LLI Participants The camaraderie at an LLI fills the classrooms and spills into the halls, the cafeteria, and even out in the parking lot. Stimulating discussions fill the air. Laughter, intensity and a real joie de vie envelop everyone involved. To an outsider at first glance it might seem like a group of young people intent on comparing the latest rock bands. But a second look would show these students are special: they’ve experienced life and all it has to offer. They are truly living!
Closer study shows that LLI participants are self-motivated learners, intent on making their later years the very best they can be. They come from all walks of life. Some have college degrees. Others do not. In an LLI it’s a level playing field.
LLI members are dedicated students of retirement age, whose common bonds are intellectual curiosity and generational experiences. They share opinions, knowledge, and expertise with humor, creativity, mutual respect and an intense vitality. The volunteer work each member does at a LLI helps create a well-run learning environment full of diversity, insight, wisdom and intellectual and cultural stimulation. At the same time, they get to share in the joys of learning and friendship while being challenged to broaden their horizons.
In other words, everyone is there to keep their brains active and alert. Everyone is there for the sheer joy of learning. Everyone has something to contribute because all members have life experiences that have shaped and formed them. Life experience is experiential learning at its very best!
All members bring their experiences to the classroom. Give and take between the members and the course facilitators is a hallmark of lifelong learning programs. The facilitator learns as much from the participants as the participants do from the facilitator.
Unless it’s a special lecture, most of the time you will not find “talking heads” in LLI classes. Rather you will find facilitators anxious to guide participants on a journey of self-discovery, finding a new way to look at an old topic, listening to both sides of an issue, exploring the world of something new and exciting in a relaxed and stimulating environment. In other words, the perfect learning venue.
Curriculum At the very heart of every Lifelong Learning Institute is the curriculum. Committees, composed of LLI members, decide what courses are to be offered, based on input from other members.
A Curriculum Committee puts in long hours planning and organizing. That hard work shows in the quality of the courses offered by each LLI.
Some of the courses offered at Lifelong Learning Institutes:
• Music in French Civilization Basic & Advanced Internet Courses • Beginning Piano The Philosophy of Religion • Christianity World Religions • Philosophy: Beginning & Advanced Financial Planning • Wills & Estates Retirement Planning & Investing • The Stock Market Scandinavia • Poland: Its Art, History & Culture The Seminoles • Judaism Chivalry • Period Furniture Fly on the Cheap • Mysteries of the Food Industry Four from J.S. Bach • The Elements of Music Memorable Musicals • Art & Ideas: Romantic America Beginning Watercolor • Pen & Ink Basic Drawing • American Mystery Writers Modern Short Fiction • James Fenimore Cooper’s Greatest Novels Creative Writing • Louisa May Alcott: Her Life & Work Life Writing • Everywoman’s Story Project Theatre & the Public Good • A Playwright’s Theatre Play Reading for Culture • Plays in Production The Epic • Reading & Understanding Poetry Schoolroom Poets • Understanding Shakespeare’s Sonnets Nutrition & Food Issues • Biology of Aging Medical Test Results • The Mind/Body Connection The Civil War • Celts: A History of Ireland, Scotland, Wales Lewis & Clark • Early American History Local Ecosystems • Local Island Ecology Municipal Government • Aquaculture Research Current Affairs/Events • Foreign Policy Great Political Decisions • Tax Law Changes Astronomy • Celestial Navigation Introduction to Forestry • Geology Natural Golf • Basic & Advanced Computer Courses
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