OLÉ! Spring 2008 Course List

Schedule shown in grid form is posted.

 

OLÉ! Book Club

Etcetera

Facilitator:  Kee Miner

The OLÉ! Book club refuses to stop!  After reading the two UAA and APU books of the year and getting caught up in The Engaging Muslims Project, they moved from Afghanistan to Iran, continuing to read about politics and religion in the Muslim world.  Next up: the Israel/Palestine conflict through readings, films and community lectures.

 

Fridays

March 28 through May 16

9:00 -10:30 AM

UAA Eugene Short Hall, Second Floor

 

 

Why We Believe What We Believe

Why Be Good? - Ethical Decision Making

Teacher:  Reverend Connie Jones

Explore some of the latest thinking and research on ethical behavior.  Reverend Connie Jones will consider the question of how we make the right choices when the choices aren’t always clear.  Open to all, whether a participant in the first course or not. Further information

 

Fridays

March 28, April 4, 11, 18 and 25

10:45 – 12:15 PM

UAA Eugene Short Hall, Second Floor

 

 

Suffrage, Prostitution and Prohibition

The Social History of Alaska, 1910-1930

Teacher:  Dr. Beverly Beeton

Dr. Beverly Beeton, former Provost and Vice Chancellor at UAA, presents new research on the social history of Alaska in the early decades of the twentieth century - when white women first came to the state with more on their minds than making a fortune.  A story of community service, voting rights, prostitution and prohibition. Further information

 

Fridays           

April 4, 11 and 18

1:00 – 2:30 PM

UAA Eugene Short Hall, Second Floor

 

 

Masterpiece Literature

The Jane Austen Book Club

Teacher:  Wayne Mergler

Why are we still reading Jane Austen?  She wrote six novels 200 years ago and was largely unknown

and unappreciated as a writer until long after her death.  Why are her novels relevant today?  Why

the huge upsurge in popularity?  Read and discuss three Jane Austen masterpieces with Wayne

Mergler, booklover, editor, author and teacher of English literature.  Further information

 

Fridays

March 28, April 4, 11, 18, 25 and May 2

1:00 – 2:30 PM

UAA Eugene Short Hall, Second Floor

 

 

That’s Entertainment

Science Fiction Movie Fest

Teacher:  Ron Crawford

DIFFERENT ROOM FOR MAY 9TH! Turn off the lights, huddle up, and hang on to that person next to you.  Think late-night slumber parties, carloads of friends at the drive-in, or babysitting alone.  Don’t worry.  Ron is prepared to take it down a notch if it’s just too scary to revisit science fiction classics from our youth.  Find out how these films from the silent era, the fifties and early sixties were a reflection of popular American culture.  And keep breathing… Further information

 

Fridays

April 25, May 2, 9 and 16

12:30 – 3:30 PM

UAA Allied Health Sciences, Room 106

 

Shoots and Leaves

Earth Friendly Landscaping and Gardening 

Facilitator:  Julie Riley

Julie Riley, Anchorage gardeners “go to” person at the UAA Cooperative Extension Service, has

put together a stellar cast of local experts to teach the basics of organic gardening and residential

landscape design.  Covers garden plans, soils, composting and organic vegetable gardening and  

includes two specialized garden designs: rock gardens (with the inimitable Verna Pratt) and rain  

gardens. Further information

 

Fridays           

April 4, 11, 18, and 25, May 2, 9 and 16

3:30 -5:00 PM

UAA Cooperative Extension Service

 

                                                                       

Big Wild Opera

Don Pasquale

Teacher:  John Rolston

John Rolston is fast earning a reputation in OLÉ! circles as an opera “nut” and extraordinarily gifted teacher.  He knows all the stories, singers and gossip, loves the music and shares it all with passion and humor.  He’ll follow Donizetti’s lead in ridiculing the Don and his conniving friend, the Doctor, and have us happily rooting for the love-sick nephew and his clever beloved. Further information

 

Tuesdays

March 25, April 1, 8 and 22 

1:00 – 3:00 PM

BP Energy Center

 

 

 

 

Winged Migration

Birdwatching in Alaska                          

Facilitator:  Gretchen Bersch

Guest speakers from the Alaska Audubon Society, TLC Bird Treatment and Learning Center and the local birding community are on deck to introduce us to everything we need to know to recognize and treasure the birds in our neighborhood.  Learn about resident birds, birdsongs, spotting birds and recording field notes, as well as optics, scopes and various useful gadgets. Further information

 

Wednesdays

March 26, April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30

4:00 - 6:00 PM

Anchorage Senior Center

 

 

 

Two Field Courses Scheduled for May

 

Finally, we can talk about May!  You remember, that busy month when we really want to be outdoors again, when it smells like wet dirt, and that new green color suddenly washes over the long-bare branches.   That’s when intrepid OLÉ! members can pull on their boots, hop in the van or boat and join a crowd of equally excited friends heading off to Yukon Island in Katchemak Bay or traveling along Cook Inlet with roadside geology on their minds.  Welcome to OLÉ!’s first field courses: Friends and Anemones and Ice Capades!  Hint: Class sizes are limited so sign up early.

 

Friends and Anemones

Yukon Island Marine Biology and Archaeology

Facilitator: Gretchen Bersch

Spend 24 hours on beautiful Yukon Island exploring an archaeology pit and taking a low-tide walk to investigate the marine biology of the Bay.  Gretchen Bersch has been inviting friends, students, researchers and colleagues to Yukon Island for decades, and is, by all accounts, a congenial and exuberant host.  The trip was scheduled to coincide with low tides in the area and to end just as the 2008 Homer Shorebird Festival kicks off to accommodate people who would like to participate in the festival. Further information

 

Dates: Wednesday, May 7th and Thursday, May 8th.

Water Taxi leaves Homer at 12:30 Wednesday and returns mid- to late-afternoon on Thursday

 

Cost for overnight lodging and four meals:  $95 per person

Cost for water taxi:  $58, roundtrip

 

Ice Capades

Roadside Geology from the Matanuska Glacier to Turnagain Pass

Teacher: Dr. Dick Reger

You've driven it a hundred times.  Now see the land around Cook Inlet through the eyes of a thoughtful and observant geologist.  Dr. Dick Reger will walk us back in time to imagine how many familiar features along the Glenn and Seward Highways were formed.   Attend an introductory lecture and slide show on glaciers and glaciations on Friday to prepare for a Saturday excursion along Turnagain Arm and a Sunday outing in the Knik Arm- Matanuska Valley area.  Come with boots and backpack and a spirit of adventure.  That well-known drive will never look the same again!  Further information

 

Dates:  Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 2, 3 and 4

Cost: $30 per person, includes travel and lunch

 

www.OleAnchorage.org

907‐272‐9434


Registration form is now available
If you wish, there are 'low tech' instructions for e-mailing the registration form
Directions to the locations are provided
Information for instructors
Instructions for Producers