Lifelong Learning on Tap at Dominican

John Belushi famously chugged a fifth of Jack Daniels as Jack Blutharsky in a National Lampoon film that transformed the college experience for a generation. Ben Franklin’s caffeine addiction made him the most eccentric founding father, ever. A soft drink once completely disarmed Mean Joe.

Consider all of the above topics fair game in Fren Prosnitz’s classroom next year.

Her “Swigging, Slurping and Sipping through the Ages” class is probably among the most unusual Dominican University of California classes that will offered through its Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Other intriguing offerings include new faculty member Jerry Frohmader’s “Jazz and the Pop Song 1900-1960.”

Those classes and others will be previewed at the fast-growing OLLI’s annual Winter Open House on Wednesday.

The 10 a.m. to noon event (at Angelico Concert Hall , off Acacia Avenue) will feature instructors previewing winter courses, which run from January 14 to March 17, 2014. OLLI offers a wide variety of liberal arts classes to community members aged 50 and older.

In the past three years, OLLI’s total membership has grown from 651 members to 1,159. In addition, membership from the fall of 2012 increased 21 percent to this fall, from 591 to 715.

Recently, after OLLI surpassed its goal of 1,000 new members, it received a $1 million grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation in San Francisco.

The winter program offers classes on five sites: Dominican University in San Rafael; Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon; Villa Marin in Terra Linda; the Tamalpais in Greenbrae; and the Dance Palace in Point Reyes.

About half of all OLLI courses are now taught off-campus, Program Director Katherine Henderson said in a prepared statement.

“The quality of programming has been the major driver of growth, but expanding to sites off campus also has resulted in significant growth,” Henderson said.

Free parking for OLLI’s Winter Open House is available in the Conlan Center parking lot, located at the intersection of Grand and Acacia avenues, a short walk from Angelico Hall. Refreshments will be served.

For more information call the OLLI office at 415-458-3763, email OLLI@dominican.edu or visit Dominican.edu/academics/osher.