Camarillo, CA - You no longer have to be 50+ to take CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) classes. Beginning with the 2024 Spring Session I, anyone age 30 and up can register.

“While OLLI is designed for folks ages 50 and up, it is now open to all adult lifelong learners who want to enrich their knowledge without the pressure of tests, grades, or working toward a degree,” said OLLI Program Coordinator Shaina Salin. “OLLI is learning for the joy of learning.”

Registration for Spring Session I classes opened on Jan. 8 at 8:30 a.m. and classes begin Monday, Jan. 22 and will run for six weeks until March 1. Just two classes— “How Will Our Species Survive” and “Brain Training” - begin one week later and end one week later.

This semester’s offerings encompass many aspects of the human experience including Americans and their automobiles, humankind’s chances of surviving long-term on earth, the Greatest Generation; the rebels of the ‘50s and methods to keep our brains in top condition. Students will have a chance to explore the arts with a class on Grecian pottery, the Impressionist artists and a class about Broadway’s great musical composers called: “With a Song in My Heart” - and more.

CSUCI retired Physics faculty member Jerry Clifford hopes to give students in his class—“How Will Our Species Survive?” —a long-term perspective on humankind on the earth with a simple exercise.

“I’ll have the students put their arms out, forming a ‘t.’ Let’s say the length from fingertip to fingertip is how long the earth has been around,” Clifford said. “If you take a nail file to one of your nails, you’ve eliminated all of humanity.”

Clifford plans to invite CSUCI professors as guest speakers who will address critical issues affecting the future of our species including: water availability; food security; energy; health and disease; climate change and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Among the experts will be Professor of Computer Science Michael Soltys to talk about AI; Professor of Biology Nitika Parmar to discuss health and disease and Professor of Biology Amy Denton will explore the future of food security.

Clifford hopes a realistic look at some of the threats to humankind’s survival will give students context in terms of humankind’s chances of extending our reign on earth.

“I want people to appreciate where humans fit in this whole picture,” Clifford said. “Other species have come and gone, so why do we think we’re special?”

The class called “Car Nation: The Automobile in American History” taught by former CSUCI Adjunct History Lecturer David Parsons will explore the American adventure with automobiles, and how the evolution of our primary means of transportation has shaped who we are and vice versa.

“I try to keep my topics current and I started to think about the rise of Elon Musk and the Tesla, the massive United Autoworkers Strike and just how much cars have reflected the American experience,” Parsons said. “Transportation and cars have been central to American politics but also to global politics when you consider supply chains and labor. Cars are a good way to investigate where we are politically, too.”

Just about everybody can recall an experience that is linked to a car, Parsons said, particularly in California where driving and traffic is central to our lives. Trips to the Grand Canyon in the family station wagon; drive-in movies; running out of gas, getting locked out, getting a flat; the gas crisis; the Volkswagen bug you drove to college, or that muscle car your dad loved.

“You can connect a car to every aspect of American existence,” Parsons said. “We’re going to discover the powerful role that cars have played in shaping conversations about race, class, labor, technology, climate change, and more.”

Basic enrollment costs $60 for each class. Session Enrollment costs $150 per individual and $200 per couple and allows students to take as many classes as they like. There is a non-refundable membership fee of $15 for new members. New members are defined as anyone that has not paid a membership fee between Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.

OLLI holds in-person classes at the CSUCI Library and Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Camarillo and at the College of Law in Ventura. All in-person classes include the option to attend virtually on Zoom, and OLLI also offers Zoom only classes. Additionally, all classes are recorded for later viewing.

For more information or to register, visit the OLLI website.