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• OLLI Fall 2020 Online Semester

  • Start
    Monday, September 21, 2020
  •  
    9:30 AM (EDT)
  • End
    Thursday, November 12, 2020
  •  
    5:00 PM (EST)
  • Location
    Online

  
  

  OLLI's fall semester of online courses is now open for registration!

  September 21 through November 12, 2020
  Classes run six weeks (except where noted)  

  Enjoy OLLI at BCC's live, interactive courses from the comfort of your own home using the free, easy-to-use  Zoom program (we'll show you how!) No tests, no grades, no prerequisites (except OLLI membership), just learning for the love of learning. 

  Register online here or call 413.236.2190 (Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm) to register by phone with a credit card, or with any questions you may have. To sign up for OLLI couses, you must be an OLLI annual member. Not a member yet? Sign up here! 
  

  OLLI Fall Semester-at-a-Glance
  Click on the course names to read more about them.

  Mondays

  • M101: Today's Headlines | Steve Tobin | 9:30am -11:00am
  • M102: Outsider Art | Larry Goldberg | 11:30am - 1:00pm
  • M103: Before Barney: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs | Steve Somkin | 1:30pm - 3:00 pm
  • CLOSED- AT CAPACITY M104: What is Art? What is Beauty? | Laszlo Dienes | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

  Tuesdays
  

  •  T101: Pilgrims: History, Myth and Legacy | John Dickson and Jesse Waldinger | 9:30am -11:00am
  • T102: Deceptions in War | Greig Siedor | 11:30am - 1:00pm
  • T103: Women as Leaders | Diane Whitehead | 1:30pm - 3:00 pm
  • T104: Janey, Read by the Author | Richard Matturro | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

  Wednesdays

  • ·W101: Passion, Piety, Plagues, and Polities: The World of the Middle Ages | Phil Deely | 9:30am -11:00am
  • W102: Disasters: Natural, Industrial, Manmade | Alan Rubin | 11:30am - 1:00pm
  • W103: Indigenous American Cultures: Cross-Pollination with European Thought | Michael Wilcox | 1:30pm - 3:00 pm
  • W104: Hot Topics | moderated by Steve Tobin with weekly speakers | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

  Thursdays

  • R101: Real Estate Investment in the 21st Century | Stephen Pearlman | 9:30am -11:00am
  • ·R102: King Lear on the Page and the Stage | Anne Berman | 11:30am - 1:00pm
  • R103: Transformative Technologies | various speakers | 1:30pm - 3:00 pm
  • R104: Beyond Mountains, More Mountains: Reading & Comparing Exceptional Poems (LR) | Robert Ronnow | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

  Fridays
  

  • F101: Constitutional Law in the Time of COVID-19 | Tom Gerety| 9:30am -11:00am
  • F102: The Berkshires: Coming of Age 1840-1890 | Carole Owens | 11:30am - 1:00pm
  • F103: CLOSED- AT CAPACITY Dressed Up Poetry: Fun with Forms (LR) | Kate Sontag | 1:30pm - 3:00 pm
  • F104: Das Boot: The Uncut Version | Robert Miller & Richard Matturro |3:30pm - 5:30pm

  Not sure which classes you want to take? Sign up for one or more Flexpasses, which allow you to take six individual class sessions of your choice with a semester, as long as the class in not full. Click here to learn more about Flexpasses.

  Course fees are $50 for one, $95 for two or three, and $125 for four or more within a semester. Each Flexpass counts as one course.  Needs-based partial scholarships are available. For more information on scholarships, call Executive Director Megan Whilden at 413.236.2192.

  Classes are are held weekly, usually for 90 minutes per session, Monday through Friday, during the day. They will be recorded, so if you miss one you may watch it later. 

