Providing Lifelong Learning in Rhode Island for over 30 years
Lifelong Learning Collaborative (LLC, formerly BCLIR) was established in 1984 as the Brown Community of Learning in Retirement, and has been an active educational model for lifelong learning for over three decades.
In May of 2008, we became an independent 503(c)(3) non-profit organization, an umbrella for continuing lifelong learning education in the Providence area. Most of our in-person classes meet at Temple Beth-El.
Summersession Key Dates

Catalog announcement Mon, May 15
Registration opens Mon, May 22 @ 9 AM
Classes begin week of June 26

"I have had the opportunity to learn subjects I never had the time to explore."
Spring 2023
Catalog | Class Calendar | Class Websites | Printable Registration Form* | Registration Policy
*Registrations received by postal mail will not be processed until 2 PM on the day registration opens, as administrative time permits. Therefore, spaces are not guaranteed if your class selection fills up prior to 2 PM. We strongly encourage you to register online and early.
RECORDING POLICY: LLC does not permit recording of classes due to the resulting inhibition of free and comfortable exchange of ideas and opinions. Any exceptions must be approved by the LLC President.
Cover photography, “Springing Forth with Hope,” taken by Nancy Maddocks in our Snapix class (Spring 2020). Nancy has been a member of LLC since 2019. In that time she has taken 30 classes, become a devoted LLC knitter, co-coordinated two film courses, and is co-coordinating the upcoming Spring documentary course, Behind the Lens: Documentaries on Photographers and their Craft.
Click to view/print the Wintersession 2023 catalog (PDF).
We’re pleased to offer Zoom* courses and in-person courses this semester at Temple Beth-El (70 Orchard Ave, Providence, RI 02906). COVID vaccination is a mandatory requirement for attending in-person classes. By the act of registering for an in-person class you will be attesting to being vaccinated. Masks are optional in the Temple and classrooms, and classrooms will be at less than full capacity. We’ll keep current with trends and regulations and may change as needed.
*Zoom is easy to use and free to class members. If you have not used Zoom, here is a helpful introduction video.
Classes start March 20.
For direct links to register, click the course titles below.
In-person classes at Temple Beth-El (TBE) are in BOLD.
Mondays
Open Studio Art (AM)
Chekhov Aloud (AM) – TBE
Short Stories from Great Authors You’ve Never Had Time To Read (PM)
Tuesdays
The German Art Song from Mozart to Mahler (AM) – TBE
Behind the Lens: Documentaries on Photographers..., Session 1 (AM)
Luminous Things: Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman (AM)
Fashion Icons 2.0: A Stylish Encore! (AM) – TBE
Rhode Island in the Revolutionary Era, 1763-1790 (AM) – TBE
Conscious Aging (PM) – TBE
Cell Phone Photography Club (PM) – TBE
Travelogue: 12 Places We Love (PM) – TBE
The Impending Transition to Electric Vehicles (PM) – TBE
Early Television – Through the 1970s (PM) - CANCELLED
Scrabble Social Club (PM) – TBE
Wednesdays
The Fifties: Did You Love Lucy? Did You Like Ike? (AM)
Becoming Your Own Playwright (AM) – CANCELLED
Painting with the Masters (PM)
Hola!: Spanish Conversation Course (PM) – TBE
Hot Topics (PM)
LLC Knits (PM) – TBE
Thursdays
Ukraine: A Crisis in Our Time (AM) – TBE
Magical Realist Fiction: The Genre Hiding in Plain Sight (AM) – TBE
Theater Conversations (AM)
Writing a Memoir (PM) – TBE
Behind the Lens: Documentaries on Photographers..., Session 2 (PM) – TBE
Expressive Photography: Finding Your Photographic Vision (PM)
Fridays
The American West in Film (AM) – TBE
Get Fit at Home (AM) – ZOOM
Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age (PM)
Class Calendar
Calendar of Events
S Sun
M Mon
T Tue
W Wed
T Thu
F Fri
S Sat
0 events,
5 events,
Cell Phone Photo Club
Cell Phone Photo Club
Photo shoots: Jan 10, Feb 7, Mar 7 (on location) Photo sharing: Jan 31, Feb 21, Mar 14 (Temple Beth-El)
0 events,
0 events,
0 events,
1 event,
Cell Phone Photo Club
Cell Phone Photo Club
Photo shoots: Jan 10, Feb 7, Mar 7 (on location) Photo sharing: Jan 31, Feb 21, Mar 14 (Temple Beth-El)
1 event,
0 events,
0 events,
0 events,
0 events,
0 events,
1 event,
Cell Phone Photo Club
Cell Phone Photo Club
Photo shoots: Jan 10, Feb 7, Mar 7 (on location) Photo sharing: Jan 31, Feb 21, Mar 14 (Temple Beth-El)