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- Knit a Child-Size Wallaby Sweater – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC120A
Dates: 1/6/2025 - 3/10/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 9
Maximum Enrollment: 12
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Kay Johnson
Knit a child’s size sweater from start to finish in one term. The “Wonderful Wallaby” is a hoodie with a pouch and a hood. Wallabies are cherished by children and adults. While knitting a complete sweater, learn to knit in the round using circular needles and double-pointed needles; learn how to knit a pouch, a hood, and a placket with a buttonhole. Learn how to invisibly join the segments together. This is NOT a beginner’s class. Participants must know how to knit, purl, cast on, and bind off. There will be homework between classes and knitting in every class. If you don’t have a small child in your life, you could knit for a neighbor child or for someone in need. Please don’t sign up for this class if you know that you will miss any of them. You are likely to be frustrated.
NOTE: Required text: "Wonderful Wallaby for Kids," available for $8 online through Ravelry.com. This is a digital text which you may wish to print for yourself. Needles and light-colored worsted weight yarn are required. The instructor will email detailed information to all registered participants.
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- Absolute Beginners Pickleball – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC102A
Dates: 1/13/2025 - 1/17/2025
Times: 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: Daily
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Building: Lithia Park Pickleball Courts
Room: Winburn Way, Ashland
Instructor: Cori Frank
This course is designed for the person who wants to learn the basics of pickleball. Join in the fun as Cori Frank and a team of experienced pickleball players teach you the fastest growing sport in America. The class meets for 1½ hours a day for five consecutive days. Beginning players will learn how to choose a paddle, proper paddle position when playing, scoring, serving, return of serve, third-shot drops, dinking, drills, and calling “out balls.” There is an emphasis on safety and sportsmanship. Ashland Oregon Pickleball Club will provide the paddles, pickleballs, and instructors. Information on courts throughout the Rogue Valley will be provided as well as communication tools. You will need court shoes, a hat or visor, and a hydrating drink. Sunglasses or protective eyewear are recommended.
NOTE: People with mobility issues should not take this course. A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. If we have inclement weather, class will be canceled.
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- Accessible Meditation – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS308A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 2/13/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Thomas Huffman
This six-week course, for the novice as well as for seasoned meditators, is designed to be user-friendly, devoid of any ideological framework, and geared to make the practice of meditation accessible. For some, this may entail “un-learning” rigid doctrines and expectations. For others, it’s an invitation to quiet, to better regulate your nervous system, to follow your curiosity down the yellow brick road of your inner world, as well as to better understand how we all create our subjective experience. Each class will include discussion, guidance, and lengthening periods of meditative practice.
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- Advanced Beginners Pickleball – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC304A
Dates: 3/10/2025 - 3/14/2025
Times: 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: Daily
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Building: Lithia Park Pickleball Courts
Room: Winburn Way, Ashland
Instructor: Cori Frank
This course is designed for students who have taken the Absolute Beginners Pickleball class or who have a rudimentary knowledge of the game. It will be taught by seasoned instructors who are experienced players and have taught before. Expect to build on the basic game to include advanced strategy in play. We will meet for 1½ hours at Lithia Park courts for five consecutive days. There will be an emphasis on sportsmanship and safety. This skills-building course will focus on different types of serves, lobs, third-shot drops or drop shots, drives, partner communication, stacking, and different types of scoring. We will introduce Nasty Nelson, Bert, and Erne. The last day will be a FUN Round-Robin whereby players will rotate play with all players. The instructors will be from Ashland Oregon Pickleball Club.
NOTE: If you have mobility issues, this course may not be for you. A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. Students are expected to have their own paddle, know the basic game, have court shoes, and a hat or visor. Safety glasses are recommended. Bring a hydrating drink and snack. If inclement weather occurs, class will be canceled.
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- Anyone Can Do Basic Home Repairs, Especially You – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE305A
Dates: 1/6/2025 - 3/3/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 8
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Mitch Hrdlicka
This course is designed for anyone with little or no knowledge of maintaining and repairing a home. Class members will learn how water, gas, and electricity come into a home and how to shut them off, how to change the filter in a furnace and clean the coils on a refrigerator, and why they should. We’ll talk about paint, how to replace a light switch or plug, fix a stuck door, what is a good set of tools, and what you should watch for outside the home such as clogged gutters, water leaks, siding damage, invasive vegetation, and more. We’ll talk about the advantages and disadvantages of buying through big box stores vs. independent merchants and how to choose a contractor if needed. Above all, we will talk about what the class members want to know about maintenance and repairs to the building that keeps them safe and comfortable. You will learn to take care of your home, so your home can take care of you!
NOTE: Each term of this previously taught course is different, as there are new issues brought to class. If you have taken the class before, you will likely gain knowledge in something not previously discussed or that you didn’t quite understand the first time. There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Arrival: From a Short Story to a Film – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS323A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 1/23/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Lorraine Vail
Short stories are especially well-suited to movie adaptations — they’re inventive, contained, and depend more on the characters than a plot. This discussion course will explore two different narratives: the award-winning film “Arrival” (2016) and Ted Chiang’s short story “Story of Your Life” (1998), initially considered to be unfilmable upon publication. We will explore how the foundation of this short story was extrapolated into a more complex, nonlinear sci-fi narrative centering on the life and work of linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams). Our discussion will include how the alien language in the film plays a pivotal role in exploring the themes of language and identity. Students are expected to have read the short story and viewed the film before the course begins.
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- Beginning East Coast Swing – In-Person
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Swing is the quintessential partner dance of American culture — and East Coast Swing is the most common, versatile, and easiest to learn of all the many variations. No partner or previous experience is needed for this beginning East Coast Swing course. We will start solo (no partner) and learn basic movements and timing to a wide variety of swing music. Then we will progress to using these same moves and step patterns while dancing with a partner. Over time more complicated step partners will be demonstrated and practiced with a variety of partners. Each class will begin with a review of the material learned in previous lessons and end with plenty of time to practice and ask for individual attention. Finally, the class will be invited to attend one or more of the various swing dances occurring in the Rogue Valley.
NOTE: We ask students to wear comfortable shoes appropriate for dancing. A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Beginning Excel for PCs – In-Person
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Do you think spreadsheets are for accountants? I will de-mystify Excel spreadsheets and show how they can be used to plan and organize activities, keep track of expenses, and do simple analyses. The course will start with the basics, including the Excel Window and ribbons. We will navigate using shortcut commands and learn techniques for entering and formatting numerical and alphabetic data. We will manipulate page layouts and copy or move pages from one spreadsheet to another. Other topics include using basic arithmetic operations, analyzing data with simple functions such as SUM and AVERAGE, and use of simple IF statements. This is a course for beginners, and students are not expected to have experience using Excel for PCs. This is a hands-on course. Students must bring their laptops to class to work on in-class exercises.
NOTE: Students must have Excel for PCs (version 2013 or later) loaded on their laptop (PCs only) and know how to download, save, and open files from emails. The instructor will email files to students with exercises to use during class and to practice techniques at home. Before each class, students must download the files from emails and save them on their laptops to use in class.
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- Beginning Guitar: Chords – In-Person
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This beginning guitar course will concentrate on chords. Each session will include learning the chords for a few easy songs, and perhaps, time permitting, some more advanced songs. Students will have the option of learning at least one song of their choice. Instruction will include the parts of the guitar, including string names, how to tune a guitar, and how to play the basic scale and basic chords. The course will include workshop sessions for individual instruction and will end with an opportunity for all students to play one song they have learned for the group.
NOTE: Students must have their own guitar and a music stand for reading music while practicing the guitar. The instructor will recommend a reference book on guitar chords.
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- Birds: Learn All About Them – In-Person
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Item Number: W25NAT128A
Dates: 2/3/2025 - 3/3/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 78
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: Shannon Rio
What are birds saying? What are birds doing? This class is all about being curious about birds and the natural world around us. Because photographs can tell powerful stories, they are used in each class both to inform and to enjoy. Identifying local birds and getting to know them is a focus for this class. Each term this course is taught with a different emphasis on birding in the Rogue Valley and the region, with new content continually added. Since this is being taught during winter term, the focus will include birds that winter here. No prior knowledge is necessary. Class interaction is encouraged but not required. The invitation is to connect with the natural world and find ways to give back.
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- Calculus from a Middle School Perspective – In-Person
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Item Number: W25STEM310A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 1/29/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Irv Lubliner
Morris Kline, author of “Mathematics for the Nonmathematician,” wrote: “Calculus provides the framework for studying change and the limits of processes,” making it the key to many scientific breakthroughs. Despite its importance, calculus often feels intimidating and mysterious due to its departure from more familiar areas of math. This course aims to demystify calculus, making its concepts and applications clear and accessible to all. Consider this: We calculate average speed by dividing distance by time — covering 80 miles in two hours gives 40 mph. But what does it mean to travel exactly 62 mph at 3 p.m., with no time elapsing at that instant? This course will explore such questions and more. While a basic understanding of first-year algebra can be helpful, no prior knowledge is required. Let’s have fun doing math together!
