you piled a year of America's e-waste on an interstate highway it would be a pile that was 77 miles long. Yes, there are efforts to recycle old cell phones and TVs, but these efforts are falling far short of solving the problem. This is why e-ways is our biggest recycling challenge.

We will be transported back to 1898 to the Yukon wilderness to experience the history of this famous gold rush through the words of Jack London and Robert Service. The first class will focus on the history of the Klondike along with Service’s poetry and the second on London’s short stories of life in the cold Arctic. All readings will be provided. Liz and Terry McAteer are the teachers of this annual “classic” readings program.

We'll describe the cosmopolitan musical textures that defined the best works of an unforgettable period, when gifted young songwriters huddled in midtown Manhattan, creating enduring entries in the Great American Songbook. Stories, anecdotes and audiovisuals will illustrate this golden era of the 50s and 60s that integrated audiences, eclectic multicultural sounds and brought social consciousness to pop music, with protagonists like Neil Sedaka, Carole King, Neil Diamond, Phil Spector, Don Kirshner, Burt Bacharach and many more!

Electric vehicles will save owners big bucks because they don't burn fossil fuel. In addition, EV owners spend half as much on maintenance and repairs. But people worry how long that big battery will last and whether they'll be able to find a place to charge their car when they are on a trip. In this class we'll learn helpful tips from owners dealing with the unique challenges that come with EV ownership.

Forever chemicals are in the water supply and the air we breathe. We'll learn how PFAS came to be developed in the 1940s and found their way into a broad range of consumer products and what is being done to protect our health from this silent threat.

Smedley Butler (USMC) was one of the most decorated warfighters of his time, participating in nearly every U.S. conflict from 1898 to WWI. He played a key role in expanding American influence, from annexing the Philippines to leading military actions in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and China. After retiring, Butler became a vocal critic of war and corporate interests, famously stating, "I was a racketeer for capitalism." In 1933, he was even implicated in a plot to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt's administration. This lecture-based course explores Butler's complex legacy through the works of historians Jonathan M. Katz and Jules Archer.

The states in the U.S. least affected by climate change include the New England and Midwest regions. Should Californians concerned about wildfires relocate there? By the end of the century parts of the US will no longer be livable. Curiously, these are the states where many people are moving. Discover what the scientists are learning about the climate factors that most effect our well-being. Perhaps it's best to stay where are in the foothills of Northern California.

For most of the first 150 years of our republic, most presidents were laid to rest at their estates or in a church graveyards near their homes. For the most part their gravesites are relatively simple and unadorned with a few exceptions. With the development of presidential libraries, the graves of some of our recent presidents are presented in monumental splendor.