Get “schooled” in the land of Chan with this OLLI 5-week course at Univ. of Minnesota!

Where were you on the night of April 3rd, 2024 at 12:30PM? Well OK, that’s actually in the afternoon but I was trying to be melodramatic. However, if you were not at the University of Minnesota’s, St. Paul Campus, Magrath Library, Room 4, then you likely missed Len Freeman’s course, Charlie Chan and Friends.

Yes that’s correct, a five-part college-oriented class, centered on our favorite detective and some friends worthy of any Charlie Chan aficionado’s attention. Here’s a synopsis of the course, right out of Univ. of Minnesota’s, OLLI, Spring Handbook:

30998 Charlie Chan and Friends
Wednesdays, April 3-May 1 (5 sessions), 12:30-2:00 p.m., U of M, St. Paul Campus, Magrath Library, Room 4, (30998, Seats:27)

The 1930s-40s detective films of Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, Mr. Wong and other “friends of the East;” were some of the most successful film series of their period. The Chan series ran successfully for over twenty years against a background of American fascination, cultural appropriation, mixed feelings, and changing values with regard to the “inscrutable Orient.” The class will explore how popular media reflect the cultural constructs and tensions of their times through the lens of Charlie and his on-screen compatriots.

Len Freeman is a longtime film critic, poet, and cowboy B–movies/serials buff.

So what is this UMN,OLLI thingumajig, anyways:

Dynamic, engaged, and ever-growing, OLLI at the University of Minnesota is part of the University’s College of Continuing and Professional Studies and belongs to a national network of 125 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes established by the Bernard Osher Foundation.
OLLI’s mission is to provide its membership of dedicated lifelong learners with a year-round curriculum of high-quality noncredit courses, as well as intellectually stimulating social, cultural, and volunteer opportunities.

UMN, Website: OLLI Spring 2024 Course Guide for Web.

So this gentleman named Mr. Osher decided people over 50 might still want to learn a new thing or two. And 2001 he started a nationwide network for those who don’t watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune each night. Who eat chips and a bowl of Chili, then nod off to the depressing evening news (we slaved a lifetime for that honor, Mr. Osher!)

Still, it must have caught on. The 125 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLIs) span all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each is a part of a college or university and is funded in part by The Bernard Osher Foundation. More than 170,000 people nationwide are members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, through satellite and partner locations, offering courses and activities in 379 cities and towns throughout the U.S.

Here’s their official website, https://sps.northwestern.edu/oshernrc/. To find a location near you just click the link atop the site, “Find an Osher Institute Near You.” Pretty neat aye!

Now, I don’t know if any other OSSI Institutes offers anything even closely resembling Len Freeman’s unique course at the Univ of Minnesota. You’ll have to find one near you and check it out, but I imagine probably not.

I had the unique privilege to review Len’s program and syllabus for the 5-week class. I have to admit I learned some things myself. Len, certainly knows his Chan and then some! I’m not sure when his next Charlie Chan and Friends course will be, but keep your eyes peeled at the Univ. of Minnesota’s OSSI Website for future announcements. And to Len, in the words of our favorite detective we say “Thank you so much.”

P.S. Thingumajig IS a word.

“He who listens to the chatter outside the window, and neglects his books, is but a donkey in clothes”

Keeper of The Keys, 1932, Chap 11