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- Completing Your Oregon Advance Directive – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE125A-1
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/28/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Joanne Kliejunas
We know we should have an up-to-date Advance Directive so that loved ones will know what healthcare we want if serious illness leaves us unable to make our own decisions. Still, you may not have one or yours may be outdated. This course will enable you to complete the revised 2021 OR AD to capture what will be important to you in the future. We’ll focus on selecting and preparing your all-important Health Care Representative and defining your wishes for prolonged care in nuanced cases of dementia and chronic disease, as well as for future end-of-life care. You’ll be able to complete the form and create addenda that may expand its value to you and your loved ones. Besides your engagement in class, you will need to devote time between our meetings to clarify your thinking and talk with your HCR. Are you ready to take advantage of this guidance to finally complete your AD? Your loved ones will be grateful!
NOTE: If you have a valid, legally executed AD that accurately reflects your wishes, you do not need to complete the 2021 version. If your current AD needs to be updated, you must use the revised 2021 form to do that. Your choice and preparation of a health care rep will be your first and most important work in developing your AD. Prepare for class by thinking about who you’d like to have speak for you. There are two in-person sections of this course offered.
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- Completing Your Oregon Advance Directive – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE125A-2
Dates: 2/17/2025 - 3/10/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Joanne Kliejunas
We know we should have an up-to-date Advance Directive so that loved ones will know what healthcare we want if serious illness leaves us unable to make our own decisions. Still, you may not have one or yours may be outdated. This course will enable you to complete the revised 2021 OR AD to capture what will be important to you in the future. We’ll focus on selecting and preparing your all-important Health Care Representative and defining your wishes for prolonged care in nuanced cases of dementia and chronic disease, as well as for future end-of-life care. You’ll be able to complete the form and create addenda that may expand its value to you and your loved ones. Besides your engagement in class, you will need to devote time between our meetings to clarify your thinking and talk with your HCR. Are you ready to take advantage of this guidance to finally complete your AD? Your loved ones will be grateful!
NOTE: If you have a valid, legally executed AD that accurately reflects your wishes, you do not need to complete the 2021 version. If your current AD needs to be updated, you must use the revised 2021 form to do that. Your choice and preparation of a health care rep will be your first and most important work in developing your AD. Prepare for class by thinking about who you’d like to have speak for you. There are two in-person sections of this course offered.
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- Cut-up Poetry – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS112A
Dates: 2/6/2025 - 2/27/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Sallie Ehrman
Would you rather play Scrabble than Monopoly because you love the surprise of creating words from the letter tiles you choose? Magnify that joy and you’ll have the experience of cut-up poetry. All participants receive an assortment of pages from a variety of books that range from poetry to recipes to nonfiction texts on sewing or driving. Instead of choosing letter tiles, students pick words and phrases that speak to them from a page of text. Prompts and guidelines give students enough time to amass enough scraps to create a piece of writing. The juxtaposition available due to the different texts lends a certain nuance of magic to the creativity of the cut-up poem. Students may share their work with the class, but it’s not required.
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- Death with Dignity and Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE108A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 1/16/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 19
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: William Southworth
This course will examine Oregon’s legal options for a humane and dignified death at life’s end. The instructor is a physician and a MAID provider and consultant. Viewpoints of students who have moral reservations about MAID will be considered. In two 90-minute classroom sessions, lecture time will be minimized. Active student participation and questions will be encouraged. Vignettes of actual patients (anonymous) and death situations will be presented. Student reactions will be invited. Situations in which requests for MAID were unsuccessful will be mentioned, along with changes to the Oregon Death With Dignity Act to be proposed to the 2025 Legislature. Related topics will include elder suicide, why MAID is not legally a suicide, overlap with hospice care, and the right to refuse unwanted treatments. Voluntary stopping eating and drinking (VSED) may be discussed. Suggestions on how to find out if your doctor, clinic, or health care facility will support your request for MAID will be offered.
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- Determining Your Acting Type – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS322A-1
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 1/16/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 15
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Andrew Reilly
Learn how to work smarter rather than harder in furthering your acting career. Actors must concentrate their marketing efforts on roles for which they are best suited. The terms “leading man, leading lady, ingenue” are almost never mentioned in casting notices; however, gender, age, ethnicity, and occupation are nearly always specified. People’s jobs determine much of their lifestyle, wardrobe choices, and often their friends. In the first session, students will learn how to conduct a market survey to assess how others see them in order to determine their acting type, as well as to concentrate on auditioning for the roles for which they are best suited. In the second class, they will share the results of their market surveys with other class members, which will also serve as a networking event with other actors. In addition, students will learn where to get headshots taken and where to have them reproduced for marketing purposes.
NOTE: There are two in-person sections of this course offered, both on Thursdays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the first week of February.
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- Determining Your Acting Type – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS322A-2
Dates: 2/6/2025 - 2/13/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 15
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Andrew Reilly
Learn how to work smarter rather than harder in furthering your acting career. Actors must concentrate their marketing efforts on roles for which they are best suited. The terms “leading man, leading lady, ingenue” are almost never mentioned in casting notices; however, gender, age, ethnicity, and occupation are nearly always specified. People’s jobs determine much of their lifestyle, wardrobe choices, and often their friends. In the first session, students will learn how to conduct a market survey to assess how others see them in order to determine their acting type, as well as to concentrate on auditioning for the roles for which they are best suited. In the second class, they will share the results of their market surveys with other class members, which will also serve as a networking event with other actors. In addition, students will learn where to get headshots taken and where to have them reproduced for marketing purposes.
NOTE: There are two in-person sections of this course offered, both on Thursdays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the first week of February.
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- End of Life Preparation - Part 1 – In-Person (Hybrid)
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This course will explore healthy preparation for end-of-life planning. Each of the sessions will be led by an expert on the different aspects of end-of-life preparation and palliative and hospice care. This course will use an informational format with ample time for discussion and questions. Topics will include: 1) importance of end-of-life planning and communicating with those important in your life; 2) importance of caregiver health, support, and use of resources during this difficult time. There will be a tour of Celia’s House in Medford during this 90-minute session; and 3) discussing hospice, palliative, and home care and the use of these services during this period of life. This course is open to any student who wishes to gain an important understanding in preparing for this phase of life. The students should be prepared to share their experiences. This is the first of two courses on the subject of end-of-life care.
NOTE: Students should be open to sharing their experiences, concerns, and worries about the subject.
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- End of Life Preparation - Part 2 – In-Person (Hybrid)
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This three-session course will focus on important services and support one can receive when providing end-of-life care. Each of the three hourly sessions will be led by an expert on the different services and support options that are available during this difficult period. The course will use an informational format with ample time for discussion and questions. Topics will include: 1) stages of dying and the process individuals and families go through, 2) the role of spiritual and self-care, and 3) bereavement support and the value of recognizing grief. During these sessions, we will also focus on caregiver guilt and identifying ways to enhance caregiver self-care. This course is open to any student who wishes to gain an important understanding in preparing for this phase of life. This is the second of two courses on end-of-life care.
NOTE: Students may take Part 1 or Part 2 or both courses.
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- English Country Dance – In-Person
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Item Number: W25MOV105A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 3/12/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 40
Building: DanceSpace
Room: 280 E Hersey Street, #10, Ashland
Instructor: Brooke Friendly
From lyrical to lively, silly to sublime, English country dance dates from the 1600s. Discover dances of Jane Austen’s time as well as newly composed dances. Learn about the cultural aspects and history of this joyful living tradition as you enjoy moving to beautiful music. This is an "on-your-feet" and social class. No partner necessary.
NOTE: Please bring clean-soled, non-marking shoes and a water bottle. A waiver must be signed prior to the first class.
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- Enjoy German! – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LANG100A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 3/12/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Udo Gorsch-Nies
This is a previously taught course with new content. This course aims at broadening a student’s vocabulary and understanding of the day-to-day German spoken today. The etymology of certain words will be discussed, and the rules of grammar will be explained on request. This term, we will read the author’s memoirs referring to the events in 1991 and later.
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- Estate Planning: Wills and Trusts – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE144A-1
Dates: 1/10/2025 - 1/24/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Scott Bucy
This course will be taught in-person and offer a general knowledge of the basics of trusts, wills, powers of attorney, advanced health care directives, the probate process, and trust administration. In addition, it will touch on guardianships and conservatorships as well as some elder law. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the law, particularly as it might pertain to their individual legal needs, thus greatly increasing their capacity to make wiser decisions for themselves and their families. Participants come with their own unique situation, and they should think honestly about what their goals are and what they would like to accomplish by the end. Understanding the estate planning process is the most effective way to navigate the direction of their legal needs comfortably, completely, and with a deeper understanding of how their goals align with the law. Students do not need to have any prior knowledge of the topic.
