In the mood to be surprised, inspired, intrigued, challenged and delighted? Join us this spring and experience all of that — and more — in stimulating in-person and online courses taught by Cal faculty and other scholars and experts. From explorations of the universe to examinations of how music impacts the brain, there's a lot to learn. Classes start the first week of April. All are welcome! No Cal affiliation needed. Learn about the many benefits of being an OLLI @Berkeley member. If cost is a barrier, please (please) apply for our fee assistance program.

ENROLLMENT & WAITLIST FULL

In the past few years, references to the U.S. Constitution being “in shreds” and under attack or references to crime spiraling out of control in America have become commonplace. But is this really the case? Is the legal foundation of America really in danger of collapsing? Is crime really out of control on the streets of America? And have criminal justice reforms pushed us closer to or further away from achieving justice for all? OLLI members are invited to join us, Berkeley professor and facilitator Darren Zook, and Cal undergraduates on Friday, April 7, 10:30-noon, to discuss these and other related questions. This gathering is another in our Words Over Time series which brings together voices and perspectives across the age spectrum to engage in honest and meaningful ways. This online event is for OLLI @Berkeley spring term members only.

It was a time when mobs burned Black churches to the ground, courts threw thousands of people into prison for what they wrote or said, and self-appointed vigilantes executed tens of thousands of citizens’ arrests. The government forced some seventy-five newspapers and magazines to close. This was the toxic frenzy of racism, nativism, red-baiting, and contempt for the rule of law ignited when the United States entered the First World War. It was, so to speak, the Trumpiest period of American history before Trump. Historian Adam Hochschild brings it to life in an illustrated talk based on his new book, "American Midnight." 

Hochschild is the author of eleven books. His "King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa" was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, as was "To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918." He teaches at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.

This event is free and open to the public.

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Hello Members! Join fun and lively group of your classmates — along with Mick Chantler, popular OLLI faculty member — for a day at the Ball Yard. OLLI's volunteer Member Services Committee has reserved 50 tickets for the A's versus the Mets, on Saturday, April 15. Learn all about it in your Member Dashboard and in emails. 

Educational gag orders, also called "divisive concepts" or "anti-CRT" laws, which place restrictions on university classroom instruction and training, have been passed by state legislatures around the country with great speed. Join us for an important presentation by Jeremy Young, a senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America, where he advances PEN America’s advocacy for academic freedom and against educational censorship. Young will survey the national landscape of these laws and explore the potential consequences of these threats to free expression, American democracy, and institutions of higher education. A former history professor at Utah Tech University, Young holds a PhD in U.S. history from Indiana University and is the author of The Age of Charisma (Cambridge, 2017). 

This event is free and open to the public.

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Lies! High profile defamation trials and mounting controversies about disinformation on social media have raised questions about the extent to which the First Amendment protects false speech. The rules governing defamation claims, and the rules governing social media, have become major political issues. Join us for a presentation by William Bennett Turner, who will examine the current debate and whether the defamation rules, and the legal protections afforded social media, should be abandoned or modified.

Turner taught First Amendment courses at Berkeley for more than three decades. In law practice, he argued three cases before the United States Supreme Court and many more in federal appellate courts and state supreme courts. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he had a Fulbright fellowship in comparative law, spent three years with a New York law firm, and ten years with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He is the author of three books on free speech issues.

This event is free and open to the public.

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Join us for a conversation with groundbreaking Bay Area artist and cultural critic Amalia Mesa-Bains, who will discuss her work, inspirations, process and contributions to the field of Chicano and Latino art in the U.S. and globally. A retrospective of her work in a range of medias is currently being showcased in a stunning BAMPFA exhibition which celebrates her exploration of Mexican American women's spiritual practices, addresses colonial and imperial histories, the recovery of cultural memory, and their roles in identity formation.

This event is free and open to the public.

RSVP TO ATTEND