John James Audubon and The Birds of America
John James Audubon was a French-American artist and naturalist who, starting in the 1820s, set out to document every bird in the U.S. The result was his masterwork The Birds of America, a collection of 435 hand-painted bird prints, considered by many to be the finest book ever published. In this course, you’ll learn about Audubon’s early life and his artistic methods. We’ll also take a deep dive into the prints themselves. We will end by considering Audubon’s legacy. This course is part of a long-term ongoing investigation of nature through the consilience of art and science.
Faculty Bio
Eric J. Simon is a professor at New England College. He received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard University. Dr. Simon is the author of a widely used series of college biology textbooks with over 2 million books in print.
This is a Livestreamed + Recorded Course
- Classes will stream live on the scheduled day and time
- Classes will also be video recorded
- You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.
Schedule Highlights
- Course starts on Thursday, April 3, and ends on Thursday, May 15
- Classes meet for 6 weeks, 2 hours per session (1–3 PM)
- No class May 8
- All course materials will remain available to view and enjoy in Member Dashboards through May 31
Member Praise for Eric Simon
Very engaging instructor who clearly loved his topic and was very knowledgeable. His enthusiasm was contagious. Very receptive to questions - would start each class by answering questions he'd received and researched.
Thoroughly engaging presentations which were organized, lively and moved at a good pace. I appreciated Professor Simon's enthusiasm, clarity and sense of humor.