By Shay Moser

Lifelong learners in Phoenix’s northeast Valley have a new Arizona State University location where they can take non-credit classes, hear lectures, attend events, and interact with each other.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Arizona State University, or OLLI at ASU, already has locations in Tempe, downtown Phoenix, and at ASU’s West campus, and more than 30 courses are being offered on Zoom this spring. The new ASU Health Futures Center (HFC) gives OLLI at ASU a presence in the northern part of town with state-of-the-art classrooms in a facility near 64th Street and Mayo Boulevard, which houses the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care. ASU’s program is one of 125 at universities nationwide.

“Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions took a chance bringing OLLI at ASU to the university 15 years ago,” says OLLI Director Jared Swerzenski. “Bringing it to the Health Futures Center not only distributes OLLI better geographically across the Valley; it allows us to share cutting-edge research and breakthroughs in medicine, psychology, caregiving, mindfulness, and wellness with older adults.”

Several academic healthcare entities within ASU come together with Mayo Clinic medical experts at the HFC, and those innovators and scholars come right into the classroom. Every room has the latest research tools and technologies, and much of the building design reflects the aspiration for students and faculty to interact and connect. Additionally, there’s a large auditorium where faculty and national and global experts share messages on healthy aging and longevity.

Attending OLLI at ASU
OLLI at ASU engages learners ages 50 and “better,” as Swerzenski says, with a wide variety of educational opportunities in several fields without the usual evaluations involved in most university-level classes. So, besides no grades, there are no exams or prerequisites. Also, ASU’s top professors teach the short, high-level courses, usually ranging from one to four sessions.
“OLLI gives exposure to the best of the best of ASU faculty, not just in teaching but with events,” says Swerzenski. “We’re proud that 60% of our professors are ASU faculty.” People from the community can also apply to teach at OLLI at ASU.

Since beginning to offer classes at the HFC in the spring of 2022, OLLI has continued to expand its footprint. There are more than 130 different classes this spring. The goal for the next year is to create new partnerships around the north Phoenix area, says Swerzenski. This includes partnerships with the Musical Instrument Museum and Taliesin West, where members go to related classes at the locations to immerse themselves in the subjects.

OLLI programs around the nation usually offer an all-inclusive membership where people pay an annual fee and can take as many classes as they want. OLLI at ASU membership costs $20 per semester and courses typically cost $14 to $28 per session.

“The $20 membership per semester allows people to take as many classes as they want during that time, which works for Arizona visitors,” Swerzenski explains. “Some people take up to 30 classes a semester while others take two or three. This also makes it affordable for someone on a fixed income or who’s retired, where they can take three classes and pay the membership fee and keep it under $75.” Osher scholarships are available for those who qualify.

People who sign up for classes, called members, can participate in campus events, join local affinity groups, and enjoy group discounts to local arts and cultural happenings.
“We have a very diverse catalog — from music theory and history to religion and food,” says Swerzenski.

Among the course offerings for spring 2023 are: “Through Women’s Eyes: 20th-Century U.S. History,” “Beginning Watercolor,” “Tai Chi for Health & Wellness,” “Race to the Moon: Tortoise, Hare, NASA & China,” analyses of the films “Casablanca” and “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Damn the Constitution, Full Speed Ahead,” and “The Two Elizabeths: How Jewels & Fashion Defined Their Monarchies,” along with trail walks at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, a craft workshop, birdwatching at Papago Park, and a free learning enrichment group on Zoom.

Swerzenski says, “We’re trying to diversify it as much as possible, taking member feedback to heart.”

The program also pairs participants with ASU students through the Intergenerational Learning Service Scholars. This year, the scholars are students in the ASU School of Art who are teaching classes in printmaking and sustainable dyes for fabric and paper.

OLLI’s new programs this spring include:
• A partnership with the Salt River Brass Band that features two interactive classes on conducting, jazz, and the brass band tradition. The cost includes a discounted ticket to a Salt River Brass Band concert.
• A four-day, behind-the-scenes experience at the 29th Annual Sedona International Film Festival in February.

In 2024, the program will offer its OLLI Corps trip to Thailand, last offered in 2019, in which participants will visit residents and learn about solutions to global problems in health, environment, and education.
Mark your calendar
The OLLI at ASU Night of Excellence on Wed., April 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Health Futures Center will celebrate the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care partnership with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and honor OLLI at ASU donors for their financial support.

“Their gifts help OLLI at ASU continue to enrich educational and social programming for all our members,” says Swerzenski.

The event will also honor the gift from CDH Charitable Foundation and the partnership with ASU School of Art. The projects that were created by the art scholarship recipients and OLLI members will be on exhibit at the event.

“We want people to keep learning and growing,” Swerzenski says. “It’s a community of other learners, so you never know whom you’ll meet. We have a lot of people who meet for a lunch before class or coffee afterward.”

While classes opened on Jan. 17, people can register at any time, even three or two days before a course starts, and there will be classes up to the last week in April.

As American entrepreneur Malcolm Forbes said, “It’s never too late to learn.”

Visit lifelonglearning.asu.edu to become a member and register for classes.

Content sponsored by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Arizona State University.