Monday, June 6, 2022, 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-Person, Zoom, On-Demand
This lecture will explore the science of Heliobiology and will provide information on how solar activity affects human biology. The lecturer will demonstrate, through data gathered in recent peer-reviewed articles, the effects of the Sun’s 11-year cycle, solar radiation, geomagnetic storms, and solar flares on human physical and behavioral health. Finally, a discussion will be held on what the future holds and what can be done about the effects of the Sun on human biology.
Instructor: Anthony Triola
Anthony Triola is a retired Military Intelligence U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4), having spent 25 years in active duty, and a total of 33 months in combat. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Texas A&M University, Central Texas, and is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Warrant Officer Senior Staff Course.
Monday, June 6, 2022, 10:30 – 12:00, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-Person, Zoom.
Faced with some serious questions after receiving a draft notice a few days after my 19th birthday, I began making many choices that evolved into fulfilling military and civil helicopter aviation careers. This lecture will cover my 41 years of continuous service in the active Army, Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard that spanned three combat zones plus cold war Europe. While focusing on my firsthand experience with the tactical deployment of helicopters in combat, I will briefly review my experience in corporate and commercial helicopter aviation. We will review a short Army helicopter pilot training film from that period. My personal collection of wooden Army helicopter models will also be available for viewing.
Instructor: Pat Leone
Retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Pat Leone served as a helicopter aviator in the active Army, and in the Army National Guard and Reserve until his retirement at age 60. Accruing 1500 combat hours in Viet Nam and Iraq, he also served in cold war Europe and post combat operations in Bosnia, achieving a number of service awards and decorations. Mr. Leone had an extensive parallel career in commercial, corporate, and educational helicopter aviation.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person.
This seminar will provide practical steps and coping strategies for reducing one’s overly anxious reaction to having cancer. It will help identify and teach realistic thought patterns and healthier problem-solving skills not only for the patient, but also for their families and friends.
Instructor: Dr. Bill Lotak
Dr. Bill Lotak is a retired clinical psychologist with over 30 years of clinical practice, with over half of those years devoted to helping individuals cope with medical and pain issues. In a general hospital setting, he initiated and facilitated cancer support groups and provided clinical services to the hospital’s oncology unit. He currently volunteers with Reel Recovery, a men’s fishing and cancer support group. He hold a BS in Psychology from Loyola University, an MsED from Chicago State University, and a PsyD in Clinical Psychology from IL School of Professional Psychology.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 10:30 am – 11:30 am, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person
Most Americans, many of whom have never read Mark Twain’s fiction, position him at one ideological extreme or another: either he’s a secular saint, the quintessential icon of wholesome, wisecracking, humanistic American values, or he’s an embodiment of white privilege, a white man in a white suit whose pleasure reflected in racial caricature and racist vocabulary is an inverse measure of someone else’s pain. Both extremes traffic in the sorts of moral absolutes that Mark Twain found as dangerous as they are simplistic. What we hope to accomplish in this session — using Twain’s writing as an example — is to demonstrate how thoroughly American it is to wrestle with dichotomies.
Instructor: Dr. Laura Trombley
Laura Skandera Trombley, Southwestern University’s 16th President, is the first woman chosen to lead Texas’s first university and is a preeminent Mark Twain scholar. As a graduate student, Trombley was the first scholar to examine and catalog the largest cache of Mark Twain letters to date leading to her first book, Mark Twain in the Company of Women, which Choice selected as one of the outstanding academic books of 1995. Trombley holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from Pepperdine University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Southern California.
Wednesday, June 8, 9:00 – 10:00, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person, Zoom, On-demand
This course, presented by a former teacher of the deaf during the 1970s in a state residential school for the deaf, offers a unique perspective on the history of American Sign Language (ASL), deaf education in America, and the fascinating culture of the deaf community. The class will demonstrate the basic structure of ASL and provide a brief history of the sweeping legislation passed by the federal government between 1970-90 to protect the rights of people with disabilities. As a result, sign language was finally recognized as the legitimate, natural language of the deaf and a critical component of deaf education programs.
