UNT history lecturer recognized for dedication to OLLI at UNT

When OLLI at UNT reached out to Dr. Kerry Goldmann in 2020 expressing interest in the history courses she was teaching at UNT, she embraced the opportunity to try something new.

After teaching her first OLLI class, she was hooked.

“I mainly teach sensitive topics surrounding marginalized communities, and I was so heartened by how interested OLLI students were in learning more about various communities and troubling histories,” she says. “They appreciated the class as a lens into better understanding the world around them.”

Now, six years and more than 20 OLLI classes later, Dr. Goldmann has received the Provost’s OLLI at UNT Faculty Award for her extraordinary dedication to the program.

“Dr. Goldmann exemplifies the joy of teaching and learning that defines OLLI at UNT,” says Provost Michael McPherson (pictured with Dr. Goldmann), who presented the award at the annual OLLI at UNT faculty appreciation dinner March 5.

“Whether she’s teaching on-site in an OLLI classroom or virtually over Zoom, she brings an energy and enthusiasm that invites OLLI members to engage meaningfully with the content and experience history in new and unexpected ways.”

Part of a national network of Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes endowed by The Bernard Osher Foundation, OLLI at UNT offers a variety of opportunities for adults age 50 and better to feed their curiosity and engage with their peers in a welcoming learning environment. Each semester, OLLI at UNT’s nearly 1,700 members choose from a wide range of classes led by active and retired UNT faculty and staff, UNT alumni, area professionals and passionate subject matter experts.

About Kerry Goldmann
Dr. Kerry Goldmann joined UNT in 2015 as an adjunct theatre professor and has taught in the Department of History since 2018. She was promoted to senior lecturer in 2024 and currently serves as associate director of graduate studies. Her expertise includes Jewish American history, African American history, American culture and the history of horror films. Through these intersecting domains, she creates innovative, immersive OLLI classes that blend history and the arts to foster intellectual curiosity and broaden her students’ world views. 

When she served as dramaturg for Theatre Denton’s production of Cabaret in 2022, Dr. Goldmann collaborated with the director to offer interactive “behind-the-curtain” discussions for OLLI members exploring the musical’s cultural impact and continued relevance.

One of her favorite courses to teach at UNT began as an OLLI class called American History through Horror Films.

“I've always had a passion for horror movies and was finally digging into it as research on how these cultural products captured the fears and anxieties of Americans depending on the historical context,” she says.

“I wanted to teach it as a full course for my department and knew OLLI members would find interest in making those cultural connections and would love to be a part of the origin story.”

The OLLI class went so well she was asked to teach it multiple times and in different iterations, workshopping it for several years using OLLI members’ feedback to refine her approach. American Horror History is now a fully developed undergraduate course and a favorite among her students. The course also earned Dr. Goldmann UNT’s Outstanding Online Course Award this year.

Most recently, Dr. Goldmann collaborated with OLLI on a private screening of the 1963 version of The Haunting, at which she gave a pre-screening lecture on the film’s cultural context and the history of similar horror films.

With each OLLI class, she discovers something new to love about the program and the people who make it so rewarding.

“The OLLI classroom is a very unique space that remains, at its heart, experimental and driven by curiosity,” she says.