OLLI SHARED INTEREST GROUPS (SIGs)

Free to all OLLI at BCC members!


Another great OLLI member benefit! OLLI’s Shared Interest Groups (SIGs) are member-organized peer-led discussion and activity groups that are free and exclusively for OLLI at BCC members.

Interested in starting your own Shared Interest Group? Why don't you check out this handy SIG Guide and if you still have questions you can contact the OLLI Office at 413-236-2190 or OLLI@berkshirecc.edu.

CURRENT OLLI SHARED INTEREST GROUPS (SIGs)
Below is a summary list of our current SIGs. Click on a name to find more information about the group. A list of upcoming SIG events follows the descriptions below.

Climate Change ONLINE

This group will discuss and utilize the work of national organizations to help affect climate change both nationally and internationally. Please contact Deborah Caine for more information.


Contemporary Gender Roles ONLINE

Explore cultural changes in the roles of men and women in the family and in the workplace and the multiple changes in gender presentation and identity.  Contact Ellen Croibier for more information.


Creative Nonfiction Writing ONLINE

Do you love to write and want to have a writers’ group to share and critique your work? If you do, consider joining our Creative Nonfiction SIG which meets monthly via Zoom. For more information about this SIG contact Lana Bennett.  

Downhill Ski Group (seasonal) 
Recreational skiing with others for fun and safety.  Contact Bruce Cohen for additional information.

Foreign Language Films 

Join OLLI Members for viewings of the world's greatest films, with animated discussion to follow. Contact Karen Curlee for more information.

French Conversation ONLINE
Parlez-vous français? Would you like to practice your French with others in a relaxed setting? Meet up in informal settings on Zoom and/or in person, for French conversation with other OLLI members.  Contact Monica Sinclair or Philippe Jeanjean for more information.

Gotta Reads - NYT Best Sellers Book Club ONLINE

The Gotta Reads - New York Times Best Sellers Book Club reads books from the NYT Best Seller List of the last couple of years.  Let's read and talk about the best of these best sellers. Contact Sheila McKenna for additional information.

Happy Needlers & Hookers: A Needlework Group

Do you enjoy knitting, crocheting, embroidery or other forms of needlework in good company? Join this group just in time for a cozy winter. Contact Sharon Walker for more information!

Listening to Chamber Music

The Listening to Chamber Music SIG is for people who are interested in chamber music and who would enjoy learning about and listening to chamber music repertoire with other chamber music aficionados. Contact Harriet Wetstone for more information.

Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Book Group ONLINE

If you love reading mystery novels, this group is for you. Monthly books are chosen for the upcoming year from award winning American and international novels, but are not typically present day publications. Meetings are held the fourth Monday of every month at 1:30 p.m. online. Contact Bruce Cohen for additional information.

Painting ONLINE (temporarily on hold)

A small, supportive group of painters who share their paintings in progress to get feedback from other artists and share useful techniques, materials etc. Contact Claudia Shuster for more information.


Play Reading ONLINE & In Person
Love theatre, reading plays together and enjoying the Berkshire theatre scene? Join us!

Contact Alice RothBarbara Waldinger or Karel Fisher or for more details or additional information about this SIG

Poetry Reading ONLINE

Due to its popularity, this SIG is currently not accepting NEW MEMBERS.

Join with other OLLI members to read and discuss great poems. Contact Susan Wurtzburg for more information.


Poetry Writing ONLINE

Due to its popularity, this SIG is currently not accepting NEW MEMBERS.

Share poetry you've written with other OLLI members.  Contact Susan Wurtzburg to get onto the waiting list.


Socializing Singles In Person

Single and interested in meeting new friends? Our goal will be to plan activities to enjoy together - not matchmaking but an opportunity to meet new people. Contact Judy Cromwell  for additional information.

Upcoming events

    • Tuesday, October 15, 2024
    • Tuesday, December 17, 2024
    • 3 sessions
    • Online
    Register

    OLLI at BCC annual members are invited to join OLLI's

    Foreign Language Films

    Shared Interest Group

    Free and open exclusively to OLLI at BCC members

    We will meet on Zoom at 5 p.m. Eastern

    Upcoming Films:
    • September 17 The Motorcycle Diaries
    • October 15 - Amélie
    • November 19 - Roma
    • December 17 - a holiday movie TBD

    Discussion on Zoom, watch the movie on your own device.

    Welcome to the Foreign Language Film SIG. 

