Please note that effective August 19, 2024, you must have either a UNC Asheville 2024-2025 annual parking permit or a visitor’s permit to park on campus 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Visit the Campus Parking for OLLI Members page for instructions on how to purchase an OLLI-subsidized annual parking permit. Daily and monthly visitor permits must be obtained through the UNC Asheville parking site; OLLI does not provide visitor permits.

Spring Catalog

The spring 2025 course schedule and catalog of courses, programs and events are available by clicking on the buttons below. Please be aware that courses, programs and events are subject to change or cancellation, which may not be reflected in the catalog; the online registration system will always include the most accurate locations and other information about our courses, and this page will always include the most accurate information about programs and events. Consult the schedule of upcoming College for Seniors terms (including term dates, catalog availability and registration).

View Spring 2025 Catalog View Spring 2025 CFS Course Schedule

Program Calendar

Unless otherwise noted, programs take place at the Reuter Center and are free and open to everyone.

Please see UNC Asheville’s expectations of mutual respect and care for all for more information/guidance about maintaining a healthy environment for in-person courses, programs and events.

April

Tuesday, April 15, 7 p.m. | World Affairs Council
Partner Program: “New Paradigms? Chinese Responses to the New Trump Administration” (in-person + online)
The Trump Administration’s overtures to Vladimir Putin and challenges to the United States alliance networks are fundamentally realigning global power relationships. How is the Chinese party-state responding to swings in U.S. policy? What impact will this round of tariffs have on the Chinese economy and the U.S.-China relationship? Will U.S. treatment of Ukraine have any influence on China’s position toward Taiwan? Is China really a bigger threat to U.S. interests than Russia? What, if anything, can be done to improve the U.S.-China relationship while promoting American interests and values?
Katherine Palmer Kaup is the James B. Duke Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs at Furman University. Her research focuses on ethnic minorities, rule of law, and human rights developments in China. She is the author of Creating the Zhuang: Ethnic Politics in China and several articles and chapters on ethnic minorities and is editor and contributor to the textbook, Understanding Contemporary Asia (2nd edition, 2021). She speaks Chinese and regularly leads university and other delegations to China. She holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a graduate degree and doctorate from the University of Virginia in government and foreign affairs.
Join online via Zoom.

Wednesday, April 16, 4:30 p.m.
OLLI Program: “Annual Meeting and Celebration of Community” (in-person + online)
Join OLLI staff and volunteers as we review the past year, highlighting the accomplishments of our committees and programs, offering an overview of our finances and presenting our slate of officers for 2025-2026. We will celebrate what we have achieved and survived together and hope to inspire more members to be engaged in planning our future. We are honored that UNC Asheville Chancellor Kimberly Van Noort will join us in person and Steve Thaxton, executive director for the National Resource Center for Osher Institutes, will join us on Zoom. Come to share ideas, ask questions, learn how OLLI works and look to the future of our organization. We will serve light refreshments.
Register to attend in-person or online.

Thursday, April 17, 5:30 p.m. | Alzheimer’s Association, Western Carolina Chapter
Partner Program: “Navigating the Tough Talks: Essential Conversations with Aging Loved Ones”
Learn to have honest and caring conversations about common concerns when someone begins to show signs of dementia. We’ll review practical strategies for approaching uncomfortable topics including driving, doctor visits and legal and financial conversations. We will also provide helpful resources from the Alzheimer’s Association.
Find out more about the Alzheimer’s Association Western Carolina Chapter at their website or email Denise Young, program manager, Mountain Region.

Friday, April 18, 11:30 a.m.
Fab Fridays: “Medical Considerations for Your International Travel” (in-person + online)
OLLI members planning international travel will be more confident of enjoying their experience if they first give careful thought to common health threats inherent in any travel outside the U.S. and, in some cases, specific to their chosen destination. We will offer general preventative measures relevant to travel medical preparation and includes three country-specific case scenarios.
Over a 35-year period, David Freedman has presented to professional and lay/public audiences about many facets of travel medicine, including talks at professional associations, peer-reviewed journal articles and textbooks. He is professor emeritus of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and has served on numerous technical advisory and regulatory panels of the World Health Organization, the U.S. Pharmacopeia and the global GeoSentinel Surveillance Network. David earned his doctorate from the University of Toronto, completed his residency at Montreal General Hospital and completed his fellowship in infectious diseases at the NIH Clinical Center.
Join the April 18 Fab Friday online via Zoom.

