Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of New Hampshire is a “learning for the fun of it,” member-driven, volunteer based educational program for lifelong learners age 50 and older who are eager to explore ideas and interests in a safe and relaxed environment, with a community of peers. There are no tests, grades, or college prerequisites required to join. In addition to more than 300 courses offered each year, events, trips, social activities, and volunteer opportunities enhance member benefits.
Since 2004, OLLI at UNH has provided intellectual, social, and cultural enrichment opportunities in a climate that fosters friendship and a mutual sharing of ideas and life experiences.
OLLI courses are held in and around four learning regions – Capital Region, Greater Manchester, Mount Washington Valley, and the Seacoast. Courses at OLLI at UNH differ each term, but often include courses in arts and humanities, history, personal enrichment, science and technology, and social sciences. In-person courses meet in a classroom, at a host facility offsite, or outside enjoying New Hampshire’s beautiful scenery. A variety of courses are also offered online via Zoom. Courses range from one class to multi-class sessions.
OLLI’s Special Interest Groups are an additional OLLI membership benefit. SIGs are designed to provide opportunity for members interested in a specific topic or who enjoy the same activity to get together on a regularly scheduled basis – whether it be in-person or online. SIGs can be organized as book and movie clubs, craft groups, or outdoor or community adventures.
An annual membership to OLLI at UNH is $40, with additional course fees beginning at $20.
OLLI at UNH is one of 125 Osher Institutes at colleges and universities nationwide, all of which are partially supported through funding from the Bernard Osher Foundation.
For additional information, please visit olli.granite.edu or call (603)513-1377.
Here is a sampling of just a few of the courses offered in the spring term:
Camino de Santiago: Walk with Us on The Way – June 12 at 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Granite State College, 1750 Elm Street, Suite 104, Manchester
The Camino de Santiago is a 500-mile pilgrimage walk in Spain along old Roman roads and trade routes. Thousands walk this path each year in search of spiritual enlightenment, physical challenge, and personal growth. Hear what it is like to be a modern-day pilgrim walking this journey.
Judaism & Healing – May 15, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. a Granite State College (Concord), 25 Hall Street, Concord, NH 03301 or online via Zoom
Beginning with the Torah, we find Jewish prayers for and teachings on healing throughout Jewish history. Some prayers and teachings appear in traditional sources, such as the Bible, Talmud, and Midrash (rabbinic interpretations of Biblical text). Others are found in folklore and stories. Regardless of the source, Judaism’s message is consistent: While we pray to God to bring healing, it is up to us to provide the love, support, and even treatments. Learn about this rich tradition.
All Aboard the Orphan Train – May 23, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Granite State College, 25 Hall St., Concord
Come hear the mournful whistle of the train as it carries abandoned babies and children to be given away across the country. When the trains stopped, the children were displayed on the train platform for inspection for “placing-out.” If a child was not selected, they got back on the train to wait for the next stop. Brothers and sisters might be chosen at different stops, never to see each other again. In the 75-year history of the orphan trains, between 250,000 and 600,000 children were relocated without contact with their birth families. This class is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of children, then and now, living on the streets and hoping for a better tomorrow. We will explore the reasons for starting the trains, what happened to the children, tell some of their stories and why the “placing-out” program finally stopped and make some connections to the foster care system of today.
Child of Exile: The Little Prince from the Sahara to New York – April 17 & 24, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. online via Zoom
The beloved children’s book The Little Prince, by the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944), was actually written in the New York City area in 1942 while the author was in exile in the United States early in World War II. This newly-expanded course explores how the book not only reflects the life of the author, an air mail pilot in the 1920’s and 1930’s, but also was created in a wartime and American environment which caused the author to write what has been called a “spiritual journey disguised as a children’s story” with its moral “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye.” Required reading for this course includes The Little Prince by Antione de Saint-Exupery. Saint-Exupery: A Biography by Stacy Schiff is suggested, but not required, reading.
Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire Walking Tour – May 24, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Black Heritage Trail, 222 Court Street, Portsmouth
Institutionalized slavery in Colonial America provided immense wealth and material culture to many European immigrants and their descendants in the Americas, as Portsmouth’s house museums bear witness. This tour brings into focus an economic system dependent upon the international slave trade with its constant supply of kidnapped unpaid African workers and their descendants, who, against the odds, created one of this country’s oldest Black communities.