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OLLI WINTER BREAK FEBRUARY 18 to 22 *Most OLLI classes will not meet*
Long-time OLLI Instructors Recognized

Three long-time OLLI instructors recently received Certificates of Appreciation from OLLI Director Chris McLeod for reaching major teaching milestones. Billy Yeargin and Jay Dunbar reached a 50-course milestone and Ken Hoover reached a 25course milestone. To put this in context, in the 42-year history of OLLI, fewer than 5% of instructors have taught 25 times and fewer than 1% have taught 50 times. Please join us in congratulating these long-time instructors on their accomplishments! 

  • Billy Yeargin began teaching at OLLI in the mid-90s and has been at it ever since. His more than 50 offerings include courses in History (“American Tobacco Heritage”), Performing Arts (“Hank Williams: Moaning the Blues”), Religion & Philosophy (“History of Religion in the Old South”) and Social Science & Culture (“Native America Cultures in North Carolina”). During the 2019 Winter Term, he is teaching “Robert E. Lee: The Marble Man.”
  • Jay Dunbar has been a permanent contributor to OLLI since 2003 when he first offered the course “T’ai Chi: Moving Meditation.” Over the years, a large number of OLLI members have studied both T’ai Chi and Qigong with Jay. To the delight of his students, Jay is teaching both courses during the 2019 winter term. After receiving his certificate, Jay said “It is a great pleasure to be able to teach at OLLI, to give back in a small way to Duke where I received my master’s degree in 1974.”
  • Ken Hoover has taught at OLLI since 2008 when he offered “The Evolution of Sacred Music.” Over the years, Ken’s many course offerings have included “Wagner’s Ring,” “The Evolution of Music 101,” A Thousand Years of Sacred Music” and many others. During the 2019 winter term, he is teaching “A Millennium of Sacred Music” and “Nordic Serenades.”
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Director Chris McLeod congratulates Billy Yeargin for teaching more than 50 courses for OLLI. She reports that Billy will teach his last course this Spring. We hope to add photos of the fellow honorees Jay Dunbar and Ken Hoover to our website as soon as we can procure them.

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Read our new Severe Weather Policy Here

Matt Epstein Appointed New OLLI Vice President
We are delighted to announce that, with the approval of the Board, Matt Epstein was appointed Vice President of OLLI at Duke for the remainder of this academic year (through June 2019).

Community Engagement SIG Needs Volunteers for Two Projects
The Community Engagement SIG needs volunteers for two projects in Durham, one implementing a new project with Meals on Wheels and one working on an evaluation of the Farmer Foodshare’s Donation Program. The group is also developing some new projects in the education area in Durham. Learn more here.

Volunteer Opportunity with Durham Center for Senior Living EATS Program
Few people realize that an estimated 7,300 senior citizens in Durham are food insecure and lack limited or uncertain access to adequate food. The Durham Center for Senior Life (DCSL) in partnership with Durham County Social Services has begun a new program to help address this
program and needs volunteers. Read more here.
DUKE BRAIN STUDY
Volunteers are needed for neuroscience research at the Duke University Medical Center.  These noninvasive research studies generally last 1-2 hours and participants will be compensated for their time.  For more information, email Angela Cook at angela.cook@duke.edu and read more here.

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Lawrence "Larry" Charny, February 12
Mary Kerrigan, January 17
Anne Firor Scott, February 6
Dorothy ‘Dot’ Sutton,  February 2

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New Spring Course from the State Budget Director
Nobody knows the budget like the state’s Budget Director Charles Perusse, and he will be presenting an OLLI course on the ins and outs of developing the NC budget in this upcoming Spring Term. Read more here.

A Closer Look at Some New OLLI Instructors
From a doctor to a rabbi, from professional educators to
entrepreneurs, from an engineer to an author, the Winter 2019 OLLI term offers an impressive array of new instructors presenting classes in their areas of expertise. Read more here.
Spring Course Preview: Pink Flamingos and Time Warps
You don’t have to come in costume to join instructor Jackson Carter as he slips the class back a few decades to explore classic cult films of our youth. Films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eraserhead, Reefer Madness, It's A Wonderful Life and others have gained a following for many reasons, primarily our fascination with reliving the love we felt when we first watched them. This course explores how movies become "cult classics" over the years—exploring a myriad of filmmakers, forgotten Hollywood stars, late career bloomers, and out-and-out so-bad-they're-great films. Members of the course will learn how to identify a film as a cult classic, their own personal cult films, and why we love the films we love when we love them. Students will experience the joy of watching a cult classic and revisiting films that may not be considered cult but upon second viewing will change their mind.
 
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OLLI Social Hour
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, Feb 26
Parizade Restaurant
Durham-based Film “An Unlikely Friendship” Shows Possibilities of Racial Reconciliation“
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An Unlikely Friendship” tells the story of the altogether surprising friendship that emerged between C.P. Ellis, the Exalted Grand Cyclops of the Durham Ku Klux Klan, and Ann Atwater, an outspoken Black woman and civil rights activist. A special showing of the film will take place on March 6. Read more here.
Get a Taste of the Movement that Sparked the Idea of “Life Long Learning” in the US
Deborah Sunya Moore, Vice President of performing and visual arts at the Chautauqua Institution, is the guest speaker at the Triangle Chautauquan Luncheon on Friday, March 22, in Raleigh. Some OLLI members already join thousands of other lifelong learners in enjoying leading thinkers and performers at the scenic campus in western New York each summer. Reserve by March 15 to attend the noon lunch at the NCSU University Club. Read more here.
Many Special Interest Groups (SIGs) hold regular monthly meetings. Be sure to click on the OLLI Calendar to learn dates, times and places.  Read more about all the SIGs at OLLI at Duke here.
 
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Calendar and Quick Links
  • Check the OLLI Calendar for regularly scheduled events. You can send yourself a reminder email!
  • OLLI Special Interest Groups
  • OLLI Registration
  • Duke Events Calendar
Key Dates​​​​​​​
  • Feb. 18-22:  OLLI Winter Break--no classes
  • Mar. 25: Last day for most OLLI Winter classes
  • Mar. 28 and 29: Registration for Spring Term Begins
  • Apr. 15: OLLI Spring classes begin
  • May 24: Last day for most OLLI Spring classes
  • Aug. 6 and 7: Registration for All Term Begins
  • ​Sep. 9: OLLI Fall classes begin

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Authors' Corner
OLLI Writer Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul
Getting published in a national anthology like Chicken Soup for the Soul is not easy, but OLLI student Nancy Haines managed just that after Erika Hoffman’s class.  Read more here.

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