Lecture Courses

Spring 2023 Schedule

Lecture courses are taught by the high-caliber instructors and guest speakers for which UCLA is world-renowned. OLLI membership is required to enroll in these courses.

Southern California Styles: From Mexican Territory to Movie Mecca {New Course}

Mondays, April 3–24, 1–3pm

As California developed from its Mission period to a rapidly-developing economy, Southern California expanded because of its climate and its agricultural potential; as well as its opportunities for easy wealth, health, vacation destinations, and romance. In this course, we look at how Southern California developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and explore a variety of architectural styles—from East Coast-inspired Victorians, to restful Arts and Crafts bungalows, to Romantic Revivals that were inspired by nostalgic recreations of times past. This course also incorporates the stories of California pioneers who developed the infrastructure of the Southern California that we know today. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390771 |

INSTRUCTOR: Eleanor Schrader

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $100 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $30

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Social Controversies in Film {New Course}

Mondays, April 3–May 1, 1–3:30pm

Movies can take us out of ourselves for a couple of hours, but they can also make us look inside ourselves and our society and influence our beliefs about issues. In this course, we view and discuss five movies centered on issues that fuel passionate debate. We begin in the early 20th century with the silent film, Where Are My Children (1916), about the community fall-out upon discovering its women are illegally procuring abortions from a local doctor. Moving to mid-century, Panic in the Streets (1950) follows a doctor and policeman who have 48 hours to contain a potential pandemic. We then watch three films made in the 21st century: Vegucated (2011), a documentary that follows three individuals who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks and the ethical issues they encounter; Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare (2012), an investigative documentary that uncovers the U.S. healthcare system's true design; and David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020), a documentary in which Attenborough recounts his life and the evolutionary history of life on Earth to grieve the loss of wild places. Join us for a lively discussion of these topics that engage and ignite spirited discussion in our society

REG# 390703 |

INSTRUCTOR: Maria Siciliano

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $115 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $34

IN-PERSON: UCLA Extension Gayley Center, 1145 Gayley Ave., Room 114.

Coming to Terms with the Holocaust, Part I: A Crime Without a Name

Tuesdays, April 4–May 9, 10am–12pm

In this newly revised and re-imagined series, we begin with a study of European anti-Judaism, which was the prelude to the Holocaust. Through images and film, we trace the oldest hatred to the revolutions of the mid-19th century. Then we follow the arc of anti-Judaism through World War I and the economic turmoil of the 1930s. We consider the forces that shaped the Nazi Party, brought Adolf Hitler the chancellorship of Germany, and prepared the ground for genocide.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390775 | INSTRUCTOR: Steve Sohmer

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $115 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $34

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Beyond the Headlines

Tuesdays, April 4–May 23, 10:30am–12pm

Pulled from today’s headlines, this exclusive speaker series offers an in-depth analysis of significant contemporary issues. Each week, an expert from the political, social, technological, or economic spectrum provides a 1-hour lecture focused on a major global, national, or local issue. Afterwards, students have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with the speaker. A list of speakers for this term will be available online approximately one month before the course begins.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390704 | INSTRUCTOR: James Aldinger

FEE: $150 for all members

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

IN-PERSON SCREENING ROOM: Students have the option to watch a live Zoom feed of this course at the UCLA Extension Gayley Center, Room 121AB. A volunteer will be present each week to send student questions to the online speaker during Q&A.

Women and Religion

Tuesdays, April 4–May 23, 1–3pm

In the late twentieth century, the rise of the feminist movement and women’s studies engendered a deeper look into the impact of various religious traditions on women’s lives. Scholarship founded on this knowledge has since become an imperative in the study of religions. Using current studies of archaeology and anthropology, our historical review begins in prehistory with cultures that worshipped the sacred as feminine. From there, we describe the gradual change to male-oriented institutions, chronicling the Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions. Finally, we discuss women who affected the practice and study of religion, and the feminine sacred in the contemporary world and in other major world religions.

REG# 390363 | INSTRUCTOR: Phyllis Herman

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $135 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $40

IN-PERSON: UCLA Extension Gayley Center, 1145 Gayley Ave., Room 119A.

