In partnership with the Rio Verde Community Association (RVCA), Osher Life-Long Learning Institute (OLLI) at ASU is offering three classes available for Rio Verde residents in early 2024.

Rio Verde members will pay a discounted membership fee of $15 for the spring semester. To purchase the spring semester membership and to register for classes contact the RVCA office for a link to the website.

For access to the OLLI Spring Catalog to view other classes, locations and more available to all members of OLLI at ASU see the website: lifelonglearning.asu.edu/.

Classes scheduled for the spring semester include the following:

Cheers!: The Centennial of Prohibition – Feb. 21, and Feb. 28. No cost for this class.

The instructor is Terry McAteer and the class is presented with two Zoom sessions from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. There are 30 spaces available to view in the Rio Verde Community Center board room. The class is also available to view from home.

Adopted just over 100 years ago, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited the production, sale and transport of “intoxicating liquors.”

This course discusses the social pressure that created Prohibition, passage of the Volstead Act and the 12 years America lived without liquor. Understanding the tie between Women’s Suffrage and Prohibition is a significant aspect of this class.

Economics of Biodiversity: What will it take – one session Wednesday, March 6, 3:30 to 5 p.m. Cost is $14. At the Rio Verde Community Center Multi-Purpose Room with instructor Dr. David Pearson.

Discover the realm of biodiversity conservation in this class. Traditional pleas for conservation often fall on deaf ears. Can framing biodiversity in economic terms sway skeptics and decision-makers?

Pearson, retired ASU research professor, leads the discussion through research findings and potential solutions. Assigning a monetary value to biodiversity may transform perceptions and drive action toward preserving the planet.

Angels Amid the Enemy: The Untold Story of Medical Care of Vietnam’s Forgotten Civilian Victims – one session on Wednesday, April 3, 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Rio Verde Community Center Multi-purpose Room. Cost is $14. Instructor is Dr. Richard Carlson.

There were more than one million civilian casualties during the Vietnam war. Many were women and children. These are the war’s forgotten victims. Teams of doctors from the U.S. and other countries have worked in primitive hospitals to provide solace, reinforced by American volunteer physicians helping strangers in the distant land with no reward except humanity for their efforts.

“These ‘angels’ selflessly gave their skills – and often their blood to victims of war and disease,” Carlson said.