OLLI Courses and Events
On this page: Course Offerings | Special Events |Past Events
Courses:
Wines of Iowa II | Shakespeare: On Stage and Backstage
Lunch & Learn Series
Special Events: None scheduled at this time
Give the gift of learning!
OLLI at Iowa Gift Certificates are now available. To purchase a gift certificate, please contact OLLI at Iowa.
Course Offerings
View the complete Spring '08 Course Guide!
Wines of Iowa II
Dates: May 28 - June 25, 2008 Wednesdays 9:00am - 4:00pm Back by popular demand, Wines of Iowa II will take participants to wineries around the state. Each trip includes a lunch*, wine tasting, classes and tours (described on each date), and charter bus transport complete with film-viewing, air conditioning, and on-board lavatories. Whether you attended the first series or not, are a wine novice or a wine connoisseur, you are sure to have a great time! |
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May 28 - From the Beginning
Our journey begins where Iowa wineries began - Summerset Winery. Learn the history of Iowa Wineries from the owner of one of the oldest wineries in Iowa! Enjoy a catered lunch and some fine wines in Indianola, and tour the winery and vineyards.
For more information about Summerset Winery, visit their website.
June 4 - Wine With a Frosty Twist
Prairie Moon is one of the only wineries in Iowa to produce Ice Wines. Learn about the process, as well as about grape growing in Iowa, from this unique winery! You will have a chance to taste the ice wine and many other varieties in this Ames winery, and enjoy a meal on their scenic outdoor patio.
For more information about Prairie Moon Winery, visit their website.
June 11 - Family Legacies
At Fireside Winery, a family-owned-and-operated farm in Marengo, enjoy a light lunch, wine, and learn about wine and cheese pairing. Then visit John Ernest Winery in Tama to enjoy even more Iowa wine! Take a guided tour of the vineyard and winery that offers a ‘personalized experience’.
For more information about Fireside Winery, visit their website.
For more information about John Ernest Winery, visit their website.
June 18 - Creating Your Own Wine Masterpiece
Learn how to make wine at home with Bluestem Winery. Get hands-on experience while making a batch of wine. While your wine processes, enjoy a delectable lunch and wine tasting at the Victorian House in Parkersburg.
For more information about Bluestem Winery, visit their website.
June 25 - The Grape Wine Adventure
Ride through the vineyards on the Grapemobile at Tassel Ridge Winery! Enjoy a tour of the Leighton winery and discover the wine production process while exploring their state-of-the-art equipment. Taste the wine and dine on winery terrace.
For more information about Tassel Ridge Winery, visit their website.
Note: Tours of the wineries and vineyards will require standing or walking for longer periods of time, sometimes over uneven terrain.
View photos from last year's class series!
*Please let us know if you have any special dietary needs.
Download the registration form.
Shakespeare: On Stage and Backstage
Since June of 2000, Iowa City’s Riverside Theatre
Shakespeare Festival (RTSF) has brought captivating performances to a replica of Shakespeare’s outdoor theatre, attracting
audiences from around the country. In partnership with
RTSF, OLLI at Iowa is
offering a special inside look at the Shakespeare experience through two 1-day Shakespeare Workshops!
Each workshop includes a class with Festival company members, a backstage tour, the Green Show (a 20-minute “Story Theater” version of the evening play), and tickets to the performance.
Schedule:
4:00—5:30 Pre-performance Discussion
6:00—6:30 Back-stage Tour
6:30—7:00 Picnic Dinner (on site)
7:00—8:00 Green Show
8:00 Performance
The Winter’s Tale Workshop
Date: Thursday, June 26
Time: 4:00 - 10:00pm (break for dinner - picnic dinner available for purchase on site)
Cost: $60 (includes performance ticket)
Discuss the challenges of connecting the tragic and romantic worlds of the play, and spanning the sixteen years that separates them!
The Comedy of Errors Workshop
Date: Saturday, July 12
Time: 4:00 - 10:00pm (break for dinner - picnic dinner available for purchase on site)
Cost: $60 (includes performance ticket)
Company members will discuss how actors that only vaguely resemble each other can believably play identical twins. From costuming to movement to makeup, discover how actors and designers meet these challenges.
