Course Listing - by Instructor
| Name | Biography |
|---|---|
| AAII | Founded in 2025 with support from the UT Regents’ Research Excellence Program, AAII takes a fresh, context-driven approach to artificial intelligence. The Institute leverages the unique resources of our region—the dynamic U.S.-Mexico border, extensive binational trade, bilingual talent, and proximity to strategic defense hubs—to create adaptive, scalable AI solutions. By anchoring innovation in the distinctive assets of our location, AAII drives regional transformation with global reach and lasting impact. |
| Emanuel Abramovitz | Emanuel Abramovits is a mechanical engineer and has been a concert promoter for over two decades. He is involved in events by international artists like Itzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, Sarah Brightman, Roger Hodgson, ASIA, Journey, and Kenny G. Abramovits has designed and staged original orchestral events, including an Event of the Year winner and several world premieres. He served as the cultural director at Union Israelita De Caracas, releasing books and organizing film cycles, concerts, and art exhibits. |
| Benjamin Ackerman | Jamie Ackerman has been playing guitar for 62 years and has been studying music for just as long. He has been a member of OLLI for five years. |
| Prakriti Adhikari | Prakriti Adhikari is a doctoral student in Rhetorics and Writing Studies with a strong interest in civic discourse, sound rhetoric, and intercultural communication. Originally from South Asia and currently based in El Paso, she explores how language shapes public life, identity, and community engagement. Her work bridges academic research and lived experience, focusing on voice, place, and the power of rhetoric in everyday contexts. |
| Dibya Adhikari | Diby Darpan Adhikari is a PhD Student and a Graduate Assistant Instructor in the English Department at the University of Texas at El Paso. |
| Ben Avalos | |
| Chris Baker | Chris Baker has worked in horticulture for 15 years, including as a horticulturist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and as Curator of Bonsai at the Chicago Botanic Garden. He focuses on the use and benefits of native plant species and sound, eco-friendly horticultural practices. Baker studied with bonsai master Torho Suzuki at the Daiju-en Nursery in Japan. He is President of the North American Bonsai Federation and a board member of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. |
| Lois Balin | Lois Balin has been an Urban Wildlife Biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife for 27 years. |
| Cristina Bueno Gorena | Cristina Bueno Gorena holds a Master's degree in Education Management from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional del Estado de Chihuahua and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Science from Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua. She is currently a Professor in the Education Program at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, instructing the art of Andragogy and Development use of teaching materials. She has 22 years' experience in teaching, from middle school to college levels, in a variety of institutions teaching Spanish language reading and writing, Oral Expression and Research Methodology at the Colegio Latino Americano and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey She has also served as a middle school Principal for 4 years. |
| Bernie Carlson | Bernard (Bernie) Carlson is Vaughan Professor Emeritus of Humanities at the University of Virginia and an expert on invention, entrepreneurship, and technology’s role in society. He received the Sally Hacker Prize from the Society for the History of Technology and the William Middleton Prize from the IEEE, and filmed Understanding the Inventions that Changed the World. Now based in Ireland, he directs the MS program in AgInnovation at the University of Galway, where he trains adult learners in product development, startups, and sustainable farming. |
| Wolf Carter | Wolf was originally introduced to the art of Tai Chi while finishing his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering at UTEP. He is a certified instructor with the Texas School of Tai Chi & Healing, and he has been teaching Tai Chi classes and workshops in El Paso and the Southwest since 2003. He has also had the good fortune to teach with a number of organizations in the area, such as the El Paso Fire Department (2007-present), Housing Authority City of El Paso (2007-17), UTEP Miners football players (2013-14), White Acres Retirement Community, and the Mescalero Apache Tribe. In 2007 Wolf was the winner of the U.S. National Championship, earning three gold medals in Tai Chi form and push hands competition. In 2014 he was formally inducted as a 7th Generation Lineage Instructor of Imperial Yang Style Tai Chi in Beijing, China. Tai Chi offers all students a great opportunity for improvement in health & fitness, stress relief, balance, coordination, and energy in a fun and interesting way. It can be done at whatever level of ability and exertion is comfortable for the individual student. Relaxation of mind and body is a primary goal. |
| Rafael Davis Portela | Rafael Davis Portela is a PhD candidate in Latin American History at the Graduate Center, CUNY. His research examines the history of computing and technology, especially how they shaped and were shaped by economy. His dissertation traces Microsoft’s expansion in Brazil, the rise of the Brazilian computing industry, and resulting tensions between the US and Brazilian governments. Beyond history, Portela is passionate about programming and digital tools and has taught university researchers how to use computing in their own work. |
| Cherry Duke | Cherry Duke, AD, Applied Voice, Director of Opera UTEP Cherry Duke joined UTEP's music faculty in 2015. She directs UTEP's Opera Workshop ("Opera UTEP") and teaches applied voice. A regular performer of concert, opera, and new music, Duke has appeared in premieres and workshops of several 20th and 21st century operas. She is a regular soloist with El Paso Opera, having appeared in the last several seasons. Ms. Duke graduated with from Texas Woman's University and received her graduate degree in Opera Performance from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. |