    • The group will meet at 5:00 on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
    • Karen Curlee, our group leader, will post notes and video comments to the Foreign Language Film SIG Padlet the Tuesday before we meet on Zoom.
    • Members will watch the film on their own time... we only gather to discuss what we watched. 
    • This is a 4-month trial to see if we like this new design.  We'll revisit before the new year.

    Movies can be borrowed from your local library or streamed online.

    Pre-registration is required. Register online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9 a.m.-4 p.m.) to register by phone.

    • Wednesday, October 16, 2024
    • Wednesday, December 18, 2024
    • 3 sessions
    • Online via Zoom
    Register


    This OLLI Contemporary Gender Roles Shared Interest Group was started by Deborah Caine to study and explore cultural changes in the roles of men and women in the family and in the workplace and the multiple changes in gender presentation and identity exemplified in the growth of the LGBTQ+ communities; changes not always easily understood by many.


    The group has grown over the last several years from three members to two dozen women and men who enjoy the lively monthly discussions on topics of urgent and current interest.


    Members volunteer to lead a discussion on a topic of their choice and/or invite an outside speaker and circulate articles from major newspapers, magazines and journals that are relevant to group interests.  


    The Contemporary Gender Roles group sponsored an OLLI course on the Equal Rights Amendment in 2018 which was well attended.


    We meet on Zoom at 2 pm on the third Wednesday of the month. 


    Check out the 
    Contemporary Gender Roles SIG Padlet, for articles, videos, and pictures here!


    For more information about this SIG, please contact Ellen Croibier.


    Topics for 2024 Contemporary Gender Roles SIG

    Helen Hailes: “Gaslighting in Intimate Partner Violence” on January 17

    Leyn Burrows on self-defense for women vs. men on February 21

    Michael Wilcox: Topic TBD on March 20

    Berkshire Pride and the Elizabeth Freeman Center on April 17

    Chris Canning Wilson on the role of women in the Middle East on May 15

    Mal Wasserman with book review: Undaunted and/or The Exceptions on June 19

    Farrah Cukor, literary rep at United Talent Agency on July 17

    Linda Baxter will give a talk on midwifery on August 21

    Mary Hunt, PhD on feminist theology on September 18

    Chief Deanna Strout on women in criminal justice on October 16

    Farah Cherif D’Ouezzan on women in Morocco on November 20

    December 18 TBD

    • Thursday, October 17, 2024
    • Thursday, December 19, 2024
    • 3 sessions
    • Online via Zoom


    The Gotta Reads - NYT Best Sellers Book Club reads books from the NYT Best Seller List of the last couple of years. We look for books that are "discussion-worthy" and thought provoking.

    This group meets on the the third Thursday of each month at 4pm.

    Please click here to contact group leader Sheila McKenna for additional information & to join the email list.

    Here are the books we have selected so far for 2024:

    June: The Women by Kristen Hannah

    July: Long Island by Colm Toibin, his sequel to the book Brooklyn

    August: The Deepfake by Joan Cohen

    • Monday, October 21, 2024
    • Monday, December 16, 2024
    • 5 sessions
    • Lenox, MA


    Happy Needlers & Hookers:
    A Needlework
    Shared Interest Group

    Shared Interest Groups are free and exclusively for current OLLI at BCC members.

    The Happy Needlers & Hookers Needlework Group is a Shared Interest Group for people that like to knit, needlepoint, cross-stitch, crochet or enjoy any other needle-based craft.

    You can work on any project you wish. The camaraderie and time we spend together is what we find so enjoyable!

    All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Meets in-person in Lenox.

    Please contact Sharon Walker for information on days and times and to join the group.

    • Wednesday, October 23, 2024
    • Wednesday, November 27, 2024
    • 2 sessions
    • Zoom
    Register

    OLLI at BCC members are invited to join OLLI's

    Climate Change 

    Shared Interest Group 

    Free and open exclusively to OLLI at BCC members

    This OLLI Shared Interest Group (SIG) will study the effects on the Planet Earth caused by fossil fuel emissions by following the science and media news daily. The horrific effects of climate change are now apparent every day and affect all humanity wherever we live. Just watch the daily news in any media. The effects on State and Federal budgets of hurricanes, floods, and extreme heat are now becoming clear to everyone.

    The SIG will utilize the work of national organizations such as Third Act (founded recently by Bill McKibben, the famous environmentalist) and Elders Climate Action (among others). Both of these organizations have monthly newsletters and free webinars.

