Episode 10: Interview––A Taste of OLLI

Forever Curious: An Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Podcast

In this very special episode of Forever Curious, we’re giving you a “taste” of OLLI!

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute truly is for the forever curious, and that’s on both sides of the teacher’s desk. What curiosity drives our instructors to gain the knowledge and life experience they share with their students?

Hosts Charlene and Murray are chatting with several instructors in this “flight,” so get ready to swirl ideas around in your head, sniff the rich bouquet of knowledge, and choose which flavors you might want to experience more deeply!

David Fenner is the winner of the University of Washington’s 2021 Distinguished Contributions to Lifelong Learning award and is an affiliate faculty member at the Jackson School of International Studies. An expert on the Middle East, David has been a traveler and teacher his entire adult life. He shares his adventurous spirit with students, further inspiring a love of learning and curiosity about the lives of others.

If you want to understand a place, Deborah Leblang can give you the full picture, inside and out. With a double interest in art history and architectural history, and an understanding of teaching via storytelling, Deborah’s classes give students insight into all the works of art, but also the “frames” they sit in and the choices the artists and exhibitors make.

Ellen Berg has taken sociology “around the world,” as she says to host Charlene. With a fresh PhD in her 40s (as well as a recent divorce), Ellen found herself ready to start a new life. She began teaching, helping students find the connections between literature and film and sociology. Her low-pressure classes are a great way for students to learn more about their own culture from a new and creative perspective.

Art historian Rebecca Albiani has been giving lectures at the Frye Museum for more than two decades. Rebecca is passionate about world art masterpieces, and her enthusiasm and expertise bring students in, giving them new ways of looking at art and deeper understanding of the pieces, the artists, and the contexts the works exist in.

Sean Taylor started teaching with OLLI in 2010 — with Beowulf. Nothing like starting slow and easy, right? Telling and critiquing heroic stories are something of a theme for Sean; how do we define heroes? Who is a hero, and is that role appropriate for everyone? There’s still so much to learn, even from legends that are hundreds of years old, and Sean is a terrific tour guide through the “heroes” journeys.

If you’re in the Western Washington area, be sure to check out these instructors and others at UW-OLLI and hear more episodes of Forever Curious at www.osher.uw.edu.