Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College
Summer 2026 Course Schedule
Summer One runs from June 8 - July 14
Registration opens on May 5 at 9:00 a.m.
Need help deciding what to sign up for?
- Many courses include a video introduction from the instructor.
- If a course is full, you can join the waiting list by calling 413-236-2190.
- Hiking courses have a separate registration page here.
Where are classes held?
- Our schedule includes courses held online and in-person. See listings below for locations.
- All indoor spaces are ADA accessible unless noted otherwise.
Course cost:
- $60 for one class
- $110 for 2 classes
- $150 for 3 or more classes
Most courses held online are recorded so if you miss one, or your schedule doesn't work for a particular course, you can access the recordings and watch the class sessions on your own time. Note: in-person classes are not recorded.
(Note: you need to be an OLLI at BCC member to register for courses. Membership information can be found here.)
Also available this summer:
Online courses through Osher Online. This program is offered through the Osher National Resource Center (NRC) at Northwestern University. These classes are delivered by the Osher NRC via Zoom, with participants from all over the country. These courses are not recorded. Registration is separate from our summer courses.
We offer lectures and workshops in addition to courses, and more are added to the calendar all the time!
Learn more by looking at our event calendar.
2026 Summer One Semester Course Schedule
Monday
Birdwatching Basics |
Instructor: Ben Nickley The instructor has requested that only students new to this class register. | There is spectacular biodiversity all around us—though often it is hidden in plain sight. Perhaps no taxonomic group has captivated the human imagination quite like birds. In Ancient Greece, oracles looked to birds in the skies to foretell the future. Throughout recorded history, birds have played a symbolic role in art and literature. They fascinate us with their flight, dazzle us with their beauty, and serenade us with song. In this course, you will learn how to find and identify many of the amazing birds that inhabit the forests, fields and ponds of the Berkshires. There are few other outdoor pursuits that offer the physical, intellectual and spiritual benefits that come quite naturally with learning to notice, identify, and watch birds. Our aim is for each student to gain a greater connection and appreciation for the natural world through the gateway of bird watching. Ben Nickley is a scientist with a passion for birds and the ecosystems they are an integral part of. Always fascinated by nature, he got his start in science at Ohio State University where he conducted award-winning research. Since then, Ben has traveled across North America pursuing avian field studies for nonprofits, universities, and state governments—picking up his master’s in biology along the way. He is the author of several peer-reviewed articles and has presented his work at international conferences. Helping others connect with the natural world through birds is his forte and his mission. As director of Berkshire Bird Observatory, Ben furthers bird conservation in our region through science, partnerships and education. Ben feels privileged to have landed in the Berkshires and could not think of a better place to do the work he loves. |
Exploring Beaver Habitats |
Instructor: Dan England, Wendy Donovan and Paula Hatch | Learn about beavers and their habitats on four different hikes. Our first class will be at Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox and will be led by a Mass Audubon naturalist. In the following weeks, our hikes will let us explore beaver habitat around the Berkshires. Dan England is an avid hiking enthusiast and lifelong supporter of land conservation in the Berkshires. |
Preaching in a Polarized World: Women in the Clergy |
Instructor: Ellen Croibier | Ellen Croibier will lead discussions with clergywomen of different faiths including Judaism, Catholicism, Unitarian Universalism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and perhaps Hinduism. Possible topics to be discussed will include immigration and welcoming the stranger, reproductive and transgender rights, politics and religion, antisemitism and Islamophobia, AI and religion, and faith and science. Before moving to the Berkshires, Ellen Croibier was a mortgage banker serving the New York City and Northern New Jersey markets. At various points in her career she was the only female loan officer in the organization; opened, staffed and managed a branch office; and was the second highest producing originator in the country for Chase Home Mortgage Services. She is currently Chair of OLLI's Contemporary Gender Roles Shared Interest Group and serves on the Board, co-chairs the Member Services Committee and is a member of the Strategic Planning, Marketing and Finance Committees. Although she often facilitates courses, this is only her third time as an instructor. |
Today's Headlines |
Day: Mondays | Today's Headlines is a moderated discussion course that provides an opportunity to voice your opinions on national and international issues. Serving as a guide and provocateur, the moderator will introduce selected topics drawn from a variety of newspapers and the internet. Lively discussion is the centerpiece of this course. |
Tuesday |
Contemporary American Short Stories: Best of the Best |
Instructor: Charles Newman | Every year, a new volume of The Best American Short Stories is published, each guest-edited by a different master of the craft. In this class we’ll discuss ten of these stories, all published within the last decade. Any list of “the best” is inevitably subjective—a reflection of taste and moment as well as merit—and the label should be held lightly. But by selecting stories from the 2016-2025 volumes, curating from already highly curated collections, I aim to highlight the voices of ten gifted American authors. I can’t actually claim these are “the best,” but I can claim that each is a marvelous story, worthy of investigation and delight. The class will follow a modified Great Books seminar method. Participants will read the stories at home and discuss them at our class meetings. Discussions will be structured, guided, and based in the text: the format will leave room for the fresh insights and differing interpretations upon which our class depends. Typically, I begin classes with a question that invites us to explore the heart of the story. Always my goal is to facilitate and lead, not to instruct. (Management reserves the right to select stories from the O. Henry Prize Winner volumes as well.) In 1981, Charles Newman and his wife Suzanne began teaching in Budapest, Hungary, unexpectedly launching their careers as international educators. Since then, he has taught English, history, humanities, writing, and theory of knowledge courses in New Delhi, Karachi, Tokyo, Moscow, and Gangtok, as well as at the Waring School in Beverly, MA. Charles did his MA in Literature from the Bread Loaf School of English in Middlebury, Vermont and his undergraduate work at St. John’s College—the Great Books School—and at Columbia University. |
Musical Theater Performance |
Instructors: Karen Curlee and |
Join a vocal/accompanist, and two choreographer/dance arrangers.
