Courses
To enroll in courses at Osher at 黑料正能量, you must be a member. We are currently accepting new members at this time. If you are not a member, check out our membership opportunities!
Catalogs
The current catalog is located in the gray box to the right, and on the homepage of our website under "Quick Links," and under the Publications tab. Click on the catalog cover on each page to open the catalog.
If you wish to make a copy, please know that when you do the whole catalog will print off unless you indicate which page range to print. If you are looking for something specifically within the Catalog PDF, use the CTRL F (or COMMAND F on a Mac) function to locate it in the catalog.
Open Course List
Once registration begins, the office will provide this updated list of courses that have seats available. Please check this list prior to registering as many courses fill quickly.
Click here to see the Open Course List!
More Below
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Summer 2026 Catalog
Click on the catalog cover to open the catalog:
Helpful Resources
Online Courses In Partnership with OLLI at American University
The following Summer 2026 courses are being offered by OLLI at American University:
6058: Unseen Wilderness: How and Where Does Airborne Life Move (AMU_Course)
Mon 9:45 AM - 11:15 AM; 4 sessions; starting 6/1/2026, ending 6/22/2026
On Zoom
We breathe without thinking even as we navigate tides and rivers of air without a notice. Our class examine what one breathes whether being outdoors, staying indoors, flying on an airplane – or fighting a wildfire. We start with a story to prompt questions about science as a way of knowing and about science within society. Next is a survey what is known about the atmospheric layers and their roles as conveyance – and as habitat for microbial life. Air particles arrive in each breathe drawn from global, regional, local and indoor sources. This learning about the atmosphere and its particle load is foundational to pandemics and contagion spread, air quality, national security, allergy season and indoor health. We discuss best practices for how to live better in our humid temperate climate and its seasonal changes. This course is taught from view of the atmosphere and its airborne particles, not medicine or human health. Class participation is essential. We educate one another. Each class ends with a question and optional readings for the next class.
Claire Williams is a research professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at American University. She has a doctorate in forestry with a minor in genetics from North Carolina State University in 1986 and in the 2021, she completed a MA degree in Global Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. While her career has been mostly academia, she has worked in federal government, Fortune 50 corporate research and consulting. As a tenured full professor at Texas A&M Faculty of Genetics, she has been a visiting professor at several other universities and served as a AAAS Fellow in Science Diplomacy and science advisor at US Department of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs as well as R&D project manager for Weyerhaeuser Company. In 2019, she was a Fulbright Scholar to Russia’s Sukachev Institute of Forest in Krasnoyarsk Siberia. Her ecology and evolution research contributions have been recognized with the John Simon Guggenheim award, the German Academic Service, Bullard Fellow at Harvard among others. Her current project is modern desert dust storm content in the Middle East; she has written over 100 papers and three books.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
What are SIGs?
Several members have formed informal groups focused on a particular interest. These groups are independent of regular Osher classes and are organized and run by the group’s members. They offer a chance to socialize and share common interests. Some SIGs meet regularly, others occasionally. SIGs are a benefit of membership.
Members may form such groups if they have a particular interest they think other members may want to share.
Lectures
From time to time, we offer lectures that are open to Osher members and to the community. Lectures are typically hour-long talks with a Q&A session following.
Lectures can be proposed by anyone, and are reviewed/approved by the Study Leader Support Group prior to being promoted to the public. To submit a proposal for a lecture, please fill in the application below:
Events
Propose an Event
Membership/Social committee members may submit an proposal for a pre-approved event or tour by clicking on the link below.
If you are not on the Membership/Social committe and would like to suggest a tour or an event, please contact Lyn Decker / Executive Director at ldecker@andrew.cmu.edu.