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OLLI Membership, Class Registration, and Activities

Government & Politics   

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  • Espionage: The Second Oldest Profession

  • The great game of espionage or spying, as a distinct literary genre, fills bookstore and library shelves with fictional accounts of spying that are exciting and filled with danger. The reality is no less fascinating or dangerous. After a brief review of spy fiction, the course will delve into how spies are recruited, the organizations that house them, intelligence gathering; tradecraft or the methods used by intelligence agents to protect national and operational security; and betrayals, accounts of spies who sell their secrets for money, sex or revenge.

     

  • Fee: $14.00

    Capacity Remaining: 6

    Dates: 4/22/2026 - 4/22/2026

    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM

    Sessions: 1

    Days: W

  • Instructor: Penny Mills

    Building: River's Crossing
 

  • I Was a Coward… I Went to War

  • Reading Tim O’Brien’s deeply moving short story “On the Rainy River” as a springboard, this discussion course will offer an interdisciplinary critique of the Vietnam War, the antiwar movement, and Ken Burns’ 2017 PBS documentary. With consummate artistry, O’Brien dramatizes his distress, anguish, and increasing doubts about the morality and necessity of the war, a torment exacerbated by his community’s and family’s very different perspectives on Vietnam, U.S. foreign policy, “patriotism,” and the legitimacy of the domestic opposition. What lessons might that very polarized time be especially relevant in our own deeply-divided era?

     

  • Fee: $32.00

    Capacity Remaining: 20

    Dates: 4/29/2026 - 5/13/2026

    Times: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

    Sessions: 3

    Days: W

  • Instructor: Dan Zins

    Building: River's Crossing
 

  • Inequality: How Bad Is It?

  • Income inequality in America and many other advanced countries has risen sharply since the 1970s. We will look at what several respected economists and other thinkers write about inequality. Why is inequality increasing? Are higher levels of inequality damaging our social fabric, or are they no big deal? Are there effective ways to reduce inequality without placing too much burden on American taxpayers?

     

  • Fee: $23.00

    Capacity Remaining: 30

    Dates: 4/24/2026 - 5/1/2026

    Times: 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

    Sessions: 2

    Days: F

  • Instructor: Dan Everett

    Building: River's Crossing
 

  • Inequality: How Bad Is It?

  • Income inequality in America and many other advanced countries has risen sharply since the 1970s. We will look at what several respected economists and other thinkers write about inequality. Why is inequality increasing? Are higher levels of inequality damaging our social fabric, or are they no big deal? Are there effective ways to reduce inequality without placing too much burden on American taxpayers?

     

  • Fee: $23.00

    Capacity Remaining: 100

    Dates: 4/24/2026 - 5/1/2026

    Times: 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

    Sessions: 2

    Days: F

  • Instructor: Dan Everett

    Building: Online via Zoom
 

  • Partisan Gerrymandering: What is It and What Can we do About It?

  • Americans are frustrated with our political process and are losing faith in elections as a way to peacefully transfer power. This course explains why our elections work the way they do and how engaged citizens might change the election process if we want to.

     

  • Fee: $14.00

    Capacity Remaining: 19

    Dates: 4/23/2026 - 4/23/2026

    Times: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

    Sessions: 1

    Days: Th

  • Instructor: Lori Ringhand

    Building: River's Crossing
 

  • The Guys Behind The Guys Discussing The Silicon Valley Tech Money Behind Our Government

  • 2026 is an election year. What are we facing as everyday citizens? The first hour of this class will involve listening to host Gil Duran's podcast “The Nerdreich” and the second hour discussing what was covered in the podcasts concerning if or how “big tech” money is affecting our everyday lives. We will discuss the movers and shakers in big tech along with issues such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency and their potential affects on our lives and economy. Attendees will be provided other sources they can use to gain knowledge on billionaire tech money and how it affects society.

     

  • Fee: $14.00

    Capacity Remaining: 29

    Dates: 4/9/2026 - 4/9/2026

    Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

    Sessions: 1

    Days: Th

  • Instructor: John Brown

    Building: River's Crossing
 

  • The Leap Manifesto and Exploding the Box: An Introduction to Naomi Klein

  • Naomi Klein’s international best-selling books include No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, This Changes Everything, Doppelgänger, and No Is Not Enough. Although I consider Klein to be one of the most important writers and thinkers of our time, not only most Americans, but also most of my OLLI students are unfamiliar with this brilliant, prophetic witness. This discussion course is for fans of Klein and those previously unaware of her work. There is no required text for the class, but I especially recommend Klein’s 2017 book No Is Not Enough. I will also be recommending various online resources.

     

  • Fee: $32.00

    Capacity Remaining: 23

    Dates: 5/20/2026 - 6/3/2026

    Times: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

    Sessions: 3

    Days: W

  • Instructor: Dan Zins

    Building: River's Crossing
 

  • Understanding Extreme Poverty in the U.S.

  • One and a half million adults and three million children each live on less than $2.00 per day in the U.S. How is this possible, what do people affected do to make ends meet, and why does it matter? This presentation provides students an opportunity to examine various explanations for extreme poverty as well as economic survival strategies through readings, discussion, and experiential learning. Topics include poverty measurements, social policy, the labor market, and the informal economy–and a diverse array of strategies used by those impacted such as off-the-books legal work, illegal work, trade and support through social networks, use of credit/borrowing, and others.

     

  • Fee: $23.00

    Capacity Remaining: 30

    Dates: 5/5/2026 - 5/12/2026

    Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

    Sessions: 2

    Days: Tu

  • Instructor: Mary Ager

    Building: River's Crossing

  • Required reading: Edin, K., & Shaefer, H. L. (2015). $2.00 a day: Living on almost nothing in America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN-10 ‏: ‎054481195X

    Read first ½ of book by first class.
 

 

  • What's Up at the Supreme Court: A Wrap-Up of Cases Argued in the 2025-2026 Term

  • In the Fall 2025 presentation, "What's Up at the Court?" Tom Eaton previewed cases that would be argued before the United States Supreme Court. This presentation will summarize the decisions reached and those that remain to be decided.

     

  • Fee: $14.00

    Capacity Remaining: 97

    Dates: 5/7/2026 - 5/7/2026

    Times: 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

    Sessions: 1

    Days: Th

  • Instructor: Tom Eaton

    Building: Online via Zoom
 

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