  Questions? Contact us at olli@berkshirecc.edu or 413.236.2190

  Show details
• Transformative Technologies & Their Effects on Work & Society

  • Start
    Thursday, September 24, 2020
  •  
    (EDT)
  • End
    Thursday, November 12, 2020
  •  
    (EST)
  • Schedule
    8 sessions
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  
  Left to right: Professor Antony Haynes; Senator Adam Hinds; Alexis Wichowski; Ethan Zuckerman.
  

  Transformative Technologies and
  Their Effects on Work & Society

  Thursdays, September 24 - November 12, 2020
  1:30 pm - 3:00 pm EDT via Zoom

  Live & on demand: watch when convenient for you!

  New technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning and robotics are having a major impact on the nature of work, labor markets, education, training, economic development and many other sectors across society. Harnessing these technologies for the development of the Berkshires and other rural communities across America is critical to our region’s future.
  

  OLLI at Berkshire Community College, in collaboration with the Berkshire Innovation Center, 1Berkshire, Williams College, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Bard College at Simon's Rock, presents an eight week webinar series exploring the advent of new technologies and their effects on work and society, especially in rural regions such as the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. The series may be watched live or on demand at a time convenient to you.

  Sessions will include lectures, moderated panel discussion and participant Q&A, led by national and regional thought leaders in the subject area. Click here for resources for further reading.

  
  

  Session One, September 24 - Where Are We Now and How Did We Get Here?

  Elisabeth Reynolds | Director of the Center on the Work of the Future at MIT
  Stephen Boyd | CEO of Boyd Technologies and Board Chair of the Berkshire Innovation Center

  Session Two, October 1 - How Different Countries Respond to New Technologies

  Moderator: James Rosenstein | JSR International Consulting

  Panel:
  Professor Henric Johnson | Counselor for Science and Innovation at the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC

  MA State Senator Eric Lesser | co-author of The Future of Work: Policy Proposals for the Modern Economy

  Dr. Hyeon Yeo | Professor, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
  Yehlin Cho | KAIST Representative of Young Engineers Honor Society

  Session Three, October 8 - Enabling Infrastructure in the U.S. to Deliver Technology Solutions

  Speaker: Matthew Dunne | Founder and Executive Director of the Center of Rural Innovation
  Moderator: Massachusetts State Senator Adam Hinds
  

  Panelists:
  Rep. Smitty Pignatelli | State Representative for Southern Berkshire County
  Jonathan Butler | CEO, 1Berkshire
  Jim Lovejoy | Selectman, Mt. Washington, MA
  Barbara Malkas | Superintendent of Schools, North Adams, Mass.
  

  Session Four, October 15 - The Future of Smart Manufacturing

  Speaker: Farhad Vazehgoo | Acting Director, Advanced Manufacturing Programs, MassTech

  Moderator: Douglas Crane | Founder and Managing Principal, New Dalton Group
  

  Panel:
  Jeffrey Morse | Roll-to-Roll Fabrication Director, UMASS Amherst Institute for Applied Life Sciences
  Justin McKennon | Principal Scientist, Electro Magnetic Applications
  Brianna Schaeffer | Vice President of Program Development, Boyd Technologies
  

  Session Five, October 22 - The Future of Education
  

  Speaker: Carla Meskill | Professor of Educational Technology, SUNY Albany
  

  Moderator: Ellen Kennedy | President of Berkshire Community College
  

  Panel:

  Tyler DeWitt | Online Educator

  Maud Mandel | President of Williams College

  Jake Eberwein | Berkshire County Educational Task Force

  Session Six, October 29 - The Future of Healthcare

  Speaker:  Michael Miller, MD | Health Care and Life Sciences Policy Consultant
  

  Moderator:  Gordon Josephson, MD

  Panel
  

  Christopher D. Sprowl, MD | Interim Medical Director, Community Health Programs
  William Young | Chief Information Officer at Berkshire Health Systems
  Joe Diver | Director of Digital Transformation at Baystate Health
  

  Session Seven, November 5 - The Societal Impact of These Technologies

  Speaker – Alexis Wichowski | Deputy Chief Technology Officer, NYC and author of The Information Trade

  Moderator – Gerol Petruzella | MCLA Professor and Associate Director of Academic Technology

  Antony Haynes | Director of Cybersecurity and Privacy Law, Albany Law School
  

  Ethan Zuckerman | Director of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst and author of Rewire and Digital Cosmopolitans

  Nicholas Carr | author

  Session Eight, November 12 - Where Do We Go From Here?

