In this issue:
- Why is Black Maternal Mortality So High in the US and What Can Be Done — Wednesday, April 24
- Summer Call for Study Group Proposals Continues through April 28
- OLLI Stories — Featuring Jerry Levine
- Celebrate, Say Hello to Emily our New Director and Say Good-Bye to Kari — May 7 (Chicago), May 10 (Evanston)
- Osher Online Free Community Event, Putin’s Russia: Two Years Into the War — May 8
- Is Movie Going Dead or Alive? — Thursday, May 9
- Field Trip to Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at the U of C — Friday, May 24, Registration Deadline Friday, May 10 (now open to one OLLI guest)
- Antisemitism: From the Margins to the Mainstream — Friday, May 17
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In-Person Panelist Event
Why is Black Maternal Mortality So High in the United States and What Can Be Done
Wednesday, April 24, 12:00pm–1:00pm
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Location: In-person, Evanston
Live stream to Wieboldt Hall room 408
Online via Zoom
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, in the United States, Black women are nearly three times as likely as white women to die from a maternal cause. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was nearly 70 deaths per 100,000 live births—2.6 times the rate for white women. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “pregnant and postpartum Black people continue to make up a disproportionate number of maternal deaths at growing and alarming rates. This trend must be stopped.” As a number of high-profile cases recently demonstrated, Black women and their infants are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality regardless of income or education.
In Chicago, Black women have a maternal mortality rate that is nearly six times as high as that of white women. This is a far worse disparity than exists nationally. According to a recent article in the University of Chicago magazine, “the root causes of disproportionate pregnancy complications in Black women are driven by inequality, discrimination, and long standing racism deeply rooted in the US healthcare system.”
This program will focus on why this is happening, what can be done, and what this says about the broader issues of racial health care disparities in the United States.
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Moderator Kristin Meyer works as the Management Analyst for the City of Evanston’s Department of Health and Human Services. In her role at the health department, she leads the City’s community health assessment, coordinates strategic planning efforts, and engages in cross-sectoral partnership building to build greater health equity across Evanston. Prior to joining the health department, Meyer worked as Senior Program Manager of Community Engagement at the Sinai Urban Health Institute, a community research institute dedicated to identifying and addressing health inequities on Chicago’s West Side. | |
Debra Wesley, MSW is the founder and President of the Sinai Community Institute which provides services to families on the West and South Sides of Chicago and is an executive vice president of Sinai Health System, the largest private provider of health care for low-income patients in Illinois. She is a nationally recognized expert on health care disparities and community health interventions, pioneering a focus on social determinants of health. Ms. Wesley serves on the Chicago Board of Health and as chairperson of West Side United, a consortium focused on reducing health care disparities. In 2023 she was chosen as one of Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leaders in Health Care. | |
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Camille Williamson, LCSW, DSW is the Health Equity Program Manager for the American Medical Association. She recently completed a doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern California on the topic of Black maternal mortality in the United States. She holds a Masters of Arts in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago School of Social Work. Prior to the AMA, Dr. Williamson was the Director of the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Action at Adler University and an adjunct professor at DePaul University and Harold Washington College. Dr. Williamson played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Chicago Gun Violence Research Collaborative.
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Hosted by the OLLI Evanston Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
Please click the appropriate link below to register.
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*This event is free and open to all 2024 OLLI spring members. Registration is required through the OLLI online registration system (Augusoft). Registration closes at noon the day before the event. Zoom link will be emailed the day before. | |
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Coordinators, you have one more week to
Submit a Summer 2024 OLLI Study Group Proposal
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To submit your proposal, click the button below for the campus where you are usually affiliated: | |
Thank you for submitting a summer study group proposal! | |
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OLLI Stories
Building Community one story at a time.
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Most members agree that OLLI is more than lifelong learning — it is building community. | |
The shortest path between two people is a story. OLLI Stories build community by telling the stories of our members. Use these stories to connect with others and as a starting point for conversation. Perhaps you will even see yourself in another’s story.
Jerry was just a kid with a toy chemistry set when he decided he was going to be a chemical engineer. From childhood, he was always taught to “do better,” his mother pushing him to be his best academically. On the other hand, his father asked him if he’d rather just play baseball.
| Thanks to Elin Jacobson, OLLI Volli (volunteer) for interviewing Jerry, and writing this OLLI Story. | |
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Jerry Levine
“To Excel” Would be an Understatement
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End of Year Celebrations!
Say Good-Bye to Kari, Hello to Emily, and Celebrate An Outstanding Year
| Say Good-bye to our prior director, Kari Fagin. Say Hello to our new director, Emily Ferrin. Celebrate another outstanding year at OLLI and all the joy that is yet to come. | |
Chicago
Date: Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Time: 4:00pm–6:00pm
Location: Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Potocsnak Family Atrium, 303 E. Superior St.
Enjoy wine and cheese.
Cost: $20
Register and Pay Here
Registration deadline Sunday, April 28.
Evanston
Date: Friday, May 10, 2024
Time: 1:00pm–3:00pm
Location: Evanston OLLI, 500 Davis Center, Suite 700
Enjoy champagne and desserts.
Cost: $10
Register and Pay Here
Registration deadline Wednesday, May 1.
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FREE Osher Online Community Event
Putin’s Russia: Two Years Into the War
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Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Time: 4:00pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Using a wide range of sources in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, we will investigate just how broad the popular support for Putin and his policies are in Russia and, most importantly, why. The answers may surprise you. With rapidly changing events, the lecture will be news-oriented and will cover the latest developments. More information here.
