The best-kept secret for lifelong learning in the region

For people of all ages, every day is a good day for learning.

I have been retired for five years, and this past fall, over a six week period, on Monday afternoons I learned and practiced the art of civil discourse about controversial subjects such as gun control, same-sex marriage, racism, and the role of government in American life. My classmates and I learned to understand others’ value systems, tap into their personal experiences and listen without passing judgment.

On Tuesdays, I traveled – albeit vicariously through pictures, videos, and personal anecdotes – to Ireland, the Baltic States, Costa Rica, and New Zealand and broadened my mind in the process.

On Wednesdays, I took classes off-site at the Dayton Art Institute and came to appreciate its many stunning pieces of art from every historical period and continent.

On Thursdays, I learned from balanced, well-organized, articulate lectures about the accomplishments and shortcomings of the last ten presidents of the United States, from Richard Nixon up to Joe Biden.

Circling back to Monday mornings, I taught a seminar on modern poetry. We explored works by Louise Gluck (Nobel Prize winner), Yusef Komunyaaka (Pulitzer Prize), Joy Harjo (recent poet laureate of the U. S.), and Dana Gioia (California poet and renowned poetry critic). The class ended with a reading by Dayton’s own Gary Mitchner, professor emeritus from Sinclair College.

These were five seminars out of approximately eighty offered by the University of Dayton Osher Life-long Learning Institute

(UDOLLI). Most of them were taught in-person at UD’S River Campus, some were conducted offsite, while about 20% of them were taught online through Zoom, so as to be accessible by computer from anywhere. This program is one of the bestkept secrets in the Miami Valley and part of a larger network of continuing education programs across the country. It serves people who are fifty and over, and the cost is low – currently $80 for as many classes as you would like to take. Most seminars run for six weeks, two hours per week, while others may have only a few two-hour sessions. The upcoming winter session runs during January and February, and the spring session takes place in March and April.

The mission statement of UDOLLI is “to offer adults 50 years or better a wide variety of seminars based on the peer-learning concept and designed to be intellectually stimulating in an informal and noncompetitive environment.” Its members explore wide-ranging interests in art, current events, health and fitness, history, literature, sports, travel, music, religion and science, just to name a few key categories.

Online registration for the winter term ( Jan. 23-March 3) is now open at go.udayton.edu/udolli. In the words of Julie Mitchell, the enthusiastic, hands-on director of this great program for 28 years: “The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Dayton represents the best of adult education: learning in community for the pure joy of it.”

In a rapidly changing world that demands so much of people of all ages, the UDOLLI program provides a place to expand our minds and hearts in a supportive community environment.