Learning and memory, integrative medicine and the Salem witch hunts are a sampling of the spring 2014 class offerings available through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Vanderbilt University.
“I am proud of our diverse range of topics this spring, with classes on art, religion, literature, law, science and medicine,” said Norma Clippard, director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Vanderbilt. “We will also offer smaller interactive classes, on English country dancing and foreign policy discussion.”
The classes include:
- Masterpieces: The Greatest Portraits Ever Painted, taught by portrait artist Michael Shane Neal;
- Great Decisions (two foreign policy discussion groups), led by Osher Institute members Ben Adams and Ken Penegar;
- Christian Theories to Explain the Death of Jesus, taught by Patout Burns, the Edward A. Malloy Professor of Catholic Studies, Emeritus;
- Literature and Law from Crime and Punishment to Law and Order, taught by Robert F. Barsky, professor of French and comparative literature and Jewish studies;
- Brazil! taught by Earl Fitz, professor of Portuguese, Spanish and comparative literature;
- Salem and Other Witch Hunts, taught by Gary Jensen, professor of sociology, emeritus;
- Theories of “The Good Life,” taught by Cody Case, chaplain and meditation instructor;
- Why Does America Imprison More People than Any Other Country in the World? taught by the Rev. Joseph B. Ingle;
- English Country Dancing, taught by Susan Kevra, senior lecturer in French;
- The Neuroscience of Learning and Memory, taught by Jeanette Norden, professor of cell and developmental biology, emerita;
- Integrative Medicine, taught by practitioners at the Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health.
The non-credit courses, which run from March 17 to May 8, are open to all adults who are 50 and older. Participants pay an $80 class fee that entitles them to sign up for three classes. Additional classes cost $10 each. In addition, there are special fees for the English country dancing and foreign policy discussion groups.
To review the complete schedule and sign up for classes, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/olli. Interested individuals can also email Norma Clippard or call (615) 343-0700.