OLLI Café is a venue for the exchange of ideas and experiences focusing on improving the quality of life. These are not courses, and cost no additional charge – OLLI Cafe is one of the benefits of your annual membership. Pre-registration IS required. Cafe events feature a guest speaker followed by a short Q&A session.

 

OLLI Café Location and General Schedule:

Fridays – Multipurpose Rooms (113 – 119)

11:45 am – 12:00 pm: Arrive & Get Seated

12:00 pm – 1:15 pm: Speaker Presentation

 

Presentations:

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Event Description: Join us for storytelling with drumming vibes featuring Effie and Angaza Mwando. Angaza will share the history of the djembe drum with the spirit of drumming vibes. Effie will share a story about a person who is searching for happiness, only to discover it’s waiting to be birth into greatness. Each person has this greatness and must realize it’s your time now!

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Event Description: We’ll look at the psychology behind ID theft, fraud and scams through actual footage of scammers, insights, and advice. Walk away armed with tools to spot the criminals and stop them in their tracks.

 

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Event Description: Christopher Wigren of Preservation Connecticut will describe how Frederick Law Olmsted’s achieve-ments were shaped by his Connecticut upbringing, present some of the Olmsted firm’s landscape works in the state, and discuss how historic landscapes contribute to the quality of modern-day life.

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Event Description: This talk will focus on the history of bobcats in Connecticut, an overview of bobcat habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and current research efforts. Bobcat artifacts will be shared with the audience. Mountain lions are also discussed.

 

Event Details: Friday, October 11, 2024 from 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM

Event Description: NASA’s Europa Clipper is the latest mission to the Jovian system, joining the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer. They are the latest in a series of flybys and orbiters that have revealed much about the largest planet and its diverse collection of moons, despite the challenging and unforgiving environment of this miniature solar system. We’ll explore what we hope to learn from these missions.

 

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Event Description: This talk will give an overview of Riverside Cemetery, a 36-acre urban forest, arboretum and National Historic site, opened in 1853 as part of the Rural Cemetery Movement of the mid-19th century. The talk will center on the history of Riverside, as well as select stories of some of the people resting there and how the Friends of Riverside is working to preserve this important landmark.

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Event Description: In 1990, two pre-teen boys inadvertently discovered an unmarked 18th and 19th-century farming family graveyard in Griswold, CT, prompting the CT State Archaeologist to be called in. Research on one male’s grave suggests that the re-arrangement was part of a vampire folk belief and represents the only to-date archaeological evidence for vampirism in 19th-century New England.

 

Event Description: This talk will offer an examination of the refugee experience from Albania, delving into the challenges, triumphs, and resilience of those who have had to leave their homes behind. Through the lens of her family’s extraordinary journey, she aims to inspire and honor the courageous spirit of all individuals who have embarked on the challenging path of starting anew in a foreign land.

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Please Note: Due to OLLI at UConn’s end-of-semester celebration, there will be no OLLI Cafe on Friday, November 8th, 2024. Instead, please join us in celebrating the end of our fall semester! The link to register for this event will be posted closer to the event date.