Instructor: Dr. Charlotte Parramore
Dr. Parramore was a teacher of the deaf for 10 years, and a teacher in general education classrooms for another 3 years prior to becoming a school principal for 10 years. After receiving a doctorate in educational administration, she served for 8 years as an assistant superintendent of schools for leadership of curriculum, instruction, and staff development. After retirement from public schools, she served for 10 years as a consultant working to improve the performance of failing schools in Texas.
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 10:30 – 11:30, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person, Zoom, On-demand.
Music and history presented live! With guitar! Bill has been a student of American folk music for more than 60 years, and in this Senior University lecture, he will be sharing songs and stories from some of the great figures of the American folk music scene. Come and sing along!
Instructor: Dr. Bill Poe
Bill Poe is a retired Presbyterian minister with a passion for music. As a minister he served churches in Bryan, Houston, and Sherman, Texas, and in Little Rock, Arkansas. He and his wife, Betty Anne, have been married for 54 years. They, along with all their children and grandchildren, live here in Williamson County.
Thursday, June 9, 2022, 9:00 – 10:00, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person, Zoom, On-demand
I’m sitting on my porch in Costa Rica watching a stream of ants moving along a well-cleared highway carrying pieces of my shampoo ginger bush away. What are these creatures? Where are they taking my leaves? What do they use them for, deep underground? An ant researcher once said that if aliens came to earth and poked around, the most fascinating things they would encounter would be leaf cutter ants. By the end of this presentation, you will be amazed.
Instructor: Ron Snell
Ron Snell was raised in the Amazon jungle and has lived in several tropical countries. Most recently he lived in the Costa Rican jungle seven years and became fascinated by tropical insects. Ron holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Linguistics from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from UT Austin. He is currently the Executive Director of Senior University Georgetown.
Thursday, June 9, 2022, 10:30 – 11:30, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person, Zoom, On-demand.
Is something missing in your life? I would assert it is the deep peaceful feeling of meditation. This meditation course guides you to create a daily practice to improve inner peace, discover the advantages of meditation, the science behind it, who’s doing it, and how it works. You will learn different meditation methods to regain focus, dissolve emotional imbalances, improve healthy sleep patterns and increase overall health. Reclaim the joy in your life!
Instructor: Ki Browning
Ki Browning, BA, CHT, RYT, has been in the health & wellness field for over 20-years. Internationally trained, she is a Meditation Instructor, Health & Wellness Seminar Leader, Mind-Body-Spirit Life Coach, Registered Yoga Teacher, and Nutrition Educator. She holds an Honors Degree from University of Texas in Psychology and is the author of “Zenergy: Mind, Body, Spirit”. She also has designed an audio CD teaching meditation skills in 5, 10 & 15 minutes and teaches meditation and yoga at Sun City, the Georgetown Recreation Center and on Zoom.
Friday, June 10, 2022, 9:00 – 10:00, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person, Zoom, On-demand.
Between 1850 and 1900 the population of Williamson County increased rapidly, largely due to immigrants from Europe. The 3 main countries were Germany, Sweden and Czechoslovakia. Each nationality settled in a geographically distinct area of the county, and their culture is still present there today.
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Benold
Stephen Benold, MD, has been teaching economics and various other courses for Senior University for 18 years. His under-graduate degree was in economics from Rice University where he was the Hayden Honor Scholar in Economics. He retired as the medical director of the Williamson County EMS, but he maintains a private financial practice.
Friday, June 10, 2022, 10:30 – 12:00, Southwestern University Olin Hall Rm 105, In-person, Zoom, On-Demand
The City of Corpus Christi is poised to have the first municipal seawater desalination plant in Texas in the very near future. This lecture on “Seawater to Drinking Water” will cover the history of seawater desalination worldwide, seawater development in the United States, Texas seawater desalination initiatives, and the specifics of the City of Corpus Christi seawater desalination projects. Participants will be exposed to how seawater desalination works and the new technology advances. The environmental concerns of seawater desalination will be addressed along with a discussion of the State permitting process.
Instructor: Mike Morrison
Mike Morrison has more than 50 years of experience practicing engineering design. He holds a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, is a Texas Professional Engineer, Diplomat of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer.