Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College
Spring 2025 Course Schedule
Registration is now open
Need help deciding what to sign up for?
- Many course description pages, linked through the course schedules below, include a video introduction from the instructor (coming by March 1). Click on the course names below for full descriptions and instructor bios.
- If a course is full, you can join the waiting list by calling 413-236-2190.
- Come to our Spring Open House on March 4 at 10:30 a.m.
Where are classes held?
- Our schedule includes courses held online and in-person. See listings below for locations.
- All indoor spaces are ADA accessible.
Course cost:
- $50 for one class
- $95 for 2-3 classes
- $125 for 4 or more classes
Most courses held online are recorded so if you miss one, or your schedule doesn't work for a particular course, you can access the recordings and watch the class sessions on your own time. Note: in-person classes are not recorded.
(Note: you need to be an OLLI at BCC member to register for courses. Membership information can be found here.)
Also available this spring:
Online courses through Osher Online. This program is offered through the Osher National Resource Center (NRC) at Northwestern University. These classes are delivered by the Osher NRC via Zoom, with participants from all over the country. Registration is separate from our winter courses.
2025 Spring Semester Course Schedule
-- Click on the course names below for full descriptions and instructor bios. --
See a printable .pdf of the Spring 2025 course schedule.
Monday
Instructor: Buck Beasom |
This course covers World War II in the Pacific, with a particular focus on the air war. It traces the development of Japan as a modern military power, its early triumphs in Asia and the South Pacific and how the Allies turned the tide during the campaigns of 1943-45.
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Instructors: Norma Kirby |
Explore each of the 78 cards and how they work
together to tell stories and answer questions through words, symbolism and
color. Each class will focus on a different aspect of the tarot.
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Instructors: Pamela Quirinale | Have you ever wished that you could sit down and draw your favorite objects - or even create a painting of them? Well, now you can learn - and in a fun, relaxed way. CLOSED - AT CAPACITY |
Instructor: Phil Brown | Today's Headlines is a moderated discussion course that provides an opportunity to voice your opinions on national and international issues. Serving as a guide and provocateur, the moderator will introduce selected topics drawn from a variety of newspapers and the internet. Lively discussion is the centerpiece of this course. |
Instructors: Karen Curlee and Wayne Bryan |
This course will explore six movie musicals
through the past 90 years, led by two actor/director/producer/choreographers
from Broadway and beyond.
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Instructor: Christine Casey | Six operas will be presented, including the four operas in Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Information will be shared on the composer, librettist, first performances and cast, followed by a slideshow of important scenes, along with audio excerpts of significant recordings. |
Tuesday |
Instructor: Doug Mishkin | In July 1925, Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan and, a supporting cast of fascinating characters converged upon Dayton, Tennessee for what became known as The Scopes Monkey Trial. Religion. Science. Education. Free speech. Textbooks. In this class, we will consider the critical issues, how they have been portrayed during the last 100 years and why they matter today. |
Instructor: Daniel Schenker | In this course, we will read works by several of the acknowledged American masters of the short story form from the second half of the twentieth century through the present time. CLOSED - AT CAPACITY |
Instructor: Ann Berman |
Macbeth is a taut thriller,
combining all-too-human ingredients of loyalty, ambition, love, and honor with
a dollop of the supernatural. Join us as we work through the text one act at a
time and discuss ways in which the play can be brought to life.