NOTE: There are two in-person sections of this course offered, both on Fridays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the third week of February.
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- Estate Planning: Wills and Trusts – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE144A-2
Dates: 2/21/2025 - 3/7/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Scott Bucy
This course will be taught in-person and offer a general knowledge of the basics of trusts, wills, powers of attorney, advanced health care directives, the probate process, and trust administration. In addition, it will touch on guardianships and conservatorships as well as some elder law. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the law, particularly as it might pertain to their individual legal needs, thus greatly increasing their capacity to make wiser decisions for themselves and their families. Participants come with their own unique situation, and they should think honestly about what their goals are and what they would like to accomplish by the end. Understanding the estate planning process is the most effective way to navigate the direction of their legal needs comfortably, completely, and with a deeper understanding of how their goals align with the law. Students do not need to have any prior knowledge of the topic.
NOTE: There are two in-person sections of this course offered, both on Fridays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the third week of February.
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- Exploring Nearby Winter Trails on X-Country Skis – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC303A
Dates: 1/15/2025 - 2/19/2025
Times: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 10
Building: Field Trip
Room: Field Trip
Instructor: Moondance Forest
Explore nearby winter trails with Moondance Forest, an avid cross-country skier. The group will meet at a Sno-Park close to Ashland each week. The first class will be at the Campbell Center. We’ll assess everyone’s understanding, check all gear, and get logistics for meeting on the mountain. This is not a beginner course, and students must be familiar with the activity and be aware of their physical abilities. Students must have their own gear or secure rentals. Slowing down will be encouraged, along with enjoying the scenery, breathing, releasing ambition, and always reducing effort. We’ll practice getting up and down from the ground, discuss the “buddy system,” and learn from each participant. Cross-country skiing is a wonderful way to feel your entire being while breathing the crisp mountain air and viewing Mount McLaughlin in the distance. If snow or weather conditions are unfavorable, we’ll hike the ski trail or reschedule.
NOTE: A seasonal Sno-Park pass for a car is $25 for November to April. A waiver must be signed at the first class for continued participation. The first session of this course on Wednesday, January 15, will be at the Campbell Center in Room B.
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- Faulkner Stories – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIT304A
Dates: 1/10/2025 - 2/21/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 7
Maximum Enrollment: 18
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Sharon Dean
In his 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, William Faulkner spoke about the writer’s duty and privilege to remind us of “courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice.” From the iconic “A Rose for Emily” to the lesser known “Two Soldiers” to the challenging “The Bear,” we will read a dozen of Faulkner’s stories and discuss how they make these abstractions concrete. Some of the stories may make us laugh, some may make us cry, some may make us uncomfortable with how they capture the racism that was endemic in Faulkner’s South. This class will challenge us to understand Faulkner’s attitudes about race in the context of his fiction that exposes racism and its complicated legacy.
NOTE: Required: “Faulkner: Stories” (Library of America, ed. Theresa M. Towner, 2023). This edition is available only in hardcover. It is also the only one that contains all the pieces we’ll discuss. You can order a copy at Bloomsbury Books or a new or used copy from online sources.
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- Free the Feet, Ankles, Toes, and Legs – In-Person
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Item Number: W25MOV139A
Dates: 1/13/2025 - 2/24/2025
Times: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 11
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Moondance Forest
In this course, we will explore the structure and primary movements of the feet, ankles, toes, and legs and how they are connected to the entire skeleton. Each class features an exercise, or “lesson,” involving gentle movements done slowly with minimal effort, while paying attention to one’s own personal experience. Students will determine how big, how fast, or how “well” they do the exercises as they are guided through enjoyable sequences, exploring and discovering ways of moving with spontaneity and awareness. These exercises are safe, fun puzzles for the nervous system and brain, designed to help students remember, learn, and create new patterns of behavior. This course is ideal for all ages and abilities and participants will be involved in their own process of learning. Students will increase their balance, turn more easily, and reduce tension as they adjust and move with more comfort and ease. It is beneficial to repeat this course.
NOTE: A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Fun with Russian – In-Person
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This highly interactive, informal class will give you a chance to improve your Russian. We will use a minimum of English, and repeat and contextualize Russian so that everyone understands and can respond in Russian. Grammar will be discussed only as needed, as our focus will be on using Russian. The free online textbook, “Mezhdu Nami,” provides some materials, along with a selection of short readings, songs, and poems.
NOTE: We don’t expect students with fluent Russian. Experience shows that some students struggle with pronunciation, some with cases, and some with the Cyrillic alphabet. For the latter, our course, Cyrillic: An Introduction, is recommended.
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- Fundamentals of Investing – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE122A
Dates: 2/11/2025 - 3/4/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Kenji Bleicker
In this mostly lecture course, we’ll cover the basics of stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative investments before moving on to address how to combine various asset classes into a diversified portfolio. Investment vehicles such as mutual funds and exchange traded funds will also be discussed, as well as passive versus active investing, market timing, investor behavior, socially responsible investing, and tax considerations. While no specific stocks, bonds, funds, or other means to invest will be recommended, by the end of the course students will have the tools to either do their own investing or to be able to evaluate what their advisor is doing. No prior investing experience is required; there will be some class discussion and home assignments.
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- Fungi: The Mysterious Kingdom – In-Person
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Item Number: W25NAT304A
Dates: 1/23/2025 - 2/27/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 78
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: John Kloetzel
Our general encounters with fungi can be positive, as in foods (mushrooms or yeast in cooking/brewing) or negative, as in diseases (athlete’s foot; leaf molds and other plant pests). Yet the importance of this major kingdom of life is so much more than this. Recent popular explorations of fungi (Merlin Sheldrake’s “Entangled Life,” “Finding the Mother Tree,” the Louie Schwartzberg documentary “Fantastic Fungi”) have stimulated a growing public interest in fungi. This course, primarily lectures with directed discussion, will serve as an introduction to these organisms. Topics will include: What is a fungus? How many kinds are there? Where are they found? What are their lifestyles? How do they reproduce? What roles do fungi play in the environment? How do fungi interact with living plants and animals (from symbioses to diseases)? New terms need to be understood (hyphae, mycelia, mycorrhizae) as we venture into this mysterious kingdom living mostly beneath our feet.
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- Grand Lodges of the National Parks – In-Person
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This course is intended for anyone interested in visiting the national parks and learning about the great lodges that were built to attract tourists to these national treasures. There are 15 great lodges — built between 1910 and 1938 — still operating. The course will look at the history of the lodges, their architecture, their amenities, their special features, and their relationship to the parks. Each class will include some history of the related national parks but will focus on how the lodges meld with this history. The instructors will provide tips on how to plan your visits and optimize your adventure based on their personal experiences visiting each of these lodges. The course will consist of a series of lectures supported by slide-show presentations highlighting photography of the lodges and national parks.
NOTE: There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Gutenberg to TikTok: Media History and Its Impact – In-Person
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Item Number: W25HIST305A
Dates: 1/6/2025 - 3/10/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 8
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Phil Meyer (he/him/his)
In 2020, the average U.S. consumer spent seven hours and 50 minutes consuming media daily, up 15 minutes from 2019, with 58% of respondents saying that their total media consumption had grown. Most people know very little about the history of media or its economic and societal impacts. Over eight 60-minute classes, students will learn about the evolution of media from the invention of the printing press to everyone having a world of information in the palm of their hand. No prior knowledge is required. No assignments outside of class. No required reading. Topics to be covered include: the origins of print, radio, TV, social media and the size of their audiences; how different types of media generate income; how media is or is not regulated; news vs. journalism; commercial vs. noncommercial media; an attempt to forecast what might be in the future for media. Discussion and interaction will be encouraged, but the course will not be about blame, anger, grievance, opinions, or entertainment.
NOTE: There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day; there is no class on Monday, February 17, in observance of Presidents Day.
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- Hawks! – In-Person
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Item Number: W25NAT135A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/21/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Dick Ashford
These fascinating creatures have captured our imaginations in ways that few other bird groups do; easily seen (but tough to identify), they push our primal poetic buttons. This course is a PowerPoint presentation with lecture and discussion that will examine the natural history of diurnal raptors — what makes a hawk a hawk, anyhow? There is more than one answer! Topics will include taxonomy, anatomy, and the raptorial lifestyle that defines these beautiful animals, as well as investigations into hawks’ relationship with humans. This is not a course in identification, but at the end of the course you are guaranteed to be a hawk enthusiast!
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- Hollywood Movies and Behind-the-Scenes Hijinks – In-Person
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Get ready to sneak onto the set of several recent movie hits such as “The Help,” “Barbie,” and the much lauded “La La Land” and see what really goes on during the making of a film. The course offers an overview of the movie-making machinery and its many facets from someone who has spent decades as a still photographer in the film industry. Still images taken by the instructor will be shown and discussed, with some references to the books from which the films were derived. These presentations are designed to be educational, enriching, and most of all, entertaining. Be sure to bring along your sense of humor!
