LIFELONG LEARNING COURSE

Many people call the Sonoran Desert and its striking landscapes home. Long before our urban centers and city lights lit up the dark desert skies, the Tohono O’odham were cultivating and shaping the land with abundant agriculture. Learn about the foodways of the Tohono O'odham and their connection to the land, plants and animals. This includes pre-encounter methods of farming, hunting, and food gathering, contemporary cultivation methods and effects of food subsidy programs on traditional diet.

Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan is Tohono O’odham and from the San Xavier District. She serves as faculty in the Tohono O’odham Studies Program at Tohono O’odham Community College. Ramon-Sauberan earned her PhD in American Indian Studies with a minor in Journalism at the University of Arizona in May 2023. Her research focuses on the history of land and water in the San Xavier District and she has written for news publications across the US including Indian Country Today. Ramon-Sauberan is also a communication specialist for the National Science Foundation’s AURA/NOIRLab closely working with Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Course Format

This class will run for 5 weeks; registered community members will meet with Professor Ramon-Sauberan for four live online sessions on the following Tuesdays from 5:00PM to 6:30 PM: March 5, 12, 19 and 26. The last class (class #5) will be in person at San Xavier Cooperative Farm. The final in person class is intended to be a hands on learning experience. The date will be determined by community classroom students but will be held the first week/end in April. 

Attendance & Participation

This course will be delivered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. All class sessions will be LIVE ONLINE and will be recorded. The recordings will be shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions. 

Refunds

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (March 11, 2024). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at 520-626-0626 or sbscommunitymatters@arizona.edu.  A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Registration

Online registration for this course will open December 18, 2023 at 10 AM. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive class instructions 1 week before the start of the course. 

In this four-session series offered by faculty members at the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism, participants will learn about current trends in journalism and news media practices. They will review the ever-changing ways in which audiences seek out information and examine the trends that shape the platforms Americans turn to for news.

Session 1: Bilingual Journalism: Where, When, How, Why?

Instructor: Jessica Retis, Professor and Director

In this session with Dr. Jessica Retis, Director of the School of Journalism, participants will review the history, current state and future of the English, Spanish and bilingual audiences and the media outlets that seek to reach them. Based on a decade-long experience researching bilingual journalism in the United States, Dr. Retis will share ongoing findings on bilingual news media practices in California, New York, Florida and Arizona.

Session 2: True Crime Unveiled: How Journalists Speak Truth to Power

Instructor: Pate McMichael, Professor of Practice and Associate Director

Associate Director Pate McMichael will illustrate how to pursue true crime stories without sacrificing journalism ethics. McMichael will break down the recipe for finding crime stories of consequence, rich narratives that meet at the intersection of journalism and history. Participants will learn the code for planning, researching, and writing true crime stories that matter.

Session 3: Radio and Audio Storytelling

Instructor: Kendal Blust, Professor of Practice

Most of us have listened to the news at some point - whether it’s our local NPR station in the car or a podcast on our smartphones. In this session, we’ll talk about the latest in radio and podcasting, from the rising popularity of audio storytelling and what makes it so effective, to how the industry is changing and the challenges it faces. Expect to hear some excellent audio pieces, as well!

Session 4: The Evolution of Community Photojournalism in Tucson

Instructor: Rick Wiley, Professor of Practice

Technology has helped photojournalists with legacy print news organizations cover more events and deliver photos in minutes. Despite the efficiency, the economics of the news business has forced tradeoffs in coverage. 

Course Format

This class will be offered in person. Registered community members will meet with School of Journalism faculty who will be presenting on different trending journalism topics from week to week. This lecture series consists of four in-person sessions on the following Thursdays from 5 to 7 PM: October 26, November 2, 9 and 16.

Refunds

Refunds are available and must be requested before the second class meeting (November 2, 2023). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at communitymatters@arizona.edu or at 520-626-0626
A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Registration

Online registration for this course will open August 1, 2023 at 9 AM. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive class instructions 1 week before the start of the course. 

Register Now

Location & Parking

Marshall Building (845 N Park Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719). Recommended parking garages include: Main Gate and Tyndall Avenue.

Campus Parking Map

A survey of the culture and history of the Tohono O’odham from Pre-history up to the 1980’s. Includes an examination of the issues and events that have affected the lifestyle of the O’odham and how Spanish, Mexican, and American influence has impacted and shaped O’odham history and culture. Also includes an analysis of the available sources on the cultural and historical development of the Tohono O’odham.

Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan is Tohono O’odham and from the San Xavier District. She serves as faculty in the Tohono O’odham Studies Program at Tohono O’odham Community College. Ramon-Sauberan earned her PhD in American Indian Studies with a minor in Journalism at the University of Arizona in May 2023. Her research focuses on the history of land and water in the San Xavier District, and she has written for news publications across the US including Indian Country Today. Ramon-Sauberan is also a communication specialist for the National Science Foundation’s AURA/NOIRLab closely working with Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Course Format

Registered community members will meet with Professor Ramon-Sauberan for four live online sessions on the following Mondays from 4:30PM to 6 PM: September 11, 18, 25 and October 2. 

Attendance & Participation

This course will be delivered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. All class sessions will be LIVE ONLINE and will be recorded. The recordings will be shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions. 

Refunds

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (September 18, 2023). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at 520-626-0626 or sbscommunitymatters@arizona.edu.  A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Registration

Online registration for this course will open August 1, 2023 at 9 AM. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive class instructions 1 week before the start of the course. 

Register Now

More than a source of entertainment, music has played a central role in Black struggles for racial justice in the United States. From the spirituals created by enslaved Africans in the antebellum South, to hip hop lyrics chanted during protests in the summer of 2020, the history of Black music is also a history of Black protest.  

In this course, we will examine the development of protest music in four different eras of U.S. history. First, we will discuss the ways enslaved Africans used music as a tool of protest in the antebellum South. Second, we will explore how depictions of race, gender, and sexuality in blues music reveal a history of dissent during the “Jim Crow” era. Third, we will analyze how the evolution of rhythm and blues after World War II relates to the growth of the civil rights movement. Finally, we will study the role of rap music in protests against police violence in Black communities since the 1980s. Each segment of the course will use a wide range of archival materials – song lyrics, studio recordings, and film footage – to examine the intersection of race, culture, and politics in Black American society. 

Tyina Steptoe is an associate professor of history at the University of Arizona. Her research and teaching focus on race, gender, and culture in the United States. Her 2015 book, "Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City," examines how migration affected notions of race in Houston, Texas, between the 1920s and 1960s. "Houston Bound" won several awards, including honors from the Urban History Association and the Western History Association. She is currently working on a book that explores the history of gender and sexuality in rhythm and blues music. Professor Steptoe also produces and hosts "Soul Stories," a program that explores the history of R&B music, on 91.3-FM KXCI Tucson community radio.

Read this article for a Q&A with Dr. Tyina Steptoe  https://news.arizona.edu/story/what-makes-black-protest-song-history-su…

Course Format

Registered community members will meet with Professor Tyina Steptoe for four live online sessions on the following Tuesdays from 4 to 6 PM: April 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th.

Readings and Syllabus

Syllabus will be sent via email along with recommended readings to all registered students. 

Attendance & Participation

This course will be delivered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. All class sessions will be LIVE ONLINE and will be recorded. Students will receive a Zoom link to join prior to the start of class and recordings will be shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions.

Registration

Online registration for this course will open December 7, 2022 at 10 AM. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive class instructions 1-2 weeks before the start of the course.

Refunds

Refunds are available and must be requested before the second class meeting (April 11th). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at communitymatters@arizona.edu. 

A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Course Description

The modern bicycle has been present in human lives for less than a century and a half, but in that brief period it has spread throughout the world and its popularity is near-universal. In this course we will trace the evolution of bicycles in four distinct ways: First, as a transportation device, with a history of innovation and development that will focus on the bicycle’s history as a machine. Second, we will look at the role of the bicycle in shaping race, class, and gender relations and zero in on the labor exploitation of race and class that was facilitated by the development of the bicycle. We also examine the role that social class had to play in the take-off of the bicycle as a transportation and leisure device. Third, we examine the bicycle’s role in the growth of female independence, popular club formation, the women’s suffrage movement, and female marriage patterns. Fourth, we will discuss bicycles as devices for human pleasure, leisure time, exercise, and as a politicized site of environmental and political protest via Biketivism.

Each segment will also interpret and discuss the bicycle as visual art to explore the relationship between art, consumption, and commodity development. Similarly, bicycles, as forms of human expression, will help us evaluate cultural meaning as it pertains to bicycles and human societies. Combined, the four sections or moments of the course will assist us in exploring the bicycle’s invention, growth, and development from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries in societies around the world – a global approach to its study.

In addition, we're partnering with Familias Unidas Ganando Accesibilidad (FUGA) for a community bike ride on Friday, September 30th at 6pm. Join the class for 4 weeks of lectures and a community experience led by this local mobility advocacy group. Come make history with us!

Course Format

This class will be offered both in person or online. Students who opt to attend the class in person should plan to meet on campus for all four sessions. Students who are unable to or prefer to attend remotely will be provided a zoom link prior to the start of class. The link will provide a livestream of the in-person class.  

