Fall 2025 OLLI Digital Catalog 

The Agency: History Of The CIA, Part 1 (G299)

G – History

Based on the Great Courses series, this course begins with a historical review of American intelligence then follows the CIA from being a small collection of Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operators to being a key instrument of U.S. foreign policy. Class consists of prerecorded lectures by Hugh Wilford, Ph.D., professor of history at California State University, augmented by a 35-40 minute presentation by the instructor with added information and context. There is time for Q&A. This semester’s class follows the CIA through the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This offering meets for a total of 13 session(s).

INSTRUCTOR: Martin Cohen

COHEN, MARTIN — M.B.A., business/marketing, New York University. Worked entire career in innovation, new product and new business development for several consumer product appliance companies. Last 35 years traveled over 150 times to China for product development and sourcing. Last 10 years worked as a consultant. (G299, G488)

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