The Life-Long Learning Lecture Series has been active on campus for the past 24 years. Co-sponsored by the President’s Office and the Professional Associates of Fort Lewis College, LLL Series aims to enrich the College and community by offering free presentations on a wide variety of subjects.
The Thursday evening programs are free and open to all and run from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. All Spring 2024 lectures will be held in Room 130, Noble Hall. This spring we will record all presentations. They will be available on our web site after Wednesday of the following week. This is not a substitute for the live presentations, so please join us in person on campus if possible.
Join our mailing list (below) for weekly reminders.
For additional information, please contact Gary Rottman at gsorcer@hotmail.com.
January 18 What’s With Supply Chains? Join Larry Gross, author, columnist, founder, and president of a transportation consulting company, as he explores why the words “supply chain” have such negative currency today. Why are “supply chains” being blamed when you can’t find what you want in a store? Gross will explain how the intermodal sector works; why we had a crisis during and after the pandemic; and what’s being done to make future events less likely.
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January 25 On the Road Again: Why We Travel Katherine Burgess visited over 65 foreign countries and most of the 50 states before earning her doctorate in philosophy at age 60. She has also run her own travel business and lectures regularly on art, the humanities, and foreign affairs. For LLL, she will explore the reasons, modes, and history of human travel with an emphasis on Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire up to The Grand Tour, and the American Tourist.
February 1 LPEA – Powering Our Future Electrical engineer Dan Harms, executive vice president of Grid Solutions, will discuss how LPEA is transitioning to a power supply heavily focused on renewables. Part of the LPEA team for 33 years, Harms manages power system engineering, Distributed Energy Resources, power supply, rate design and emerging technologies. A graduate of FLC, Harms will explore the challenges and the tools involved when people want power from resources that are often intermittent.
February 8 Protecting Biodiversity in a Complex World Korean-American ecologist and FLC faculty member Michael Drake will explore community-based conservation holistically. Why is it so hard to conserve biodiversity even though everyone usually wants to protect wildlife? Why are wildlife populations still declining even as biologists have called for action for decades? Drake will explore the interdisciplinary challenges that involve economics, governance, and sociology, as well as biology. He will focus on bottom-up conservation approaches to protect wildlife.
February 15 Pronatalism and Population Growth Nandita Bajaj, executive director of Population Balance, will explore why pronatalism is largely absent from any discussion of family planning. There is rising public awareness that overpopulation and overconsumption drive climate change, resource scarcity, and loss of biodiversity, yet pronatalism is not part of the mix as a contributing cause. The concept covers a set of socio--cultural, ethno-political, religious, and patriarchal pressures that encourage and promote reproduction. Bajaj will explore the impact on social and ecological justice.
February 22 Climate Change: What Can We Expect? Join Guinn Unger as he explores the long-term effects of climate change which vary greatly depending on how we address the challenge of containing warming. Unger will consider the most likely possibilities, including potentially catastrophic outcomes. Raised in an Army family living in many places around the world and educated at Rice University, Unger worked on the Space Shuttle Design for McDonnell Douglas at the Johnson Space Center.
February 29 Prospects for Alternative Cancer Treatments Traditional cancer treatments often have detrimental side effects at the dosages required to alter cancer growth. Luckily, there are new molecules being studied that are helping with this problem. Shere Byrd, professor of biology at FLC for over 30 years, conducts research into non-traditional compounds and their effects on the immune system. She will examine how plant-based molecules alter cancer cell function when used in combination with traditional cancer medications.
March 7 The Four-Corners Methane Hotspot Join FLC Physics and Engineering Professor Joanna Casey to learn why our area has been identified as the largest hotspot of methane in the U.S. She will explore findings from a large 2015 field measurement campaign and discuss the importance of controlling emissions in the near-term to minimize the contribution of this potent greenhouse gas to climate change.
March 14 Bhutan and the Gross Happiness Index Mike Todt, retired clinical psychologist, teacher, and hospital administrator, recently traveled to Bhutan, the land of Shangri La, with his wife, Tammy. The Bhutanese have adopted the GNH (Gross National Happiness) index alongside economic development as a sign of overall national health. Todt will explore the seven measurement domains of the Happiness Index and apply the 2022 GNH results to the well-being of the United States.
March 21 FLC Spring Break
March 28 CANCELED - Distant Siblings: The USA and Canada This presentation has been canceled. In its place, there will be a substitute lecture:
Precise Celestial Maneuvers Produce a Total Solar Eclipse Gary Rottman a retired solar physicist will give an alternate replacement lecture: Precise Celestial Maneuvers Produce a Total Solar Eclipse. Next month on April 8th a Solar Eclipse will race its 10,000 mile course from southern Mexico north through Texas and another 14 states. Only in the narrow path of totality is the solar corona visible. Learn facts about total solar eclipses including the predictable and repetitive Saros cycle of eclipses.
April 4 FLC Solar Initiative in the Navajo Nation Engineering Professor Laurie Williams, a Certified Solar Professional, will describe the work she and her students have been doing to electrify homes on the Navajo Nation. In addition to the history of the FLC program, Williams will emphasize student contributions and impacts on residents. Williams has partnered with Tribal communities on the design and installation of off-grid PhotoVoltaic (PV) solar systems since 2018 and is an integral member of the FLC Village Aid Project (VAP).
April 11 A Conversation about Alzheimer’s Local resident and former FLC faculty member Kim Martin has been writing a Durango Herald column about her experiences after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She will be joined in an informal discussion with Chuck Carson, retired engineer and caregiver to his late wife, Cheryl, to discuss impacts of a diagnosis on people living with it and on families. In addition, molecular biologist Deborah Lycan will discuss the science of Alzheimer’s, how it affects the brain and why genetics matter.
April 18 Ballroom Dance: History and Contemporary Landscape FLC Provost and resident social dance hobbyist Mario Martinez will take us on a tour of the history and contemporary state of social dance, ranging from Foxtrot to Cha-Cha and West Coast Swing. Engage in a dialogue and lecture of why dance has been such a significant form of human engagement across culture, age, and time — and the impact it has on our lives.
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