Current

International Affairs w Ronnie Gruhn, Professor Emerita, Politics

Course Number: 2501

OLLI YouTube channel: Every other Monday

Dr Gruhn has a passionate and undiminished interest in reading, writing, and talking about world affairs. OLLI is most fortunate she shares her knowledge in podcasts offering powerful insights into what is happening today. To answer any question about current international affairs, please email Ronnie@UCSC.edu. Watch your inbox for OLLI email that links to each commentary. To subscribe to our YouTube channel, go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU7U1Mly_RuSsk4QjQD4WNw.

There is no charge for Ronnie Gruhn’s course. It is not on the signup form.

Reminder: Only OLLI Members in Good Standing May Register for Courses.

2508 Cosmology

When: Tuesdays, Feb. 4,11,18, 25, Mar. 4, 11 10:30-12.
Instructor: Roger Knacke
Where: London Nelson Center, 301 Center St. and Zoom.

The course will be a discussion of transformative discoveries in cosmology, the history and evolution of the Universe. We will include the latest research being conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope on the Universe’s beginnings, and the formation of the first stars and galaxies. Background in science is not necessary.

Meeting

Galaxies and the Universe
The Cosmic Expansion
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation; Inflation
The First 3 Minutes; Formation of the Elements
Dark Matter; Dark Energy
The First Stars and Galaxies in the Universe

Roger Knacke is Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Penn State Erie, where he retired as Director of the School of Science in 2010. He has AB and PhD degrees in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focused on interstellar matter and planetary atmospheres. Roger has taught eleven courses for OLLI.

2509 Updates on Climate Change

When: Tuesdays, Jan.7, 14, 21, 28; 10:30-12:00
Whew: London Nelson Center, 301 Center St. and ZOOM
Instructor: Pauline Seales

These four classes will provide an update on the problems and solutions for the Climate Change Challenge. There will be an occasional review of the science basics as needed so please don’t feel you have to have attended the previous classes in fall 23. For returnees there will be loads of NEW material.

Pauline Seales was a silicon chip engineer for over 20 years and then a high school science teacher for 20 years. After retiring she became a climate activist and volunteer climate educator. Website https://scruzclimate.org/

2510 Santa Cruz Shakespeare: The Season’s Plays

When: Thursdays, March 6, 13, 20, 27; April 3; 10:00-12:00
Where: ZOOM only
Instructor: Michael Warren

The texts for this series of lectures will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pericles, Prince of Tyre. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595) is a various and delightful comedy that is frequently played and always popular. It is a work of extraordinary variety, a complex intellectual achievement that argues for the wonder of poetry and the importance of the creative imagination. Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1608), is less generally known. The product of Shakespeare’s collaboration with George Wilkins, it is the first of those late plays that have come to be known as “romances,” works, like The Tempest, that explore potentially tragic situations but end with providential good fortune bringing reconciliation.

For the first class please read A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the end of Act 3. If you wish to purchase editions of the plays that are both responsibly annotated and inexpensive, I recommend either the Pelican or Folger series. One can access Folger texts online for free at <shakespeare.folger.edu>, but they are without notes.

Dr. Warren is UCSC Professor Emeritus, English Literature. He has served as a Textual Consultant to the Shakespeare festival since it began in 1982.

2511 Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven

When: Saturdays: May 3, 10, 17, 31; 10:00-12:00
Where: UCSC Music Center, room 131
Instructor: Leta Miller

This course will be an introduction to the instrumental music of composers from the Classical period (late 18th–early 19th century)—specifically Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Examples from these composers’ symphonies and string quartets will be the focus of the class. No musical experience is needed—and there’s no need to read music.

Leta Miller is UCSC Emeritus Professor of Music. Her classes have attracted high enrollments. Students have remarked about her enthusiasm and her skill in introducing general audiences to complex musical structures.

2512 Family, Gender, and Material Culture of Late Imperial China

When: Tuesdays: April 8, 15, 22, 29; 10:30-12:00
Where: London Nelson Center, 301 Center St. and ZOOM
Instructor: Audrey Ke Zhao

This course will explore the history of family, gender roles, and material culture in late-imperial China. Participants will gain an understanding of how key social structures, such as family dynamics, gender expectations, and everyday objects, shaped Chinese society from the 17th century onward. We will examine significant shifts in areas like law, ethics, and religious practices, focusing on how these changes affected the lives of families, and of women in particular. By the end of the course, participants will have a deeper appreciation of the cultural environment of late-imperial China and of the enduring influence of these historical developments.

Audrey Ke Zhao is a PhD candidate in history at the UC Santa Cruz, with seven years of teaching experience. Passionate about yoga, tea culture, and drawing, Audrey is excited to share her fascination with the rich and complex history of China with members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

2513: Toolkits and the Origins of the Modern World, 500- 1500

When: Fridays, February 14, 21, 28; 10-12
Where: London Nelson Center, 301 Center St. and Zoom
Instructor: Edmund (“Terry”) Burke

This course concludes my previous OLLI courses (2022-2024) on toolkits in world history. Was the West always the best? Toolkits (technological complexes) is a shorthand way of referring to the gradual accumulation of solutions to general human problems. Some of the oldest are domestication, water management, and the mastery of fire. At first local, then regional, toolkits diffused across Afro-Eurasia. By 1500 they were generally available to societies.

Modernity was not invented in Europe. Even before Columbus set sail, Afro-Eurasia already had gunpowder weapons, the compass, libraries, hospitals, printing, and many other signifiers of modernity. Why does this matter? Because it provides a way of rethinking the civilizational narrative that otherwise purports to explain what happened next. The West had its own inventions, but most of the key elements of modernity originated elsewhere. This course will change your understanding.

Lectures

Is Modernity Western? Why it Matters
Origin Story: Toolkits in World History
Toolkits and Mid-Millennium Modernity

Edmund (“Terry”) Burke III is Research Professor of History and Professor Emeritus at UCSC. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, he was the founder and first Director of the Center of World History at UCSC. Burke is author or editor of 14 books.

2514: Modern Molecular Biology

When: Saturdays, March 8, 15, 22, 29 10:00 am to Noon
Where: Room 240, Physical Sciences Building, UCSC
Instructor: Barry Bowman, Professor Emeritus, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

The last 50 years have seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the genes, proteins and other molecules that combine to form living organisms. In this course four UCSC Professors will talk about recent discoveries in molecular biology. Professor Barry Bowman, the course coordinator, will begin with a basic review of genes and proteins. Details about the other lectures will be available in February. These talks are intended for a general audience. A scientific background or knowledge of biology is not expected. Free parking is available near the classroom.