Registered community members will meet with Professor Ortiz for four in-person sessions on the following Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 PM: September 15, 22, 29, and October 6.

Readings and Syllabus

See syllabus attached below. Syllabus will also be sent via email along with recommended readings to all registered students. 

Attendance & Participation

This course is offered in a hybrid format which means students can either attend the class online via zoom (streamed) or they can attend in-person on the University of Arizona Tucson Campus. Students will receive information on how to access the class online and/or in person 1 week prior to the start of class. 

Registration

Online registration for this course will open August 1, 2022 at 10 AM. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive class instructions 1 week before the start of the course. 

Refunds

Refunds are available and must be requested before the second class meeting (September 22). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at communitymatters@email.arizona.edu
A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Course Description

In this three-week online course with David Yetman, research social scientist at the University of Arizona, you will wander around Arizona taking in the state's natural history and the monumental geological forces that have shaped what we see today. The irregularities that form our landscapes reveal a deep and violent geological history, but their size, variety, and majesty have also inspired humans and their imaginations.  Over the last twelve thousand years or so, people have related mythical stories and historical events that commemorate the significance of our natural monuments. 

Arizona has a greater variety of landscapes than any other state except for California. Our great continental deserts--the Chihuahuan, Great Basin, Mohave, and Sonoran combine to cover much of Arizona, each with its characteristic life forms and each shaped by deep forces and world climates.  Our Sonoran Desert is an exquisite product of global climatic forces and local geological history, all related to the natural monuments that rise from the flats and shape our consciousness of where we are.  They also form a deeper impression in our brains than we are liable to admit.  The monuments are a convenient excuse to form a deeper understanding of the land that makes us who we are.

Since 1992, David Yetman has found an academic home at the Southwest Center of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. From 2001 to 2010, he hosted the PBS series The Desert Speaks.

Since 2011 he has been host and co-producer of In the Americas with David Yetman. 

Course Format

Registered community members will meet with Professor Yetman for three live online sessions on the following Mondays from 5:30 to 7 PM: August 15, 22, and 29.

Attendance & Participation

This course will be delivered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. All class sessions will be LIVE ONLINE and will be recorded. The recordings will be shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Monday, August 1, 2022 at 10 AM. After registration, participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive instructions about how to access the course online 1-2 weeks before the start of the course.

Refunds

Refunds are available and must be requested before the second class meeting (August 22). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu. 

A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a massive, very fast-moving humanitarian crisis. Millions of Ukrainians are internally displaced or fleeing the country as refugees. Russian human rights activists have also fled their country, as have others opposed to the war and tightening autocratic rule. Taking a human rights perspective, this fully online course will focus on the regional history and politics leading to the February 24 Russian military invasion of Ukraine, and the leadership strategies/tactics of Putin and Zelensky in the crisis. We will examine the roles and actions of the US and other NATO countries in response.

Take part in video conferences and webinars with leading, journalists, Ukrainian cultural icons, the only Ukrainian judge on the European Court of Human Rights, Ukrainian human rights attorneys, activists gathering evidence for war crimes, those driving Ukrainians out of conflict areas by mini-van, and many more. Participants will learn about such critical issues as War Crimes and Genocide, Conflict-related Sexual Violence, Ukrainian Cultural Resistance,  Putinism, Propaganda and Disinformation, and Ukrainian History, Language, and Identity.  Participants in this community class will follow along with a University of Arizona class on these topics and can take part in as many of the class activities as they choose.  The will be opportunities to work with others on real-world projects to help those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This class will be co-instructed by Olena Tanchyk, former Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Donetsk State University of Management. Olena will pull from her personal experiences with the 2014 Russian invasion of the Donbas and more recent invasion in Mariupol where she now resides, to facilitate a first hand account of this humanitarian crisis. 

Readings and Syllabus

 Syllabus distributed in class

Attendance & Participation

Class Format

Each week, the class will incorporate readings and video overviews (available on Sundays), a variety of guest lectures from the field (usually Mondays or Tuesdays), and periodic webinars (usually Fridays). Lectures and webinars will be recorded for those who cannot attend the live zoom meetings. We will also offer voluntary weekly zoom meetings for class discussions; these will not be recorded. Participants will choose and complete project-based assignments during the course.

Registration

Students not enrolled at UA who want to have this count as college credit can consider enrolling as a non-degree seeking student and taking this at university tuition rates.  You may contact Tavia Szostek tavia@arizona.edu regarding this option. 

For UA students, this is also being taught as a 496B/596B course for 3 credits. 

Participants not seeking college credit should register here through the Community Classroom Program. Contact communitymatters@email.arizona.edu for available scholarships. 

