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Winter 2026

  • 01 – Physical Activity and Aging Study
  • 02 – Understanding Global Climate Change
  • 03 – Ames Celebrates the Nation’s Centennial
  • 04 – Lessons from the Great Depression
  • 05 – Benjamin Franklin–The Wise and Witty Founding Father
  • 06 – Volunteer Community Radio; Learn to Interview/Produce Your Own Program
  • 07 – Only Hope: My Mother and the Holocaust Brought to Light
  • 08 – The Growth of Presidential Powers in Foreign Policy-Making
  • 09 – It’s Not What You Said! It’s How You Said It! The Role of Nonverbal Communication in Our Interactions With Others
  • 10 – Nineteenth Century Europe, 1815-1914
  • 11 – Demystifying AI
  • 12 – Mediterranean Diet (Science and Recipes)
  • 13 – Yikes (Data Breaches, Compromised Accounts, etc.)
  • 14 – Spotlight on Ames Non-Profits
  • 15 – Cover Crops: Green Fields, Clear Water
  • 16 – Managing Your Digital Stuff
  • 17 – Beyond the Game: How Athletics Academic Services Shape the Lives and Futures of Iowa State Athletes
  • 18 – Understanding Iowa’s Emerging Water Crisis
  • 19 – Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia: Normal Aging vs. Differential Diagnoses
  • 20 – AI and The Human Future
  • 21 – Authentic Italian Home Cooking: Valentine’s Day Dinner
  • 22 – Advancing Food Safety Awareness for People Over 50
  • 23 – Discussion About Ultra-Processed Foods
  • 24 – From Icons to Perestroika: A History of Visual Culture
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  • 05 – Benjamin Franklin–The Wise and Witty Founding Father

05 – Benjamin Franklin–The Wise and Witty Founding Father

At a Glance

Time

One week:
Monday, Feb. 16, 2026
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT

Cost

$25.00

Location

Online with Zoom
Class limit 55+

Course Description

Benjamin Franklin was the 15th of 17 children. When he was 17, he ran away from home to Philadelphia, where he began to teach himself. And the rest, as they say, is history. When he was in his 80s, he maintained that he was so happy with his life that he would like to live it again, exactly as it had transpired. This will be the first in a three-part series about the Founding Fathers.

Instructor

Jane Cox is a professor emerita at Iowa State and has taught a variety of OLLI classes. A great-aunt of hers was taken as a baby by her father to watch the funeral train of Abraham Lincoln pass by. Jane began to see history as something that connects us all.

 

Iowa State University of Science and Technology
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

2624 Howe Hall,
537 Bissell Road
Ames, IA

Heather Bristow, hbristow@iastate.edu

Phone: (515) 294-5790

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