Adult Learning Programs Offered

WATERBURY — The newly established Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Connecticut in Waterbury has announced several learning programs that will be delivered at the downtown UConn campus and at the Southbury Public Library beginning April 2 and ending April 13. Dan Bessie and Jeanne Johnson, the first Visiting UConn Osher Scholars, will be leading activities geared toward active adult  learners in the region.

The first event will be an Author Talk co-sponsored by the Southbury Library Book Group at 2 pm at the Southbury Public Library. This event is open to the general public.

Mr Bessie and Ms Johnson will also be co-presenting two minicourses during the week of April 9–13. “A New Look At Old Movies” will be offered each day for five days from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Southbury Public Library.

“Writing From Life: Fact, Fiction, Memoir?” will be offered each day for five days from 2 to 5 pm at UConn, Waterbury campus. Seating is limited in the minicourses; advance reservations are required. Those interested in enrolling can call the Institute at 203-236-9924. There is no charge for this program.

A retired husband and wife team formerly from California, Mr Bessie and Ms Johnson currently reside in Brantome, France, where they are restoring a country home. Ms Johnson is a native of Great Britain and holds degrees in education and counseling. She has worked as an elementary school teacher, counselor and a Quaker chaplain in a men’s prison. Her first book, Starlings in the Park, was published in 2006, and she is currently working on a novel based on her life experiences.

Mr Bessie began his career in animation at MGM Studios, working on Tom & Jerry. After 40 years as a writer, producer, and director of both live and animated films, including prestigious award-winners, his first book, the family memoir Rare Birds, critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, etc, was published in 2000. After teaching screenwriting and creative writing in California for 20 years, he wrote his film career memoir, Reeling Through Hollywood.

The Visiting Osher Scholars Program provides learning activities presented by accomplished scholars, professionals, artists, and authors who are visiting the area for a limited amount of time. This is the first of what is hoped to be an annual program sponsored by the Osher Institute at UConn.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Connecticut is an academic cooperative that provides mature adults with opportunities for intellectual development, cultural stimulation and social interaction through noncredit programming. The OLLI at UConn is located at the Waterbury campus and is the OLLI in Connecticut. The inaugural semester of courses will begin on April 27.

For additional information or minicourse reservations, call 203-236-9881 or email Osher@uconn.edu.