Video Project Reveals UC OLLI s Significance to Area Retirees

As noted by Newport, Ky.-based artist Sam Hollingsworth, one can play only so much golf after retirement.

Through the University of Cincinnati’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Hollingsworth, retired administrative professional Rosemary Deitzer of West Chester and thousands of other local retirees have found inspiration, new direction, friendship and an ongoing connection with the University of Cincinnati.

Hollingsworth and Deitzer recently shared on camera the significance of OLLI to changing the course of their retirement years. The six resulting videos are available on UC’s YouTube channel and can be accessed from the OLLI Website at

www.uc.edu/ce/olli

.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Cincinnati provides opportunities for lifetime learning and social interaction to the mature residents of Greater Cincinnati. Each school year, more than 1,700 individuals choose from hundreds of courses — from one-and-a-half-hour demonstrations to eight-week seminars — at various locations around town.

Offerings range from such traditional college subjects as math, philosophy, creative writing, science, literature and history to courses on financial planning and health care to such eclectic subjects as photography, opera, computer skills, tai chi and gardening.

Hollingsworth notes that teaching art history for OLLI actually caused him to change his own painting style, leading to a recent gallery show in New York City. He says, “People who come to class have made a choice — I want to participate in my life — as opposed to someone who is just an observer.”

Rosemary Deitzer did not have the opportunity to attend college herself but has found her “alma mater” at UC through OLLI. She explains, “I found OLLI to be very welcoming. It’s a way to continue your education if you have a degree or if you don’t have a degree. Nobody really cares. They just care that you came and are enjoying yourself.”

Both Hollingsworth and Deitzer teach and attend OLLI courses and have served on numerous volunteer committees for OLLI. Theirs are only two of the dozens of stories of OLLI members whose lives have changed in large and small ways because of their participation — from a woman in her 80s who attended a program about skydiving and then jumped out of an airplane to another who carried her never-used digital camera to a photography class and found a new means of expression.

OLLI is open to everyone aged 50 and older. The only prerequisite is enthusiasm for learning. For a single payment of $85 per quarter, students may enroll in as many classes as they like. Scholarships are available. Most courses take place at UC Blue Ash College, UC’s main uptown campus in Clifton, and Adath Israel in Amberley.

Spring quarter classes begin March 31, 2014, and run for eight weeks. Registration opens Wednesday, March 5, 10 a.m.

To get more information, request a print catalog or register for classes, visit

http://www.uc.edu/ce/olli.html

or call 513-556-9186.