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- Hot News & Cool Views – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25SOC140A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Rick Vann
Hot News & Cool Views is an open discussion forum to explore and discuss breaking news from Oregon to “around the globe” each week. All differing views and opinions are not only welcome but essential to create the lively discussion in the group. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from politics to climate change, to technology, medicine, and more. An agenda with articles will be sent to you a couple of days prior to each class. Students are encouraged to send in topics and news articles to add to each week’s agenda and our discussion. Please join us for a sizzling hot journey around the world with our fast, fun, and sometimes controversial class! Better than a strong cup of coffee to get your week going!
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- Indigenous Genocide and US Military Imperialism – In-Person
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Item Number: W25HIST307A
Dates: 1/23/2025 - 2/27/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Daniel Guy
Learn a more truthful version of American history with open primary historical sources, including settler violence against indigenous people in the 1637 Pequot genocide; Wounded Knee in 1890; militarist imperialism and the killing of brown skinned Morro (Muslim) women and children on the Island of Jolo in the Philippines in 1906; and My Lai, Vietnam, in 1968. Art; first-person testimony; prose and poetry by Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and Daniel Ellsberg; as well as vintage photography reveal the dark side of our glorious national story. A small class size will allow for thoughtful discussion.
NOTE: This course covers sensitive material that some may find disturbing.
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- Introduction to Ceramics – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS325A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 1/30/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 6
Building: Talent Maker City
Room: 109 Talent Avenue, Talent
Instructor: Lisa Shinohara
In this beginning ceramics course, students will be introduced to the beauty of clay. They will learn and explore coil building, slab construction, pinching, and basic wheel-throwing techniques. Using this know-how, students will create functional and decorative clay pieces while exploring the various ways to form and manipulate clay. Instructors will focus on different building techniques each week. The course will likely be divided into two weeks of hand-building and two weeks of wheel-throwing. A variety of glazing and surface decoration techniques will be introduced as well. By the end of this course, students will be able to independently create pieces. Specific techniques and lessons will vary, depending on student interest.
NOTE: There is a fee of $20 materials cost per student.
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- Introduction to Design: From Pencil to Print – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS326A
Dates: 2/6/2025 - 2/27/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 6
Building: Talent Maker City
Room: 109 Talent Avenue, Talent
Instructor: Lisa Shinohara
Students will learn foundational design basics, create their own designs, and then make designs come to life in the studio. This may include screen printing, laser engraving, and sticker decals. Participants will start with the design process and move to digital graphics applications as they advance their skills. This course covers all the basics, from design process to printing. Students will get hands-on experience with producing their own custom designs using different techniques, guided by Talent Maker City instructors. This is a safe and supportive environment for individuals to learn and advance their creative skills. The goal is to build relationships and collaborate, experiment, value unexpected challenges, and problem-solve. Most important, the goal is to keep learning, growing, improving, and celebrating success.
NOTE: There is a fee of $20 materials cost per student.
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- Introduction to Tai Chi for Health and Longevity – In-Person
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Item Number: W25MOV304A
Dates: 1/13/2025 - 2/24/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 11
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Moondance Forest
Learn a complete tai chi form for health and longevity that you can do anywhere and that is adaptable for all ages, body types, and abilities. No previous experience is necessary. Reduce pain and stress, improve balance, gain focus/concentration, find comfortable ways to move, and gain benefits from a 3,000-year-old Chinese movement form, tai chi. When students finish the six-week course, they will have three tools for dealing with change, transition, and life in general. Students will have the tai chi 17 form including movements from a Yang Short Form, so they will be prepared to study further if they wish. Students will have learned a sequence called Finished the Form, which they can use alone as a practice or as a warmup or cool-down for other practices. A basic knowledge of tai chi/martial arts and how to promote health and mind/body awareness will be obtained. Each time students take this previously offered course a deeper understanding of this lifelong practice is gained.
NOTE: A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Journey Between Your Heart and Soul — Enhanced – In-Person
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The purpose of this course is to be a personal incubator revealing discoveries of authentic self-awareness and unbiased truths preparing one to enter a new dimension of life. The course road map includes balancing your consciousness with the emotional side of life, understanding and engaging with your spiritual essence, gaining awareness of the key guidelines to living life with integrity, and identifying the facets of the psyche and how they work together. The course offers facilitated discussions focusing on a collection of short video clips by three world-renowned personal exploration authors as well as Ronnie Kaufman’s metaphysical concepts of appreciating the journey between your heart and soul. After viewing each video, open class discussions with the participants will ensue as they share, with no right or wrong answers, possible meanings of each one.
NOTE: All course content, including video clips, is online at JourneyBetween.org so participants can review any class material whenever they choose. Active class participation is encouraged, as it enhances outcomes for all participants. This class offers new information and an enhanced approach to presenting the class material compared to previous OLLI classes. Two separate sections of this course are offered, both on Wednesdays. One is at the Higher Education Center in Medford; the other is online.
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- “Julius Caesar”: Can We Make Rome Great Again? – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIT303A
Dates: 1/22/2025 - 2/19/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 52
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: Susan Stitham
Shakespeare’s characters, conflicts, and themes are as relevant to America today as they were to 17th-century England. Far from the boring slog so many of us recall from 10th grade, this play brilliantly poses deep moral questions of contemporary import — about leadership, power, idealism, pragmatism, egotism, and honor. It crackles with brilliant rhetoric used to shape public opinion in a bitterly divided country. The author examines the fine lines between facts and assumptions, duty and ambition, and confidence and arrogance. The personal tragedies of the main characters mirror the dilemma of their society in the moment of transformation from the remnants of a republic to an oligarchy. At the end of the play, we are left to decide whether the end justifies the means, whether political violence can ever make Rome — or anywhere else — great again. Through lecture and discussion, the class will examine these questions in a study of the text and a variety of productions.
NOTE: No previous knowledge of Shakespeare is required, but students should have access to a copy of the play. Two separate sections of this course are offered: one is held at the Campbell Center on Wednesdays; the other is held online on Thursdays.
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- Knitting for Beginners: Continental Style – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC306A
Dates: 1/10/2025 - 1/24/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 8
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Margaret Mallette
This class is for right- or left-handed absolute beginners, those who have tried knitting before but struggled with technique and tension, or for crocheters ready to try knitting. Starting from the basics, this class will teach a method for continental style knitting, also called German, European, or left-hand knitting. Students will learn to cast on, knit, purl, tink, frog, and bind off while knitting a series of beginner-level coasters or dishcloths.
NOTE: Materials: Knitting needles and other tools will be available to use for the duration of the class, and yarn used for the beginner projects will be provided.
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- Lesbian Culture and Relationships, 1970–Present – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25SOC309A
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 3/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 8
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: LauRose Felicity
This course brings to life lesbian community, culture, and relationships, from the 1970s lesbian feminist movement to the present. Particular emphasis will be on the impact of economic class and race on lesbians’ relationships and the preservation of their viewpoints from all sources. Topics will include the “first” achievements in the community to today. Some of these include women's and lesbians’ music festivals, dance and theater groups, music promotion companies, land communities, and Oregon writers’ groups and journals. We will also discuss the women in print movement, women’s health movement, and women in business and professions. Finally, we will learn about legal reforms for lesbian families. We will use writings, art, music, video, lecture, and drama from academic and popular sources. There may be guest lectures by lesbian authors, land community members, artists or musicians.
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- Living a Guided Life: From Theory to Practice – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25PERS311A
Dates: 2/20/2025 - 3/13/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 21
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Dan Altman
People who consistently thrive have stumbled across the ability to tap into a deeper level of the mind — the living intelligence behind life itself. This happens for some people when taking walks in nature, playing with their pets, or sipping coffee in a cafe. These people have realized that the important questions in life are answered from beyond the intellect. This deeper intelligence is available to everyone. In class we will watch short, engaging videos from contemporary 3 Principles teachers, including Michael Neill, Dicken Bettinger, and the founder of this work, Sydney Banks. During the third week of the class, students will receive a daily brief video designed to spark the actual experience of living a guided life. There will be an optional open meeting that week for questions and discussions. In the final week, we will explore “Riding the Magic Carpet,” letting life carry us with guidance, grace, and magic. The guiding principles presented here have transformed the understanding and experience of life for many.
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- Make Multimedia eBooks: Your Words and Pictures – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS324A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 2/12/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 17
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Meri Walker
Are you an avid mobile photographer with a story to tell? All those pictures languishing in your iPhone deserve more than a one-time share on social media. Why not curate some of them, wrap them in a simple story, and turn them into a visually rich eBook you can publish and distribute through the Apple Bookstore, to the people who matter most to you: your family, friends, and colleagues … and maybe a wider audience? If you have an Apple iPhone, an iPad Pro, and/or Mac laptop and are ready to learn some simple chops, this class will equip you to use simple IOS creation tools to turn an album of your photos, and some short text (and even some sound and/or video clips, if you like) into a beautiful eBook portfolio you can publish and distribute through the Apple Bookstore. The instructor will guide class participants through the ins and outs of using two Apple-based apps that make it easier than you might think to collect your photos and words into beautiful page layouts.
