New at UC OLLI for the 2014-15 School Year

September feels like the real New Year. The air becomes crisp and cool, and students of all ages head back to school for new and enriching experiences. At the University of Cincinnati’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), this upcoming school year will be enhanced by several new programs and venues.

OLLI’s fall quarter classes run eight weeks from September 22 through November 14. Nearly 200 courses, from one-hour lectures to eight-week seminars, are offered for adults aged 50 or older at various locations across the region including Clifton, Blue Ash, Amberley, and College Hill. For a single payment of $85, OLLI students may enroll in as many courses as they like.

In collaboration with Llanfair Retirement Community, OLLI will begin FAB Fridays, a series of eight three-hour programs each Friday from 9 a.m. to noon at Llanfair in College Hill. Located just off Hamilton Avenue at 1701 Llanfair Ave., this facility is easily accessed from I-74, I-75 and Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway.

Among the topics to be offered at FAB Fridays are a look at today’s Rookwood Pottery with glaze chemist Jim Robinson, first-person accounts of growing up in Europe during World War II, an explanation of plate tectonics by UC Adjunct Professor Brenda Hunda and an armchair tour of Cincinnati’s historic west side with Satolli Glassmeyer, president of Scenic Road Tours LLC.

“Llanfair Retirement Community is proud to be the newest partner site with OLLI, welcoming lifelong learners to our centrally located College Hill campus,” said Sheena Parton, Llanfair’s executive director. “Commitment to lifelong learning is a core belief at Llanfair, where we challenge ourselves and our residents to actively engage every day, spiritually, intellectually, physically and socially.”

On UC’s Clifton campus, OLLI offers courses on Tuesdays and Thursdays. New this year at Tangeman University Center is a way to fill the lunch hour and the break between morning and afternoon classes with enrichment and camaraderie.

During these one-hour Brown Bag Lunch presentations, 12:15-1:15 p.m., OLLI members will hear about history, education, law enforcement, the writer’s life, comedy, health, city planning, government, art, travel and more. Among the featured speakers are KnowledgeWorks Foundation Community Fellow Kent Friel on Common Core standards, American Sign Museum Director Tod  Swormstedt on Cincinnati’s Cosign project, author Tamera Lenz Muente who recently published a historical novel set in Cincinnati and UC College of Law Professor Kristin Kalsem on 19th-century women and the law.

“OLLI members love coming to campus for their classes,” explains OLLI Program Director Cate O’Hara. “They are connected with campus life, the students and professors and look forward each quarter to the opportunity to keep learning at their actual or adopted alma mater.”

After 23 years of offering classes at UC Blue Ash College, OLLI is moving its Blue Ash courses a few blocks north to UC’s Carver Woods facility at 4450 Carver Woods Drive just north of Sycamore Senior Center. It has been in use for several years by the Lindner College of Business Graduate Programs for evening and weekend MBA courses.

O’Hara explains, “We are grateful to the administration, faculty, staff, and students at UC Blue Ash for embracing OLLI’s mission and students for so many years. But their and our continuing success at attracting students created a critical classroom shortage for us all. At Carver Woods, we’ll have dedicated classroom space and look forward to this new collaboration with the Lindner College of Business Graduate Programs.”

Many other popular OLLI programs will remain unchanged, including educational tours and presentations at Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum, classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Adath Israel and Wednesday WOWs at Sycamore Senior Center.

OLLI provides opportunities for lifetime learning and social interaction to the mature residents of Greater Cincinnati. Each school year, more than 1,700 individuals choose from hundreds of courses. Offerings range from such traditional college subjects as math, philosophy, creative writing, science, literature and history to courses on financial planning and healthcare to such eclectic topics as photography, opera, new technology, tai chi and genealogy.

To get more information, request a print catalog or find out how to register for classes, visit

www.uc.edu/ce/olli

or call 513-556-9186.