Science, Air Safety, Music and more! Monday morning lectures will appeal to you.
There’s a topic bound to appeal to everyone who is interested in learning more about the world around them this month as LifeLong Learning brings you the last four Monday Morning Lectures of the season. Please mark your calendars for these lectures that begin at 10:00 a.m. Tickets are $4 per person and will go on sale at 9:00 a.m.
Dr. Klaus Lackner
March 7: An Idea That Could Change the World
Can machines actually clone themselves? Not yet, but the study of machines that can construct identical copies of themselves holds the promise of new technologies to address climate change and food shortages.
Dr. Klaus Lackner is the director of Center for Negative Carbon Emissions and professor at the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University. His interest in self-replicating machine systems was recognized by Discover Magazine as one of seven ideas that could change the world. He has been instrumental in new ideas about climate change since 1995.
March 14: A Christian Caught in the Holocaust
Ursula Erika Yunger, born in Berlin at the beginning of WWII, was a Christian child of a Jewish mother when she, four siblings and her pregnant mother went into hiding.
Then in June 1948, the Berlin Airlift began as the U.S. and its allies dropped 2.3 million tons of food and supplies to save Berlin citizens from starvation, including her family. She then began to dream of coming to America “to help someone, too.” In 1970 she became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.
Her testimony is included in the Shoah Foundation’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.
Federal Air Marshall Annmarie Lontz
March 21: U.S. Federal Air Marshals Protecting the Skies
Do you wonder if the person seated next to you on a plane is a U.S. Federal Air Marshal assigned to keep our airways safe?
Federal agents have been riding commercial airlines since 1961, after four U.S. flights were hijacked. The service has expanded considerably since then, particularly after 911.
PebbleCreek’s Annmarie Lontz, part of the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service since 1993, has served as assistant director in the Office of Security Services and Assessments Division since July 2013. She has conducted investigations and assessments of airport and airplane security around the world and testifies frequently before Congressional committees about security issues.
Eileen Morgan
March 28: Communicating with Asian Instruments
For the last MML of the season, Eileen Morgan will bring a totally new musical experience when she demonstrates Taiko, an ancient art form.
Taiko, Japanese for “great drum,” is a form of communication originated in Asia centuries ago when the resounding beat of the massive drums, ranging from one to six feet in diameter, could be heard over great distances to warn of the approach of an impending disaster.
Eileen explores how art affects our outlook on life and self-perception. She will also play and explain other drums and wind instruments from Japan, China and Korea.
Jerry Ross
March 18: NASA’s frequent flyer visits PebbleCreek
From the age of ten, Jerry Ross knew that he wanted to journey into space. He became one of the most launched astronauts in history, as well as a NASA veteran whose career spanned the entire Space Shuttle program.
Ross will share his incredible story at PebbleCreek on Friday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theatre illustrating with photos and a video of STS-110, his last Space Shuttle mission during which he performed two space walks to help build the International Space Station.
Ross charted a path to NASA after overcoming many setbacks—-from failing to qualify for Air Force pilot training because of bad eyesight, to an initial failure to be selected into the astronaut program. He spent 42 years in the U.S. Air Force, including 33 years at NASA, and retired as a Colonel in 2012.
The first person to be launched into space seven times, he shares an individual world record for the most spaceflights flown. He flew in space for 1,393 hours and walked in space nine times for a total of 58 hours. He was instrumental in the creation and assembly of the International Space Station, helping to develop and create the facilities, tools, techniques and training needed to construct it.
Ross received 15 NASA medals and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Purdue University in 2000, where his archives are stored. In May 2014, he was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
He now inspires young people to believe in themselves, especially to achieve their dreams through science education.
Tickets to the lecture are $15 per person and may be purchased online or when tickets are sold before Monday Morning Lectures.
Learn more about him at http://www.jerrylross.com/ or view his official biography at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ross.html.
Although Jerry is unable to bring books with him, he is more than willing to autograph any books you bring. His excellent books SPACEWALKER and Becoming a SPACEWALKER are both available on amazon.com and other sites. Becoming a SPACEWALKER is an excellent book for grandkids who want to pursue an exciting career!
What’s happening in March
Monday Morning Lectures begin at 10:00 a.m. and are $4 at the door. Premier Lectures are $15 at the door or in advance online.
Please note: Registration is required for all classes and trips. If an event is filled, please join the wait list as openings often become available and will be filled in order of registration. Great Decision sessions continue on the schedule set in January.
For more information about these events, please visit www.lifelonglearningatpc.org.
March 2: Trip to Yuma; filled. Add your name to the Wait List.
March 7: Monday Morning Lecture, Dr. Klaus Lackner, Self-Replicating Machines, 10:00 a.m.
March 8: Arizona History class, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
March 9: Vegetarian Diet Class, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
March 10: Cinema Society movie, 10:00 a.m.
March 14: Monday Morning Lecture, Ursula Erika Yunger, A Christian’s Experience in the Holocaust
March 16: Trip to the David Wright House; filled. Wait List
March 17: Art Museum Virtual Tour of Whitney Museum of American Art, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
TED Talk 3; must register. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
March 18: Premier Lecture, Jerry Ross, NASA’s Frequent Flyer, 7:00 p.m., $15
March 21: Monday Morning Lecture with Annmarie Lontz, Federal Air Marshal Service
March 23: Writing class, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
March 24: Trip to Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West; space available
March 28: Monday Morning Lecture: Eileen Morgan, Communicating with Asian Instruments
Planning the 2016-2017 LLL season
Now that the 2015–2016 season is winding down with a full slate in March – Monday Morning and Premier Lectures, classes, trips, a movie and TED Talk – plus a few trips and other events in April, the LLL team is beginning to brainstorm, plan and contract for a wonderful season starting in October 2016.
As in the past, we welcome and invite your suggestions of places to visit, classes to hold and speakers to invite to enhance LifeLong Learning at PebbleCreek. If you or someone you know has an interesting story to tell, or you have visited a fascinating place in Arizona, send us the information. We have already started to build our files of possibilities and will begin planning in earnest by the end of this month. We will also review the results of the recent LLL Survey and incorporate the suggestions from that into our thinking and planning.
And if you want to volunteer to be on the LLL team, let us know that, too, so we can discover where your skills and talents would be most helpful and rewarding.
Please contact Phyllis Minsuk, [email protected], or Dennis DeFrain, [email protected], co-chairs of LifeLong Learning at PebbleCreek.