Do you have an area of expertise you are passionate about? Become an OLLI instructor and share your time and talents teaching other lifelong learners.
OLLI welcomes anyone who is interested to be an instructor — from those who have taught in university or school settings to those with no formal teaching experience who simply have a desire to share their passion for a particular art, hobby, topic, or interest.
Many instructors have shared that teaching for OLLI has been some of the most rewarding teaching experiences of their lives. OLLI learners are intelligent, vibrant, and engaged. They bring to the classroom a wisdom, maturity, and depth of experience that is difficult to find in younger learners. Many instructors also cherish the opportunity to teach without worrying about grades, homework, and tests.
OLLI instructors are volunteers, however, they receive a complimentary OLLI membership as a thank you ($65 value). We appreciate the generosity of instructors in sharing their time and talent with us and neither OLLI nor Penn State will assume ownership of their content or course materials.
Propose a Course
An OLLI course is a noncredit course or educational program/presentation. Courses are designed to encourage intellectual development, cultural stimulation, and social interaction. A course is typically 90 to 120 minutes, may be offered as a single session or multiple sessions (meet 2–4 times for more in-depth conversation), and can be offered in person or online. OLLI courses are structured as lectures, discussions, tours, hands-on/demonstrations (crafts, cooking), or active or wellness activities (yoga, pickleball).
Have an idea for a course you’d like to teach? Refer to the proposal deadlines and instructions on how to propose a course, and then submit a course proposal form. The program specialist will contact you to confirm and schedule your course for the requested semester.
| Semester | Proposal Submission Deadline | Instructors Contacted to Confirm Course and Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 February 16–May 15 |
October 10, 2025 | October 13–November 3, 2025 |
| Summer 2026 June 15–July 31 |
February 20, 2026 | February–April 2026 |
| Fall 2026 August 31–December 4 |
April 22, 2026 | April–May 2026 |
The online course proposal form provides the OLLI committee and staff the information to plan and schedule your course. We recommend that you have this information on hand prior to filling out the proposal form:
- Your personal information, including brief biography. Refer to examples below.
- Preferred teaching format (in-person, online, or hybrid) and technology needs.
- Course information, including title, description, additional details and supplies (if needed), semester choice, number of sessions, length
- Preferred teaching schedule – day of the week, time of day, etc.
- Any special venue locations (other than Penn State Outreach Building) or equipment needs.
Note: OLLI at Penn State reserves the right to edit or reduce course descriptions, titles, and/or bios as required to meet catalog standards and requirements.
These examples provide OLLI instructors with a reference for crafting engaging course descriptions and narrative biographies for new course proposals.
Course Title: An eye-catching title is descriptive and concise.
Course Description: Write a paragraph (three to five sentences) explaining how participants will engage in the class. This course description should be informative, enticing, and brief. Please use complete sentences.
Short Instructor Biographies: Write a three- to five-sentence narrative biography, in third-person point of view, that includes your work/background experience, relevant education (formal or informal), and your interest or expertise in teaching this topic. This information should be pertinent to the course described.
Example 1
Course Title: How To Be a Cold War Spy
Course Description: Have you ever imagined living a life of mystery and intrigue as a spy? The year is 1985. Ronald Reagan is president. The U.S. military and scientific communities are two years into SDI development, and the Soviets are worried they are falling behind. To catch up, they have established a network of “illegals,” sleeper agents living under non-official cover, whose purpose is to spy on SDI efforts, collect intelligence, recruit fellow spies, and in some cases, conduct influence operations to manipulate U.S. policy. If you were a spy (for either side), how would you define your persona?
Instructor Biography: Colonel Jake Graham retired in July 2007 and joined the teaching and research faculty at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. He teaches intelligence analysis and modeling. He founded the Red Cell Analytics Lab, a student-focused lab that promotes instruction and practice of structured analytics to solve real-world problems of security and risk. His favorite class is Deception and Counter-deception for National Security. Jake is the author of more than 30 academic papers. He recently published his first novel, Scimitar Strike, the first in a five-book series. Book two is due out in September 2024.
Example 2
Course Title: Breadmaking 101 for the Novice
Course Description: Come and learn and maybe get a little messy! Making bread seems challenging to some. Anyone can make a good loaf to enjoy or share. Learn about the history of bread, the tools and techniques, the science and art, and take home the fruits of your labor.
Instructor Biographies: John Rossi is a retired pharmacist. He is a self-taught bread-maker. John enjoys making standard, savory, and sweet breads using commercial yeasts as well as a wild yeast starter that was born in 2007. His hobby began when trying to re-create traditional holiday breads from his childhood, including a family-favorite sweet Paska (Easter) bread. John likes to experiment with flours, formulas, and techniques to discover new flavors and textures. His latest endeavor is to master baking breads in a wood-fired oven. John would like to share the techniques that have worked well during his journey. Carla Rossi will be acting as the kitchen assistant and clean-up crew. She enjoys the fruits of the bread-making labor, having married into that benefit, and never felt the need to acquire the skill!
Example 3
Course Title: What’s Woke Got to Do with It?
Course Description: Recent news coverage in the U.S. refers to “culture wars” with repeated references to the concept of “woke,” often in the contexts of political ideology and/or educational content. An assumption that runs through this reporting suggests that there is an obvious, shared definition of what “woke” exactly is. The focus of this course will be on defining “wokeness” by examining the historical roots of the term, looking at various stated or implied definitions of its meaning, and exploring how it is used to impact open dialogue about political, cultural, social, and personal viewpoints.
Instructor Biography: John Zipp received his Ph.D. in sociology (Duke, 1978) and spent 42 years as a university faculty member and administrator. His research, focused on political sociology and social inequality, has appeared in national and international journals, and has resulted in invited addresses, including at Northwestern University, Oberlin College, the European Union, the Johnson Foundation, and The Brookings Institution. Finally, his work has been cited in major media outlets, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he has appeared as a guest expert at ESPN.
Harrisburg Course Proposal Form
Complete this form to propose your course.
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