Highlights of Art in New York City {New Course}

Wednesdays, April 5–May 10, 10am–12pm

New York City has a long history of producing and supporting art. Known as a worldrenowned destination for art since the 1940s, the city boasts the first encyclopedic art museum in the country and hosts some of the best art collections in the world. In this course, we armchair travel to New York to see highlights of the most notable collections and how they got there. Driven by the Gilded Age millionaires of the 19th century, we start with the foundation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the noted collections of J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Clay Frick. Our exploration ranges from looking at the medieval masterpieces held in the Cloisters to the establishment of the first Modern art museum, while looking at the collectors who brought them there and the artists who created them.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 391018 | INSTRUCTOR: Katherine Zoraster

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $115 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $34

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Gustav Mahler

Fridays, April 7–May 26, 10am–12pm

Since around 1960, the music of Gustav Mahler has played a vital role in the symphonic repertoire of numerous orchestras throughout Europe and the United States. While the momentous revival of his music has been credited to the pioneering performances of Leonard Bernstein, a public interest in the works of Mahler had been growing for some time before the 1960s. Today, his symphonies are considered some of the most important in classical music. In this course, we study the symphonies and song cycles of Mahler that exemplify the bright spark of artistic creativity that characterized the fin de siècle before the two world wars.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390731 | INSTRUCTOR: Ryan Shiotsuki

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $135 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $40

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Beethoven, Part II {New Course}

Fridays, April 7–May 26, 1–3pm

Ludwig van Beethoven not only left his mark on all subsequent composers but shaped the way many societies have thought about music. This course draws connections between Beethoven's works and a variety of personal and cultural issues, including an emergent Romantic sensibility, the growth of nationalist ideals, his personal crises of religion, and the significance of his deafness and other life experiences, both for his music and its reception. In this course, we explore important compositions in symphonic, solo, and chamber repertoire, including Beethoven's Fourth and Eighth Symphonies, the “Spring” and “Kreutzer” Violin Sonatas, the “Ghost” and “Archduke” Piano Trios, the “Harp” String Quartet, and Missa solemnis.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390735 | INSTRUCTOR: Ryan Shiotsuki

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $135 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $40

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Barbara Streisand: Timeless {New Course}

Wednesdays, April 12–May 3, 1–3pm

Barbra Streisand is an icon in multiple fields of entertainment. Besides being born with a magnificent, God-given voice, she’s the first woman to direct, produce, write, and star in a motion picture. She is also the first woman composer to receive an Academy Award and the only recording artist to have a number one, million-selling album in six consecutive decades. In this course, as we look at the highlights of her unprecedented career— from the ‘funny girl’ growing up in Brooklyn to the Hollywood superstar—her groundbreaking accomplishments remind us that Barbra Streisand’s artistry is “Timeless.”

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course. This is a hybrid course. In-person instruction from the classroom will be broadcast live over Zoom.

REG# 390971 | INSTRUCTOR: Steve Barri

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $100 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $30

IN-PERSON: UCLA Extension Gayley Center, 1145 Gayley Ave., Room 121.

Cosmology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration in the News

Wednesdays, April 12–May 31, 6:30–8:30pm

Due to advances in technology, what we thought we knew about the fundamentals of cosmology, astronomy, and space exploration is evolving almost daily. In this course, we explore the latest concepts, news, and discoveries regarding multiverses, gravitational waves, black holes, neutron stars, exoplanets, and the beginning of our universe. We also follow the progress of NASA's and ESA's missions to the moon, Mars, and Europa—Jupiter's ice-covered moon, and much more.

REG# 390628 | INSTRUCTOR: Shelley Bonus

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $135 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $40

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

The High Renaissance {New Course}

Thursdays, April 13–May 18, 1–3pm

The High Renaissance is considered the culmination of the goals and techniques developed during the Early Renaissance. Centered in Rome, it lasted from about 1490 to the Sack of Rome in 1527. While earlier Renaissance artists would stress the perspective of a work and the technical aspects of a painting, High Renaissance artists were willing to sacrifice technical principles in order to create a more beautiful, harmonious whole. In this course, we explore the factors that contributed to this development, including the introduction of oil paint and a growth in the number and diversity of patrons. We study the artists most well-known and featured during this phase—Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael in Rome, Titian in Venice—and their paintings, frescoes, and sculptures, which are among the most widely known works of art in the world. Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Raphael’s The School of Athens and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings are the masterpieces of this period and embody the elements of the High Renaissance. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course. This is a hybrid course. In-person instruction from the classroom will be broadcast live over Zoom.

REG# 391023 | INSTRUCTOR: Katherine Zoraster

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $115 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $34

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

IN-PERSON: UCLA Extension Gayley Center, 1145 Gayley Ave., Room 121C.

