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Community Connections : Education

OLLI OLLI out there

After so many years of appointments, kids’ soccer games and business trips, retirement can be daunting for many people because of its lack of structure. In 1990, a group of South Bay seniors returned to education as an outlet for continued growth by forming Omnilore, a community-based lifelong learning initiative sponsored by Extended Education. Originally, the program was exclusively a peer-teaching program where the members volunteered to research a subject and then present it to the group. In 2000, Omnilore approached Extended Education Dean Marge Gordon about expanding the project to include a series of on-campus seminars focused on a common theme and presented by CSUDH professors.

Combining the self-taught classes with on-campus seminars, Omnilore’s membership has ballooned from 20 to 200 as the group soaked up information on such topics as “Great American thinkers,” “Churchill,” “The Algonquin roundtable,” and “The age of Napoleon” along the way. Yet many of those active seniors become more homebound as they aged, which has led CSUDH to supplement the Omnilore project with OLLIonline – an interactive learning seminar project through online and cable television media so that being homebound does not mean an end to lifelong learning.

In December, 2002, Extended Education received a renewable $100,000 grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation to implement the plans for the project, which will make its debut this September. Broadcast on cable channel LA36, the live show featuring CSUDH professors works similarly to an Omnilore seminar, with viewers able to ask questions via e-mail and phone while the program is on the air. Additional educational materials available through www.ollionline.tv supplement the program.

Two successful test-runs of the program were held this spring with Jerry Moore, professor of anthropology, discussing the “Anthropology and Baja exploration” and Bill Deluca, professor of theatre arts, presenting “The power of the masks.” The program’s first semester theme will be “Promise of the American West,” opening on Monday, September 8 and following each Monday thereafter.

While the project will start small, Gordon foresees no limits to how expansive it could be. “There are 200,000 homebound adults currently living in Southern California. People have to realize the fastest growing part of the population is people over 85. We will deal initially with the South Bay, but when you’re working with technology, you are not restricted at all.”

For more information, contact Jim Bouchard, program development specialist, Extended Education, at (310) 243-3729.

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