  Speaker - Jim Fallows and Deborah Fallows | co-author of Our Towns    
  

  Moderator - Ben Lamb | 1Berkshire
  

  Panel

  Laura Brennan | Senior Planner, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission
  

  Ben Sosne | Executive Director, Berkshire Innovation Center

  Carrie Holland | Operations, Strategy, and Project Execution Lead, Mill Town Capital

  
  

  Registration for the full series is $80 for 1Berkshire and Berkshire Innovation Center members, and $110 for the general public (includes a one year OLLI at BCC membership.) 

  Registration is free for students, staff and faculty at Berkshire Community College, Williams College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Bard College at Simon's Rock, as well as for WIC, EBT/SNAP and ConnectorCare card holders.

  OLLI at BCC members should register via the Fall semester registration form found here.

  Presented by:

  

  

  
  

  Show details
• Reading Henry James with Jim Kraft

  • Start
    Saturday, November 07, 2020
  •  
    (EST)
  • End
    Saturday, February 27, 2021
  •  
    (EST)
  • Schedule
    5 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom

  Register

  
  

  Reading Henry James
  with James Kraft
  

  Saturdays, November 7, 2020- February 27, 2021
  3:00 pm - 4:30 pm  
  

  Online via Zoom: registration required

  Longtime OLLI instructor James Kraft will lead a new monthly course entitled "Reading Henry James," starting on Saturday, November 7^th at 3pm, and continuing monthly on Saturdays at 3pm through February 27.
  

  
  

  Registration is $50 for OLLI at BCC members, and $65 for non-members.  Click here to register. 
  

  Considered one of the greatest writers in English, Henry James is known for his psychological insight into his characters, and for his provocative prose.  The prose is considered to have three phases: early narratives that are accessible portraits of his time; more challenging narratives and prose called the middle periods; the late and complex style that embodies his most challenging perceptions.  The discussion will examine the three phases in the reading of James's major novels and tales.

  Reading Schedule:

  • Saturday 11/7/20: The Europeans (1878) & Daisy Miller (1878)

  • Note-- there are excellent film adaptations of both:  "The Europeans" (1979) directed by Merchant and Ivory and starring Lee Remick; "Daisy Miller" (1974) directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Cybill Shepherd

  • Saturday 12/5/20: The Portrait of a Lady (1880)

  This was adapted into a 1998 film directed by Jane Campion and starring Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Park, Christian Bale, John Gielgud and many others

  • Saturday 1/9/21: The Bostonians (1885)

  • A 1984 film adaptation was directed by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Reeve, Madeleine Potter, and Jessica Tandy.

  • Saturday 2/6/21: “The Author of Beltraffio” (1884), “The Aspern Papers” (1888), “The Lesson of the Master” (1888) and “The Altar of the Dead” (1895) (The first three can be found in this collection of his short stories.)
    

  • Saturday 2/27/21: What Maisie Knew (1897) and The Spoils of Poynton (1896)

  Please read again any work that you have already read.  A second reading of James is a different and exciting experience.  NOTE: Henry James is not a quick read; we recommend starting the readings well in advance of the discussion session.

  Reading Henry James is led by longtime OLLI literature instructor James Kraft, who attended Princeton, King’s College, Cambridge University, and Fordham.  He has a doctorate in literature and has taught at the University of Virginia, Université Laval in Quebec City, and Wesleyan in Connecticut.  He was assistant director of the Whitney Museum for eight years, and now teaches at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College and at the New York Society Library in New York City.

