Osher LLI at FAU Announces Spring Schedule


The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter has announced its course offerings for the spring semester, which begins Wednesday, March 14.

Taught by FAU professors and distinguished guest lecturers, course offerings include such varied subjects as foreign policy, political science, film, music, art history and literature. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute was established to provide adults of all ages the opportunity to enrich their lives through non-credit, university-level courses with no homework or tests.

Spring one-time lectures and courses take place in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute complex at FAU’s John D. MacArthur Campus, 5353 Parkside Dr., in Jupiter, and include:

  • “LUNAFEST Film Festival,” a touring film festival that honors the talents and stories of women. This one-time event features nine selected short films that are diverse in style and content.
  • “Fanning the Flames: Protest Songs that Make the U.S. Great,” performed by Joan Friedenberg and Bill Bowen of The PinkSlip Duo, with Anne Feeney, a singer-songwriter who received the Joe Hill Award from the Labor Heritage Foundation. This one-time performance will include songs that cover issues such as civil rights, immigration, healthcare, social inequality, war and worker rights.
  • “Global Energy, Environment and Economy: Policy Nightmares,” presented by The Honorable Molly Williamson, a retired Foreign Service officer with the rank of career minister. This one-time will lecture will explore key factors to be addressed and examine the political context of the world’s top three oil-producing countries (Saudi Arabia, Russia and the U.S.) confounding prudent planners.
  •  “The Art of Ornament: Jewelry as a Record of History” taught by Barbara A. Falletta, Ed.D., an artist, educator, author and member of the National Society of Arts and Letters. This one-time presentation will reveal two fascinating stories where jewelry has served a most valuable historical function and includes Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s collection of brooches and the phenomenon now called the “Cult of Mourning” which began when Queen Victoria of England went into mourning for the rest of her life when her husband Prince Albert died.
  •  “Understanding the Debate Over Confederate Monuments,” taught by Christopher Strain, Ph.D., a professor of American studies at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of FAU. This one-time lecture will explain not only the history of these monuments and memorials, but also the long-simmering arguments for and against the Confederate flag.
  • “More Than Once Upon a Time: Stories We Can’t Stop Telling,” presented by Byron R. McCane, Ph.D., a graduate of Duke University and a professor in the Department of History at FAU. This six-week course will explore stories from the Bible that frequently recur in popular culture, including television, music and politics.

For more information about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at FAU, or to receive a course catalog, call 561-799-8547.

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