One of the most popular newer courses at the OLLI at University of Delaware (UD) has been “New York City: 10 Unique Views.” Offered for the first time last fall, this online course is now presented jointly by OLLI instructors from all three of Delaware’s counties, a first for UD’s Osher Institute.
The idea started when two of UD’s Wilmington-based OLLI members, Tom Powderly and Sharon Rosen, discovered they were both born in the same hospital in the Bronx. They both knew other OLLI members with NYC connections and were able to weave their combined contributions into an OLLI course. Topics included New York’s engineering marvels, the city’s oldest restaurants and pubs, Brooklyn, the Bronx and uptown Manhattan, the Shubert Theatre and, New York in the Roaring Twenties.
The course’s popularity went far beyond expectations and was the most requested class of the fall semester. Class discussions were filled with personal anecdotes from the members.
Due to the course’s long waitlist, a recorded “on-demand” course was made available to OLLI members the following semester. Almost 250 members registered for the recorded version, with one member reporting that he “binge-watched” all 10 sessions during one weekend.
The collaboration continues and the following semester’s course was also recorded for member viewing, with topics like Central Park, Rockefeller Center, New York skyscrapers, the New York Yankees, and the Ed Sullivan Show. Volume three is planned for the upcoming semester with all new Big Apple views. “We’ll probably neither run out of interesting views of New York City nor OLLI members who want to learn about them any time soon,” said Rosen. To read the full article, visit olli.udel.edu/nyc-views.
Submitted by: Sally Cole, Manager, OLLI at the University of Delaware in Kent and Sussex Counties and Jenna Cole, Coordinator, OLLI online programming.
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