Download the registration form.
Lunch & Learn Series
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Location: 1117 Medical Education & Research Facility (MERF)
Cost: $10 per lecture for lunch
June 17
Inside Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
During this introduction to Riverside Theatre’s Shakespeare Festival (RTSF), gain a brief overview of some of the issues that surround The Winter's Tale, a dramatic story of infidelity, magic and heartbreak. Following the talk, Mr. Hunter will lead a question and answer session about the play and Festival. This will be a great preview for OLLI’s workshop, Shakespeare: On Stage and Backstage.
Instructor: Mark Hunter (Director, Winter's Tale) is an associate professor of theater at Cornell College. He has a doctoral degree in theatre history and criticism from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in directing from the University of Iowa. With over 90 professional productions to his credit, he was the founder and, for nine years, the Artistic Director of Playmakers Theatre in Tampa, Florida. He is a longtime Artistic Associate at Riverside Theatre, where he has directed productions of Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Tempest.
July 1
Get Jazzed!
Get ready for Iowa City’s Jazz Fest—a nationally recognized event that has attracted some of the biggest names in jazz since 1991. Join UI Director of Jazz Studies, John Rapson, for a pre-festival primer on jazz performance and practice. During this session, he will introduce jazz basics through the recordings of artists who will appear at the jazz festival.
Instructor: John Rapson is UI associate professor of music and director of jazz studies. A recording artist for Music and Arts, Sound Aspects and Nine Winds, he is a composer/trombonist whose work mixes ethnic and experimental elements with more conventional jazz forms. Rapson has a doctorate in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University. He recently released a compact disc of improvisatory performance called Dances and Orations (from Music and Arts) and has recorded two albums, A Mingus Among Us and Been There, Done That, with Johnson County Landmark.
July 15
The Water You Drink: Sip and Talk Session
Water is part of life. We are mostly made of water. What relationship do you want to have with water? Let’s sip and talk.
This session will examine the drinking (tap) water of Iowa City and Coralville—from a quality and quantity standpoint—and make a comparison to bottled water. We will do taste tests so bring your favorite bottled water if you have one. Some items for discussion are:
· Is it safe to drink the water from our taps?
· What causes the flavor of the water?
· Will we always have enough water for our uses?
· What is the source of our water supply?
· How is the domestic water supply used other than for drinking and cooking?
· What is the daily per capita water consumption for Iowa City / Coralville?
Instructor: Douglas A. Wallace, Ph.D., P.E. After six years working as a civil engineer in the construction field, Doug returned to school for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa. Over the next 30 years he was employed by several consulting engineering firms for both domestic and international projects where he worked on many projects in the area of water resources, water quality and the design of both water and wastewater treatment facilities.
July 29
Lincoln’s Grandchildren
President Lincoln’s ties to Iowa continued beyond his death with the marriage of his eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, to Mary Harlan, the daughter of Senator James Harlan of Iowa. Lincoln also appointed Senator Harlan to be the Secretary of the Interior in 1865, the first Iowan to hold a cabinet position. Robert Lincoln’s three children (President Lincoln’s only grandchildren) spent much time in Mt. Pleasant in the 1870s-1890s with their maternal grandparents where they enjoyed small town life. Mr. Juhl will re-tell the interesting story of this family and some of their Mt. Pleasant memories. Want to know more about Lincoln? Join us for a trip to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield!
Instructor: Paul C. Juhl, a board member of the Harlan-Lincoln House in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, has had a life-long interest in Iowa history and has done extensive research on Abraham Lincoln’s descendants and their Iowa connection. He holds a B.A. from the University of Iowa in history and an M.A. Degree in College Student Personnel Services from the University of Northern Iowa and has worked in public and private education. Mr. Juhl’s articles have appeared in numerous magazines including the Palimpsest, Iowa Heritage Illustrated, and Stereo World. He is also the author of several publications including Co-authorship with Mary Bennett of Iowa Stereographs; Three Dimensional Visions of the Past; Clear Lake: The Earliest Images; and Grant Wood’s Clear Lake Summer.
Download the registration form.
Special Events
None scheduled at this time. Please check back.