| Pablo Estrada | Dr. Pablo Estrada is a physical therapist who atended UTEP for is B.S. and DPT. He practices at EP Rehab Specialty Group and is board certified in orthopedics, focusing on holistic, functional exercising. He has worked closely with Texas Senator Rodriguez's office providing movement training and looks forward to expanding the program to UTEP. |
| Eileen Goddard | Eileen Goddard is a lecturer and PhD student at the University of California Santa Barbara. Eileen's dissertation research focuses on the 16th century Gau??ya Vai??ava tradition and comparatively analyzes Indian religious constructions of "perfected" minds and bodies. Eileen's broader research interests include comparative Indian philosophy, Sanskrit literature and poetics, devotion (bhakti), perception, and gender and sexuality. Eileen completed her MA in Religion at Rutgers University and BA in Philosophy at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
| Monica Gomez | Mónica E. Gómez has made her living with words as a writer, songwriter, teacher, broadcast journalist, and voice talent. Her writing appears in numerous anthologies including Red Boots & Attitude: The Spirit of Texas Women Writers and The New York Times 2020 on-line edition. In her hometown of El Paso, Texas, she hosted NPR’s State of the Arts and moderated National Issues Forums for the local PBS station. As a performing songwriter she released three CDs and presented performances and workshops through the Texas Commission on the Arts and other state and regional arts agencies. Distilled from years of work with diverse populations, Gómez’s creative writing workbook, EXPRESSERCIZE: Write Answers contains more than 100 exercises in expression and self-discovery. Gómez’s workshops integrate diverse forms of inspiration and highlight the literal creative power of writing. |
| Vicki Harder | Dr. Vicki Harder is a recently retired geology professor from the University of Texas @ El Paso. She has also taught forensic science, environmental science, and general science for UTEP, NMSU, WNMU, and EPCC. She has also been an educational consultant for the Mineralogical Society of America (mineralogy4kids.org) and author of numerous laboratory manuals. |
| Erin Holland | The American Sign Museum (Cincinnati, Ohio) covers more than 100 years of American sign history and displays more than 800 signs and artifacts, making it the most comprehensive museum of its kind. With a mission to educate the community about the history of the sign industry and its significant contribution to commerce and the American landscape, the Museum is organized to preserve, archive and display a historical collection of signs in their many types and forms. |
| Paul Hyder | |
| Armin Jezari | Armin J Jezari is the Corresponding Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of El Paso, Texas. He was elected in April to a one year term. Because the Baha'i Faith does not have clergy, Armin serves alongside eight other men and women in a volunteer capacity. Armin is an attorney with a LLM in Taxation and a Master of Public Administration. |
| Fatema Kamal Raisa | Fatema Binta Tanzila Kamal Raise is a second year PhD student and teaching assistant in Environment Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso. |
| Sumru Krody | Sumru Belger Krody is Chief Curator and Avenir Foundation Curator of The Textile Museum Collection at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. A specialist in late antique and Islamic textiles, she leads the museum’s curatorial department and serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Textile Museum Journal. Krody guest lectures at George Washington University and has curated numerous exhibitions, including Enduring Traditions and the upcoming Adorning the Horse. She has written widely and co-authored nine publications, including Textile Treasures (2025). |
| 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. |
| Aurolyn Luykx | Dr. Luykx is a cultural anthropologist whose interests include questions of sustainability and culture change in late capitalism/post-industrial societies. Her previous OLLI courses included "Documentaries and Discussion", "Endangered Languages", and "How to Think About Weird Things". |
| OLLI Moderator | |
| Maria Natividad | Maria Almeida Natividad is a professional artist and educator living in El Paso, Texas. She holds a BA and MA degree in Art Education from the University of Texas at El Paso and has over 20 years experience teaching art in the public schools. Maria grew up surrounded by the rich culture and heritage of her Hispanic background. It is an understanding and appreciation of this culture and history that she wishes to convey and encourage in her artwork and teaching. Her artwork has appeared in Chicano art books, literary anthologies, Chicano/a calendars, and was featured in the book “West Texas Women Artists: A Celebration” published by Texas Tech University Press. Her art has been included in numerous major art exhibitions and public and private collections across the United States. Maria is presently the Artist in Residence for Chicano Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. |
| Leoncio Perez | Leoncio Perez Jr. is an instructor and Energy/Sound Healer of the Universal Temple of Healing Arts. He began his journey in the healing arts under the tutelage of Sigung Roberto Briseno of Tien Shan Tzi. Leoncio's training in energy healing began in 2015, and since then has even gotten the title of Qi Gong Instructor and Reiki Master Teacher. He is also specializing in Sound healing with Tuning Forks. |
| Dede Petri | Dede Petri has served as the president and CEO of the Olmsted Network since 2020. For over 30 years, she has been a leader and innovator in a wide range of nonprofit organizations. She was the 42nd president of The Garden Club of America, co-founded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, serving as president from 2003 to 2016, and served as general counsel and congressional liaison for the National Endowment for the Humanities. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard College with an AB in American history and literature, and she received her JD from Harvard Law School. |
