Omnilore (Learning in Retirement), by Linda Jenson

Linda Jenson is Membership Chair for Omnilore, a volunteer organization for study groups for seniors.  Linda is a retired Labor and Employment attorney.  She graduated from UCLA Law School and taught there for 2 years.  After retirement from a law firm, she has done volunteer work for foster children, Meals on Wheels, a community garden, and on the Board of Directors for 2 nonprofit organizations.

Omnilore started in the 1990s and now has 320 members, age 50+.  There are 3 trimesters per year, starting in September, January and May.  Classes meet for 2 hours twice a month for 4 months, in the morning and afternoon of workdays.  Each student in a class prepares and gives a 20-40 minute presentation on the subject related to that course, followed by class discussion.  The group meets informally around a table, with no instructor, but one of the group acts as a coordinator.  Subject areas for classes can be proposed by students, in areas such as the arts, government/geopolitics, history, literature, philosophy/religion, science/technology, and social sciences.  About 20 topics are selected by a committee.  At least 8 members must choose the same subject in order to form a group for that topic.

There is also a Lecture Series twice a month during the Fall and Spring Trimesters, held at the CSU Dominguez Hills campus by its professors on a given topic.  Omnilore also has Forum Luncheons, field trips associated with a discussion group, hiking, and certain special interest groups such as computers, as well as a newsletter.

Omnilore is run by volunteers and costs $120 per year.  It is governed by officers elected by the members and has no paid staff, but is part of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in the College of Extended and International Education at CSU Dominguez Hills.  Prospective members attend a 90-minute orientation meeting.  Groups meet at the Franklin Center at 850 Inglewood Ave in Redondo Beach (3 blocks north of 190th St).  New members are advised not to start with more than one course per trimester, to see the amount of time required.

Linda Jenson discussed some representative topics from the recent list of classes.  One of them was “Greatest Movies” (by various criteria).  Another topic was “Book Discussions”, and another was “Why Nations Fail”.  Current list of classes and other information is available at (310) 370-9522 or www.omnilore.org.