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Osher Online is a program from 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. All times listed are Eastern time.
OLLI at BCC is excited to be a part of this program. Registration closes on September 14 Osher Online classes are $60 each, and available to OLLI at BCC members only. Each class has a limit of 13 students from each participating OLLI. Osher Online classes are not recorded. After you register for Osher Online classes, you will receive a welcome email from the Osher NRC. This email will include an Osher Online username and password as well as a link to the Osher Online Website, through which you will access your classes. You will also have access to a pre-class orientation, where you'll get helpful information for accessing your class. There you'll find the class Zoom link, syllabus, discussion board and Customer Care contact information. It is recommended that you test your ability to log in before the start date of your class. On class days, you are also encouraged to log on 10-15 minutes before the start time. That will give you ample opportunity to get tech support and troubleshooting from the NRC if you need it. Osher Online classes are separate from our OLLI at BCC Courses.
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The History and Experience of Route 66
Mondays 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom | Route 66 is as much an idea as it is a place. Since its creation in 1926, America’s most famous highway has evolved from a 2,400-mile transportation corridor into a powerful symbol of nostalgia, travel, and the American road. Today, it functions as a kind of pilgrimage route, marked by neon signs, roadside attractions, and preserved motels, cafés, and gas stations. In this course, we will explore the history, cultural meaning, and enduring appeal of Route 66. Together, we will examine its origins, rise and decline, late-20th century revival, the role of nostalgia and car culture, preservation efforts, and the possible futures of this iconic highway. Peter B. Dedek, PhD, is a professor of American history at Texas State University whose work explores the cultural history of the built environment and the stories embedded in historic places. Dedek brings together cultural, design, and social history to illuminate how people shape, and are shaped by the spaces they inhabit. He is the author of Hip to the Trip: Route 66 Centennial Edition and The Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Cultural History, and wrote Historic Preservation for Designers, a guide integrating preservation with design. |
A Cosmic Grand Tour: The Realms of the Universe |
Tuesdays 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom Six Sessions: 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27, 11/3 | In this course, we will explore the three fascinating realms of the cosmos: nearby planets and moons; the stars; and the galaxies (the great island of stars that turn out to be the building blocks of the universe.) Our discussion will be in everyday language, without any math, and will be accompanied by remarkable color images from the latest space probes and the world's largest telescopes, including the latest breathtaking images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Andrew Fraknoi, retired chair of the astronomy department at Foothill College, continues to teach noncredit astronomy courses at San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco. He is lead author of OpenStax Astronomy, the most frequently-used, introductory astronomy textbook in North America. He appears regularly on radio, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language, and was named California Professor of the Year. He writes science fiction, has published eight stories, and has an asteroid named in his honor, recognizing his contributions to the public understanding of science. |
Apple at 50: How it Revolutionized Computing and Transformed Daily Life |
Tuesdays 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom Six Sessions: 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27, 11/3 | This course traces Apple’s fifty-year history and its massive impact on personal computing, design, product culture, platforms and ecosystems, and daily life. Each session focuses on a different decade in Apple’s history, from the birth of the PC in the late 1970s to the latest Apple silicon, VR headsets, and future iPhones. We will learn how Apple reshaped not just technology, but how people live, work, and communicate. Leander Kahney is a veteran technology reporter who has covered Apple for more than 30 years. He has written six books about the company, including two New York Times bestsellers. He is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, a long-running Apple blog, and was previously news editor at Wired.com. |
August Wilson and His American Cycle - |
Wednesdays 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom Six Sessions: 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11 | August Wilson was the first African American playwright to have a Broadway theater bear his name, a fitting tribute to a dramatist who brought African American culture and lived experience to the stage. In this course, we will read, watch, and examine the first five plays in Wilson’s American Cycle, a ten-play series representing each decade of the African American culture’s 20th century. We will explore Wilson’s life and the influences behind his work while focusing on Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Seven Guitars, tracing his powerful interpretation, celebration, and perseveration of African American culture. Ladrica Menson-Furr, PhD, is assistant dean of undergraduate programs and associate professor of African American literature. Menson-Furr is the author of August Wilson’s Fences and August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and has published on Zora Neale Hurston and Pearl Cleage. She has led academic programs in African American studies and served as a Provost’s Fellow and a Tennessee Board of Regents’ Maxine Smith Fellow. |
The Magic Behind Film Scores: |
Wednesdays 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom Six Sessions: 9/30, 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 11/4, 11/11 | This course continues our journey into how music becomes the emotional engine of film. This is not film school—it is a celebration for film lovers who want to experience how music shapes story, character, and unforgettable moments. We will explore how instrumental scores and songs with lyrics work together to drive narrative, define identity, and capture cultural shifts. We will focus on films where songs take center stage, from iconic franchise themes to pop- and rock-driven storytelling. Spanning genres and eras, we will see how composers, songwriters, and performers expanded the language of film music. Born in Los Angeles’s entertainment scene, Mike Agron is a former high-tech executive and entrepreneur who now creates and delivers dynamic, story-driven seminars on music and entertainment. With a storyteller’s eye and a DJ’s ear, he has led 15 acclaimed seminar series, each spotlighting a different facet of music and entertainment. |
Tracing Our Roots: DNA, Family History, and the Politics of Identity |
Wednesdays 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom Six Sessions: 9/30, 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/29, 11/4 | How does DNA reshape our understanding of ancestry, colonial society, and identity in the Americas? In this course, we will explore the science and methodology of genetic genealogy through the lens of first contact between European and Indigenous peoples. Using the New Mexico DNA Project as a central case study, we will examine how Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA can confirm, complicate, and challenge traditional research. Topics include Y-DNA Adam, Indigenous maternal haplogroups, the Spanish castas system, and colonial identity. We will consider the ethical and political implications of DNA testing and the limits of what genetic evidence can, and cannot, reveal about race and belonging. Angelo Cervantes is an anthropological genetic genealogist and history researcher who has conducted archival work in Mexico and Spain. Cervantes teaches at the University of New Mexico and founded the Iberian Peninsula DNA Institute, offering DNA consulting and courses in anthropological genetics. He pioneered anthropological genetic genealogy through the creation of the New Mexico DNA Project, now a major Hispanic DNA database. He has appeared on PBS and frequently lectures on genetic genealogy in the US and Mexico. |
Early 20th Century Avant-Garde: |
Thursdays 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Eastern time Zoom Six Sessions: 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 10/30, 11/5, 11/12 | Journey into the vibrant world of early 20th century art and witness the birth of abstraction. This transformative period reshaped the cultural landscape, from the bold colors of Fauvism, the fractured forms of Cubism, to the dreamlike realms of Surrealism. Each session focuses on the movements’ leading artists including Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso, Mondrian, Duchamp, and Dali. We will explore their aesthetic goals and the social and cultural currents that influenced them. Lauren Weingarden is professor emerita of art history at Florida State University. Her research explores the intersections of literature and visual art in 19th-century culture, with a focus on the American architect Louis Sullivan and French figures such as Charles Baudelaire and Édouard Manet. She has published extensively on these subjects and developed an interdisciplinary, embodied aesthetic model that invites viewers to re-experience artists’ responses to modernity’s fragmentation and the fleeting qualities of nature, a perspective that shapes her teaching on Impressionism. Watch the Early 20th Century Avant-Garde video introduction here. |
OLLI: the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College OLLI at BCC Sponsors include: Berkshire Health Systems
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