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Instructor: Stacy Wallach | Much of what most of us think of as the American Revolution or the Revolutionary War was actually a war of colonial independence by varying groups of residents in Britain's thirteen American colonies against Great Britain itself and its parliamentary government headed by a monarch. This course will examine the year of genuine revolution in Massachusetts, and especially in the Berkshires, and how it led to and shaped the outbreak of war with Britain the following year. |
Instructor: Katherine Kidd | Join us as we hike trails and view the falls and cascades. Learn about the geological formations that shape where the falls will occur, the difference between waterfalls and cascades and, in some cases, the Native American legends associated with the waterfalls. CLOSED - AT CAPACITY |
Instructors: John Kidd | It is great that so many OLLI hikers want to get into the woods this spring. With this in mind... This new addition to our Spring Term will take hikers on trails rated easy or moderate that combine beauty with parking capacity to accommodate up to 20 hikers. Trail selections will be finalized as we go along but possibilities include The Boulders, Pittsfield State Forest trails, Shaker Mountain, Holy Mountain, The High Road, Taconic Crest, and Mount Greylock trails. Please note that registration for this class is on a separate page from our general spring registration! |
Wednesday |
Instructor: Deborah Reinisch | In this class, we’ll look at the foremost directors, films, and stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. And we’ll consider what these enduring classic films might have to tell us about our movies and our world today. |
Instructor: Don Barkin | Reading includes Yeats, Wordsworth, Dickinson, Frost, Millay, and others. No memorizing is required, but reciting will be welcomed, as poems change shape from different pipes. |
Instructor: Lou-Ellen Barkan Please note late start date
Location: Zoom | In this workshop, participants will review the art and craft of storytelling while writing one story, from first to final draft. Participants will share and critique each other's work and, at the last session, explore opportunities for publication. CLOSED - AT CAPACITY Please note this class will not be recorded. |
Instructor: Jock Brooks (*Please note that Wednesday, 4/9, will meet from 11:30 - 1 p.m.) Location: In-person at The Clark Art InstituteLimit: 20 | Let's probe the rich holdings of art housed at The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown by two of America's most revered artists, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent. The course will have five sessions, all in person at The Clark. CLOSED - AT CAPACITY |
Thursday |
Instructor: Ginny Messina |
This six-week course will explore the ways in
which diets that emphasize plant foods can shrink your carbon footprint,
improve animal welfare, promote human rights, and enhance personal health.
|
Instructors: John Dickson and Richard Matturro 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8 Location: In-person in Lenox |
It
was the greatest battle ever fought on American soil. We will be viewing the
movie, Gettysburg, in its entirely in segments over the course of five
weeks. John Dickson will provide historical commentary on the battle, and
Richard Matturro will provide commentary on the movie.
|
Instructor: Laycolaion Freeman | In Practical Self-Defense for Active Older Adults you will yourself with the knowledge and skills to stay safe and confident in any situation. This course is specifically designed for active older adults and focuses on practical, easy-to-learn self-defense techniques tailored to your unique abilities and needs. |
Instructor: Noel Staples-Freeman | This course offers a welcoming space for active older adults to explore the foundational rhythms and movements of African-rooted dance. THIS CLASS HAS MOVED FROM FRIDAY TO THURSDAY |
Instructor: Bess Dillman | Every spring, our beautiful Berkshire trails come alive with colorful flowers, changing each week. We will hunt for and identify them at various properties in South and Central Berkshire County. CLOSED AT CAPACITY |
Instructor: Richard Eason | This class will use some of the greatest discoveries of archaeology to explore the history and development of archaeology. |
Instructors: Melba Kurman and Hod Lipson | This course examines an emerging product manufacturing
paradigm known as “digital manufacturing” that is rapidly disrupting how
everyday objects are designed and made. Please note this class will not be recorded. |
Friday |
Instructor: William Wooters 4/4, 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/2, 5/9
Location: Zoom |
This course addresses various aspects of quantum
theory: the physics, the history, the philosophical controversies, and the
emerging technologies of "the second quantum revolution." The course
is for everyone: there are no prerequisites.
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Instructor: Kathy Duguay | Dante’s Divine Comedy is one of the most celebrated works of world literature. Using the poetic form he created, terza rima, he weaves a compelling narrative that explores the journey of the human soul. The course will cover the second half of Inferno. |
Facilitator: Naomi Spatz | Ten prominent artistic directors from the major
regional stages announce their summer season's productions. Each speaks and
answers questions for 45 minutes, two per week. |
Instructor: Hank Gold | Join us to discuss science news appearing in the Tuesday “Science Times” section of The New York Times, plus magazines and journals. |
From the Artist’s Point of View |
Facilitator: Audrey Shachnow and Artists | Explore the creative minds of local artists as they reveal their unique processes and deep thought behind their art and show some of their current creations. Please note a small materials fee in the full description. This class has been cancelled |
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Please note that you must be an OLLI at BCC member and have created a login account to register for classes online. How to create a login account. You can register by phone from 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Eastern at 413.236.2190.
OLLI: the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College |
