By Steve Clarey, Curriculum Committee Chair

As noted in Carol’s President’s letter, we are all looking forward to returning to the campus for our
Spring quarter after the long, two-year Covid isolation: to renewing friendships, meeting new members, and re-engaging in-person with our distinguished faculty and community speakers. Exciting times for all.

While we will continue to live-stream ALL of our lectures and seminars via Zoom, we are asking our
local members to physically return to the campus for classes to help rebuild our relationships with the
distinguished university faculty and staff, and re-establish our Osher physical presence and “voice” as
an important member of the UC San Diego community for over 45 years.

For our Spring quarter, your volunteer Curriculum Committee has created another rich and varied program. In keeping with the above objectives, almost all of our Spring quarter morning classes will be on-campus as well as most afternoon classes. Spring Master Class I again features UCSD Emeritus Professor of History, Stanley Chodorow, who will be discussing the growth of Christianity during the First to Sixth Centuries. Master Class II will be a biological smorgasbord with six UCSD Biological Science faculty members sharing their latest research.

In our multi-lecture Premier Classes we continue our Spring series on modern sculptors, with art historians from across the country discussing the lives and works of Constantin Brancusi, Robert Murray, Allan Houser, Niki de Saint Phalle, and others. We will have another group of speakers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and welcome back to the campus art historian, Linda Blair, a longtime Osher supporter, who will present her series on Hinge Moments of Western Art, from the Greeks to the Renaissance, to the Impressionists. Always popular, Literature Professor Michael Caldwell returns to discuss five Shakespeare Comedies.

Our lectures in Humanities, International Relations, Law and Society, and the Social Sciences feature a wide range of preeminent speakers. Etleva Bejko from Jewish Family Services will discuss the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Lectures are scheduled on the Israeli—Palestinian Conflict, and the problems with the Global Supply Chain. Two lectures are scheduled on blood stain analysis and enhancing eye-witness accuracy. UCSD Athletic Director Earl Edwards will discuss his life as a black athlete and NCAA Division I Director. In current events, we will discuss how the homelessness problem can be solved, the challenges President’s face in mid-term elections, and civilian-military relations.

In Medicine and Science, we will learn about the benefits of napping, new treatments for Parkinson’s Disease, treating end-stage kidney disease, and wearable sensors for wellness, aging and nutrition. Two lectures will discuss the history and future of managing California’s water supply. We will learn why the presence of great white sharks is increasing in the vicinity of popular Southern California beaches.

With our return to the campus Live Music Fridays will return to our Osher classroom. Professor Cecil Lytle and jazz bass player Rob Thorsen will complete the winter Master Class on blues, with a live riffin’ performance. A visiting professor from Bowdoin College will lecture and perform the four Chopin Ballades. Our literature, WWII history, Memoirs, and French conversation seminars will continue to stimulate their loyal participants. We will again be informed by our Osher Presenter colleagues and entertained online by our dedicated Theater World performers and directors. Feel free to share your views with your colleagues on current events in our weekly moderated discussions in Inside Politics and Hot Topics.

The above is just a sample of the marvelous Spring program assembled by your volunteer Curriculum Committee. Full descriptions of the curriculum and online events can be found throughout the Spring catalog and on the Osher website. If you have any recommendations for speakers please send me an email: ssclarey62@gmail.com.

Steve Clarey
Chair, Curriculum Committee