Friday, April 18, 2 p.m.
OLLI Life Transitions Program: “Book Talk: Radical Endurance: Growing Old in the Age of Longevity” (online)
Why are so many of us afraid of growing old? And why has old age gotten such a bad rap? As educator Herbert Kohl says, “Old age is a time to contemplate and understand the contradictions and find a way to live in harmony with one’s spirit and conscience.” We will enjoy some inspiring true stories about interesting old people; quiet our fears of losing our minds, our mobility or our independence; learn to resist ageism in our everyday lives; and assert that we have meaningful futures. Ask questions, share your stories and get some nourishing food for thought.
Andrea Gilats is a writer, educator and former yoga teacher who created and led lifelong learning programs at the University of Minnesota for more than 30 years including the pioneering series, “Encore Transitions: Preparing for Post-Career Life.” She is the author of two books published by the University of Minnesota Press, Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity (2024), praised as “a personal guide to the transformations, hard truths, profound pleasures, and infinite possibilities of aging”; and After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief (2022), which won an honorable mention from the Forward Indies 2023 Book Awards. She is also the author of Restoring Flexibility: A Yoga-Based Practice to Increase Mobility at Any Age, published by Ulysses Press.
Join online via Zoom. This program is free to attend, and registration is requested.

Friday, April 18, 5 p.m. | Death Café
Partner Program: “Death Café”
Death Café is an engaging gathering with storytelling and conversation about a topic that too often alienates people in our death-phobic culture. At Death Café, participants break into small groups of five or six people and discuss personal stories related to the death of loved ones; loss of jobs, relationships or marriages; or loss or death of parts of ourselves. These programs are facilitated by Karen Sanders, Greg Lathrop and Saïd Osio from Third Messenger. Death Café meets in the Reuter Center atrium on the third Friday of each month from 5-6:30 p.m. Learn more about Death Café by visiting the Death Café website, the Third Messenger website, or facebook.com/deathcafeasheville. If you have questions about meetings of Death Café at the Reuter Center, please contact Karen Sanders at 828-778-8882.

Tuesday, April 22, 9:30 a.m.
OLLI Member Engagement Committee Program: “Owen Hall Visit for OLLI Members”
Register to attend.

Tuesday, April 22, 4:30 p.m.
Inclusion Committee Program: “Just Films: Julian Price”
The documentary Julian Price recounts the life and work of Julian Price, whose philanthropic efforts were essential to the revitalization of downtown Asheville and the making of this vibrant city as we know it today. The screening will be followed by a moderated conversation with Karen Ramshaw, vice president, Public Interest Projects and Jeff Fobes, founder and publisher, Mountain Xpress. 
This program is free to attend, but registration is required. Read more about Julian Price.

Tuesday, April 22, 4:30 p.m. | STEM Lecture Series
OLLI Program: “Sex and Gender Identity in Competitive Sports: Inclusivity and Fairness” (in-person + online)
Throughout human history, sexual phenotype and gender identity indicate we are not strictly dichotomous. The American Medical Association and the Endocrine Society use the term to describe sex and gender. The topic becomes contentious and often acrimonious when discussing female competitive sports, where fairness and inclusivity clash. The stories become headline news, especially at the national and international level, where significant fame and wealth accompany elite sports.
Last summer at the Paris Olympics, the eligibility of two female boxing gold medalists came under international scrutiny, superseding other news from the games for a time. Was this discrimination? The debate runs the whole hierarchy of sports down to the local level for children. Can we be inclusive and fair at the same time?
Erik Vedeler ran track and cross country for New Mexico State University. He was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association 10,000-meter champion in 1983 and a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I All-American cross-country runner. He has undergraduate degrees in math, physics and computer science and a graduate degree in electrical engineering from NMSU. He completed doctoral coursework in electrical engineering at the University of Texas Austin and had a 25-year career at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.
Join online via Zoom and read more about the April 22 STEM lecture.

Wednesday, April 23, 9 a.m.
College for Seniors information session: “You Too Can Teach!” (in-person + online)
Are you interested in (or curious about) teaching a course at CFS? You may have never thought that you could be an instructor, but you too can teach! Our instructors run the gamut from retired teachers and professionals to those with deep knowledge of a certain topic. The common thread with all our instructors is passion for their subject matter and a desire to share it with peers. The process of becoming an instructor is not daunting. In this information session, current instructors will introduce what teaching at CFS is all about and demystify the process from having an idea for a course through creating a good proposal. All your questions about teaching will be answered!
Sign up to attend in person or online.

