OLLI Mason lectures

View recordings of previous OLLI Mason lectures below.

2022 Lectures

Broadway Returns!


Theater enthusiast Brian Stoll will discuss all things Broadway beginning with an update on the current state of Broadway since COVID. He will also share the history and importance of the Broadway Playbill as well as why they are a treasured keepsake. Lastly, he will share his money-saving tips on how to see Broadway shows for under $50.

Brian Stoll is a theater and entertainment enthusiast from Long Island, NY. He graduated from Binghamton University with his bachelor’s degree in Human Development. Since graduating, Brian has attended over 200 Broadway performances! He created Stoll The Show, a Facebook Group, to encourage patrons to support the arts.

The Many Hats of a Historic Preservationist: Life in Planning and Zoning
Wednesday, March 30

In this lecture, professional archaeologist Christopher Sperling will share his adventures and experiences in planning and zoning as a Historic Preservationist. From his time in historic tobacco barns to using technology to rediscover lost pasts to fighting tides in a kayak while mapping a vernacular boat, Sperling has seen a lot and has some fascinating stories to share.  

Christopher Sperling is a Historic Preservation Planner for Calvert County, Maryland, and an adjunct instructor at Stevenson University.

How Does the U.S. Rank Globally? A Top 10 Summary - 2022!
Wednesday, April 20

In this lecture, we’ll take a comparison view of the U.S. rankings in over 25 key, global categories for 2022. We will look at economic factors like incomes, deductions, and taxes; the environment and pollution; energy sources; healthcare costs and outcomes; marriage, divorce and birth rates; education levels and achievement; life expectancy and paid vacations; population trends; an index on religiosity and atheism; a national prosperity index; murder and crime rates; a change readiness index; happiest and most competitive countries; "best" countries ranked; "where" to be born - 2022; and more. All charts and links to data sources will be provided to participants in advance. This is year #4 for the compilation of rankings and is the most comprehensive yet!

Douglas Stowell is a national OLLI instructor from Furman University in Greenville, SC. He has a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.B.A. in Marketing. His career focus includes market research, public opinion, and political polling. Douglas held executive positions with three US and one UK major research firms and opened his own firm in 2008.

The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
Friday, April 22, 2022


Frederick Douglass is generally considered to be the greatest African American of the 19th century. He was born into rural slavery and treated brutally. As a result of a serious of fortuitous events and his own determination, he was able to escape from his enslaved status and become literate; he was a significant leader of the abolition movement. He became an eloquent speaker and writer on the evils of slavery, attracting large audiences in the United States and Europe. He was the spokesman for African Americans with Presidents Lincoln and Johnson. After the Civil War, he served as a government official, and supporter of the Republican Party.

David Heymsfeld, an OLLI member, has taught courses on American History. He served more than 30 years as a member of the Congressional professional staff and as a volunteer guide at the Newseum.



Do Algorithms Run the World?
Friday, February 18, 2022

All around us, we are surrounded by technology. We use digital devices and services for work and pleasure and to connect and keep in touch with others. These devices and services run with the help of software that consists of algorithms that determine the actions that are taken by technology and often by us. Increasingly, these algorithms have become so sophisticated that we commonly used the word “intelligence” to refer to their ability to take actions and make decisions.

Aditya Johri, Ph.D. teaches at George Mason University and is a professor of Information Sciences and Technology.

Beethoven’s Life and Music: An Overview of Beethoven’s Life and his Connections with Mozart and Haydn, from a Violinist’s Perspective
Wednesday, February 16, 2022

An overview of Beethoven’s life in Bonn and Vienna, and his connections with the other major figures of his era.

Fritz Gearhart has over 30 years of teaching experience in classical music as a classical violinist. He directed a study abroad program in Vienna for college students in 2015, and is currently Full Professor at the University of Oregon.

We Need to Talk About Friendships: The Social Construction of our Friendships
Monday, February 7, 2022

This lecture focused on the continual lack of mainstream conversations about healthy friendships and their importance in our lives, regardless of professional status or space.

