OLLI Courses

Examine the label of female Film Noir roles as that of the femme fatale, literally the deadly woman. This narrow construction reinforces the idea of women as either angels or devils.

Mary Scott has enjoyed teaching Film History and Film Studies for over twenty-five years at both San Francisco State University and College of San Mateo (as well as in Florence, Italy and London.)

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Interconnectedness was the battle cry of a large majority of the global population – and as such, art served as its universal language. Spearheaded by one of the youngest nations, American Modernism propelled both the reach and expanse of art’s influence over our collective lives.

Karen Lee McSorley can recall her early art experience to regular weekend visits to The Met as a very young child. Since then, she has earned advanced degrees in Art History and Economics from both Northwestern and Yale.

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Take a look at why astronomers are more optimistic than ever that there must be life beyond the Earth, what experiments we are undertaking to find or communicate with such life, and what we propose to do if we find “them.”

Andrew Fraknoi retired in July 2017 as the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, having taught introductory astronomy and physics at three different colleges (including SF State).

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“I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.” –Vincent van Gogh

While literary fiction tends to be bleak (and some might say that it must be bleak), we will approach this class in opposition to this notion. In short: light matters.
 
That is not to say that we will be discussing puppies and kittens, rainbows and smiley faces. While those are nice, our examination of light in life will delve deeper. Each week, we will be reading and discussing short stories that capture the complexities of hope, love, goodness, happiness, friendship, and endurance. We will use these readings and their writers to inspire creative writing of our own. Students will generate 1-2 double-spaced pages to be shared and responded to in-class weekly as part of our supportive community.
 
All students are welcomed, those who are new to creative writing and those who have been writing most of their lives. However, please be aware that our focus will be on narrative craft.

Week by Week Outline
 
TBD
 
Students will:
            --generate new material for future development.
            --share their creative work and provide feedback to others.
            --build a repository of writing prompts.
            --read exemplary writers.
            --receive feedback from the instructor.
And learn to:
            --trust in their natural abilities as writers and artists.
            --find material to write about that suits their interests.
            --think creatively as well as critically about written creative work.
            --experience the world anew.
 
Sarah Broderick grew up in the Ohio River Valley and now resides in Northern California. Holding an MA in humanities and social thought from New York University and an MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University, she works as a writer, editor, and teacher, and served as Diaspora Editor for Lavil: Life, Love, and Death in Port-au-Prince published in 2017 by Verso/Voice of Witness. Her fiction and nonfiction pieces have appeared in Moon City Review, Atticus Review, Necessary Fiction, Cleaver Magazine, and elsewhere. She can be found online at perfectsentences.org, Twitter @sebroderick, and The Forge Literary Magazine.