    As activists the OLLI Climate Change SIG will write letters and postcards to the media and politicians - all who have power to effect changes in National and international behavior. 

    The group will meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month and share information about all local and national efforts to fight the global warming caused by the fossil fuel industry. It will also share information, by e-mail, gleaned from other environmental organizations in Massachusetts and nationally. 

    Please contact Deborah Caine for more information about this SIG.

    • Monday, October 28, 2024
    • Monday, December 23, 2024
    • 3 sessions
    • Online via Zoom


    OLLI at BCC members are invited to join OLLI's Shared Interest Group

    Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Book Group

    for an online discussion 

    The Fourth Monday of Every Month

    from 1:30 to 3:00 pm Eastern

    Free and open to all OLLI at BCC members 

    OLLI's Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Book Group meets once a month, typically on the 4th Monday at 1:30 pm. Everyone is welcome. We typically meet for no more than 1.5 hours. Historically, the meetings were at someone’s house. Since the pandemic, however, the gatherings have been Zoom-based.

    Books are selected one year in advance… and are not your typically hot present-day offerings. At the meetings, we discuss the chosen book, of course, but often we talk about other books we are reading, movies we have seen, serials we’ve watched/are watching on TV, etc.

    Please contact Bruce Cohen for additional information and to receive the Zoom link. 

    Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Book List 2024

    January           Mystic River                                             Dennis Lehane

    February         Ordinary Grace                                       William Kent Krueger

    March              Shutter Island                                          Dennis Lehane

    April                 Slow Horses                                             Mick Herron

    May                  Smiler with a Knife                                Nicolas Blake

    June                 The Dry                                                     Jane Harper

    July                  The Killer Inside Me                              Jim Thompson

    August             The Last Days of Ptolomy Gray         Walter Mosley

    September      The Long Call                                          Ann Cleeves

    October           The Plot                                                    Jean Hanff Korelitz

    November      The Talented Mr. Ripley                       Patricia Highsmith

    December      When Justice Sleeps                               Stacey Abrams

    • Thursday, November 07, 2024
    • Thursday, December 05, 2024
    • 2 sessions
    • Online

    Attention Chamber Music Lovers!

    The Listening to Chamber Music SIG is for people who are interested in chamber music and who would enjoy learning about and listening to chamber music repertoire with other chamber music aficionados.

    Our meetings are currently held on Zoom at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on the first Thursday of every month.

    After our June 6 meeting, we will be taking a break for the summer (maybe meeting in -person at Tanglewood!) and resuming our Zoom meetings in the fall.

    At each meeting a member presents some Chamber Music they are interested in. Prior to the meeting, links to recordings of the selected pieces will be circulated so that we can all listen before the meeting. At the meeting, the presenting member will provide some program notes - and then we can each talk about our thoughts on the piece(s).

    Contact Harriet Wetstone if you would like the Zoom link or any additional information about this Listening to Chamber Music SIG.

    • Tuesday, November 12, 2024
    • Tuesday, June 10, 2025
    • 8 sessions
    • Online
    Register

    Creative Nonfiction Writing

    Shared Interest Group

    Meets the second Tuesday of the month at 

    9:30 a.m. Eastern

    Free and open exclusively to OLLI at BCC members

    Do you love to write and want to have a writers’ group to share and critique your work? If you do, consider joining our Creative Nonfiction SIG which meets monthly via Zoom. The format of our meetings will be flexible but will focus on each member sharing their work and receiving mindful critique from other group members.  At each meeting we will pick a leader for the next meeting. That leader will assign a prompt for the next meeting’s writings or writers may choose their own subject.

    What is creative nonfiction? It can be essay, memoir, personal narrative, travel writing, food writing, chronicle, fact-based essays, or biography. The commonality is that the writer uses literary techniques to tell the facts allowing the reader to understand the situations described in a fuller, more emotional way. As one writer — Melanie McGrath, whose book Silvertown, an account of her grandmother's life, describes her writing — the known facts of her stories are "the canvas on to which I have embroidered. Some of the facts have slipped through the holes—we no longer know them nor have any means of verifying them—and in these cases I have reimagined scenes or reconstructed events in a way I believe reflects the essence of the scene or the event in the minds and hearts of the people who lived through it. ... To my mind this literary tinkering does not alter the more profound truth of the story.”

    For more information, please contact Lana Bennett


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