University of Delaware’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program is beginning the process of restarting selected on-site classes in New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties, while maintaining a sizeable online presence.

Registration for fall courses — both in-person and online — is available through Aug. 16.

Classes start Sept. 7, with offerings at OLLI’s Sussex County locations in Bridgeville, Ocean View and Lewes as well as online, and at OLLI’s Dover location.

Open house events are scheduled for Aug. 10 in Lewes and Aug. 11 in Dover.

Online formats provide for new engagement and participation

Along with the rest of the UD in 2020, OLLI programs  adapted to online classrooms during the coronavirus pandemic. However, even with a planned return to in-person programming on the horizon, most OLLI members recognize some of the new opportunities provided by online learning.

The online format also allowed participants to sign up for a greater variety of classes since the statewide online offerings were open to the entire UD OLLI community, all taught by volunteer instructors normally based at UD’s OLLI locations in Dover, Bridgeville, Lewes, Ocean View and Wilmington.

UD’s Ralph Begleiter, former CNN journalist and retired UD professor of communication, normally teaches several popular classes at OLLI’s Lewes-based location. But last fall, more than 300 OLLI students from across Delaware and the region participated in Begleiter’s online Media and Public Opinion class, with more than 100 also joining the extra discussion sessions, all via Zoom videoconferencing.

Fall OLLI classes planned for Kent and Sussex County

UD’s lifelong learning program has offered classes Kent and Sussex Counties since 1989. This will be the first semester for classes held at OLLI’s new Lewes location at Trinity Faith Christian Center on New Road.

OLLI’s Sussex County class locations also include Ocean View Town Hall and Community Center in Ocean View and Heritage Shores Clubhouse in Bridgeville. OLLI’s Dover classes are held at Wyoming Church.

For fall 2021, a sampling of courses scheduled to take place at OLLI’s Kent and Sussex county locations includes:

• Adventures of a Global Journalist (Lewes)
• Basic and Advanced Woodworking (Lewes)
• Beginning Watercolor (Ocean View)
• Burden of Proof: Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Lewes)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still: JFK Assassination (Bridgeville)
• Genealogy and Family History Research (Dover)
• International Folk Dance (Lewes)
• Living Independently Using Assistive Technology (Dover)
• Living in Space: Past, Present, Future (Lewes)
• Making Fabric Jewelry (Lewes)
• Open Studio for Artists (Dover)

Examples of online courses include:

• History of the Roots of Rock and Roll
• Gardening Speakers
• RV Lifestyle: It’s an Adventure!
• Interpreting Your DNA Results
•  Hamilton: The Man and the Musical
• Racism in America—The History We Didn’t Learn in School
• One Soldier’s World War II
• Editing Images in Apple’s Photos App
• American Sign Language (ASL), French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Human Stress: How It Affects Your Body and Mind
• Elder Law and Estate Planning

Participants can sign up for any combination of in-person classes at Kent and Sussex County locations, online classes, or a combination of both. The Fall 2021 OLLI Kent/Sussex membership fee is $100, with an additional per-class registration fee.

Members of the community are invited to learn more about the OLLI program at a free open house on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 10 a.m. to noon at Trinity Faith Christian Center, 15516 New Road, Lewes; or Aug. 11, 10 a.m. to noon, at Wyoming Church, 216 Wyoming Mill Road, Dover.

Registration for fall semester is available Aug. 3-16.

For details, including complete course listings and how to register, visit the OLLI Kent/Sussex home page.