NOTE: Participants need a late-model iPhone (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) and either an iPad Pro (3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th generation) or an up-to-date Mac laptop to make good use of this course. Earlier models of iPhone, iPad, or iPad Air will NOT work for this course. The only cost will be buying the app, PhotoSync - Transfer Photos, from the Apple App Store. It can be bought once and then loaded on both an iPhone and iPad and then, with the proof of purchase, you can download it for your Mac computer.
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- Mexico, Anglo-America, and the Places In-Between – In-Person
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Item Number: W25SOC307A
Dates: 2/6/2025 - 2/27/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: William Hering
In 1845, the northern boundary of Mexico lay just a dozen miles from today’s SOU campus. In the Mexican-American War, the United States conquered roughly half of Mexico, moving the border more than 600 miles to the south. Ever since then, both countries have lived with a muddled memory of this experience. The border has moved over people, and people have moved across the border. In fact, the two countries’ populations, economies, and political histories are so closely interrelated that we may meaningfully ask, “Where does one country end and the other begin?” This course is a lecture series (with extended time for discussion) presented by SOU faculty who have explored this historical and cultural middle ground from a wide range of academic perspectives. It brings together Chicano literature, Spanish literature, history, and anthropology professors to examine the complex relationships between the U.S. and Mexico and among the people and places that belong to both worlds.
NOTE: The faculty presenters are: Alma Rosa Álvarez, “The History and Politics of Chicano Identity”; Enrique Chacón, “Ambiguous Border: The Representations of the U.S.-Mexico in Film”; Sean McEnroe, “The Imagined Communities of the Mexican-American War”; Mark Axel Tveskov, “The Archaeology of the Battle of Buena, 1847: La Angostura and the Construction of Manifest Destiny.”
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- Musical Scales and Modes – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS320A
Dates: 1/27/2025 - 2/24/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 78
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: John Johnson
How do you recognize Middle Eastern music as Middle Eastern, Chinese music as Chinese, Flamenco music as Flamenco, and so on? Classical and popular music compositions have different, distinct sounds. You can easily recognize the “major” (Ionian) and “minor” (Aeolian) modes, but composers have used other scales and modes. The best way to feel these modes is to hum or sing the scales and chords, and you will have the opportunity to do this in unison with your classmates. The singing-impaired are encouraged to sign up. Musicians are also encouraged to sign up, but be warned you may be bored silly when the course covers some basic ideas and the instructor co-opts you when he needs help. The course will consist mainly of lectures using PowerPoint presentations, supplemented with sounds from the piano, computer files, and illustrations of modes and scales from the internet. Questions are always encouraged at any time!
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- Old Time Radio – In-Person
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Old Time Radio will sample some of the greatest radio shows from the Golden Age of Radio, including “The Lone Ranger,” “The Six Shooter,” “Fibber McGee and Molly,” “Jack Benny,” “Our Miss Brooks,” “Dragnet,” “Philip Marlowe,” “Richard Diamond,” “Sam Spade,” and the suspenseful “The Hitchhiker” and “Sorry, Wrong Number.” Genres include detective, adventure, comedy, horror and westerns. Before each show the instructor will give a brief summary of the history of the show and its writers and actors. After listening to each episode, there will be some time for students to offer their opinions.
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- OLLI at SOU Leadership Academy – In-Person
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Have you ever wondered what it takes to offer nearly 300 courses a year, support over 165 volunteer instructors, run an Open House and other events, as well as govern our organization and chart the future? Are you looking for ways to give back to and engage in the Southern Oregon/Northern California community? The answer to those questions: OLLI volunteers. In this three-session academy, here’s your chance to find out what makes OLLI tick! You will learn more about how OLLI at SOU works with specific focus on leadership and volunteer opportunities. The academy will cover the national history of OLLI and OLLI at SOU; the descriptions and responsibilities of our leadership opportunities; and a deep dive into those opportunities with presentations from current and former leaders. All participants will receive a binder of the key documents presented during the lectures.
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- Organizing and Sharing Digital Photos Using iCloud – In-Person
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Item Number: W25STEM136A
Dates: 1/10/2025 - 2/7/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Neal Strudler
This course is designed to help participants take, organize, store, edit, and share digital photos and videos. Emphasis will be on using Apple Photos on the iPhone, Mac, and iCloud. Participants will learn to manage iCloud settings; store and share photos and videos; perform basic edits; play and modify memories; set up albums and slideshows; search and organize photos by person, location, and activities; trim live photos, bursts, and videos; and remove duplicate photos. Privacy and security issues will also be discussed. Participants should be able to use Zoom for video conferencing and have a basic comfort taking digital photos, accessing the web, and using online applications.
NOTE: Two separate sections of this course are offered: one is held at the Campbell Center of Fridays; one is held online on Thursdays.
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- Overcoming Fear with Truth – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS238A
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 2/11/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 19
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Mark Gibson
In this highly interactive Q-and-A wisdom-sharing experience, students will learn how to use self-inquiry tools to recognize and replace destructive, fear-based limitations with positive, truth-based self-confidence. Emphasis will be placed on assisting participants to distinguish the difference between destructive irrational fears from life-enhancing rational fears. Students will explore topics such as minimizing feelings of vulnerability, guilt, and shame while strengthening accountability, personal integrity, and fearless heartfelt willingness to give and receive more love. Students will learn to use mental tools that help silence the pain-inducing inner critic so that you can consciously enrich your life with affirming constructive energy and love from your essence. The course will focus on the benefits that can be enjoyed by learning to replace irrational fear with truth, thereby empowering overlooked personal potentials and commitment to living more fulfilling lives.
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- Paracord Braiding – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC307A-1
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 1/22/2025
Times: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Peggy Foster
Let your personality show with a custom hand-braided dog collar or dog leash or craft a survival bracelet that allows you to wear your emergency rope. Paracord is used in parachutes but has evolved into a variety of colors that can be braided with various techniques that we’ll explore in this course. Students must provide their own cord and buckets for their project, and registered students will be sent a supply list prior to the first class. The cost will depend on the project you choose to make.
NOTE: There are two in-person sections of this course being offered, both on Wednesdays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the last week of January.
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- Paracord Braiding – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC307A-2
Dates: 1/29/2025 - 2/12/2025
Times: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Peggy Foster
Let your personality show with a custom hand-braided dog collar or dog leash or craft a survival bracelet that allows you to wear your emergency rope. Paracord is used in parachutes but has evolved into a variety of colors that can be braided with various techniques that we’ll explore in this course. Students must provide their own cord and buckets for their project, and registered students will be sent a supply list prior to the first class. The cost will depend on the project you choose to make.
NOTE: There are two in-person sections of this course being offered, both on Wednesdays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the last week of January.
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- Physics for Nonphysicists: Basic Ideas in Physics – In-Person
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Item Number: W25STEM113A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 78
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: John Johnson
How do physicists think about physical problems? How do things move? How do things interact? What are things made of? What about gravity, electricity and magnetism, elementary particles, physical astronomy, and cosmology? The answers to these and other exciting questions will be revealed when the curtain is lifted and, hopefully, all is illuminated. As much time as necessary will be devoted to your questions. There are no dumb questions; we are all in this together. We will try to cover all the topics, but we will go as slowly as needed to ensure all your questions are addressed. Remember, if you have a question, the probability is high that other students have the same question. The course will be taught using PowerPoint presentations and other visual and audio material.
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- Pickleball Round Robin FUNdamentals – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC305A
Dates: 1/29/2025 - 2/26/2025
Times: 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 19
Building: Lithia Park Pickleball Courts
Room: Winburn Way, Ashland
Instructor: Cori Frank
This fun and active class is designed for pickleball players who understand and play the game. There will be two classes of three hours each at Lithia Park’s four upper courts. The round-robin is a structured form of pickleball play organized by skill level. Players will learn format, partnering, stacking (when and how to), what hand signals mean and when to use them, types of scoring, and byes. Different types of rally scoring will be introduced versus traditional scoring, along with when you may utilize each and why. We will cover the different types of pickleballs and details of timing used in round-robin events. Players will experience the application of the information learned as they participate in the round-robin and connect with their fellow players. We will play a minimum of six games and take a break between games at each class meeting.
NOTE: If you have mobility issues, this class may not be for you. There is a $3 charge for pickleballs payable to the instructor on the first day of class. All participants must sign a waiver on the first day of class. Plan to wear court shoes and a hat or visor and bring a hydrating drink. Protective eyewear is recommended. Class will be canceled if there is inclement weather.