International Cinema Series: Humanist Tales of the Old World {New Course}

Thursdays, April 13–May 18, 1–3:30pm

The International Cinema Series is a showcase of critically acclaimed films from around the world— including classic, foreign, independent and mainstream works—carefully selected for their cultural significance, entertainment value, and their ability to use film language creatively. This edition includes six films written and directed by some of the most creative European filmmakers of our times, such as Jaco van Dormael, Patrice LeConte and Josef von Sternberg. Their stories couldn't be more different—a documentary on the adventurous life of Italian Truffle Hunters; the drama of a former Russian officer who thinks he’s fighting a real war while on the set of a war movie (The Last Command); a comedy on the daily predicaments of God, who works from his apartment in Brussels (The Brand New Testament); the chance encounter between a knife thrower and a suicidal young suicidal woman (The Girl on the Bridge); and a family reunion on the death anniversary of a famous Latin Lover. However, the final message behind these unique tales shares the same humanist approach: the idea that we have the personal ability and social responsibility to lead ethical lives, seek knowledge, and create a more humane society for the greater good.

REG# 390996 | INSTRUCTOR: Alex Pirolini

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $130 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $39

IN-PERSON: UCLA Extension Gayley Center, 1145 Gayley Ave., Room 114.

The American Revolution and the British Empire {New Course}

Mondays, April 17–May 22, 10am–12pm

Seen through American eyes, July 4, 1776 marks a triumphant moment—the birth of a bold new nation committed to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But in this course, we examine the Boston Tea Party and the resulting war from the perspective of the Palace, the Parliament, and the British people. We explore shifting loyalties of British subjects living in America, as well as the Irish and their descendants in America, and then pivot southward to study the fate of empire on Britain’s Caribbean islands. We also investigate the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the peace pact that dramatically shrank the boundaries of the British Empire and confirmed the independence of the newly United States.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 391057 | INSTRUCTOR: Richard Bell

FEE: Free for all

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

The Long and Winding Road: The Hidden History of the Beatles

Tuesdays, April 18–June 6, 6:30–8:30pm

The Beatles achieved a level of popularity that comes along only once in a great while. Starting out as a skiffle band in Liverpool, England, in just a little over a decade they evolved into the biggest rock and roll band in the world. Even now, more than 50 years after their first album was released, they are just as popular as ever. The band has sold more records than any other artist (more than a billion), influenced multiple performers, and changed the face of music forever. Explore the inside history, learn how the Beatles became the band we know, and why they are considered the most important rock band of all time.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390736 | INSTRUCTOR: Max Keller

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $135 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $40

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Frank Sinatra: The One and Only {New Course}

Wednesdays, May 10–31, 1–3pm

Frank Sinatra never needed an introduction when he appeared in nightclubs, saloons, on concert stages, or on movie screens. Sinatra was always the center of attention. Through various stories and video clips, we look at this complicated man’s life from his humble beginnings in Hoboken, New Jersey to ‘New York, New York’, to Hollywood. He was known as ‘the voice, the ‘chairman of the board’ or ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’. Whatever the title, he was the defining voice of the twentieth century and the most celebrated entertainer of his time. It's been almost twenty years since his six-decade career ended and yet his voice is still very much with us every day. In fact, it probably will be as long as songs continue to be sung. He is “Sinatra – The One and Only.”

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390981 | INSTRUCTOR: Steve Barri

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $100 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $30

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

IN-PERSON: UCLA Extension Gayley Center, 1145 Gayley Ave., Room 121.

Inventing the Presidency: Washington, Adams and Jefferson {New Course}

Thursdays, May 25–June 15, 1–3pm

In this course, we examine the creation of the US Constitution in 1787 and its implementation in 1789 and beyond, with special emphasis on their administrations covering the crucial formative years of 1789 to 1809. We explore the challenges that Washington faced as the first president, the critical precedents set by all three, and the foreign and domestic challenges each faced. We also analyze the long-term legacies they left both in the institution of the presidency as well as in the broader course of American history generally.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390917 | INSTRUCTOR: Jared Day

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $100 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $30

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.

Lewis, Clark and the Creation of the American West {New Course}

Tuesdays, May 30–June 13, 1–3pm

In this course, we explore the “creation” of the American West by European settlers between 1789 and 1812, with special focus on the West as a place of conquest as well as a creative invention—an assertive act of the national imagination. Beginning with the visions and actions of Thomas Jefferson, Merriweather Lewis, and William Clark; we delve into America’s projection of power into western North America and its impact on Native Americans and other peoples living west of the 13 original colonies. We also examine the integration of the near west for new states such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and New Orleans.

This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.

REG# 390918 | INSTRUCTOR: Jared Day

BASIC MEMBER FEE: $95 | PLUS MEMBER FEE: $28

REMOTE: Zoom information is emailed to students two days before the course begins.