The OLLI Office is open 8:30-5 Monday-Thursday, and 8:30-4 on Fridays. Our number is 864-294-2998.
The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, and temperatures are rising, which can only mean one thing: Welcome back to OLLI’s Spring Term! Classes begin next week, so consult your brochure to figure out exactly when and where your class meets. As always, call the OLLI office if you have questions. New members may pick up nametags and parking passes when you come for your first class.
COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Room Changes:
PPG1382 Dynamic Aging V and PPG1392 Dynamic Aging VI will now meet in HC005
HIS622 8 Weeks in China will now meet in HC004
CEO404 Great Decisions 2017 will now meet in NVJ100
CPT312 Home Internet Security will now meet in HC105
There’s room for YOU in this informative Bonus Event: Learn why and how Greenville’s seniors are not immune from the national epidemic of prescription drug/opioid use and abuse. At Seniors and Opioids: Unexpected Origins of a Greenville Epidemic, Fri., March 31, 1 p.m., you’ll hear from a certified addictions counselor and an emergency medicine physician. Call or come by the office to sign up.
OLLI HAPPENINGS
Lunch and Learn, Tuesdays in HC110, 12:30-1:15p.m. March 28, The Wyeth Dynasty: Three Generations with Ellen Westcamper, Head of Education, Greenville County Museum of Art.
Get a sneak peek into the world of Romeo and Juliet Wednesday, March 29 at 12:30, HC 111. Dr. Kristin Stultz Pressley, a Furman alum and adjunct professor, will discuss how this timeless classic has changed and stayed the same throughout the ages. Then, buy your tickets for Furman’s production of Romeo and Juliet, March 29-April 1 and 6-8 at 8 p.m., and April 2 and 9 at 3 p.m. OLLI members get the student price. Call 294-2125 for more information.
Enjoy a production of the Royal Shakespeare Company captured live in HC from Stratford-upon-Avon. The Tempest, Wednesday, March 29, 4 p.m., Burgiss Theater, Trone Student Center. This production stars Simon Russell Beale, in what critics are lauding as the best performance of his career and is currently playing to sold out houses in London. Tickets available in the OLLI office and at the door–$16 for OLLI members, $18 for general public. **Prepare for the presentation at a Tempest Lunch and Learn led by Dennis Tavernetti Monday, March 27, 12:30-1:20, HC111.
FREE OLD AND UNUSED DRUG DISPOSAL! On March 31 noon-2 p.m., OLLI will host a special one-time-only FREE service to dispose of all old or unused drugs. Spring clean your medicine cabinet and drop off your pill bottles, tubes, vials, syringes, etc. with the law enforcement official who will be at the Herring Center front door. No need to remove labels. And, don’t forget to sign up for the special Bonus Event noted above!
In just a short time, 50 OLLI members have become actively engaged with the Personal and Community Engagement Initiative (PCE). Our first PCE SIG meeting on April 6, 12:20-1:20 pm (HC004) will explain some of the reasons these folks have chosen to participate. Come listen to an informative presentation by Dudley Tower and Tom Nowlin and decide for yourself. You may be VERY surprised by some of the hidden benefits of volunteering
A Hand Quilting and More SIG is forming for all OLLI members interested in sharing time working on hand quilting projects or any other hand work you are involved in. The SIG will meet on Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m., HC003. Contact Donna Rasheed or Judith Woodward with questions.
All OLLI yarn spinning enthusiasts are invited to enjoy spinning and conversation with other spinners through the OLLI Spinning SIG. The first meeting is Fri., April 7, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. in the Herring Center Lobby. Contact Barry Gilmer if you are interested or with questions.
What’s GOING ON at Furman University?
Furman student researchers are in need of participants! Students will be in the Herring Center computer lab at next Tuesday (12:30-4), Wednesday (12:15-1:15) and Thursday (8:30-11; 2:30-4:30) to collect data for three different studies. The topics of the studies range from perceptions of behaviors in the workplace, to help-seeking preferences, to perceptions of end-of-life planning. Each study will take 20 minutes or less. Please sign up in the OLLI office.
Furman University Lyric Theatre presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore Sat., March 25 at 8 p.m. in McAlister Auditorium. General Admission tickets for the event are $15 for seniors and are available through Eventbrite or the Furman Music Office at (864) 294-2086.
Award-winning historian David Shi, who served as Furman’s president from 1994 to 2010, will provide an overview of the vexing and volatile history of race in the American experience: how it has been defined, abused, embraced and overcome at the University’s High Noon Lecture Series on Wed., March 29 at the Upcountry History Museum-Furman. The lecture, “A More Perfect Union: Race in American History”, will begin at noon and is open to the public. View the spring schedule here.
How is democracy faring in 21st century America? What about the long accepted standards of civil behavior and ethical conduct? A group of Furman professors will address those issues in March and April in the series Our Republic … For Which It Stands. Upcoming presentations include Is “Civil Discourse” Overrated? Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Deference and Respect for Authority, March 26, 3 p.m. at Greenville First Baptist Church (Fellowship Hall) and When Is It OK to Punch a Nazi? A Panel Discussion on Symbolic Violence and Civil Disobedience, March 30, 7:30 p.m. in Furman Hall 214 (McEachern). Free. Learn more on the website.
Furman’s Riley Institute and Department of Politics and International Affairs, with support from SC ETV, presents Black American Since MLK: A Conversation with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on Thursday, March 30, 5:30-6:45 p.m. at the Younts Conference Center. Free. Seating is limited, so arrive early. Visit the Riley Institute website for more information. Learn more about Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. here, and watch a preview interview with Dr. Gates here.
The New York Times best-selling author David Shields will speak at two separate events March 29 and March 31. Shields will read from his book, Other People: Takes and Mistakes, Wednesday, March 29 at 4 p.m. in Furman Hall 214 (McEachern Lecture Hall). Shields will also talk about the film, I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel, which is based on Shields’ same-titled book and is directed by filmmaker actor James Franco. The film talk takes place Friday, March 31 at 4 p.m. in Burgiss Theater. Free!
Furman’s Ancient Greek and Roman Studies welcomes Dr. Benjamin Keim, Professor of Classics at Pomona College, on Thursday, March 30. Dr. Keim will present two seminars, one at 3 p.m. and one at 4 p.m. on the general topic of the classical Athenians’ concept of honor and how they negotiated it in various avenues of their everyday life, and then looking at a text to draw participants into the topic. Furman Hall 108. Free.
What’s GOING ON in and around Greenville?
Celebrate Upstate International Month with Upstate International through an array of events from a Japanese Tea Ceremony to a St. Patrick’s Day Beer Run. Visit their calendar and enjoy! If you’re interested in learning languages like Chinese, German, Japanese or Russian, they offer a multitude of language classes. Learn more here. The Greenville Concert Band celebrates International Month with A World of Music Sat., March 25, 3 p.m., Hughes Main Library.
You are invited to the March meeting of Science on Tap, a forum where people come to learn about and discuss recent discoveries in science and technology while having fun! The Greenville gathering takes place on the last Tuesday of each month (March 28), 6:30 -7:45 p.m. at Coffee Underground in downtown Greenville. This month Dr. Sourav Saha, from the Dept. of Chemistry at Clemson, will discuss some really amazing chemicals that respond to the environment and act as sensors! Learn more on the website.
The Peace Center presents the Mike Wiley performance of Dar He—The Story of Emmett Till, March 29-30. Tickets are $10 and available for both the 10 am and noon performances each day. Learn more on the website.