Course Listing - by Instructor
| Name | Biography |
|---|---|
| Alfredo Arroyo | Alfredo Arroyo is a graduate of The Citadel and of the DEA/FBI Academy and other police, military, and intelligence schools. His career includes numerous domestic and foreign assignments with INTERPOL and in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. |
| Steve Barowsky | Steve Barowsky is a teacher in T'ai Chi and related Taoist mind-body arts. He has pursued this path both traditionally and innovatively for almost thirty years, and has developed a philosophical understanding of the skills involved in both the practice and teaching of these arts. He has attended workshops and classes with many notable masters and teachers, and trained extensively in private lessons with Master Kuo Chun Mao in Chen-style t'ai chi solo form, two-person practices, chi gung, and meditation. |
| Jacqueline Cordova | Jacqueline Cordova is a certified health nutrition coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York, and the Living Foods Institute in Georgia. She has three years' experience coaching clients individually, as well as seven years' experience teaching workshops and classes. Cordova majored in Computer Information Systems from the Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara, Jalisco in 1994, and owns Green Ingredient Express, a health-conscious restaurant located in west El Paso. She has been a guest speaker for various local events including the Wise Latinas Summit, El Paso Museum of History: Healthy Thanksgiving Workshop, Rio Grande Cancer Foundation: Keep on Dancing, Femfessionals El Paso, El Paso Community Foundation: Cultivate Forum, and the Autism Society of El Paso. She has also participated in nutrition and food preparation workshops at EPCC and the Downtown Artist and Farmers Market. |
| Lauren Dacruz | Husband and wife, Dominique and Lauren, founded Dezilu Wine Company in 2018, an online interactive wine retail program. Before Dezilu, Dominique was wine director at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, CA, for over twenty years; Lauren was a pastry chef, recipe author, and hotel manager. Together, they formed a French culture class in Monterrey, CA. Dominique began with formal oenology schooling in France, With over thirty years of experience in wine, he has received the Grand Award from the Wine Spectator Magazine. twice. He has also received a James Beard nomination for his wine programs. |
| Everett Dague | Everett Dague received his bachelor's and master's degrees in History from the University of South Carolina and his Ph.D. at Florida State University. He has taught at Benedictine College in Kansas and Southern New Hampshire University. He is also the Command Historian for the U.S. Army's Sergeants Major Academy and NCO Leadership Center of Excellence. |
| Nicholas Dahle | Nicholas Dahle is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso. He earned his bachelor's degree in art history with a minor in history. He has taught nine previous courses at OLLI: The Art of China; The Art of Versailles One and Two; The Art of Gardens; The English Country House; The Art of Japan; and the Art of Polynesia; The Art of Buddism; and The Art of Islam. |
| Catherine Dickason | Catherine Dickason has a B.S. in Education/Health/Physical Education and a Master of Education/Reading from UTEP. She has taught in El Paso public schools for 35 years and currently teaches English part-time at UTEP and EPCC. Dickason is an avid history and literature buff who is involved in Community Theater as a musician and an actor. |
| Fred Eiland | Fred Eiland is a real estate broker by trade who has always had a love affair with photography. He has led the Photography Club of El Paso for the past two and a half years, and has exhibited his photographs here in El Paso, TX, England, and North Wales. His photos will be displayed at the International Museum of Art for this year's "Eye of the Camera" Exhibit. Fred is also a long-time OLLI member and recently exhibited his photos in the OLLI Vision Exhibit at the Student Union Gallery. |
| GUEST SPEAKERS | |
| Monica Gomez | Long-time El Pasoan Monica Gomez has made her living in the arts and broadcasting. As a performing songwriter, she traveled extensively and released three CDs of original songs. Her writing has been published in numerous anthologies, including Red Boots & Attitude: The Spirit of Texas Women Writers. The El Paso Writers League twice awarded Gomez the "Best of Best" poetry award and her work was featured on NPR's Themes and Variations. Published in 2012 and now available in English and Spanish, Gomez's creative writing workbook, EXPRESSERCIZE: Write Answers, contains more than 100 exercises in expression and self-discovery distilled from decades of personal experience. She was inducted to the El Paso Commission for Women's Hall of Fame for her work as a news reporter for KVIA, Channel 7. As host of State of the Arts, a weekly radio program on NPR affiliate, KTEP 88.5, for several years, she interviewed a spectrum of local and visiting artists about their lives and work. As a motivational speaker and teacher of creative writing and martial arts, Gomez has worked with diverse populations, from youth to the elderly and incarcerated juveniles to military veterans. She has studied the internal martial art of t'ai chi with masters from around the globe, including Chinese Grand Master Zhu Tiancai, one of the four Tigers of Chen Village. Monica's workshops invigorate, entertain and inspire participants to practice the literal creative power of writing to make positive changes in their lives. |
| Armando Gonzalez | Dr. Armando Gonzalez-Stuart is a researcher in Herbal Safety with UTEP's School of Pharmacy and also teaches herbal medicine at EPCC. Gonzalez has two doctoral degrees, one in Interdisciplinary Health Science and another in Alternative Medicines. His main interests include phytotherapy, Ayurveda, and Chinese herbal medicine. |
| John Groves | John Groves has been a life-long naturalist with a particular interest in birds. An El Paso resident for many years, he knows the avifauna of the area and where to look for birds. He has traveled extensively in pursuit of birds and, occasionally, gets good photographs. When not birding, he plays in the El Paso and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras. |
| Nancy Johnson | As the owner of Empowerment Health and Wellness, Nancy Johnson has over 25 years of experience and knowledge, providing training and developing programs for individual clients, businesses and corporations to improve overall health and wellness. |
| Terrence Johnson | Terrence Johnson is a former UTEP football player; he is also a personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, weight-loss management specialist, and health and wellness coach who is certified in all these individual areas. Johnson has taught PE, and has been an Athletic Director for over 12 years. Johnson created Empowerment Health & Wellness in 2004 with his wife to develop sports and wellness camps. Their incentive-based educational programs and health programs are available at local schools and nonprofit organizations. Empowerment Health and Wellness has worked with The University of Texas at El Paso; Family Services of El Paso; NFL player Ray Mickens; New Orleans Saints coach Brian Young; and Seattle Seahawks starting center, Justin Britt. |
| Lin Keeling | Lin Bentley Keeling is a nationally recognized fiber artist who creates abstract fiber artwork in two and three dimensions. Her designs are influenced by jazz, ambient and classical music, as well as forms and colors found in the natural world. Keeling grew up in Arizona where she studied music and became interested in Native American weaving and basketry. She earned a B.A. at UTEP and an M.A. at NMSU, both in Anthropology. Visit www.linbentleykeeling.com to view her work. |
| Kathleen Key | Kathleen Key graduated from UTEP with an English Literature and History degree. She has a master's degree in Art History from University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Key has taught art history and history of fashion since 1986. She and her husband, Bill, lived in Cairo, Egypt for 20 years before moving to the Mesilla, New Mexico area. She has taught the Entering Student Program at UTEP for five years and has been an OLLI instructor for two years. |
| John Kuberka | With over 20 years of teaching experience, John Kuberka has taught yoga to people of all age groups and physical abilities. This includes nine years serving as a movement therapist for the Warrior Resilience Center, a clinic on Ft. Bliss that focuses on treating active duty soldiers with PTSD, TBI, and various physical limitations. |
| Jean-Claude Linossi | Jean-Claude Linossi, a native of Strasbourg, Alsace, France, has lived in the United States since 1973. He lived in Asheville, North Carolina before moving to El Paso, Texas, in 2010 as a retiree. He has been an active volunteer in El Paso by teaching conversational French at the Judge Marquez Library, teaching French to children at the EPCC NW Campus, assisting at the Chihuahuan Desert Garden, and serving as president of the El Paso Cactus and Rock Club. |
| Marie Livingston | Marie received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from UTEP, is a former docent at the El Paso Museum of Art, and instructor of Art History with OLLI. She the past chair and current voluteer for OLLI, has been a long-time resident of El Paso, and an avid art lover. |
| Alex Mayer | Dr. Alex Mayer is a Professor of Civil Engineering and Executive Director of the Center for Envitonmental Resource Manangement at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Mayer's teaching and research focuses on finding solutions to water resource problems through the modeling of watersheds and groundwater aquifers, and decision-making by institutions and individuals, He has 40 years of experience, including more than 100 publications and $20 million in research funding. |
| Ruby Montana | Ruby A. Montana is currently a lecturer in the Department of Humanities at The University of Texas at El Paso; her work focuses on modern cultural revolutions and the impact of technological advancements on Western cultural issues. She was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and received her B.A. in English and American Literature as well as her M.A. in Philosophy from UTEP. Her areas of interest and research include Embodied Cognition and Aesthetics. Montana is also an instructor of Philosophy and Ethics at El Paso Community College. |
| Gabriela Montelongo | Gabriela Montelongo is a poet, MFA candidate, and Redivider reader at Emerson College. She has a B.A. from UTEP in Theatre Arts/Creative Writing. Recently, she created and taught a course in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry at EmersonWRITES, a Boston-based creative writing lab catering to the Greater Boston public school district and charter schools. |
