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- 3-Course Package - Spring
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Fee: $200.00
This 3-course package allows you to select 3 spring courses for $200. This applies to 3-, 4- and 5-week courses. Add this package to your cart and sign up for courses in the same transaction or later. Sign up one at a time or all 3 at once. Package cannot be applied retroactively. Limit 1 package per person per quarter.
*Osher Online courses and field trips are not eligible with this package.
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- 6-Course Package - Spring
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Fee: $400.00
This 6-course package allows you to select 6 spring courses for $400. This applies to 3-, 4- and 5-week courses. Add this package to your cart and sign up for courses in the same transaction or later. Sign up one at a time or all 6 at once. Package cannot be applied retroactively. Limit 1 package per person pre quarter.
*Osher Online courses and field trips are not eligible with this package.
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- Animal Behavior: For a Happier Life with Dogs and Cats (In-Person)
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Happy dogs and happy cats are easier to take care of and more fun to live with. Find out what will boost your friend’s happiness —and yours, too! This class will include an overview of the history of dog training and animal welfare practices. Get an update on the latest in applied animal behavior science. Learn how to understand what dogs and cats are saying by observing their body language. You will receive information on practical and inexpensive things you can do to make dogs and cats in your home more confident, at ease, playful, and safe. The class will include plenty of question and answer time where you can ask your behavior and training questions about your dogs or cats. Great information for shelter and rescue volunteers as well as anyone concerned about our overflowing local animal shelters.
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- History of Polar Exploration (In-Person)
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Speaker: Ross Coen
Dates: 4/28/2025 - 5/19/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 4
Location: Mercer Island Community & Events Ctr
Fee: $75.00
The history of polar exploration is commonly understood in terms of the dramatic, romantic, and oftentimes tragic exploits of intrepid mariners such as Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and Sir John Franklin. And while such stories abound in the literature and will be a significant part of the course, humankind’s connection to the Arctic and Antarctic touches on deeper historical themes such as nationalism, colonialism, science, geographical misconceptions, Indigenous cultures, racial theories, and the biological impact of cold. This course will trace the evolution of polar exploration in the 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing on the quests for the Northwest Passage and the North and South Poles.
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- The Superpowers of Birds in Migration (In-Person)
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Two million flaps. That's how many times a bird weighing less than a small grape must beat its wings to fly from its winter grounds in South America to its breeding grounds in the Far North. And yet billions of birds make this arduous journey twice a year, passing through our state in wave upon wave of flights in spring and fall. It is a wondrous phenomenon of nature, one that we are just beginning to understand. Come along on the birds' journey this spring, as master birder Connie Sidles explains, in a two-part class, the most recent science of how and why birds migrate.
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- Contemporary Art at SAM (Zoom)
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Speaker: Rebecca Albiani
Dates: 5/2/2025 - 5/9/2025
Times: 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Days: F
Sessions: 2
Location: Zoom Online
Fee: $45.00
This spring¸ Seattle Art Museum offers two must-see exhibitions, which Rebecca will introduce us to. In the first week we will explore the work of African-American sculptor Thaddeus Mosley (born 1926). Now in his late 90s, Mosley continues to produce highly regarded sculptures of wood and bronze that are inspired by jazz, folk carving, and modernist sculptors such as Brancusi and Noguchi. Mosley’s work is being shown at SAM until June 1 in the exhibition Following Space: Thaddeus Mosley and Alexander Calder.
In week two, Rebecca will present Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei, which will take place at all three of SAM’s venues from March 12-September 7. This will be the largest American retrospective to date of groundbreaking sculptor, photographer, architect and activist Ai Weiwei (born 1957). A brilliant conceptual artist, Ai explores issues of culture, history, and freedom of expression relevant to his native China and to the world as a whole.
Class recordings will be available.
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- The 1960s and the Breakdown of National Consensus (In-Person)
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Speaker: Dr. Nathan Roberts
Dates: 5/6/2025 - 5/27/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Location: UW Seattle Campus Allen Library Auditorium
Fee: $75.00
The sixties saw the fracturing of four narratives of national cohesion or consensus. The changes that came about between 1954 and 1975 introduced critical examinations of American historical narratives. In the areas of the Vietnam War, both economic and environmental changes, civil rights, and politics, enough Americans began to believe new notions about their national character that made previous national cohesion untenable. These lectures will illuminate how the sixties provided a critical turning point in U.S. national consciousness.
