Love to learn?

You’re in luck! The winter semester at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College (OLLI at Ringling College) runs Jan. 13-March 6, 2020, and features more than 100 courses and programs covering a wide variety of topics. The semester also includes five Einstein’s Circle discussions and the “Listening to Women” series, featuring women whose innovations and accomplishments are having an impact and influencing lives locally and globally. Registration opens Dec. 10 for the general public. To register, visit www.OlliatRinglingCollege.org or call (941) 309-5111.

Janna Overstreet is the director of OLLI at Ringling College. Lifelong learning is both her passion and profession. She says that she doesn’t see lifelong learning as the abstract mastery of facts for their own sake.

“It’s a healthy mental exercise, yes, but that’s only part of it. The social aspect of lifelong learning is equally important,” says Overstreet. “That’s precisely what we offer at OLLI at Ringling College. Our students and faculty explore new worlds of intellectual investigations and creative possibilities. It’s a true community of learning—and that makes for a more meaningful learning experience.”

Classes, workshops, lectures, and other programs are held at the following locations: The Ringling College Museum Campus (1001 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota); The Center of Anna Maria Island (407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria); OLLI East (State College of Florida, Lakewood Ranch, 7131 Professional Parkway E.); and Westminster Point Pleasant (1533 4th Ave. W., Bradenton.

Exclusive to this semester is the second annual “Listening to Women,” a six-session series on Thursdays at 1 p.m. from Feb. 6 to March 12 on the Ringling College Museum Campus. These sessions feature women whose innovations and accomplishments, locally and globally, are having an impact and influencing lives. Each week participants will meet women who are driven by a cause and who have the passion and determination to have achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields. “Women in Theatre: Changing the Stage” with Summer Dawn Wallace (Feb. 6); “Women in the World: 2020” with Scott Osborne (Feb. 13); “Women Leaders in Health & Medicine: Improving the Prognosis” with Jennifer Bencie, Victoria Kasdan, and Alicia Craig-Rodriguez (Feb. 20); “Political Strategies of American Women:  1848 to 1920” with Alice Newlon (Feb. 27);  “Dance Has Paved My Way” with Leymis Bolaños Wilmott  (March 5); and “The Roles and Contributions of Women in the Foreign Service” with Sherry Sugg (March 12).

The five Einstein’s Circle discussions this semester include: “Full Speed Ahead: Back to the Moon!” with Kenneth Bechis (Feb. 5); “Stalin and Roosevelt, Gorbachev and Reagan, Putin and Trump” with Robert Toplin (Feb. 19); “Changing the Face of Sarasota: The Little Town That Keeps Growing Bigger” with Gretchen Schneider (March 4); “The Deconstruction of Reconstruction…and the Long Walk Back” with David Wilkins (March 18); and “A 2020 Toss Up?  What the Primaries Are Telling Us” with Susan MacManus (April 1). Each session is 3-4:30 p.m. on the Ringing College Museum Campus.

A highlight of the winter lectures series is “Forged by Fire: Rescuers—Moral Heroes of The Holocaust with Andre Krauss,” March 5, 2:30-4 p.m., on the Ringling College Museum Campus. During their darkest hours, when the Jews of Europe stood mostly abandoned and alone in the face of Nazi persecution, the darkness was at times pierced by the shining light of a brave and decent fellow human being who had the courage to come to their rescue. In this lecture, Krauss will discuss the individuals who took enormous risks to live up to the basic tenets of humanity by rescuing human lives.

OLLI at Ringling College’s winter documentary film series, “CONNECTIONS: Exploring Today’s Global Issues,” is an opportunity for students to connect to many of today’s pressing global issues via the penetrating perspectives of contemporary documentary films. The moderator of the series is Julie Cotton, a member of the Advisory Council’s Strategic Program Committee, executive coach, and aficionado of documentary films. The winter term features five films. Students may register for the entire series or for individual films. The films are shown on Tuesdays, 2:30-4:30 p.m.: “The Biggest Little Farm” (Jan. 21); “RGB” (Feb. 11); “Catching Sight of Thelma and Louise” (March 3); “Faces Places” (March 24). The April 14 film will be announced later. All films will be screened on the Ringing College Museum Campus.