| James Mortimore | James Mortimore is a graduate of The University of Texas at El Paso with an honors degree in British and American Literature. He is a teacher, writer, and lecturer known to many in the OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) community where he has lectured on cultural, political, and literary topics. |
| Sylvia Portillo | Sylvia Portillo was born in Argentina of Italian immigrants and learned the Italian language at an early age. She continued her education in languages in Argentina, Brazil, and Italy. She worked as a translator and interpreter for the USAF in Italy, Germany, and in the U.S. |
| Phyllis Price | Phyllis Price has been a certified ashtanga yoga teacher since 1981. She has studied and taught various styles of yoga including vigorous ashtanga, vinyasa, chair, pregnancy, and cancer-survivor practices. She offers her classes at The University of Texas at El Paso, New Mexico State University, various El Paso clubs and studios, and also offers private classes. She is a registered E-RYT 200 (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance) and LifeForce Yoga for Depression and Anxiety (LFYT) teacher, and has been an OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) instructor since 2010. |
| Lynn Provenzano | Lynn Provenzano has facilitated personal and professional develpment for more than 25 years in corporate, community, and no-profit groups. She has worldwide cross-cultural experience, and specializes in interpersonal skills, creative energy work, meditation, and motivation. Provenzano is a MCKS Panic Healing practitioner/facilitator and devotee of T'ai Chi and qigong. She is co-founder of the nonprofit Lotus Integrated Group for Health and Transformation (L.I.G.H.T.) and presides over the nonprofit El Paso Society for Musicians of the Future. |
| Nicole Read | Nicole Read has been constructing and designing costumes for two decades. She has been managing the UTEP costume shop since 2013. She has earned her B.A. in Theatre Arts/English and a M.A. in Literature. She has taught in numerous subject areas over her career, including costuming, English literature/rhetoric, and tutoring for students of all ages, |
| Sergio Rodriguez-Golden Age Program | Golden Age instructors are expert physical fitness trainers who have graduated with degrees in exercise science. All have extensive backgrounds in training multiple adults ages 50 and over. All are currently employed in UTEP's Golden Age Physical Fitness Program. |
| Natalia Savchenko |
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| Steve Schiller | Steve Schiller is currently the second trumpet of the Las Cruces Symphony. He is a former member of the Cleveland Symphony, National Ballet of Canada, the Springfield Massachusetts Symphony, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He has performed with the Boston Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, and in New York City Broadway musicals. Schiller is also a former faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Westfield (MA) State College. |
| Spaceport America Team | Spaceport Team: Alice Carruth, Chris Lopez, Dr. Bill Gutman. Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. The FAA-licensed launch complex, situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile range in southern New Mexico, has a rocket friendly environment of 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace, low population density, a 12,000-foot by 200-foot runway, vertical launch complexes, and 340 days of sunshine and low humidity. |
| Greg Thompson | Greg Thompson is an award-winning film and theatre artist. He has been a member of Actor's Equity Association, Screen Actor's Guild and the Society of Directors & Choreographers. Thompson is a lecturer in UTEP's Department of Theatre & Dance and owner of ACTORSPACE in downtown El Paso. |
| Viridiana Vidana | Viridiana Vidana better known as V, is 31 years old and teaching is her life. She received a bachelor's degree in Spanish with a minor in Secondary Education for Modern Language majors and a master's in Latin American Literature, both from The University of Texas at El Paso. She is certified by the Texas State Board of Education as a Spanish EC-12 educator and has over seven years of teaching experience. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in teaching, learning, and culture under the strand of literacy and biliteracy. Vidana loves reading, watching lucha libre, playing the guitar and cooking five-minute rice in two minutes. |
| Leanne Von Mittenwald | Leanne Von Mittenwald has over 30 years of experience teaching theatrical arts and education. Her approachable and encouraging attitude compels her students to let go and explore their inner child. She is a published playwright who has directed over 30 plays, and has a true passion for teaching and learning. |
| Ian Wilson | Ian Wilson lived in Brazil for almost 14 years. He grew up in Rio de Janeiro listening to all forms of Brazilian music first hand. As an adult, he returned to Brazil with the Peace Corps where he gained an even greater appreciation for the many forms of music of a country known for its soccer, coffee, and samba. |
Dr. Natalia Savchenko has 30 years' experience teaching cultural history, communications, social sciences, humanities, applied arts, cinema, literature, and music seminars. She also has experience conducting tours and virtual tours of cities and museums. Savchenko holds a doctorate in Philosophy and Literature of the University of the former Soviet Union.
