OLLI Members Can Discover History of Jewels

"The Great Jewel Hunt" will take members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Arkansas on an exciting historical adventure where they will learn new and useful details about gems, jewelry and precious metals.

Tom Paradise, professor of geosciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, will teach the two-day course for OLLI in the spring 2016 semester. Space is available in the course.

The first day of the course will be Friday, April 1. Paradise, a certified gemologist in the US (GG, CJ) and Europe (FGA), will give a lecture including a slide presentation on the early history of jewelry dating back to the Victorian period into the present day. The images shown in the slide presentation will be eye-catching and beautiful, he said. It will discuss jewelry not only as a commodity, but also as a means of currency and wearable art over nearly 200 years.

OLLI members will appreciate the topic of this course because it is exciting and there are no tests, Paradise said.

The following day, Saturday, April 2, OLLI members and other residents of the Northwest Arkansas community will be invited to come and bring an item or two for Paradise to educate them on. The cost is $10 per item. This jewelry education clinic is designed to inform the community about the historical information relating to their jewelry items. No monetary appraisals will be done at this time. Attendees do not have to be registered for the course to attend this event.

"It's a nice act of community service for the university and for the Osher Foundation," Paradise said.

Paradise is looking forward to informing the community and OLLI members on something about which he is passionate.

"The history of jewelry and jewels isn't what people thinks it is; it links art to materials, architecture, social mores, politics, fashion, and world discovery," he said.

This course will take the students through an evolution of jewelry beginning in 1820 to the ways in which present technology have now elevated and advanced the designs and progress of this art form. Jewelry has been enormously influenced by powerful world leaders and involves many different educational backgrounds such as science history, politics, science in art, and fashion design, he said.

"I hope the students and visitors appreciate the practical advice on what they own. There is a certain peace of mind and value in knowing if what you have is real or fake," Paradise said.

More information on this course and others can be found on the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute website. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is a member-driven, nonprofit organization based in the College of Education and Health Professions. Its primary goal is to meet the needs of members by providing resources for stimulating, educational programming that is affordable and accessible. Membership is open to people 50 and over.