Speaker Asya M Pereltsvaig received a PhD in Linguistics from McGill University and has taught at Yale, Cornell, Stanford, and several other universities. Her expertise is in language and history, and the relationship between them.
Register here.
Osher Online Community events are FREE and available to ALL members of OLLI Northwestern.
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Coming Up...In-person, Chicago
Is Movie Going Dead or Alive?
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Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Time: 12:00pm–1:00pm
Location: In person, Chicago Wieboldt Hall
Live-stream to the OLLI Evanston office
Join Chicago Tribune Film Critic Michael Phillips for a conversation about how we watch movies today, and what we are in danger of losing. We will look at viewing habits, changing tastes, the Pandemic, and our own living rooms—and how these things have imperiled the theatrical experience. We all have great memories of movie-going in our collective past. Is it really time to say goodbye to the theatrical film-going tradition?
Hosted by the OLLI Academic Enrichment Committee.
Register for in-person Chicago Here
Register for live-stream to the Evanston office Here
This event is free and open to all 2024 OLLI spring members. Registration is required through the OLLI online registration system (Augusoft).
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Field Trip!
Take a Trip to Ancient West Asia and North Africa Without Leaving Chicago (and for a fraction of the cost)!
Tour the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC, previously known as the Oriental Institute) at the University of Chicago
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Date: Friday, May 24, 2024
Registration closes May 10
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9:00am: Bus departs Evanston (500 Davis St.)
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10:00am: Bus departs Chicago (Wieboldt Hall)
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11:00am–1:00pm: ISAC Tour, followed by lunch at Baker Commons on campus
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2:30pm: Bus departs University of Chicago
Location: 1155 E. 58th Street, Chicago, IL
Cost: $52 per person
(OLLI members may register one guest)
Discover how people thousands of years ago forged a collective identity — confronting, as we do today, issues of autonomy, diversity, and unity. The field trip incudes:
- Museum visit highlighting the museum collections
- private guided tour for OLLI members only
- includes a one hour film
- Lunch together at Baker Commons on the U of C campus in a private dining room
- Motorbus to the museum, to Baker Commons, and back to campuses
Hosted by the OLLI Academic Enrichment Committee, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and Membership Enrichment Committee.
Register and Pay Here.
Cost: $52 per person. Registration is open to current OLLI members and one guest. Register through the OLLI Online Registration System (Augusoft). Includes bus transportation to and from the event, admission to the museum, and lunch.
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Coming Up...Online Speaker Event
Antisemitism: From the Margins to the Mainstream
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Date: Friday, May 17, 2024
Time: 12:00pm–1:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom
In the US, nearly 60% of hate crimes are antisemitic in nature, even though Jews account for less than 3% of the population. Yehudit Barsky (Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy) will provide OLLI members with an understanding of how extremist movements have spread antisemitic ideology throughout the world. She’ll examine the lightning-speed spread of antisemitism through social media, and how both the far right and far left have embraced this hateful ideology. Ms. Barsky will also discuss what can be done about this frightening rise of hate.
Hosted by the OLLI Academic Enrichment Committee.
Register Here
This event is free and open to all 2024 OLLI spring members. Registration is required through the OLLI online registration system (Augusoft).
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OLLI NU is proud to be part of Northwestern’s Mesulam Center 30th Annual Alzheimer Day — Friday, May 3
Researchers and health professionals join with community members to learn about the latest developments.
Northwestern’s Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease is world-renowned for research on aging and diseases that cause dementia—research that is fully integrated with patient support and caregiver training. In partnership with the Mesulam Center, OLLI’s Chicago Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee is proud to participate in Alzheimer Day with an information table at the Vendor Fair on Friday, May 3 at Feinberg Pavilion Conference Center on the Chicago Campus.
Learn more here.
Hosted by the Chicago Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in conjunction with the Academic Enrichment Committee and the Chicago Membership Enrichment Committee
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Volunteer to Help a Child Succeed!
OLLI Northwestern University’s Partnership with Fourth Presbyterian Church’s Chicago Lights Tutoring Program
Mentor a student and share your love of learning! Participate in OLLI’s exciting new partnership with the Fourth Presbyterian Church’s Chicago Lights Tutoring Program, 126 East Chestnut Street and Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
You can volunteer weekly in-person on Tuesdays or Wednesdays from 6:00pm–7:30pm or on Mondays via Zoom. Discount parking is available at 900 North Michigan Avenue (Bloomingdale’s).
Interested? To learn more about this program visit the website at https://chicagolights.org/tutoring/ and then contact Mark Dennison, Program Manager: mdennison@chicagolights.org. Please let Mark know that you learned about this program from OLLI.
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Northwestern Library holds over 8 million items making it the 11th largest private university library.
Need help finding resources for your study group, or have other library-related questions? Email Tracy Coyne: tracy-coyne@northwestern.edu
OLLI Research Guide
Additional information: Click Here.
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Chicago Office:
339 East Chicago Avenue
Wieboldt Hall, 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60611
M-F 8:30am–4:30pm
312-503-7881
olli@northwestern.edu
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Evanston Office:
500 Davis Street
Suite 700
Evanston, IL 60201
M-F 8:30am–4:30pm
847-492-8204
olli@northwestern.edu
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National Resource Center for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (NRC) |
The mission of the National Resource Center is to help OLLIs thrive by connecting OLLIs to each other and to resources, collaborating with OLLIs and partner organizations, consulting with OLLI leaders to find solutions, and celebrating the camaraderie and growth of OLLIs and their members. Members can subscribe to their monthly newsletter to find out what is happening at OLLIs across the country.
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