David Corwin holds a B.A. in English and Humanities from Milligan College and an MAIS in Women and Gender Studies and an MA in English literature, both from Mason.

Morality and Human-Robot Interaction: Can Robots Make People Better Humans?
Thursday, February 3, 2022

Could robots assist people to avoid making morally wrong choices or even offer them guidelines on how to become a moral person? In this lecture, Boyoung Kim reviews studies that have attempted to address this question and discuss the future direction of building robots that can make people better humans.

Boyoung Kim is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Brown University. Her research focuses on social norms, morality, and human-robot interaction.

Inexplicable India
Wednesday, January 26, 2022

To historian and journalist David Mould, India is a sub-continent so diverse that it defies description—simply inexplicable. In his book Monsoon Postcards: Indian Ocean Journeys, David sees India as an epic of epics, spanning thousands of years—of war and conquest, of the rise and fall of great civilizations, of architecture, literature, and art, migration and settlement, of commerce with Asia, Europe and Africa. Some travelers, faced with crowds, poverty, pollution, traffic congestion, crime and heat, find India too much to bear. But those prepared to take India for what it is—often messy and disorganized, occasionally dangerous, and always unpredictable—can be well rewarded and relish its smells, sounds, sights, culture and people.

David Mould, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. Born in the UK, he worked as a newspaper and TV journalist before moving to the US in 1978. David has traveled extensively in Asia and southern Africa, and his travel essays and articles have been published in Newsweek, the Christian Science Monitor, as well as other print and online outlets. David’s books include Postcards from the Borderlands (2020), Monsoon Postcards: Indian Ocean Journeys (2019) and Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia (2016).

2021 Lectures

NASA’s Moon To Mars Program of Planetary Exploration: Science Update
Wednesday, April 21, 2021

NASA’s Artemis program will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024, and many activities are going full speed to accomplish that goal. In addition, the Mars program of robotic exploration continues with the scheduled landing of the Perseverance rover—carrying the Ingenuity helicopter—at Jezero Crater in February 2021. The latest science news from these and other ongoing NASA efforts was presented in this lecture.

NASA Deputy Chief Scientist David Draper is an earth and planetary scientist with 28 years of professional experience in studying the earth, moon, planets, and solar system.

The Art of Piano Performance during Covid
Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Outstanding piano artists from around the world -- masters and doctoral candidates at George Mason University -- performed exciting masterworks of the Classical Piano Repertoire. 

Dr. Linda Apple Monson, International Steinway Artist, serves as director of the Dewberry School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University where she is a university distinguished service professor.

Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home
Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Philadelphia, 1825: five young, free Black boys fall into the clutches of the most fearsome gang of kidnappers and slavers in the United States. Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, they are instead met with blindfolds, ropes, and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive them overland into the Cotton Kingdom to be sold as slaves. Determined to resist, the boys form a tight brotherhood as they struggle to free themselves and find their way home. Their ordeal—an odyssey that takes them from the Philadelphia waterfront to the marshes of Mississippi and then onward still—shines a glaring spotlight on the Reverse Underground Railroad, a black market network of human traffickers and slave traders who stole away from their families thousands of legally free African Americans in order to fuel slavery’s rapid expansion in the decades before the Civil War.

Dr. Richard Bell is a professor of history at the University of Maryland and author of the new book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home.

Pandemics Past, Present and Future—Can We Achieve Global Health Security?
Monday, May 3, 2021

This lecture reviewed the lessons learned from past pandemics and highlighted what more needs to be done on a global basis to ensure the world is better prepared for future international public health emergencies.

Ambassador John Lange had a distinguished 28-year career in the Foreign Service at the US Department of State, where he was a pioneer in the field of global health diplomacy and a leader in pandemic preparedness and response.

He Died as He Lived: The Death of George Washington
Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Always aware that he was “on stage,” George Washington did not only want to live with honor but he desired to die with honor as well. The manner in which he faced his final debt to nature tells us much about the man as we focus on his inspirational best way to live—and die.

Dr. Peter Henriques received his PhD in history from the University of Virginia and is professor of history emeritus at George Mason University.

