October Lectures Cover Minority Innovators, Electric Vehicles
Patricia Ingalls
LifeLong Learning kicks off its 2021-22 season of Monday Morning Lectures this month with two Ph.D. speakers who have done extensive research in their respective fields of expertise. One speaker will highlight notable, less-known minority innovators, and the other speaker will examine electric vehicles as a sustainable-energy technology.
Tickets to Monday Morning Lectures cost $5 each and will be available in the lobby of Renaissance Theater beginning at 9 a.m. the morning of the lecture. No advance registration is needed.
Oct. 18: Minority Inventors and Innovators
Most of what people know about American innovators and inventors involves white men in those categories, yet American history is filled with minorities who have contributed greatly to the country’s history and advancement.
Historian Bonnie Saunders, Ph.D., will bring to life some of the remarkable people in science, medicine, technology, and other fields, whose contributions are less known. Her lecture will be based on research she did for an eight-week course on innovators and inventors who were Black, white, and immigrant women and men.
Saunders earned her Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Connecticut, with a primary focus on 20th-century U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. The author of a book on the CIA’s 1957 overthrow of the Syrian government, she has taught U.S. and Western history in colleges in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
A member of the League of Women Voters for 51 years, she became active in the organization in Arizona when she moved here in 1998, serving several terms as president of the Northwest Maricopa County chapter and the League of Women Voters of Arizona.
Saunders is currently an adjunct history professor at Glendale Community College and teaches adult education classes at Rio Salado College in Surprise and in Sun City Grand.
Saunders will be presenting live on a screen in the theater Oct. 18.
Oct 25: Electric Vehicles—Exploring Your Options
What’s the buzz about electric vehicles? Whether you are exploring buying an electric vehicle (EV), or want to know more about them from a sustainability perspective, this lecture will provide a foundation of knowledge.
Join Hannah Breetz as she discusses the fundamentals of how EVs work, compares different types of hybrid and battery EVs, and delves into the considerations of range, costs, performance, and environmental impacts.
Breetz is an assistant professor at the ASU School of Sustainability affiliate, the Center for Energy and Society, Center for Biomimicry. She holds a doctorate degree in political science and studies the political economy of alternative energy, focusing on biofuels and synthetic fuels. Her research investigates the drivers of alternative energy policy, including the role of interest groups, decision-making institutions, and information about science and technology, as well as the impact of energy policy on innovation and technological change. She is also interested in how energy and sustainability policies can incorporate systems thinking, including biomimicry and life-cycle thinking.
Upcoming Moday Morning Lectures in November:
Nov. 1: Grand Canyon’s Geologic History
Nov. 8: Does the Constitution Need Fixing?
Go to www.lifelonglearningatpc.org for details.
Become Your Family’s Historian
Pat Ingalls
LifeLong Learning’s first class of the 2021-22 season, called Introduction to Genealogy, immerses you in productive genealogy processes, techniques, and resources. This two-part class is designed to help you learn how to trace your family through history, to conduct genealogy database research, and to understand more about DNA. You will learn new ways to research family genealogy, establish your strategies, and develop a methodology to uncover your family’s history.
This is a two-session class; each session lasts one hour. Class starts at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, both in the LLL Center. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced, expect to learn new information. No computer experience is required, but it is recommended.
Denise Beeson, an adjunct instructor in the business department of Santa Rosa Junior College, teaches genealogy classes in the college’s older-adult program. She is a member of the Sonoma County Genealogical Society and the Arizona Genealogical Board Speakers Bureau. Her interest in genealogy began 15 years ago.
Register at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org.
Upcoming classes in November:
Nov. 4: Eastern European Genealogy
Nov. 9: Brewing Beer at Home
Nov. 10: Gluten-free Lifestyle
Go to www.lifelonglearningatpc.org for details.
Search For Objective Truth
Bill Nee
The more we read and watch online, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake. It’s as if we know more but understand less, says philosopher Michael Patrick Lynch. In this talk titled “How to see past your own perspective and find truth,” he dares us to take active steps to burst our filter bubbles and live in the common reality. To do this, we need to want to believe in truth, have humility, and expand our worldview.
Lynch points out that democracies can’t survive if their citizens don’t strive to believe in truth. Enjoy his tips on searching for objective truth and looking outside our personal-belief bubbles.
To view this 14-minute talk, go to TED.com, click “watch” in the header, then “TED Talks,” then in “Search talks” input: How to see past your own perspective and find truth, scroll a little lower, and click on the talk you selected.
Nationally recognized author and lecturer, Sam Mihara, speaks at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 about his WWII experience living in a U.S.-Japanese internment camp
Author Describes Living in WWII U.S.-Japanese Internment Camp
Patricia Ingalls
During World War II, the U.S. government forced nine-year-old Sam Mihara and his family to move from their home in San Francisco to Heart Mountain, a Wyoming prison camp for people of Japanese ancestry.
At 7 p.m on Friday, Nov. 12, in the Renaissance Theater, Mihara will speak about his wartime experience and the devastating effect it had on his family and the more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were forced into concentration camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Mihara will describe the deplorable conditions and share photos of the barbed-wire-enclosed city where his family was forced to live. After three years there, a U.S. Supreme Court decision resulted in closing the prison, and Mihara and his family returned home to San Francisco.
The mandatory relocation mainly affected Japanese-Americans on the West Coast. Mihara will explain why military officers in other parts of the country did not remove Japanese, German, and Italian families.
Mihara earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkley, and graduate degrees in engineering from UCLA. He joined the Boeing Company, serving as a rocket scientist and space program executive.
After retirement, Mihara became a national speaker on mass imprisonment, including presenting as a visiting lecturer at UCLA, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton, as well as testifying to Congress. In 2018, the National Council for History Education awarded Mihara a prestigious Paul Gagnon Prize—the first time it was awarded to a Japanese-American and the first time to a Californian. His podcast on Public Podcasting has reached more than 2.5 million listeners.
His book, Blindsided—The Life and Times of Sam Mihara, will be available for purchase at the lecture.
Tickets to all Premier Lectures cost $15 per person and can be purchased online at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org. Tickets also may be purchased in the theater lobby, using cash only, beginning an hour before the lecture, subject to availability.
LLL Contact Information
* Website: www.lifelonglearningatpc.org
* Email: [email protected]
* LLL Center hours: Closed until further notice