| Lynn Provenzano | Lynn Provenzano has facilitated personal and professional deveolpment 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. |
| Alfred Reeves | Rev. Alfred Reeves has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He also holds a Bachelor of Metaphysical Science from the University of Metaphysics and is an ordained minister. Currently, he is working on his PH.D at the University of Sedona. He is a certified Life Purpose coach, a Reiki master, a retired captain of the Air Force, and a retired engineer. |
| Blake Regnier | Blake Regnier is a former middle school reading interventionist and current English instructor for Worthington Learning Center. Regnier is also an adjunct instructor of English for Minnesota West Community and Technical College. With a diverse background in literary traditions spanning classical works through the modern era, his primary research interest has been in Victorian era monsters and other assorted "things that go bump in the night." |
| Alison Roberts | Alison Roberts is a journalist with nearly four decades of experience, reporting in her native UK and later internationally for English-language outlets including the BBC, NPR, and Bloomberg News. Her work has covered politics, finance, sports, and the arts. She has edited or contributed to a dozen guidebooks and provided online updates for Fodor’s, Time Out, and other publishers. Now based in Portugal, she is writing a history of the country and has explored it extensively from north to south. |
| Luis Carlos Rodriguez | Luis Carlos Rodriguez is originally from Roswell, NM, but has spent the better part of the past 25 years living, working and traveling abroad. In addition to being a part-time ESL instructor at UTEP, he is also a part-time philosophy instructor at El Paso Community College, where he has taught for the past two years. Before moving to El Paso three years ago, Rodriguez was an ESL lecturer at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic for eight years. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Philosophy from San Francisco State University and taught Intro to Philosophy and Religion, Ethics and Critical Thinking during his last two years there. He also has a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CTESOL and Advanced CTESOL). His interests include traveling, trying different types of food and drink, running and power yoga, watching movies and documentaries, and studying philosophical and religious texts. |
| Lisa Ruiz | Lisa Ruiz, DC is a former UTEP student who recently relocated back to El Paso. She was a chiropractor in Seattle, WA for almost 25 years. In conjunction with her wellness clinic, she became certified in Anusara Yoga and Essential Yoga for Low Back, among many other areas of Yoga studies and subsequently integrated Yoga in her work with patients. Her current passion and main focus is Yoga Nidra which she taught during her time in North Carolina and teaches currently online to former students both near and far. |
| Eleanor Schrader | Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, and author. She lectures and leads tours worldwide on art and architectural history. She has been named a distinguished instructor at UCLA Extension, where she teaches history of architecture, interior design, furniture, and decorative arts. Schrader is a Professor Emerita of art and architectural history at Santa Monica College. She has completed graduate work in fine and decorative arts at Sotheby's Institute in London and New York. She has served as a design review commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills and currently serves on the board of directors of the John Lautner Foundation. |
| Kasey Sease | Kasey Sease, PhD, is Curator of the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. Beyond developing exhibitions and activating the collection, she programs the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies. A former Managing Editor of Washington History, Kasey holds degrees from the College of William and Mary (PhD, MA, history) and the University of Virginia (BA, history and government). |
| Hardeep Singh | Hardeep Singh, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a leader in quality and safety research focused on reducing diagnostic errors, improving health information technology, and transforming health care systems. His work has informed major patient-safety initiatives and policy reports from organizations including the National Academy of Medicine, CDC, OECD, and WHO. He has received prestigious awards for his pioneering work, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Lifetime Achievement. |
| Sanjana Srivastava | Sanjana Srivastava is a PhD Student and Writing Center Consultant at the University of Texas at El Paso. |
| Robert Thurston | Robert Thurston, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of History at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). He earned a BA in History from Northwestern University and a PhD in modern Russian history from the University of Michigan. His writing spans twentieth-century Russian/Soviet history, witch hunts (Europe and Salem), the body in the Anglosphere (1880–1920), and coffee as an economic and social force. A devoted coffee educator, he has opened a roastery and coffee shop and has visited coffee farms from Asia to South America |
| Carla Torres | Carla Torres is a second year PhD student where she serves as an assistant instructor (AI) for the first-year composition program (FYC) and an assistant director (AD) for the University Writing Center. Her research interests are in rhetorical empathy, affect, rhetorical listening, and lifespan studies. |
| Virtual Admin | |
| 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. |
| Devon Wall | Devon Wall is an OLLI member and advocate for walking as a healthy and engaging exercise. |
