OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE
PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS 50 AND BETTER
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| Lectures & Book Club |
- Lectures
- Osher Book Club (Osher members only)
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Osher Book Club |
If you participated in the Osher Book Club last semester,
you know how much fun it is - if not join us this time around! Three great new books;
read them and then join your fellow Osher members for collective reflection, critique,
rumination, and enjoyment.
Maximum enrollment: 20
Section 1
Them, Nathan McCall
The gentrification of Atlanta’s Lower Fourth Ward comes to life in the characters and
tale of McCall’s Them. When long time residents and new neighbors uneasily settle in
to this historic Atlanta community, the caustic underbelly of race relations in the
New South emerge behind the shelves of corner markets, on the porches of wooden houses,
and in sweltering church halls. Not all that is said in McCall’s Them is comfortable;
but his unsentimental and real telling of social change as it unfolds in the homes and
streets of our communities is consistently thought-provoking and tightly plotted.
Section 2
Netherland, Joseph O’Neill
A critically-acclaimed novel set in post 9/11 New York City, Netherland traces a young
family as they navigate the terrain of their city and lives, forever changed. Far more
than a “post-9/11 novel,” O’Neill gives us a book that captures raw family relations,
the uncomfortable edges of a diverse and restless city, and the looming questions of
politics and values that hover over our nation still. With strong voice and compelling,
authentic prose, Netherland is a book of our times not to be missed.."
Section 3
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,
Mark Haddon
A subtly comic murder mystery told from the perspective of an autistic teenager – are
you ready to dive in? Haddon’s debut novel draws us into an unusual murder case (an
impaled poodle), with an unusual suspect (an autistic teenager incapable of lying),
and an equally unusual detective (said teenager, whose greatest challenge is deciphering
the world around him). Applauded for his engaging, tender, and at turns, laugh-out-loud
funny writing, Haddon is an up and coming author to be watched. |
Section 1
Noncredit Schedule No. 09FAOF 99823 OF
Date: Thursday, Oct. 8, 9-10 am
Location: Extended Studies Center, room 201.
Fee: Annual Member: FREE | Non-Member: Osher members only event
Register online for 09FAOF
99823 OF
or
Section 2
Noncredit Schedule No. 09FAOF 99824 OF
Date: Thursday, Nov. 12, 9-10 am
Location: Extended Studies Center, room 201.
Fee: Annual Member: FREE | Non Member: Osher members only event
Register online for 09FAOF
99824 OF
or
Section 3
Noncredit Schedule No. 09FAOF 99825 OF
Date: Thursday, Dec. 10, 9-10 am
Location: Extended Studies Center, room 201
Fee: Annual Member: FREE | Non Member: Osher members only event
Register online for 09FAOF
99825 OF
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 Personalizing the Tune: Jazz
Musicians and the Great American Song Book |
| The music of the Great American Songbook, from the 1920s,
‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, has provided generations of jazz musicians with an extensive library
of great melodies, chord progressions, and structures with which to create very personal
artistic statements. Keeping this source of inspiration in mind, spend the morning listening
critically to representative recordings of selected and well-known performances by a
number of jazz artists from diverse historical genres. Professor Helzer will address
the issues of creative interpretation and improvisation, which are the very life blood
of America’s classical music: jazz. |
Instructor: Rick Helzer, associate professor of music, and associate director
of jazz studies at San Diego State University, where he coordinates the undergraduate
and graduate jazz theory programs and combos. He has performed and/or recorded with
George Lewis, Mark Dresser, James Newton, Vinny Golia, Kim Richmond, David Borgo,
and Charles McPherson. His own recordings have garnered laudatory reviews in numerous
publications. He is also a regular contributor for Jazz Improv magazine, having published
many solo transcriptions, annotations, record reviews and a regular column entitled
Piano Perspectives.
Noncredit Schedule No. 09FAOF 99820 OF
Date: Oct. 13
Location: Extended Studies Center, room 206.
Fee: Member Fee: FREE | Non-Member Fee: $20
Register online for 09FAOF
99820 OF
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The 2010 U.S. Census; Important
Policy Decisions Depend on the Nuts and Bolts |
| Much has changed since the first U.S. Census of 1790. Most
recently, the advent of Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology has revolutionized
the techniques used to identify and count the population. How will the 2010 U.S. Census
be conducted? And how will the results be used? Instructors Dixon Arnett and Wende Chan
have each tromped miles to fulfill the Constitutional promise of the U.S. Census. In
2000, Wende was a crew leader in San Francisco and Dixon an enumerator in rural western
Wyoming. They are once again on the front lines of this upcoming 23rd national survey
to be completed by April 1. Listen as they share their observations and insights. |
Noncredit Schedule No. 09FAOF 99821 OF
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 18, 9-10:50 am
Location: Extended Studies Center, room 206
Fee: Member Fee: FREE | Non-Member Fee: $20
Register online for 09FAOF
99821 OF
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Muhammad and the Rise of Islam |
| When Muhammad was born in AD 570, the Arabs were primarily
a nomadic people. Arabia itself was an unexplored, mostly uninhabitable desert made
up of very few cities and countless warring Semitic tribes. In short, it was one of
the least likely places to give birth to the world’s fastest growing religion. Yet within
200 years of Muhammad’s death in 632, his followers controlled over one third of the
Mediterranean world including large parts of Europe. How did this happen? Meet Muhammad
– both the man and religious leader – and learn about the basic tenets of Islam. Learn
why this new religion was able to spread throughout the world with such rapidity, and
continue growing into what it is now: the world’s second largest religion. |
Instructor: Bruno Leone, MA, European intellectual history; lecturer and freelance
writer; former instructor at University of Minnesota and St. Francis College.
Noncredit Schedule No. 09FAOF 99822 OF
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 9-10:50 am
Location: Extended Studies Center, room 206.
Fee: Member Fee: FREE | Non-Member Fee: $20
Register online for 09FAOF
99822 OF
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| Last update
July 14, 2009
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