Vaping, risk-taking, travels in Antarctica, GMOs, masculinity and Beethoven’s 250th birthday are some of the topics to be explored in the free, winter-spring lectures at Fort Lewis College.
“We’re launching our 20th year of free town-gown lectures at the College,” said Gary Rottman, leader of the Life-long Learning team that organizes the program. Rottman is a retired scientist from University of Colorado-Boulder and member of FLC Professional Associates.
Co-sponsored by the Office of the President and the FLC Professional Associates, a volunteer organization of college supporters, the Life Long Learning program has been modeled on similar projects at colleges and universities across the country. All FLC presentations are free and will begin at 7 p.m. Thursdays, usually in 130 Noble Hall.
Jan. 16: Journey to Antarctica and South Georgia Island. Longtime Durangoans Terry Bacon and Debra Parmenter will share stories, photographs and a short film from their adventures in the southern hemisphere in late 2018.
Jan. 23: Pricing Carbon Emissions. Economist John Purser and Citizens Climate Lobby leader Susan Atkinson will discuss how other countries use carbon pricing to lower greenhouse gas emissions and look at different solutions.
Jan. 30: Beethoven, the Romantic Genius. Roshong Recital Hall. Thomas Heuser, music director of the San Juan Symphony, will launch a year of Beethoven celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of the great composer’s birth.
Feb. 6: Sleep, What You Need to Know. Peace Corps alumnus and retired senior instructional designer Dennis Aronson will update sleep research and address why it is so important to everyone’s health.
Feb. 13: The Women Wore White. Humanities scholar Katherine Burgess will lead off a centennial year of celebration of a woman’s right to vote by discussing the principal events leading up to passage of the 19th Amendment on Aug. 26, 1920.
Feb. 20: Advice from the S/he Shed. FLC history professor Michael Martin will look at concepts of masculinity today, updating his popular, previous LLL talk: “Advice from the Garage.”
Feb. 27: Liberal Feminism and the Challenge of the Wage Gap. FLC philosophy professor Sarah Roberts-Cady will explore different philosophies of feminism and how they lead to different concepts of how society might respond to problems of sexism.
March 5: On Being Human, Facets of the Humanities at a Liberal Arts College. FLC Provost Cheryl Nixon will discuss humanities initiatives in higher education in general and specifically at FLC, expanding on the Common Reading Experience.
March 12. Adverse Health Effects of E-Cigarettes. FLC associate professor of biology David Blake will look at the physiological effects of vaping chemicals in the lungs and explore implications for adults and teens.
March 19 – spring break, no program.
March 26: Beyond the Postcard. FLC faculty members Cory Pillen (art history) and Sara Newman (public health and health sciences) will look at the relationship between Western imagery and social conceptions of public health and race in the early 20th century.
April 2: GMOS: The Science and the Non-Science. Deborah Lycan, former professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College and a public speaker about science, will explore what a GMO is, different kinds and different ways of making and modifying GMOs by nature and by humans.
April 9: Cohousing, Finding Community in the Modern World. Mac Thompson, co-founder of Heartwood Cohousing, will examine how to restore human connections that have been lost in contemporary society.
April 16: Risk: When you come to a fork in the road. FLC adjunct faculty member and retired engineer Chuck Carson will explore some of the tricks our minds play on us that contribute to miscalculations and errors in judgment.
If you go
WHAT:
Fort Lewis College Winter-Spring Life Long Learning Lecture Series.
WHEN:
7 p.m. Thursdays, Jan. 16 through April 16.
WHERE:
130 Noble Hall, FLC, 1000 Rim Drive unless otherwise indicated.
TICKETS:
Free.
MORE Information:
Visit www.fortlewis.edu/LLL or call FLC director of community relations, 247-7207.