Wednesday, April 23, 7 p.m. | Common Word Community Read
University Program: “How the Magic Works: Breaking Down the Craft Elements in Look Homeward, Angel” (in-person + online)
Wiley Cash will discuss the writerly craft behind some of the most iconic scenes in Look Homeward, Angel. Cash is The New York Times bestselling author of four novels and the executive director of literary arts at UNC Asheville.
Register to attend the April 23 Common Word Community Read program. To learn more, visit the Common Word Community Read website.

Thursday, April 24, 4:30 p.m.
OLLI Program: “OLLI Authors” (in-person + online)
Tom Milroy and Norman Weeks
Join the April 24 OLLI Authors via Zoom. Read more about Tom Milroy and Norman Weeks.

Thursday, April 24, 7 p.m.
Special Program: “Stronger Than The Storm: Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina Book Talk”
Talented writers and artists from across the region will share their work from a book of poems, artwork and essays about Hurricane Helene. They have distilled emotions and events that are far too big to convey in photos or videos and have captured the sense of selfless community spirit that has now enveloped our mountain towns. They hope the discussion sparks healing and are donating all profits from book sales to the recovery effort.
The book, called Stronger than the Storm: Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, has been a bestseller since its launch in February at local bookstores and online. It was edited by Asheville writer Shelley McKechnie, who will join the gathering. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Friday, April 25, 11:30 a.m.
Fab Fridays: “Global Challenges for Girls and Women in Developing Communities” (in-person + online)
Women and girls in the developing world face many challenges that most women living in the developed world no longer experience. This presentation will highlight global gender inequality through discussion of data and storytelling from the author’s work in rural Ghana. Highlighted will be issues of education, health, water, gender-based violence, and trafficking. We will also discuss how climate change and environmental degradation are reversing progress for many women living in frontline communities. You will learn why it is important to be aware of global women’s issues and how we can all contribute to gender equity and sustainable development. Come join us for an engaging and heartfelt conversation about women’s lives.
Heather Heckel directs Engage Globally, a nonprofit organization supporting sustainable development in rural Ghana. Before coming to Asheville, Heather taught at American University for 15 years. She enjoys traveling and attempting to grow pollinator gardens. Heather was a 2024 OLLI Summer Fellow.
Join the April 25 Fab Friday online via Zoom.

Friday, April 25, 2 p.m.
Women, Gender and Social Change Field-Trip Series: Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center
OLLI will present a series of private, guided tours of local arts and cultural organizations to explore the theme from different points of view. The Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center preserves and interprets the social, cultural and natural history of the Swannanoa Valley by developing dynamic programs and engaging exhibitions for the education and enrichment of the community, its children and future generations. We will explore stories of women in the Valley told through the museum’s galleries and special collections.
Space is limited; registration is required. Open to OLLI members only. Cost: $15 each; transportation not included. Starting February 10 at 10 a.m., register separately for each field trip you wish to attend using our online registration system.

Sunday, April  27, 2:30 p.m. | The Autumn Players
Partner Program: “Meg by Paul Vogel, directed by Mary Dillon”
With the action of A Man for All Seasons as backdrop, Meg explores the forces imprisoning Margaret More, daughter of Sir Thomas More. Meg, uniquely isolated from her time and environment, finds being an intelligent, independent woman in such a male-dominated society to be a double-edged sword as she discovers her role in both her father’s legacy and her own place in history.
Read more about the play and purchase tickets online via the Autumn Players’ website for $8; any remaining tickets will be sold for $8 (cash only) at the door beginning at 2 p.m. prior to the performance.

May

Thursday, May 1
Last day for course proposals for CFS fall 2025 term
Visit the Forms page to access the live course proposal and a sample proposal.

Thursday, May 1, 7 p.m. | Astronomy Club of Asheville
Partner Program: “Microquasars: Black Holes, Superfast Jets and Fun Physics” (in-person + online)
Microquasars are small-scale analogs of distant quasars; instead of a supermassive black hole accreting matter from its host galaxy, microquasars consist of a stellar-mass black hole accreting matter from a companion star. Both systems, though, shoot plasma jets at high velocities into their surroundings. Diana Hannikainen will review the main characteristics of microquasars and show how studying them yields clues to the physics driving distant quasars.
Join online via Zoom.

Friday, May 2, 11:30 a.m.
Fab Fridays: “Learning to Speak Aphasia” (in-person + online)
Aphasia is an impairment of language that can affect the generation, expression and understanding of both spoken and written domains. It affects approximately 2.5 million people in the U.S. with 180,000 new cases identified each year. Only 40% of people in the U.S. have heard of aphasia and can identify it as a language disorder. Come to learn what aphasia is, communication tips and the implications of neuroplasticity.
Kate Kelleher is a speech language pathologist working as an instructor at Western Carolina University in the department of communication sciences and disorders. She is currently getting her doctorate through UNC Greensboro and has been a speech therapist for 18 years. She co-facilitates the WNC Aphasia Group.
Join the May 2 Fab Friday online via Zoom.