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- Playful Art II – In-Person
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Want to expand your creativity and have fun? Join us to experience joyful, easy art projects. Bring your imagination, an open mind, and a willingness to explore possibilities. You may be surprised by what you produce in this four-session course. We will offer new ideas and techniques that are different from what was presented in the course Playful Art for Everyone I. Together, we’ll complete exercises in: abstracts, all over composition, collage, and word art. We will provide a sketchbook for each student; cardstock paper; watercolor paper; and some pens, pencils, markers, and magazines for use during class. No experience is needed, and participation in the course Playful Art for Everyone I is not a prerequisite.
NOTE: A contribution of $5 is due at the first class to offset our costs for the sketchbook, paper, copies, and other supplies. Students will be asked to bring some basic supplies. That information will be outlined for registered students in the pre-course email.
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- Revisionist Video History of Western Civilization – In-Person
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This course will view and discuss Raoul Peck’s video series, “Exterminate All the Brutes.” This series has been called a “revisionist” history of Western Civilization. Peck was interviewed on “Democracy Now” when the series was first released. He is also the director of “I Am Not Your Negro,” a documentary on James Baldwin. Participants will be expected to watch each episode in class, followed by guided, civil discussion. No prior knowledge or outside reading is required. The content to be discussed is primarily the question of the origin, history, and continuity of genocidal practices in the West, and the suppression of those practices in official historical narratives. At the present time “revisionist” histories have come under attack. It is hoped that in this class students will come to see why such “revisionist” histories are an essential part of our education. As James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
NOTE: This course covers controversial material that some may find disturbing.
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- Rubens' Art of Persuasion – In-Person
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Peter Paul Rubens, in his vibrant oil paintings, defended his faith, his profession, his business — and quite a few paying clients. This course will consider how his majestic altarpieces tied Catholic dogma to deeply felt human experience; how the Greek and Roman subjects of his history paintings put him forward as a gentleman rather than a craftsman; and how he designed for widely distributed prints, both to establish his value as an art consultant and dealer, and to defend copyright. His work, imagining various crowned heads at their most noble and worthy, not only supported their politics but earned him princely commissions. Each class lecture will be heavily illustrated, with time for questions and discussion. The course will touch on Rubens' Marie de Medici cycle, but not in the detail of my previous OLLI course on that subject.
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- Sanskrit Chanting for the Love of It – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS304A
Dates: 2/5/2025 - 3/12/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 21
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Peggy Leviton
Research shows amazing benefits — physical, mental, and spiritual — of chanting in Sanskrit. Emphasis on Sanskrit pronunciation and phonetics enhances our experience. Even as Westerners, we can realize the many benefits of chanting in this rich traditional Vedic language from Bangalore, India. A brief overview of the Vedas will be followed by learning Sanskrit phonetics using IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration). Familiar English/Roman characters are used to help us produce sounds unfamiliar to Westerners. Each week we will review phonetics, then delve in further as we learn and chant simple mantras together. Slide presentations and handouts will be provided. This is an experiential course. Chanting is not singing and does not require any musicality. Sanskrit chanting is for everyone! No prior knowledge is required, only willingness to learn and be open to this beautiful practice.
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- Sapiens: From the Age of Science to the Modern Age – In-Person
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Item Number: W25HIST201A
Dates: 1/21/2025 - 2/18/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Bob Wetmore
This course explores the history of Homo sapiens as our species emerged from the Middle Ages and embarked on the age of science, exploration, and conquest of the New World (about 1500). We end up with sapiens in the world of AI and biotech. We consider: Where have sapiens been? Where are we going? What is our place in the cosmic setting? This course is a continuation of the course in the fall, which brought the story through the hunter-gatherer period and the invention of agriculture, but attendance at the earlier course is not a prerequisite. The course is conceived as a deep dive into history involving archaeology, economics, astrophysics, and philosophy. To make the subject manageable, there will be a template, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” by the Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari. To help us along, we will hear directly from noted scholars, scientists, and thinkers. The predominant mode of presentation in this lecture course will be PowerPoint and videos.
NOTE: Students should have a copy of Harari’s book, as critical weekly readings will be assigned.
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- Self-Discovery Through Artistic Expression – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS306A
Dates: 2/4/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 10
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Daya Jaggers
This course will introduce you to the new social art known as generative scribing: a collaborative group art activity with no artistic background requirements. New on the scene, it is quickly building a reputation as a compassionate form of self-expression through listening without judgment and putting pen and artwork onto paper. Generative scribing invites true cognitive potential that includes broad-perspective viewing, expanded insight, and new realization possibility. These deeper states of self-awareness can support self-healing and encourage interpersonal relationship bonding. Sequence of activities in generative scribing include group grounding, optional prompts, time frames for scribing and drawing, and engaging in sharing each individual’s expressive art piece. Come join in this unique cutting-edge artist group activity!
NOTE: Students supply their own art paper and pencil/pen/markers in a variety of colors. "Your Brain on Art" by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross is optional reading.
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- Seven Simple Practices for Living in Wonder – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS307A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 2/19/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 7
Maximum Enrollment: 13
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Beata Chapman
Interested in cultivating a mind full of wonder? In this class, you will learn and use seven rich, beloved practices adapted from Zen Buddhism (but not limited to its practice) for being alive in the moments of your ordinary day and drawing on mundane moments to cultivate wonder-mind. Through sharing experiences, dialogue, and applying the practices in your everyday life, you will end the course fully prepared to build upon your class experiences — you may find yourself living in wonder! No prior knowledge or experience is needed for this course. All are welcome!
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- Sex Education: Factors Influencing Sexual Identity – In-Person
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Item Number: W25STEM308A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 1/16/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 19
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Mary Ellen Gordian
This course will teach about the development of sexual organs in humans and the known factors that can influence that development. It will identify human conditions known to affect the appearance of the external sexual organs at birth and at puberty. The genetics of sexual presentation will be discussed, as well as maternal conditions and environmental factors that can affect the presentation at birth. Embryological development will also be presented. The implications of this information will be discussed and some of the fallacies of current political thought will be noted. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and share information. The instructional method will be lecture with a PowerPoint presentation. Citations from medical literature will be available. A basic understanding of biology and genetics at high school level will be assumed for students.
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- Small Group Personal Training for Active Agers – In-Person
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Item Number: W25MOV305A-1
Dates: 1/6/2025 - 1/13/2025
Times: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 12
Building: Oak Street Dance Studio
Room: 1287 Oak Street, Ashland
Instructor: Elizabeth Morris
Add life to your years and years to your life! Enjoy small group personal training (no more than 12 in a class) that helps prevent and reverse physical declines associated with aging. Designed for active seniors, this two-session program focuses on muscle, cardio and bone health, brain health, and body awareness. This course will be presented twice this term with 12 people in each session. Each movement is modified (personalized) to accommodate movement limitations. The instructor will assess students, teach safe movement patterns, and provide each student with a personalized plan for continuing their training at home or the gym.
NOTE: All levels are welcome. However, participants must be able to get up off the floor unassisted. This course is not designed for students who already have significant balance challenges such as a history of falls or dizziness. Equipment will be provided. A waiver and a brief, confidential medical history must be signed prior to the first class. Class sessions are in a shoes-off facility. There are two in-person sections of this course offered, both on Mondays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the last week of January.
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- Small Group Personal Training for Active Agers – In-Person
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Item Number: W25MOV305A-2
Dates: 1/27/2025 - 2/3/2025
Times: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 12
Building: Oak Street Dance Studio
Room: 1287 Oak Street, Ashland
Instructor: Elizabeth Morris
Add life to your years and years to your life! Enjoy small group personal training (no more than 12 in a class) that helps prevent and reverse physical declines associated with aging. Designed for active seniors, this two-session program focuses on muscle, cardio and bone health, brain health, and body awareness. This course will be presented twice this term with 12 people in each session. Each movement is modified (personalized) to accommodate movement limitations. The instructor will assess students, teach safe movement patterns, and provide each student with a personalized plan for continuing their training at home or the gym.
NOTE: All levels are welcome. However, participants must be able to get up off the floor unassisted. This course is not designed for students who already have significant balance challenges such as a history of falls or dizziness. Equipment will be provided. A waiver and a brief, confidential medical history must be signed prior to the first class. Class sessions are in a shoes-off facility. There are two in-person sections of this course offered, both on Mondays. The first starts the first week of the term; the second starts the last week of January.
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- Social Singing – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS318A
Dates: 2/5/2025 - 3/12/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Brooke Friendly
Singing together is one of the more joyful things in life. Come sing in an informal and interactive session, no matter your experience or skill. We’ll sing traditional songs with fine choruses and refrains — sea songs, work songs, drinking songs, love songs, shanties, silly songs, and easy rounds from the U.S., Canada, and England. Chorus tunes will be taught by ear, and all singing will be done acapella. Most chorus words will be provided.
