Learn something new this winter

Senior membership programs in Anchorage and Fairbanks are ready to begin winter class schedules.

Why hibernate when you can enroll in a class or activity and make some new friends?

Anchorage learning opportunities

Anchorage-area seniors can sign up now for winter session classes offered by OLE (Opportunities for Lifelong Education). Although there is no minimum age requirement, classes are geared to adults age 50 and older. Courses begin Jan. 11 and are held in classrooms on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus, along with other locations around town.

OLE membership is required to enroll, however members may take as many classes as they like. Annual OLE membership is $150.

The courses are casual, with no tests, homework or grades, and topics range from how-to classes on language, cooking and computers, to arts and culture, to exploring public policy topics.

For more information, winter class schedule and registration, visit http://www.oleanchorage.org or call 786-6304

Fairbanks

In Fairbanks, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is a membership organization providing learning opportunities for midlife and older adults (50+). OLLI offers courses, lectures, educational travel and special interest groups. Members explore academic and general interest classes in an atmosphere that is intellectually stimulating, but without the stress of tests and grades.

OLLI’s next class series begins Feb. 29. Registration opens Feb. 16. The schedule will be posted on the OLLI website.

In the meantime, OLLI is presenting a series of public lectures in the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center Theatre. These are free and open to the public. The next lecture is Feb. 5, “Pursuing Polar Soundscapes on the Deck of A Ship: Early Musical Exchange in the Western Arctic,” with Paul Krejci, PhD and music and philosophy instructor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

For the winter class schedule or more information on OLLI, call 474-6607 or visit the Website at http://www.uaf.edu/olli.