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- Earthquakes! (Zoom)
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Speaker: Dale Lehman
Dates: 5/7/2025 - 5/28/2025
Times: 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 4
Location: Zoom Online
Fee: $75.00
Join us for course six of our OLLI geology series! Earthquakes! will introduce you to the science of earthquakes. We will take a look at the different types of faults that cause earthquakes and the distribution of earthquakes in the Northwest, across the United States, and around the world. This course will build on the basic geologic knowledge students have accrued during the first five courses of the geology series, but will be taught in such a way that students new to geology won’t get lost or left behind. There will be plenty of review as we go through the course. Join us as we take a deeper look at seismicity and the risks, implications, and probabilities of earthquakes at seismically active zones around the world.
Class recordings will be available.
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- Confessions of a Met Opera Violinist and How I Learned to Love ‘The Ring’ (In-Person)
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Opera expert Erica Miner recounts her journey from her childhood as a young violin student to her 21 years at the Met Opera. In the process, she highlights her encounters with some of the Met’s leading opera stars of the time and describes what it was like to work with such luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, and Renée Fleming. AND in her 21 years at the Met, Former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner once calculated she played more hours of Wagner’s music than that of any other composer. Here she discusses the pros and cons of her extensive and intensive experiences performing Wagner’s operas in the Met orchestra pit.
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- William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Zoom)
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Speaker: Leah Adcock-Starr
Dates: 5/15/2025 - 6/12/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Location: Zoom Online
Fee: $80.00
Participants in this course will have the opportunity to delve into the text and contexts of William Shakespeare’s tale of ambition, violence, and mayhem; The Tragedy of MACBETH. Through a close reading of the play, instructor lecture, and group discussion of Shakespeare’s fearsome and flawed power couple; The Macbeth’s will be revisited and revealed and language and major themes of Shakespeare’s final tragedy examined and explored. Class participants will spend 5 weeks in a deep dive study and illumination of the of the language, dynamics, story, and characters of Shakespeare’s MACBETH.
Class recordings will be available.
This course is being offered on Zoom and in Seattle. Please be sure you're signing up for the right location/course.
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- Purple and Gold: From Gothic to Modern at the UW Core
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Come see how this glorious “University of a Thousand Years” has managed through its first 150. Go back in time to bask in the rich detail of Gothic, Renaissance, and Beaux Arts architecture. On this tour, you will stroll through serene quadrangles, lush gardens and awe-inspiring interiors along the way while witnessing some new stars as contemporary buildings change with the needs of this fine institution. Oh, and did we mention it has the most fabulous view of Mount Rainier?
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- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
What is the lasting appeal of the Pike Place Market? With over 500 small businesses, 400 residents, and 20 million visitors a year, the Market is Seattle’s original ‘intentional community’. Come join the Friends of the Pike Place Market (FOM) advocacy group and learn about one of the oldest and largest continuously operating public markets in the country.
During the period of explosive growth in 1960’s Seattle, an intrepid group of preservationist activists fought to save a tremendously important cultural resource. More than 50 years later, the iconic Pike Place Market survives and continues to grow. Home to a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, craftspeople, buskers, farmers, workers, and residents and a network of essential services.
This talk & tour includes a one-hour deep dive into the unique history and context of ‘the Soul of Seattle’ followed by a walking tour of the art, architecture, and community calling the Market home. Pike Place Market is a neighborhood that rewards curiosity. Boost your local knowledge and see if you can find something new!
Speaker: Friends of the Market
Dates: 5/20/2025 - 5/20/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 1
Building: Seattle
Fee: $30.00
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- Four More Pesty Birds in Seattle: It's still not their fault! (Zoom)
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Speaker: Connie Sidles
Dates: 6/3/2025 - 6/24/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Location: Zoom Online
Fee: $75.00
Connie continues to share her love of birds and bird knowledge in this coures. The last course discussed Canada Geese, Rock Pigeons, European Starlings and Barred Owls. This course will discuss Brown-headed Cowbirds, Seagulls, and American Crows. Anyone who has ever inadvertently spread a beach towel over goose poop knows we have a bird problem in our area. Canada geese, pigeons, seagulls, starlings - they and their pesty cohorts can make our lives miserable when they raid our garbage cans, defecate on our lawns, invade our attics, or otherwise disturb the evenness of our lives. But each of the bird species we love to hate has its own wonders, its own beauty - and its own lessons to teach us about the interactions between wildlife and humans. Come along with master birder Connie Sidles as she explores these themes. You might find yourself actually coming to like our pesty birds.
Class recordings will be available.
