OLLI at Southern Miss
Due to the threat COVID-19 poses to our community, all spring 2020 OLLI classes, events, and field trips will be postponed to May. Our fingers are crossed in hopes that we can resume normal operations at that time. This is a rapidly evolving situation, however, and we appreciate your patience as we work to update this website with accurate course details.
Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) are active adults who share a love of learning. Members enjoy innovative and enriching programs in an inclusive environment with others who share their interests. Many members are retired, but it is not a requirement to join, nor do you need to be a graduate or otherwise affiliated with Southern Miss. Our members come from a wide range of backgrounds, vocations, and connections to local community.
There are only 124 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes in the US. In Mississippi, OLLI programming is available exclusively at Southern Miss, in Hattiesburg and Long Beach.
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Learning is for Life!
Spring 2020 Semester
Mid-December
Class schedule guides available
Tuesday, January 14 at 9:00 a.m.
Online and in-person registration begins
Wednesday, January 15 at 9:00 a.m.
Phone registration begins
A ten-week semester filled with opportunities for learning, creating, camaraderie
and fun!
Term I (Five Weeks)
Monday, February 10 - Friday, March 13
Spring Break
Monday, March 16 - Friday, March 20
Term II (Five Weeks)
Monday, March 23 - Friday, April 24
OLLI offers classes that meet the needs and schedules of active adults. We divide the Fall and Spring semesters into two five-week terms and offer a six-week term in the Summer, with no classes the week of July 4th. Fall terms begin in September and October. The Spring terms begin in February and March. The Summer term runs during June and July. During each term we offer three different formats of learning experiences: classes, seminars, and field trips. All Hattiesburg classes and seminars are held at the Peck House or Asbury Annex (unless otherwise indicated). Gulf Park classes are held in Lloyd Hall, unless otherwise indicated.
The Bernard Osher Foundation was founded by Bernard Osher in 1977. Through the foundation, his philanthropy has benefited a wide range of educational, cultural and other nonprofit organizations across the United States. Currently, the foundation provides support to four distinct programs:
- Osher Scholars and Fellows
- Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes
- Osher Integrative Medicine Program
- A Local Arts and Educational Program
In the 1990s, the foundation funded a series of Osher Scholar programs extending scholarship assistance for post-secondary education to nearly thirty colleges and universities as well as professional and technical schools in California and Maine. The Bernard Osher Foundation funded the first Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at The University of Southern Maine in 1997. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Network began in the fall of 2002, when the Foundation Board awarded initial grants to six campuses in the Southern California University system. The foundation began its partnership with The University of Southern Mississippi in 2008.
Bernard Osher is a successful businessman and community leader, a patron of the arts and education, whose philanthropy has affected countless organizations over the past quarter-century. His wife, the Honorable Barbro Osher, Consul General of Sweden in San Francisco, serves as chair of the foundation. To learn more about Bernard Osher, his philanthropic interests and investments, please visit the foundation's website: http://www.osherfoundation.org.