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- Talking About Dying as if It Might Happen to Us – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE307A
Dates: 1/6/2025 - 2/17/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Joanne Kliejunas
Recognizing that most of us have few (if any) opportunities to talk — really talk — about dying, this course may be a remedy. Sensitive conversation will consume most of our time together. The instructor will invite students to suggest topics of interest before the course starts. Discussions will be framed with materials provided before each class meeting. We are likely to examine such topics as: death’s timing, quality of life, meaning and value, getting the care we prefer, aging, dementia, legacy, and our beliefs about death. TED Talks, articles, and books like “Being Mortal” may be used. The instructor’s intent is to prompt us to talk freely and meaningfully about this experience that is part of all our lives. All students will be expected to talk. Those interested in joining in these important, personal discussions need to commit to attend every one of our six meetings so that our conversations can deepen over our time together.
NOTE: Conversations in this in-person course will be deeply personal and confidential. This is best achieved, and the quality and content of discussions built upon, with consistent and reliable attendance. Students who know they will need to miss even one class should not enroll now. This course may be offered again in the future. There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Ten Classic Comedy Films, Part 4 – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS218A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 3/12/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Roy Sutton
This course will show 10 classic comedy films, starting with a silent film, “The Gold Rush,” with Charlie Chaplin (1925), and concluding with “A Fish Called Wanda,” with John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis (1988). The other eight are “Dinner at Eight,” “The Awful Truth,” “Buck Privates,” “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “No Time for Sergeants,” “The Graduate,” “Blazing Saddles,” and “Breaking Away.” A handout for each film will be made available the week before the showing of the film, except for the first film, for which the handout will be made available on the first day. The instructor will mention anything special to be noticed about each film just before it is shown, and students may offer comments or questions at that time. A guided discussion will follow after the end of the film. Students need bring nothing more than a desire to see these special comedy films that are true classics and still enjoyable no matter how many times one views them.
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- Ten Classic Musical Films, Part 4 – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS202A
Dates: 1/6/2025 - 3/10/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 9
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Roy Sutton
This course will show 10 classic musical films, starting with “The Blue Angel,” with Marlene Dietrich (1930) and concluding with “The King and I,” with Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner (1956). The other eight are “Love Me Tonight,” “Gold Diggers of 1933,” “A Night at the Opera,” “Show Boat,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “A Star Is Born,” and “Guys and Dolls.” A handout for each film will be made available the week before the showing of the film, except for the first film, for which the handout will be made available on the first day. The instructor will mention anything special to be noticed about each film just before it is shown, and students may offer comments or questions at that time. A guided discussion will follow the end of the film. Students need bring nothing more than a desire to see these special musical films that are true classics and still enjoyable no matter how many times one views them.
NOTE: There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- The 47th President and 119th Congress – In-Person
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Item Number: W25SOC305A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 3/13/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 35
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: David Runkel
The 47th president will be inaugurated on January 20, and two weeks earlier the 119th Congress will have been sworn in. The country could have a president and Congress of one political party, a president and a Congress of different parties, or a Congress with divided party majorities in the House and Senate. We will have lots to talk about, beginning with the results of the November election, the new president’s formation of a government leadership team, and the makeup and leaders of the House and Senate. Articles I and II of the Constitution will be reviewed, along with how those provisions have evolved over the past two centuries. Current issues will also be discussed. Students should have opinions to be shared and a respect for the views of others.
NOTE: There are two sections of this course offered: one is at the Campbell Center in Ashland; the other is at the Higher Education Center in Medford.
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- The 47th President and 119th Congress – In-Person
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The 47th president will be inaugurated on January 20, and two weeks earlier the 119th Congress will have been sworn in. The country could have a president and Congress of one political party, a president and a Congress of different parties, or a Congress with divided party majorities in the House and Senate. We will have lots to talk about, beginning with the results of the November election, the new president’s formation of a government leadership team, and the makeup and leaders of the House and Senate. Articles I and II of the Constitution will be reviewed, along with how those provisions have evolved over the past two centuries. Current issues will also be discussed. Students should have opinions to be shared and a respect for the views of others.
NOTE: There are two sections of this course offered: one is at the Campbell Center in Ashland; the other is at the Higher Education Center in Medford.
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- The Breath in Stress, Trauma, and Immunity – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25PERS310A
Dates: 1/22/2025 - 2/26/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 47
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Shawn Flot
This innovative six-week course bridges ancient wisdom with cutting-edge science, offering practical tools for enhanced well-being and life-changing skills. Learn how breathing unlocks your capacities for self-regulation, healing, and resilience. Explore calming and energizing practices, understanding their impact on your body-mind. Delve into breath’s crucial role in trauma, stress, and immune function. Discover the often-overlooked importance of nasal breathing for health. Through practice and evidence-based instruction, develop a personalized toolkit of breathing methods for various life situations, including stress relief, better sleep, improved focus, and enhanced physical performance. Join the journey to harness your breath’s potential. Emerge with a deeper understanding of your body-mind connection and practical strategies for lifelong health and resilience. No prior experience is necessary — just bring an open mind and willingness to explore.
NOTE: This is a practical course exploring the different dimensions of your breath and respiratory functions and is not a substitute for medical care of your conditions. You are responsible for your own participation, and a signed liability waiver is required.
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- The Evolutionary Psychology of Morality – In-Person
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Item Number: W25SOC321A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/18/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 7
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Dave Ferguson
Historically, morality has been studied as if it were a human invention. This has been the approach of philosophical thinking and writing in the field of ethics for over 2,000 years. Recently, however, biologists have been studying morality as an adaptation, attempting to discover how morality functions and how it evolved. We’ll examine five types of moral adaptation, all of which share a commonality: They enhance survivorship and reproductive success. Genetically based traits that enhance survivorship and reproduction will pass on copies of genes that produce those traits to their offspring. Over time, both the traits and the genes producing them will increase. Seven sessions cover 1) evolution and misconceptions, 2) genes and behavior, 3) Jonathan Haidt’s six dimensions of morality, 4) kin selection and caring, 5) reciprocal altruism and fairness, 6) groups and sanctity, and 7) hierarchy and liberty. Methods include readings, videos, lectures, and group discussions.
NOTE: “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt is the optional text for this course.
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- The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Survivor – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIT135A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 1/29/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Irv Lubliner
Felicia Bornstein Lubliner, a survivor of ghettos and concentration camps (Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen) in Nazi-occupied Poland, wrote and spoke publicly afterward about her Holocaust experiences. Her son, the course instructor, invites you to delve into her written stories and oral presentations, published as “Only Hope: A Survivor’s Stories of the Holocaust.” Each story will be read aloud, either by the instructor or by students who have the book. Participants will be invited to share their reactions, questions, and insights. We will discuss the historical context and lessons to be learned about that period, the universal human responses that the narratives evoke, and the relevance of the subject matter to challenges we face in modern times.
NOTE: Purchase of “Only Hope” is optional. It is available as a paperback book for $15.99, as a Kindle download for $5.99, and as an audiobook for $6.95.
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- The Music of Béla Bartók – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS121A
Dates: 2/11/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 63
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: Tony Davis
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), whose symphonic and chamber music is still widely performed, was a leading composer of the first half of the 20th century. A convinced modernist, his musical inspiration nonetheless stems equally from the vanishing world of traditional Balkan folk music--which he was one of the first to document for the wider world. In the five sessions of this course, we’ll explore his lyrical and original voice as expressed in works such as Concerto for Orchestra, “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta,” his piano concertos, and his six masterful string quartets.
NOTE: Listening to some of the music outside of class is encouraged but not required. Chamber Music Concerts in Ashland is presenting Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3 in 2025. Some online videos are available to enhance class sessions as well. Familiarity with classical music and its terminology will be helpful but is not necessary.
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- “The Odyssey” Through a Female Lens – In-Person
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Since its appearance in the 8th century BCE, “The Odyssey” has always been profoundly entertaining, a fascinating tale that illuminates the human condition in multiple ways. In our lifetimes, though, it had settled into the male-generated “canon” of Western literature most of us experienced only in school. When Emily Wilson’s translation appeared in 2017, the first in English by a woman, it kindled an excitement well beyond the classroom. What might be revealed about the world of the poem — and thus about our own world — when it was re-created with a scholar’s precision but with a female sensitivity about what and who matters? We will explore together “The Odyssey” in Wilson’s translation and, hopefully, “arrive where we started/ And know the place for the first time.”
NOTE: “The Odyssey,” translated by Emily Wilson, is a required text. Because the course will be almost entirely discussion, students will be expected to read the assigned portions prior to each class.
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- The Oxford Book of French Short Stories – In-Person
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Welcome to Part I of “The Oxford Book of French Short Stories” (in English translation). Spanning the centuries from the late 18th to the late 20th, the collection opens with a rambunctious tale from the Marquis de Sade, then proceeds to take on the masters of the 19th century, from Stendhal and Balzac to Maupassant, and reaches to Quebec, Africa, and the French Caribbean. Women writers include relatively well-known figures such as Renee Vivien, Colette, and Beauvoir, and newer writers such as Assia Djebar, Christiane Baroche, and Annie Saumont. Before each session, students will read three or four designated stories, which will then be discussed in a comfortable inclusive classroom setting. We will only be covering only the first 15 stories. The final stories, Part II, are planned to be covered in the winter of 2026. The French short story is a rich and diverse medium, but all the stories selected share a common characteristic: They will make this class exciting and fun!