Friday, May 2, 2 p.m.
Women, Gender and Social Change Field-Trip Series: Asheville Museum of History
OLLI will present a series of private, guided tours of local arts and cultural organizations to explore the theme from different points of view. The Asheville Museum of History preserves and promotes the history and legacy of Western North Carolina through interpretation, education, collection and collaboration. We will examine objects in the museum and from its archives to learn more about the history of women and gender in Asheville and how they relate to the Smith-McDowell House.
Space is limited; registration is required. Open to OLLI members only. Cost: $15 each; transportation not included. Starting February 10 at 10 a.m., register separately for each field trip you wish to attend using our online registration system.

Friday, May 2, 5 p.m.
OLLI Inclusion Committee Program: “Just Conversations: Making the Latino South”
Join the OLLI Inclusion Committee and UNC Asheville’s education department for a facilitated panel discussion on the book Making the Latino South: A History of Racial Formation by Cecilia Márquez, Ph.D., Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History, Duke University.
This event is free to OLLI members and the UNC Asheville community but registration is requested.

Saturday, May 3, 11 a.m. – NEW DATE ADDED!
Women, Gender and Social Change Field-Trip Series: Asheville Art Museum
OLLI will present a series of private, guided tours of local arts and cultural organizations to explore the theme from different points of view. The Asheville Art Museum’s vision is to engage, enlighten and inspire individuals and enrich community through dynamic experiences in American art of the 20th and 21st centuries. We will visit the museum’s collection and selected special exhibitions to learn more about artists related to our theme.
Space is limited; registration is required. Open to OLLI members only. Cost: $15 each; transportation not included. Starting February 10 at 10 a.m., register separately for each field trip you wish to attend using our online registration system.

Saturday, May 3, 3 p.m. | Asheville New Horizons Band
Special Program: “Recovery and Resilience”
You are invited to the spring concert of the Asheville New Horizons Band, hosted by OLLI at the Reuter Center. Tap your toes and sing along! This community ensemble of senior adults plays old favorites and new music, all fun and family-friendly. The concert is free and open to all. Bring your friends, enjoy a new springtime tradition and support OLLI members Diane Amos and Sally Pete.
Band members will have information available about joining the band; by 2026, you could be onstage with us at OLLI.
Find out more about the concert and activities of the Asheville New Horizons Band.

Sunday, May 4, 2:30 p.m. | The Autumn Players
Partner Program: “My Three Angels by Sam and Bella Spewack, directed by Ellen Pappas”
It is 104° on Christmas Eve in French Guiana, and three convicts are charged with mending the roof of a French colonial shopkeeper. Surprises abound in this delightful, captivating comedy as Jules, Joseph and Alfred descend from rooftop to living room and begin to meddle in the Ducotel family’s household affairs.
Read more about the play and purchase tickets online via the Autumn Players’ website for $8; any remaining tickets will be sold for $8 (cash only) at the door beginning at 2 p.m. prior to each performance.

Tuesday, May 6, 7 p.m. | World Affairs Council
Partner Program: “Artificial Intelligence and U.S. National Security: Enhancement or Threat?” (in-person + online)
The AI revolution is the leading edge of a larger high-tech revolution which promises to transform the world. Experts argue that international cooperation is needed to expand the opportunities these new technologies hold while protecting societies from their dangers. What are the key policy debates in this area, and what are the opportunities and limits on AI rules of the road? How will the AI revolution impact American national security? What are its policy options to secure the benefits of AI and guard against its dangers?
Major General Rick Devereaux graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1978 with an undergraduate degree in international affairs. During his 34-year career, he piloted several aircraft including the C-5 Galaxy and the KC-135 Stratotanker. Rick held a variety of leadership positions that included avionics manager for the C-17 aircraft development program, two tours on the joint staff at the Pentagon, director of Air Force training operations and the Air Force’s director of regional affairs at the Pentagon. He also commanded five organizations including a C-5 flying squadron, a mobility operations group, a flying wing and base in England, a technical training wing in Texas and the Air Force’s Expeditionary Center in New Jersey. Rick’s last assignment was the Air Force’s director of operational planning, policy and strategy at the Pentagon. He holds three advanced degrees including a graduate degree in national security strategy from the National War College in Washington, D.C. After retiring from the Air Force in 2012, Rick worked as a consultant for several defense industry firms, an energy start-up and various national security think tanks. He currently is the vice chair of Blue Ridge Public Radio’s board of directors and serves on the boards of the Leadership Asheville Forum, the City of Asheville’s civil service board and the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina.
Join online via Zoom.

