Horizon Studies Offers New Venue for Lifelong Learning in Berkeley
East Bay knowledge seekers, take heart! A new lifelong learning program called Horizon Studies has opened in Berkeley.

Aimed at students age 50 and up - those who've entered what Horizon calls the "Third Stage" of life - the program offers a range of courses focused around history, spirituality, philosophy and psychology.

For the Winter quarter that began in January 2007, Horizon Studies offered two courses - "Eastern Spirituality and Western Living" and "Great Cities: Capitals of Western History." About 80 students, mostly East Bay residents, enrolled.

Horizon Studies' initial courses were taught by Bruce Elliott, a lecturer on European history at UC Berkeley and Stanford Continuing Studies, and Bill Garrett, a professor of philosophy and religion at John F. Kennedy University. Elliott has a particular interest in the interplay of history and artistic expression in early modern Europe, while Garrett has for the past 30 years taught courses on the history of ideas. Click here to read full article

"Back to School" Takes on a New Meaning
If you've recently noticed a slew of newspaper and magazine advertisements featuring gray-haired college students, there's a reason: universities across the Bay Area are busy recruiting students for new educational programs aimed at older adults.

Thanks to a series of grants from the San Francisco-based Bernard Osher Foundation, U.C. Berkeley, UCSF, San Francisco State and four other Bay Area universities have launched programs – each is called an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) – that are open only to students aged 50 and above.

These new programs – most opened their doors in 2003 – offer an eclectic mix of courses and are free of exams, homework and grades. They are also priced affordably and often tap senior or emeritus professors to teach courses. Click here to read full article