Fall 2025 Lectures

LOCATION

Fall lectures will be held in-person at OLLI: 4801 Massachusetts Ave. NW in Room A on the first floor. Lectures are on Fridays from 1:30-2:30 PM.

Registration

Registration is required to attend in-person lectures and will open at 10:00 AM on the Friday prior to each in-person lecture. Registration is via an event on the OLLI website events calendar. The direct registration link will be included in the Friday newsletter the week prior to each lecture. Lectures are free and open to the public, but you must have an OLLI account to register. If you do not have one, you can create an account when going to register. Each registrant may reserve up to two seats. Your name must be on the list of registrants to enter the lecture and you must be in your seat five minutes before the lecture starts to guarantee your seat.

Lectures

Edwaard Liang and Elvi Moore, The Washington Ballet: Past and Present
October 3
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Edwaard Liang is a Taiwanese-born American dancer and choreographer who grew up in Marin County, California. He began dancing at the age of five and joined the School of American Ballet in 1989. Liang danced with the New York City Ballet starting in 1993 and was promoted to soloist in 1998. He briefly left in 2001 to perform on Broadway in Fosse, then returned from 2004 to 2007, performing in works by choreographers Jorma Elo and Mauro Bigonzetti. Liang began choreographing in 2003, creating works such as “Flight of Angels” and “Distant Cries.” He became the artistic director of BalletMet in 2013 and of The Washington Ballet in 2023.

Elvi Moore is the former General Director of The Washington Ballet. She remained at the helm of The Washington Ballet for almost seventeen years. After retiring from the ballet, she founded The Laurel Fund which gave scholarships to young artists in dance, music and theater. Currently, she serves on the boards of Young Artists of America, and the Asian American Forum. She continues to support The Washington Ballet as a donor and subscriber.

Philip Shenon, The New Pope in a Historical Context
October 10
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI
More info coming soon.

David Boul, The Art of Jack Boul
October 17
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

An accomplished television producer and former print journalist, David Boul has won seven Emmy Awards over the course of his career. Today, he devotes his energy to honoring and preserving the legacy of his father, Jack Boul, a beloved longtime art professor at American University. Jack Boul’s work can be found in the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Katzen Art Center, and numerous private collections. His powerful Holocaust series, originally exhibited at the Corcoran Museum, is now housed in the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.

Josh Silver, The Community Reinvestment Act
October 24
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Josh Silver is a consultant and Senior Fellow at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), where he has worked for over 30 years to strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act, fair lending laws, and financial data transparency. He previously served as development manager at Manna, Inc., a nonprofit housing developer in Washington, DC, and as a research associate at the Urban Institute. Silver holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School at the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University.

Silver's book, Ending Redlining through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act will be available for purchase and signing immediately following the lecture.

Jonathan Moreno, Absolutely Essential: Bioethics and the Rules-Based International Order
October 31
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Jonathan D. Moreno is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, he has advised three US presidential commissions and numerous global organizations, including UNESCO and the US Department of Defense. He has received multiple honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and the Benjamin Rush Medal. Moreno is the author or co-author of several influential books, including Mind Wars, Undue Risk, and Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die. His upcoming book, Absolutely Essential, will be published by MIT Press in 2025. He has published widely in outlets such as The New York Times, Science, and Foreign Affairs. His work spans bioethics, health policy, and national security. He was also a member of President Barack Obama’s transition team and co-hosted the podcast Making the Call.

Moreno's book, Absolutely Essential: Bioethics and the Rules-Based International Order will be available for purchase and signing immediately following the lecture.

Christopher Tilghman, A Writer of Historical Fiction Contemplates the Burdens of History
November 7
1:30–2:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Christopher Tilghman is an award-winning novelist and short story writer, best known for his four-volume Mason’s Retreat series, including the final installment, On the Tobacco Coast, published in 2024. Set on a historic Maryland farm, the novels explore the intertwined histories of white and Black families across generations. In the context of current debates over American history, Tilghman uses fiction to confront inherited legacies and imagine paths toward understanding. His own family’s stories helped shape the narrative. A Guggenheim Fellow and Whiting Award recipient, Tilghman is Emeritus Professor and former Director of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia. He lives in Charlottesville and on the Eastern Shore with his wife, author Caroline Preston.

Tilghman's books, On the Tobacco Coast and Mason's Retreat will be available for purchase and signing immediately following the lecture.

Mary Noé, The Man Who Shot JP Morgan
November 14
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Mary Noé is a lawyer, author, and lecturer and holds the rank of Professor at St. John’s University. After graduating high school, she worked in a typing pool at the New York office of the FBI. Several secretarial jobs later and after obtaining her Class 2 license, she applied to Varsity Transit for the position of a bus driver for New York City Schools. The New York City Human Rights Division brought an action against Varsity since they would not hire females. She was the only female driver among the 700 male drivers working from Varsity’s Brooklyn location. She is a graduate of Brooklyn College and St. John’s University School of Law. She has served as an administrative law judge for the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct and an Impartial Hearing Officer under a federal law known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Noé's book, The Man Who Shot JP Morgan will be available for purchase and signing immediately following the lecture.

Ama Frimpong, CASA’s Fight to Protect and Defend our Immigrant Community
November 21
1:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Ama Frimpong is the Legal Director of CASA, where she oversees legal services in immigration, employment, and housing, while also contributing to policy advocacy and organizing efforts. CASA plays a leading role in defending immigrant communities, recently spearheading two high-profile legal challenges: the illegal detention and deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the birthright citizenship case before the Supreme Court. In addition to these national efforts, CASA provides daily support to its members, including assistance with citizenship applications and legal defense. The organization also educates immigrants about their constitutional rights and trains citizen volunteers to respond to immigration enforcement actions. With over 173,000 lifetime members, CASA combines human services, community organizing, and advocacy to empower immigrant communities. Founded 40 years ago in response to US intervention in Central America, CASA continues to fight for justice and dignity for immigrants across the United States.

Jeff Rosen, Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America
December 5
1:30–2:30 PM
In-Person at OLLI

Jeffrey Rosen is the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts, We the People, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Rosen’s new book, Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle over Power in America, is out in October 2025. His other books include New York Times bestsellers The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America and Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law, as well as biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Rosen's book, Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, will be available for purchase and signing immediately following the lecture.

 

OLLI does not endorse any of the viewpoints expressed by the speakers in its series.

We thank the Lecture Committee and all those who suggested and contacted speakers: Ellen Babby, Joe Belden (Chair), Tamara Belden, Helen Blank, Jim Blasiak, Edward Cohen, Lisa Harper, Dave Hensler, Jeanne Kent, Lynn Lewis, Paul Vamvas, and Marc Pearl.