Wednesday, May 7, 7 p.m. | WNC Sierra Club
Partner Program: “Spring Wildflowers of Southern Appalachia” (in-person + online)
Scott Dean
Join online via Zoom, and read more about Scott Dean’s program on the WNC Sierra Club website.

Friday, May 9, 11:30 a.m.
Fab Fridays: “Women in the Lighthouse Service and Coast Guard” (in-person + online)
In this special theme term presentation, learn more about the history of women working as lighthouse keepers and in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Wayne Wheeler is a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer, founder and president emeritus of the U.S. Lighthouse Society and a national expert on lighthouses. He is the recipient of a U.S. Coast Guard meritorious public service award for his work with lighthouse preservation and history.
Join the May 9 Fab Friday online via Zoom.

Friday, May 9, 2 p.m.
OLLI Program: “We Want It All: Wilma Dykeman, Feminism and Social Change” (in-person + online)
We will begin with a reminder of 10 ways in which Wilma Dykeman was a social and cultural pioneer. Then we will turn to positioning Dykeman within the Ayni Institute model of five forms of social change: personal transformation, alternative institutions/cultures, the inside game, structure organizing and mass protest. We will learn something at this exploration of brand-new Dykeman material. Presented by Jim Stokely, president, Wilma Dykeman Legacy.
This event is free to OLLI members and the UNC Asheville community, but registration is requested.

Sunday, May 11, 3 p.m. | Asheville Senior Chorus
Partner Program: “Songs that Make the Whole World Sing”
The Asheville Senior Chorus presents a program of music by Barry Manilow, Bette Midler and Neil Diamond.
Find out more about the Asheville Senior Chorus on their website.

Sunday, May 11, 5:30 p.m. | Carolinas’ Nature Photographers Association
Partner Program: “On Wings and Wonders” (in-person + online)
Jackie Kramer’s presentation will delve into the wonderful world of birds as seen through the eyes of an artist and animal lover. She will talk about practical matters in the field and techniques that complement each other in the making of images that represent the beauty, the energy, the colors, the character, and more of her subjects. Jackie will touch on various topics – from preparation, to equipment, to the photography, to post-processing. Jackie will dive into Lightroom and Photoshop to demonstrate how she edits a typical bird image and also how she adds some creative elements when she feels so inclined. Vivid examples throughout her talk will inspire you to plan your own adventure, anywhere from the backyard to a faraway location, so you can share the beauty of our natural world with others through your unique vision and lens.
To join online and for more information, visit the CNPA-Asheville Region’s website.

Friday, May 16
Last day of spring 2025 CFS classes

Friday, May 16, 11:30 a.m.
Fab Fridays: “Practical Actions for Building Healthy Habits and Unbuilding Unhealthy Habits” (in-person + online)
We will cover the systems for building and maintaining habits for healthy living, longevity in particular. The focus will be on practical actions in a framework that can be applied to creation of systems for changing habits. Four key steps for building healthy (and unbuilding unhealthy) habits will be covered and ideas shared for implementation.
Bill Loggins worked more than 15 years as social worker, psychotherapist and marriage counselor helping individuals and couples improve their relationships and self-management of their behavior and skills. He switched gears to engineering and worked for more than 30 years primarily as a systems analyst, systems engineer, data engineer and data governance consultant for numerous commercial and government customers. Bill also worked through high school and college as tennis instructor and tennis court construction, then community organizer, social worker, organic bakery owner, expert systems developer, training and development consultant, prior to his launch into full-time post-graduate work.
Join the May 16 Fab Friday online via Zoom.

Friday, May 16, 2-4 p.m.
Information session: “Spring 2025 Theme-Term Community Conversation” (in-person + online)
This spring, in addition to our normal wide array of course topics, we will offer dozens of courses related to the theme “Women, Gender and Social Change.” We invite you to join us for this session to reflect on their experiences of participating in theme-term courses, programs and events and to discuss what they learned, are taking away, are still curious about and more.
Registration required; RSVP to attend in person or online. Read more about the theme term.

Tuesday, May 20, 7 p.m.
OLLI Program: “An Evening of Storytelling”
Join us for an exciting evening of stories about personally impactful women performed by fellow OLLI members! This evening’s storytellers are participants in Chuck Fink’s spring 2025 CFS course Storytelling: Women in Our Lives.