OWLL FALL 2026 Courses:
Today’s Humanitarian Emergencies: The World’s Wars Continue, with Robert Rotberg; on Zoom.
Wednesdays, Oct 14, 21, Nov 11, 18, 25, 11:00am–12:30pm
This course will cover the seemingly never-ending wars of the world and the humanitarian emergencies that flow from them: Iran, Ukraine, Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Sudan, Sahel, Somalia, Congo, Myanmar, Haiti (maybe others).
Gustav Mahler: A Life of Music Amid Tragedy and Triumph, with Dotty Burstein; in person.
Tuesdays, Nov 3, 10, 17, 24, Dec 1, 10:00am–12:00pm
The course will examine the life, career, and music of Gustav Mahler.
Midsummer at Midwinter: Love, Jealousy, Madness, and Moonlight in Shakespeare’s Play, with Elizabeth Kenney; in person.
Thursdays, Nov 5, 12, 19, Dec 3, 10, 10:00am–12:00pm
Please purchase Folgers edition of the play and bring it to class
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is known as a hilariously funny examination of different kinds of love at different social levels. But even at his most comic, Shakespeare views love as complex and nuanced, and he explores the fragile relationships among love, violence, desire, possession—and magic.
Preview OWLL’s Winter 2027 Courses
Sign up December 23 for Residents/December 30 for NR
All winter courses will be on Zoom.
Barbarians in the Middle Kingdom, with Caroline Reeves
China’s diversity—linguistic, ethnic, religious, physiological, etc.—rivals that of Europe and America. We will examine how this came to be, what it means, and how it is dealt with in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
5 Tuesdays, 10:30–12:00, Jan 5, 12, 19, 26, Feb 2; on Zoom
E.M. Forster: Novels and Films, with Gillian Gill
In this six-week course we will discuss four novels by E.M. Forster and the Merchant Ivory movies based on them. Participants are asked to read the novel and to stream the movie at home before each class. All four movies are widely available online.
6 Mondays, 11:00–12:30, Jan 18, 25, Feb 1, 8, 15, 22; on Zoom
What Makes Sondheim Great? (Part 3), with Gail Leondar-Wright
While many people know and appreciate the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, few have had the opportunity to unpack what makes his work special. We will listen closely to how Sondheim’s words and music work together to create complex, moving, and delightful narratives for shows that have ushered musical theatre into its modern era.
6 Wednesdays, 11:00–12:30, Feb 3, 10, 17, 24, Mar 3, 10; on Zoom
The Restless Earth: Volcanos, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis, with Stephen Senturia Volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis are all the result of plate tectonic processes deep in the earth. When they reach the surface, catastrophic things can happen. Topics will include volcanoes, from the gentle Hawaiian ones to the Yellowstone mega-volcano, earthquakes from the San Andreas fault to Fukushima, and the tsunamis earthquakes can create.
3 Thursdays, 10:00–12:00, Jan 28, Feb 4, 11; on Zoom