Take a Test Drive of an OLLI Course
What is Test Drive?
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Test Drive is a way for instructors to get feedback from you about an idea they have for a course
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How Test Drive Works
Instructors who are thinking about offering a course but are not sure of the level of interest members will have in it put a brief summary and detailed description of the course on our OLLI Members Web Site. You can read through the full course description and provide feedback.
If you think you might be interested in taking the course, fill in the feedback form found on the page with the full description to let the instructor know if you might be interested in the course or to make some suggestions as to what you hope the course will cover or to provide other comments.
You are not committed to enrolling in the class should it be offered and the instructor is not committed to offering it. However, we hope that by playing the role of “matchmaker” the OLLI Course Test Drive will result in more courses of interest to you and other OLLI students.
Please take the opportunity to ‘test drive’ the course/s below and let instructors know what you think.
If you think you might be interested in taking the course, fill in the feedback form found on the page with the full description to let the instructor know if you might be interested in the course or to make some suggestions as to what you hope the course will cover or to provide other comments.
You are not committed to enrolling in the class should it be offered and the instructor is not committed to offering it. However, we hope that by playing the role of “matchmaker” the OLLI Course Test Drive will result in more courses of interest to you and other OLLI students.
Please take the opportunity to ‘test drive’ the course/s below and let instructors know what you think.
Test Drive This Course
Thinking Ahead to Future OLLI Courses
Seeking your input! We are considering offering this course in spring, 2021. Let us know your thoughts and reactions to this course description. By expressing interest, you are not committing yourself to register. Please send email to curriculum@olliatduke.org.
Peter Taylor’s Fiction
This course will be devoted to a close reading and discussion of Peter Taylor's short story masterpiece, "The Old Forest," and the novel for which he won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, A Summons to Memphis. In 2017 the Library of America published a two-volume set of Taylor’s works. Still not familiar with Taylor? You're not alone. Jonathan Yardley, long-time Washington Post book critic, said, "It remains an unfathomable mystery that so many thousands of literate Americans -- people who read books and pay more than passing attention to literary affairs -- not merely have never read Taylor but have never heard of him." Taylor, who died in 1994, primarily wrote stories about Upper South gentry during the early and mid-twentieth century. His writing style is "clear as a fine pane of glass" (Yardley), and the stories seem almost mundane at first glance. But below the surface lurk disturbing aspects of human nature. His accessible style leaves us all the more unsettled at the story's conclusion.
The Peter Taylor course will be taught by Jay Miller, a Duke graduate and lawyer for over 40 years (semi-retired now), who lives with his wife, Donna (also a Duke grad), in Milwaukee and Chapel Hill. Jay has taught five courses at OLLI at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, all on Faulkner novels. His love of great literature motivates him to want to share it with, and continue to learn from, others. He's particularly excited about exploring the genius of Peter Taylor.
Seeking your input! We are considering offering this course in spring, 2021. Let us know your thoughts and reactions to this course description. By expressing interest, you are not committing yourself to register. Please send email to curriculum@olliatduke.org.
Peter Taylor’s Fiction
This course will be devoted to a close reading and discussion of Peter Taylor's short story masterpiece, "The Old Forest," and the novel for which he won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, A Summons to Memphis. In 2017 the Library of America published a two-volume set of Taylor’s works. Still not familiar with Taylor? You're not alone. Jonathan Yardley, long-time Washington Post book critic, said, "It remains an unfathomable mystery that so many thousands of literate Americans -- people who read books and pay more than passing attention to literary affairs -- not merely have never read Taylor but have never heard of him." Taylor, who died in 1994, primarily wrote stories about Upper South gentry during the early and mid-twentieth century. His writing style is "clear as a fine pane of glass" (Yardley), and the stories seem almost mundane at first glance. But below the surface lurk disturbing aspects of human nature. His accessible style leaves us all the more unsettled at the story's conclusion.
The Peter Taylor course will be taught by Jay Miller, a Duke graduate and lawyer for over 40 years (semi-retired now), who lives with his wife, Donna (also a Duke grad), in Milwaukee and Chapel Hill. Jay has taught five courses at OLLI at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, all on Faulkner novels. His love of great literature motivates him to want to share it with, and continue to learn from, others. He's particularly excited about exploring the genius of Peter Taylor.