Current State of U.S.-Mexico Relations
Thursday, June 24, 2021

Dr. Correa-Cabrera talks about the main challenges that are present in the United States-Mexico relationship today, focusing on the topics of immigration, border security, trade and anti-narcotics cooperation in particular.

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera is Associate Professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

The American Revolution: More to the Story Than You Learned in School
Tuesday, July 6, 2021

This presentation examined multiple topics and personalities such as the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's ride, Benedict Arnold and the Battle of Valcour Island, providing the story behind the story, placing them in context, and correcting misconceptions, which will enhance and perhaps even change one's understanding of what occurred.

Blane Ampthor is a federal government employee with more than 35 years of service. A Philadelphia native, he has had a lifelong interest in history - particularly World War II, ocean liners and the American Revolution.

Political Religion: the First 100 Years
Wednesday, July 7, 2021

This lecture surveyed Voegelin's idea with its original references to fascism, Nazism, and Bolshevism, but also with updates and additions concerning Antifa, MAGA, European populism, and other contemporary political ideologies in the West that have successfully appropriated religious sensibilities for their partisan purposes.

Mark R. Royce is Assistant Professor of political science at Northern Virginia Community College and author of The Political Theology of European Integration: Comparing the Influence of Religious Histories on European Policies

The Mayflower: The Story of an American Icon
Tuesday, July 20, 2021

The Mayflower is a beloved icon of American history, but we know surprisingly little about the ship itself. This lecture examined the Mayflower’s place in the development of sailing ships and the historical sources about her and her famous voyage. 

Peter Ansoff is an OLLI member who recently retired from a career as a support contractor for the US Navy, specializing in ship acquisition logistics.

Media, Politics and Democracy -- From the US Colonial Days, to the 2020 Elections and the January 6, 2021 Insurrection
Wednesday, July 28, 2021

This lecture explored the expanding contemporary context of free speech beyond newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, into the realm of social media, websites and digital platforms.

Kathleen Burns has been an OLLI lecturer and contributor since 2009.

The Voice of America: Countering Disinformation Since 1942
Friday, Oct. 29, 2021

Voice of America, headquartered in Washington, has evolved from a shortwave radio broadcaster that began with World War Two German and Japanese language transmissions into a multimedia entity with 47 language service. Its White House bureau chief, Steve Herman, guides us through the decades and explain how the U.S. government operation effectively counters hostile propaganda and tries to fill the information gap in strategic regions of the world which are underserved or where governments prevent objective reporting.

Steve Herman is a veteran news correspondent for the Voice of America (VOA), having reported from dozens of countries. He served as a VOA bureau chief at the State Department and the White House. He frequently appears on radio and TV news channels around the world to discuss US political affairs.

Motion Picture Movie Scores
Monday, Nov. 15, 2021

Violinist Ben Powell discusses his career as a professional recording musician in the studios of Hollywood. Ben explains the transformation of film music from the orchestral days of Bernard Herrman to today’s incorporation of technology and home studio recording. Learn how a movie score is conceived, scored & recorded through the varied methods of approach now available to the modern-day film composer.

Ben Powell is one of the most versatile young violinists of his generation. His career spans genres of music from classical and jazz to film music. He has performed on over 200 major motion picture sound tracks such as The Lion King (2019), Dunkirk (2017), The Pirates of the Caribbean (2018) and Hillbilly Elegy (2020). Please visit www.ben-powell.com for more information.

Berlin 1989: The Year the Wall Came Down
Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021

This illustrated lecture examines the Cold War phenomenon of the Berlin Wall, its building and subsequent dismantling.

Vera Wentworth, an OLLI member, holds a PhD in English and taught literature on the college level for 30 years, mainly at the University of Maryland and Prince George’s Community College. A native Berliner, she witnessed the building and dismantling of the Wall.

The Power of Hope
Monday, Nov. 29, 2021

As we prepare for all of our Holidays this time of year, Rabbi Aft discusses the power of a little light to spark hope.

Rabbi Bruce Aft, currently Rabbi Emeritus, served as the spiritual leader at Congregation Adat Reyim in Springfield, Virginia, for 29 years.