Summer has barely arrived, but next week some 100 seniors from Dorchester will be exploring which of the over-scheduled 70 courses to take this autumn at UMass Boston.
The Dot residents are expected to attend a free Open House next Wednesday (June 27) from 10 to noon in the Ryan Lounge of the McCormack Building. There they will pick up the just-printed fall catalogs for the university’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and hear short pitches by OLLI course-leaders, many of whom reside in Dorchester.
OLLI office manager Lucille Nguyen, who lives on Dot Ave, says it’s more important than ever for prospective students to sign up early.
“UMass is remodeling the third floor McCormack classrooms we have used in the past and given us two smaller classrooms on the second floor. We are going to have to limit all classes to 30 students.”
Part of a national network of 120 similar organizations in every state, the UMass OLLI program enriches the intellectual, social, and cultural lives of those 50 or older without the pressures of the typical university environment. More than 1,000 seniors take classes at the Harbor Point campus each semester.
No academic or other credentials are required. There are no tests, no papers, and no degrees. Daytime classes meet once a week for up to 2 hours and last anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. OLLI also sponsors theater outings, day trips to New England museums, even exotic overseas adventures like a river cruise to Prague and an off-the-beaten-track exploration of Thailand.
This semester’s offerings range from self-improvement courses like orientations to Google and digital cameras to more specialized classes like “Introduction to Cloud Computing,” “Women Spies,” and “Fundamentalism and the Rise of Religious Violence in Five Major Religions.”
Dorchester, which ranks second only to Quincy as the neighborhood with the most OLLI attendees, has its fair share of “course facilitators,” among them:
Helena Zurbin, who continues her Monday morning “Working with Watercolor” series;
Judy Planchon, with her “Intermediate French Conversation through Cinema” series;
Jones Hill’s Dr. Irene L. Roman, recently elected to the OLLI Board of Directors, attracts strong followings for both her “Basic Italian” and “Introduction to Italy and Italian Culture” offerings;
Ocean St. resident James Buckley, also on the OLLI Board of Directors, will offer his early cinema series this semester with “Silent Film Greats”;
Columbia Point’s Bill Valentine will returns with his “Good Poems: A Poetry Workshop.”
Phillip Granberry, a UMass adjunct professor who lives on Mellen Street, will facilitate a course on “The Political Economy of Urban Areas”;
Finally, on alternate Wednesday afternoons, this reporter will present “Shakespeare’s ‘Coriolanus’” (a history play that will be performed by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company on Boston Common this summer) and “The History of Mystery 6” (an ongoing appreciation of detective/crime books, TV series and movies).
In addition, each semester there are about 40 one-shot lunchtime lectures known as Brown Bag presentations covering politics, travel, health, music, and gardening.
Among the upcoming the Dot-led Brown Bags scheduled for the fall are “A History of American Music: Songs from the 1930’s to 1950’s Movies and Broadway Musicals” and “Women of the Old and New Testaments in Religious Art.”
To enroll in courses that start in mid- September or early October, visit OLLI.umb.edu, or call 617 287-7312 to request a catalog. Full or partial scholarships may be available on request.
