Summersession 2025 registration now open
Classes start the week of June 16. Classes fill up quickly; don't delay!
Click for online registration.
In Remembrance: Shirley DiMatteo (Feb 7, 1940 - Feb 3, 2025)
Cover photograph, “Portland, Maine Harbor,” taken by Shirley DiMatteo during an independent photo shoot in conjunction with our Cell Phone Photography Club. Upon her retirement from education, Shirley joined LLC and was an active and beloved member for thirteen years, taking and coordinating numerous courses. Along with her husband Mel Shelly, Shirley co-founded LLC’s iPhonography course, now the Cell Phone Photography Club.
WEBINARS to hear from experts in many disciplines.
CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES to broaden horizons and meet new friends.
SEE PREVIOUS CATALOGS.
ARTS: painting, photography, music & more. See art galleries for samples.
Almost any subject can come up at LLC’s WEBINARS and CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES.
DIVERSIFY your skills
BUILD your confidence
MEET new friends with similar interests
Lifelong Learning Collaborative (LLC) is a group of more than 500 members who enjoy learning new things, acquiring new skills, and making new friends. Hover over each box above to learn more.
Collaborative Learning

At LLC we all learn from one another, selecting from a wide variety of courses in history, literature, the arts, current affairs, sciences, and more – all designed and led by our classmates. Learn more.
A Love of Learning

LLC members come from all walks of life, career paths, and educational levels. The one thing we all have in common is a desire to continue learning in the company of congenial people.
Cultural Opportunities

From the North Shore of Massachusetts to the center of Manhattan, LLC offers Webinars, lectures, museum tours, walking tours, and other special learning events with expert guides throughout the year. Learn more.
Latest News
Inside the latest issue of The Lark
Click the links to jump to the article or click to read the entire issue.
- IN REMEMBRANCE: MEL SHELLY AND SHIRLEY DIMATTEO — Tribute by Cathy Hurst
- AWAKENINGS by Jessica Siegel
- KENT STATE AND ME by Ruth Mills
- JOIN THE SAKONNET WRITERS GROUP
- BORDERLESS by Cheryl Castonguay of the Sakonnet Writers Group
Pictured: Jessica Siegel, LLC member and writer with her Maltipoo Bravo
LLC Bus Trip to Block Island: Sat, May 17

LLC's Spring course, Block Island Then and Now, is opening their class trip registration to the general membership. This is an all-day bus tour of the island (9 AM-7:30 PM). Registration fee is $100 per person. LLC members may register a guest (one per member, first come, first served).
Click to learn more/register.
Effective Sept 1, Shriners Building in Edgewood section of Cranston is new location for most LLC courses

Starting with our Fall 2025 term in September, most LLC courses and some special events will be held in the Shriners Building at 1 Rhodes Place in the Edgewood section of Cranston, just north of Pawtuxet Village. There’s plenty of free parking right next to the building, which is fully handicapped accessible. There are no security issues, so no need for ID cards, and we will be able to offer in-person courses on Mondays again. Driving Directions to LLC at 1 Rhodes Place, Cranston from:
East Side/East Bay | Blackstone Valley | East Greenwich/South County
What do you know about King Philip's War? Watch a full LLC course.
In 1675 and 1676, the indigenous people of southeastern New England, led by Pokanoket chief and Wampanoag sachem Metacom (who had adopted the English name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Plymouth Colony) engaged in a war against the area's English colonists. This devastating conflict was the subject of a five-session LLC course this winter led by Sowams Project historian David Weed, which you can see at this link: https://sowamsearlyhistory.org/king-philips-war-covered-in-a-lifelong-learning-collaborative-course/.