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- Vera Rubin Telescope (In-Person)
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Speaker: James Davenport
Dates: 6/4/2025 - 6/4/2025
Times: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 1
Location: UW Seattle Campus Allen Library Auditorium
Fee: $30.00
The nearly-complete Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, will capture the cosmos in exquisite detail. Using the largest camera ever built, Rubin will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years and create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our Universe. Our speaker, James Davenport, is a Research Assistant Professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Astronomy, and Associate Director of the DiRAC Institute. His research program focuses on time domain and large survey astronomy, with an emphasis on magnetically active stars from missions including Kepler, ZTF, Gaia, and TESS.
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- Beeswaxing Transfers for All Art Mediums, 2d and 3d (In-Person)
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Speaker: Ray Pfortner
Dates: 6/9/2025 - 6/9/2025
Times: 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 1
Location: Mercer Island Community & Events Ctr
Fee: $40.00
Beeswax is a fantastic medium to allow us to transfer any art medium, including family photographs, travel photographs, painting, drawing even ceramics, woodworking and sculpture onto wood, stone and tile. This allows a range of display options on the wall or on a shelf for simply enjoying, but also gifting and even selling as an alternative to a single original. Learn about the materials and the process, watching a demonstration and leaving with the knowledge and a handout on how to do it on your own.
For all skill levels working in any art medium, from casual or more serious photographers to painters, potters and woodworkers.
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- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
While Denny Hill may be the most famous regrade in Seattle's history, it was neither the largest nor the deepest. Completed between 1907 and 1909, the Jackson Street Regrade altered the greatest number of surface acres in a single project. On this 1.8 mile walk, we will travel the lesser known Jackson and Dearborn regrades, as well as explore the International District and lasts between 90-120 minutes, depending on how many questions you ask.
The tour will meet on the southwest side of the intersection of South Jackson Street and 2nd Avenue Extension South. This is near a plaza connected to and on the side of King Street Station/Amtrak Station.
Speaker: David Williams
Dates: 6/24/2025 - 6/24/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 1
Building: Seattle International District
Fee: $30.00
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Native Plant Garden Tour
Did you know there is a fine native plant garden right in Seattle’s Magnuson Park? It’s on land managed by the Mountaineers near the climbing rocks and stewarded by WA Native Plant Society. Join me for a few short forays to explore a few of Puget Sound’s most striking wildflowers.
March 26, 10:30—11:45AM. Early spring trout lilies. Followed by a saunter over to the children’s garden to see the male pussy willows in bloom!
April 16, 10:30—11:45AM. Fringecups and mid season color. And saunter back to the children’s garden to see the female pussy willows in bloom. Yes, there are separate male and female willow trees!
May 14, 10:30—11:45AM. Late spring glory—see native shrubs show off!
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
- Dates: W, 3/26/2025 - 5/14/2025
- Times: 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
- Instructor: Louise Kulzer
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Photography at the Seattle Chinese Garden
We have photographed at Kubota Gardens and the Seattle Japanese Garden as part of this ongoing series. Now we turn to another gem with glorious structures - pavilions, leak windows, hallways, courtyard, wood working and stone work, plus plantings: the Seattle Chinese Garden in West Seattle. We will meet to photograph together at a glorious time of year, then share selects for feed-back to hone our skills and make our future work even better.
Session 1: photograph as a group on location at the Garden
Session 2: a Zoom share for feedback session
For all skill levels using any camera - including one that happens to make phone calls, whether you joined us for one or both of the past workshops in the series or not.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
- Dates: Tu, 4/22/2025 - 4/29/2025
- Times: 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
- Instructor: Ray Pfortner
- Zoom class will be recorded.
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The Age of Artificial Intelligence
We are in the middle of one of the largest and most important technological revolutions of the last century -- the rise of AI. While the idea of Artificial Intelligence has been around for decades, only in the last few years has it started to become a reality. It is now possible to chat with an AI expert on virtually any topic. AI can generate artwork, music, and even movies that are becoming increasingly realistic. You can even have a real-time voice conversation with AI agents that speak and listen like a real human.
But how does AI actually work? In this course, we will reveal the secrets of this magic new technology and help you understand not only how to use AI effectively, but also about the risks and dangers that AI presents to you, personally, as well as to society at large. We will describe how AI systems work and how they are trained. And, we will talk about the emerging trends and challenges for this field. No formal experience with computing is required -- this course is for everybody.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
- Dates: W, 4/23/2025 - 5/21/2025
- Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- Instructor: Matt Welsh
- Class does not meet on Apr 30,
May 7 (9:45 - 11:45)
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