Fall 2019 OLLI Catalog (Interactive)

PEER-LED CLASSES (Omnilore)
Common Reading:
The Disordered Mind—What
Unusual Brains Tell Us About
Ourselves, by Eric R. Kandel
(2000 Nobel Prize in Medicine
for Physiology) (August 2018)
(MND) The Disordered Mind
Our culture’s conception of the varieties of mental illness was
formed over a century ago with delineation of the major categories
physicians now use to diagnose psychiatric diseases. Our author,
Kandel, holds that mental illnesses are simply brain disorders,” and
is particularly focused on the importance of genetics. Neurobiology
may indeed be well poised to promote this kind of synthesis. Kandel
illuminates the link between mental illness and artistic creativity, and
tries to reconcile Kraepelin-style biologism with more humanistically
oriented psychotherapy, correctly assailing the false dichotomy
between these two approaches. There are many indications that
the brain’s interactions with the rest of the body, both during
development and later in life, can have a major impact on health.
There is a need to consider our brains in the social, environmental
and bodily contexts in which they operate — contexts that help
make us who we are, in both sickness and health. This S/DG will
explore modern models of mental disorders.
Common Reading:
Reconstruction: A Concise History,
by Allen C. Guelzo (May 2018)
(REC) Reconstruction—The Worst Phase
of American History
At the end of the Civil War, the United States began the effort of
putting the country back together again. This meant restoring
commerce, governmental processes, and dealing with the multitude
of freed, black slaves. This whole process was very badly handled
and resulted in even greater division in the country than there
had been before the war. For example, the border states of West
Virginia (broken off from Virginia during the war), Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Missouri shifted their sympathies from the North,
to the South. These Appalachian people had largely hated the
wealthy Southern land and slave holders, but found the selfrighteous
Northern “reformers” even more offensive. This S/DG
will review the history of this period and what its impacts are on
us today. We will consider how we might correct the various social
and political structures that resulted from Reconstruction.
38 OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE @ CSU DOMINGUEZ HILLS