Participants will learn a song per week, (verse and chorus) of a popular Broadway hit, and then will learn simple staging for that song. At the end of four weeks, we will have a short program of four numbers. |
Writing in Response or Writing from Prompts |
Instructor: Ed Meek | In each session, the class will be given a prompt and example to write in response to. Class members may write a poem or a short piece of prose. Writing will be shared online and read in class. Some possibilities include writing in response to an event, public or personal, writing in response to art or a photo, writing in response to an object, an animal, the natural world, or a relationship. Ed Meek writes poetry, fiction, essays and book reviews. His fifth book of poems, Great Pond, came out this year. He has had work in The Sun, The Paris Review, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe Magazine, and Berkshire Magazine. He has an MA in Composition Studies and an MFA in Creative Writing. |
Wednesday |
Traditional Irish Music |
Instructor: Brian Hailes | This course will explore the rich tradition of Irish music, which plays an important role in the sense of Irish identity, alongside closely aligned forms of cultural expression such as poetry and story telling. Brian Hailes grew up in 1960s England where, as a self taught singer/guitarist he played the music of the era in clubs, bars and on local radio stations. He also played in folk groups which featured the music of Ireland, alongside other traditions. Fifty years later he began his formal music education with an Associate’s Degree in Fine Arts (Music) at Berkshire Community College. He went on to complete his BA (Music) at Westfield State University and an MM in Music History at UMass. |
Just Improvise! |
Instructor: Michelle Oram | This class is designed to make you laugh and have fun. Michelle Oram is a graduate from the Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee. |
Slow Mindful Yoga |
Instructor: Vicki Zacharewicz Location: In-person at BCC | In this class we will explore slow mindful movement using the breath to gently guide us through the asanas. Slow movement encourages awareness and cultivates proprioception helping us to develop stability in motion and better understanding of our bodies in space. Participants will “tend and befriend” themselves by moving more slowly, feeling into their body cues, develop better balance, increase nervous system resilience, and lower cortisol levels. We will incorporate meditation into each class and use props including blocks and chairs. Participants are encouraged to take agency of their own body. This is an open level and inclusive class and pose modifications will be offered. Students should wear comfortable clothing for stretching and may be on the floor. Bring a yoga mat if you have one. Vicki Zacharewicz is the founder of Gaia Wellness and offers mindful “Wonder Walks” in nature and Yoga classes - outside whenever possible! She enjoys leading others into deep connection with the earth using the tools of forest bathing, breathwork, yoga and mindfulness practices. She is a certified Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide and a Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour in Hatha & Vinyasa yoga. Since moving to the Berkshires in 2021 she enjoys volunteering at land trusts and taking in as much natural beauty as possible in this sacred place. |
Thursday |
Native Americans and the American Revolution |
Instructor: Nancy Bonvillain | This course focuses on Native Americans and the American Revolution in three intertwining strands. While the Revolution began in earnest in 1776, the context for its momentum and development began decades earlier. So the first strand of the course centers on the relationships between selected Native American Nations in what is now the Eastern United States, the settler colonists, and their European (British and French) governments. The second strand centers on events that affected and embroiled Native Nations during the years of the Revolution itself. Some Native peoples became negotiators, powerbrokers, and/or combatants while others attempted to remain neutral. And the third strand focuses on the consequences of the colonial victory as they played out in changes in Native American societies and in their relationships with the federal government. Finally, we will explore contemporary reflections of these consequences. This class is part of OLLI's Rev250 Project celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. |
Hiking Old Growth Forests
Facilitator: Amy Whitworth 6/11, 6/18, 6/25, 7/2 Location: In-person in Various Locations | Join us as we hike through old growth forests and experience the beauty and majesty of these forests and venerable trees. Together, as we hike, we will learn the characteristics of old growth forests and trees. Short readings will be provided each week in the class padlet to enhance our experience. Amy Whitworth is an avid hiker, a lover of nature, and passionate about old growth forests and venerable trees. |
International Folk Dancing |
Instructor: Elaine Sohn | International Folk Dancing is not only a way for us to learn about other cultures around the world through their melodies, steps, patterns and instruments, but also involves our memory and our cognitive agility. It helps us increase flexibility, stamina, memory, cognitive ability and strength. Elaine Sohn has been teaching folk dancing since her college days at NYU. She currently teaches at a Senior Center in Brooklyn Heights, and at the Brooklyn College Lifelong Learning Program. For more than 30 years, she has led the Brooklyn Heights International Folk Dance group, as well as teaching for four summers for OLLI at BCC. Although teaching English to immigrant adults is her primary passion, teaching folk dancing is a close second. |
The Trump Administration's Policy Toward Latin America: Never a Dull Moment in America
Instructor: Martin Weinstein |
Trump's tariff and immigration policies affect the whole world, but when you add his drug policy and use of the military, Latin America is in the bullseye. Venezuela is the most obvious example, but Cuba and Mexico will be under increasing pressure. Elections this year in Brazil, Colombia and Peru will be on Marco Rubio's to-do list. This course will try to make sense and bring a critical eye to these issues and examples as they affect the United States and our southern neighbors.
Martin Weinstein earned his Ph.D. at New York University and taught for many years in the Department of Political Science at William Patterson University in New Jersey. Weinstein, a frequent OLLI instructor, is the author of two volumes on Uruguay and numerous articles about Latin America. |
|
Please note that you must be an OLLI at BCC member and have created a login account to register for classes online. How to create a login account. You can register by phone from 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Eastern at 413.236.2190.
OLLI: the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College OLLI at BCC Sponsors include: Berkshire Health Systems
|
.jpg){kind=logo}