Welcome to OLLI-UM This Week!

The OLLI-UM offices, located in the Turner Senior Resource Center, are open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am - 5pm. Masks are required, regardless of vaccination status per University policy.

Contact: 734-998-9351 or [email protected] 

*IMPORTANT: Our new database from Campus CE is ready to receive our current membership for 2022-23. Refer to the email that you received from Julie for instructions on how to create a new user account. (If you didn't receive an email, you may not have renewed your membership.) New and lapsed members can register beginning January 3rd. If you are a current member and don't re-register by January 3rd, the system will charge you $25 for a membership.

* The Winter/Spring 2022/23 catalog is here! The print version should be arriving next week. Click here for the pdf: https://bit.ly/olliws2023

Winter/Spring Registration is now open in the new database!

Sign into your account or create a new one here: https://www.campusce.net/umich/account/signin.aspx

*The new registration system won't charge you for course selections until after the lottery on January 10. You will receive an email with your lottery results. You can then pay for your OLLI selections."

*CANCELED*

OLLI SOCIAL INTERACTION EVENT

Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

 What Should the Work Ethic Mean for Us Today?

Speaker: Elizabeth Anderson

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

10:00 - 11:30 AM

Towsley Auditorium and ONLINE

$10.00 at door (Membership Required)

The work ethic was invented by Puritans 400 years ago. From the start, it contained contradictory ideas: one rationalizing the subjection of workers to drudgery for profit; the other honoring workers for advancing human welfare and calling for their dignified and equitable treatment. Both ideas were developed over time, leaving a contradictory legacy for us today. I show how the neglected second work ethic tradition can be revived and updated for 21st-century American workers.



Elizabeth Anderson is Max Shaye Professor of Public Philosophy at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has taught at UM since 1987, specializing in moral and political philosophy, especially on democratic theory, egalitarianism and its history, and the ethics of work. She is a MacArthur Fellow and designed the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program at University of Michigan.

Plastics and Microplastics: Human and Environmental Risk Overview

Speaker: Allen Burton

Thursday, January 12, 2023

10:00 - 11:30 AM

Towsley Auditorium and ONLINE

$10.00 at door (Membership Required)

Plastic production is increasing exponentially. Plastics and microplastics have become ubiquitous across the planet in air, soil, sediment and water. There is a growing awareness globally of the environmental problems associated with plastics, including greenhouse gas emissions, gross levels of contamination affecting aesthetics and property values, hazards to wildlife, and uptake of microplastics by wildlife and humans. We will discuss risks to human health and ecosystems of plastics and microplastics, and promising solutions.

Dr. Allen Burton is a Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. His research has taken him to all seven continents, with Visiting Scientist positions in China, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand and Portugal. His research deals with freshwater and marine ecotoxicology. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry, and past President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry, with over 225 peer-reviewed publications.

Robin Frohardt

The Magic of the Mundane

Thursday, January 12, 2023

5:30pm

In-person Event

Michigna Theater

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

*FREE*

“I really find a lot of freedom in limitation. If the object was to make anything out of anything, then I feel frozen. But if you told me, you could just make a grocery store out of plastic bags, then I feel like I have an infinite number of possibilities.” -Robin Frohardt

Robin Frohardt is an award-winning artist living in Brooklyn, NY, known for her highly detailed constructions within narrative-based film, performance, puppetry and sculpture. Frohardt uses found materials to create richly detailed worlds that highlight the trivialities of daily life. Often working with cardboard, plastic bags, and other materials typically considered disposable, Frohardt creates highly intricate fabrications out of recognizable artifacts. 

For more information: Robin Frohardt | U-M Stamps (umich.edu)

Learning to Talk to Each Other

The Braver Angels Story

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

1:00pm

ONLINE

*FREE*

Political polarization continues to make strangers out of fellow citizens. Polarization can break up long standing friendships, even familial relations. Opportunities have been missed to engage with and develop fruitful relationships with fellow citizens.

Braver Angels is a national organization, founded shortly after the 2016 presidential election, that aims to teach people with polarized views how to literally sit in the same room (or these days, the same ZOOM call) and speak to each other. Braver Angels runs workshops, debates, and other events where “red” (conservative) and “blue” (liberal) participants attempt to better understand each other’s positions and discover their shared values. Braver Angels’ stated mission is to ‘bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic’.

OLLI members will be fascinated to hear how Braver Angels is attempting to accomplish what many of us, in our own lives, may have thought impossible.

At our online OLLI presentation on January 25, 1:00 pm, we will meet Randy Lioz, the Braver Angels Senior Director of Events and Partner Engagement. We will learn from Randy about the founding of Braver Angels, how they are working to achieve their mission, and what results are being achieved. We will also pick up ideas on how we might improve our own challenging personal relationships.

Registration is available online.