NOTE: A copy of “The Oxford Book of French Short Stories,” edited by Elizabeth Fallaize, is required. New and used versions are available online with used versions priced at about $8.
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- The Pig War – In-Person
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Item Number: W25HIST304A
Dates: 2/27/2025 - 3/13/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: James Cannon
Would you believe a pig almost changed the course of American history? When a potato-loving British pig was shot by an American settler in 1859, the resulting dispute set loose simmering passions that very nearly led to war between the United States and Great Britain, just as America was on the eve of the Civil War. This course will examine competing territorial claims to the Pacific Northwest and how imprecise language in the Oregon Treaty of 1846 resulted in disputed ownership of the San Juan Islands. Besides covering the conflicting claims to the San Juan Islands, the course will examine: the mutually provocative actions of the U.S. Army and the Hudson’s Bay Co.; and how the disputes (including the pig shooting) were eventually settled; the controversial actions and motives of two Southern-born American Army officers, George Picket and William Selby Harney, who seemed hellbent on provoking war with Great Britain in 1859.
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- The Role of Community in Wildfire Risk Reduction – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25NAT305A
Dates: 1/23/2025 - 2/27/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Charisse Sydoriak
The instructor is a volunteer working on Ashland’s update to its Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The purpose of the plan is to keep you safe and our community whole when wildfire affects Ashland. In this course, students will engage with community members drafting the plan and have an opportunity to improve the plan before it is finalized in April 2025. Conversations and exercises will include the following topics:
1. Assessing community risk
2. Reducing business and rental property vulnerabilities
3. Public health and safe evacuations
4. Inclusive community risk reduction
5. Maintaining Ashland forests and water supply
6. Wildfire recovery and implementing a sustainable plan
NOTE: While this course focuses on Ashland, the discussion topics have broad applicability that may be useful in any community. Participation is strongly recommended because several exercises will be done in small groups
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- The Schneider Museum's Exhibition: "Other World/s" – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS312A
Dates: 2/6/2025 - 2/13/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 25
Building: SOU Art Building
Room: Meese Auditorium
Instructor: Scott Malbaurn
Other World/s brings together four artists working in diverse media such as sculpture, installation, ceramics, embellished photography, and painting. Each artist crafts a world that borders on reality and the abstract. There is a science fiction feel to some exhibits and an uncanny familiarity to others. With the Schneider Museum of Art’s executive director, Scott Malbaurn, learn about the winter exhibition through two classes. The first will be a classroom PowerPoint presentation, and the second will be a walkthrough of the exhibition. You’ll meet fellow arts lovers and be confident in walking your friends and family through the exhibition with follow-up visits. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with an exhibition essay. Students will receive a complimentary catalog.
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- Two Stories of the Port William Membership – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIT306A
Dates: 1/9/2025 - 1/30/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 25
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Avram Chetron
The two short novels by Wendell Berry are “Hannah Coulter” and “The Memory of Old Jack.” The Port William Membership is a rural agricultural community in Kentucky and the stories are set in this fictional place in the early to mid-20th century. Berry conveys the essence of living simply, admirably, and resiliently in the midst of relentless change and modernization brought on in part by cataclysmic world events, as well as by the pressures of doing right by the community and the requirements of honoring the land. The issues addressed are relevant today, and the humanity and pathos of Berry’s language and insight into character are enough to make one feel like a resident of Port William. Students require no special skills or background to appreciate this class, and there will be no homework or requirements for outside activity. The course will be run as a discussion group. Expect to be engaged and to bring your own ideas and reactions to each session!
NOTE: Please try to read both novels before the first class meeting, although that is not a requirement for the class. Print editions are preferable to allow for close reading and margin notes. Copies are available through online sources.
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- Understanding Medicare: The ABCs (and D) – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE306A
Dates: 1/8/2025 - 1/15/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 2
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Becky Foster
This course will inform students about the basics of Medicare as well as more specific and current topics in Medicare that are locally relevant. Through lecture and interactive discussion, a highly trained Medicare counselor will provide valuable information to ensure that attendees and their loved ones are getting the most out of their Medicare coverage. Topics include Medicare Parts A and B, Medicare Advantage vs. Medigap, the prescription drug plan (Part D), annual reevaluation of plans, tips for finding a provider, coverage limitations or exclusions, and local resources for assistance. The course will help prepare soon-to-be eligible or current beneficiaries for the next Medicare open enrollment period running from October 15 to December 7, 2025.
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- Vegetable Gardening in the Rogue Valley – In-Person
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This course will teach beginning gardeners and those new to the Rogue Valley to grow vegetables year-round from seed selection to harvesting. The emphasis is on science-based information and “how to” techniques to enable students to grow a successful garden the first year. More experienced gardeners may learn more advanced techniques to improve their vegetable gardening skills. Students will be asked to read assigned pages from the text: “Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley: Vegetables, Berries and Melons” by Jackson County Master Gardeners (OSU Extension), 2017. Class topics include: seed starting, soil, growing cool- and warm-weather crops, cane fruit (berries), controlling pests and diseases, fertilizing, irrigation, composting, harvesting and much more. Classes include slides, lectures, demonstrations, equipment exhibits, class discussion and Q&A.
NOTE: “Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley: Vegetables, Berries and Melons” by Jackson County Master Gardener Association (OSU Extension), 2017 is available from local retailers for about $20 or can be from the Jackson County Library. This text is not required but is highly recommended.
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- Weather Forecasting for Citizens – In-Person
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Will icy roads slow the drive to work tomorrow? Will snow levels result in school closures next week? Will wildfires be severe this summer? Weather has major impact on our lives. Meteorologists strive to provide forecasts that will answer these questions and help us prepare for and mitigate weather’s effects. We will explore the methods meteorologists use to predict short and long-term weather patterns. Weather is very complex and is affected by many factors. The accuracy of forecasts often depends on the level of detail available for use in models, which may be lacking. Topics covered will include atmospheric composition, structure, circulation, and energy transfer; impacts of mountains and oceans on weather patterns; and many other factors influencing weather. A wide range of atmospheric hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, drought, flooding, and climate change will be explored. Students who take this course will better understand how the atmosphere works.
NOTE: There is no class on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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- Wilderness – In-Person
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Item Number: W25NAT117A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/28/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: John Schuyler
Wilderness — what does that term mean to you? Is it your un-mowed backyard? Is it an area large enough for a two-week backpack trip without seeing a road, building, or other symbol of modern society? Does the word even have meaning to the indigenous peoples that stewarded North America prior to Euro-American conquest? In 1964, the U.S. made the decision through federal legislation to not develop every acre of our country, but instead to create a system of preserves where natural processes are allowed to function. This course looks at the development and history of wilderness as a simple descriptive, yet highly subjective, notion. Included are the visionaries who pushed for setting aside some of our wildlands. Managing wilderness (an oxymoron?) is not an easy task with climate change, fires, and overuse. Does the wilderness system have the political support that it once enjoyed? How much is enough? Classes will include lectures, slides, videos, guest speakers, and time for discussions.
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- Wines of the World – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LANG159A
Dates: 1/29/2025 - 3/5/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 22
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Dan Dawson
This term’s course will introduce six new wine regions, not covered in previous “Wines of the World” offerings. Lectures using PowerPoint and multimedia will cover the geography, climate, soils, history, varietals, labeling, and regulatory structure of each region. We will taste four quality wines from that region and discuss our perceptions. No special background knowledge is required but a passion for wine is recommended.
NOTE: A class fee will be charged to cover the cost of the premium wines we taste. The fee will be based on the cost of the wines but will not exceed $120 per student. Students are required to pay the full fee, even if they expect to miss some classes. A signed liability waiver is required.
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- You Can Let Stress Roll Off Your Back – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS309A
Dates: 1/21/2025 - 2/25/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Lisa Hubler
Learn simple, easy, time-tested and evidence-based methods drawn from the traditions of yoga, meditation, and hypnotherapy. Down-regulate your nervous system and quiet your mind, and stress can roll off your back much more easily. Through lecture, discussion, and guided practices that you can do at home with or without free audio recordings made and provided by the instructor, by the end of the course you’ll have the tools to feel a greater sense of ease and well-being throughout your day and find yourself naturally less reactive to stressors. Becoming more relaxed and present makes it easier to be at peace with wherever you are in life. Each class incorporates a thorough understanding of stress reduction and deep relaxation techniques and an embodied experience of the methods and practices taught. No previous experience with meditation, hypnotherapy, or yoga is required.
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