  In addition to the above films that supplement the readings, there are several other film adaptations of Henry James--

  • "The Innocents" (1961) based on "The Turn of the Screw"-- directed by Jack Clayton and starring Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave and Megs Jenkins
  • "The Heiress" (1949) based on "Washington Square"-- directed by William Wyler and starring Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift and Ralph Richardson
  • "What Maisey Knew" (2012)-- directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, and starring Julianne Moore, Alexander Skardsgard, Onata Aprile and more
  • "The Wings of the Dove" (1997)-- directed by Iain Softley and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache and Alison Elliot
  • "The Golden Bowl" (2000)-- directed by James Ivory and starring Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte, Anjelica Huston, Uma Thurman and more

  Show details
• Don Quixote, or How to Live Life as a Dream

  • When
    Tuesday, November 10, 2020
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EST)
  • Location
    Online via Zoom

  Register

   
  

  The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
  Amherst College Professor Ilan Stavans on

  Don Quixote:

  How to Live Life as a Dream

  Tuesday, November 10, 2020
  7:00 pm  
  Online via Zoom 
  Click here to register safely and securely online
  or call 413.236.2190.

  Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote of La Mancha (1605-1615) is more than the first and best modern novel; it is also a manual on how to live life. Find out why and how to use it.

  
  

  Ilan Stavans is the internationally renowned Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College, publisher of Restless Books, a writer and editor, and host of NPR's podcast "In Contrast." The recipient of numerous international awards and honors, his work, translated into twenty languages, has been adapted to film, TV, theater, and radio. His many books include Quixote: The Novel and the World (Norton, 2015), The Seventh Heaven: Travels through Jewish Latin America (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019), and the upcoming Popol Vuh: A Retelling (Restless Books, 2020).
  

   Admission is $10 for OLLI at BCC and Berkshire Museum members, and $15 for the general public.  Admission is free for Berkshire Community College students, youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.
  

  Pre-registration is required. Click here to register safely and securely online or call 413.236.2190.

  In Partnership with the Berkshire Museum

  
  

  Show details
• The Thanksgiving Play

  • Start
    Thursday, November 19, 2020
  •  
    7:30 PM (EST)
  • End
    Sunday, November 22, 2020
  •  
    7:29 PM (EST)
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  
  

  Good intentions collide with absurd assumptions in this wickedly funny satire.

  Online Performance November 19-22, 2020
  Written by Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation)
  Directed by Talya Kingston

  plus exclusive live online discussion!
  

  Tickets available through OLLI at BCC.
  Click here to order or call 413.236.2190.
  $13/OLLI at BCC members/$15 non-members

  In this fast-paced satire by recent MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation), good intentions collide with absurd assumptions. A troupe of white liberal teaching artists scramble to devise a grade school theatre performance that somehow manages to celebrate Turkey Day while also honoring Native American Heritage Month.

  "Very, very funny...something for which to be truly thankful." - The Hollywood Reporter
  
  "The familiar, whitewashed story of Pilgrims and Native Americans chowing down together gets a delicious roasting from expert farceurs." -  The New York Times
  

  WAM Theatre is honored to be connected with The Mohican Tribe (traditional stewards of the land on which we reside) who will be providing an introduction and cultural context to this production.

  The Thanksgiving Play will be presented as a dynamic, creatively designed, digital production. After you have purchased your ticket here or by calling 413.236.2190, the performance will be available for you to enjoy online from November 19 at 7:30 pm Eastern until November 22 at 7:29 pm Eastern Time.

  REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS FRIDAY, November 12th at 9am Eastern.
  

  
  

  Show details
• 11th Annual OLLI Art Show Reception

  • When
    Saturday, January 30, 2021
  •  
    2:00 PM (EST)
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  

  Save the date!

  OLLI's 11th annual Art Show will be held online this year and kicks off with a festive online opening reception on

  Saturday, January 30th, 2020

  The Call for Artists is open until November 20th! OLLI's annual art show is open to all OLLI members and a variety of media including photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, mixed media, fabric art and more.
  

  Show details