Online registration for this course will open on Monday April 11th, at 8 AM MST. After registration participants will receive a receipt of registration. Subsequently, participants will receive instructions about how to access the course online 1-2 weeks prior to the start of the course.

Refunds

Refunds are available and need to be requested before or by May 20th, 2022. To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at communitymatters@email.arizona.edu

A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Course Description

In this four-session class with Dr. Michelle Tellez, Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies, participants will examine the experiences of mothers as they navigate social, political, economic, and cultural borders across the US/Mexico borderlands. Ideologies of motherhood shape how mothers are perceived and how motherhood is experienced which typically results in monolithic conceptions that do not capture the expansive ways in which caregiving is provided by other mothers, families, communities, and other kinship structures. Research shows that class, race, gender, sexuality, and place frame mothering practices, yet ‘successful’ mothering is typically not measured with this understanding. In this course, we will collectively ask: what is mothering? What does mothering look like across borders? What does mothering look like in community? What kinds of burdens and expectations are placed on mothers that are directly linked to the political economy? Through lectures and case studies, this course will extend notions of motherhood by studying various models including but not limited to: transnational mothering, radical mothering, and mothering for social justice.

Course Format

Registered community members will meet with Professor Tellez for four live online sessions on the following Wednesdays from 5:30PM to 7 PM: April 13, 20, 27 and May 4.

Attendance & Participation

This course will be delivered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. All class sessions will be LIVE ONLINE and will be recorded. The recordings will be shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions. 

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Monday, December 6, 2021, at 10 a.m. After registration, participants will receive instructions about how to access the course online.

Refunds

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (April 20). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at 520-626-0626 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu.  A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Course Description

In this course, we will learn a little of the Klingon language, from the (unfortunately fictional) Star Trek universe.  We will also learn about the principles Marc Okrand used to create the Klingon language, including how he made it in some ways like a human language, and in others different from a typical or even possible human language.  We will learn some Klingon pronunciation and grammar and a little bit of introduction to linguistics, and then we'll see how much we can understand of some of the Klingon language used in Star Trek.  We'll also learn a few good insults in Klingon, like how to say "Your ship is a garbage scow," as well as useful phrases like "Where do you keep the chocolate?"  We'll also explore how learners of Klingon here on Earth have taken the language further, for example by translating pop songs and Shakespeare into Klingon.  Join us and prepare for your next vacation on Qo'noS, the Klingon homeworld. Qapla'! (Success!) 

Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and Star Trek: Discovery are all registered trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. No copyright infringement is intended through the display of content on this site. All copyrighted material is included under “fair use” principles. Star Trek Minutiae is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with CBS Studios Inc. or the Star Trek franchise.

Course Format

Registered community members will meet with Professor Warner for five in-person sessions on the following Mondays from 5:30 to 7:30 PM: March 7,14, 21, 28 and April 4.

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Monday, December 6, 2021, at 10 a.m. After registration, participants will receive instructions about how to access the course online.

Refunds

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (March14). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at 520-626-0626 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu.  A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Location & Parking

This class will be held in person at the Loft Cinema.

Course Description

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, has become widely known as a case study of human-induced environmental catastrophe resulting in cultural collapse.  The island’s alleged tragic history is offered as a cautionary tale of our own environmental recklessness and flirtation with catastrophe on a global scale.  However, a closer look at the actual archaeological and historical record for the island reveals that while an ecological transformation unfolded, the ancient Polynesians adapted, persisted. Indeed, the ancient people succeeded despite the odds.  

In this course, Dr. Terry Hunt, one of the world’s foremost experts on Rapa Nui (and current Dean of the W.A Franke Honors College at UArizona) will review the evidence for Polynesian migrations and ancient American connections.  We will examine Rapa Nui archaeology in detail, including how the massive statues were transported to every part of the island. And how did they place multi-ton “hats” (pukao) atop the giant statues? We go on to consider deforestation, climate, and the constraints ancient islanders faced. Our attention turns to the island’s resilience in ancient times, population, and community organization and adaptation.  Finally, we will take a look at Rapa Nui today and the issues confronting islanders.

In this course we assemble the evidence for the island’s astonishing prehistory and explore how and why this most isolated and remarkable culture adapted over prehistory before contact with the outside world.  Perhaps Rapa Nui has a lesson for us today, but it is not the one that has become so popular in recent years.

Course Format

Registered community members will meet with Professor Hunt for six live online sessions on the following Wednesdays from 5 to 6:30 PM: January 19, 26, February 2, 9, 16 and 23.

Attendance & Participation

This course will be delivered via the University of Arizona Zoom platform. All class sessions will be LIVE ONLINE and will be recorded. The recordings will be shared with registered students after each session to facilitate access for those who cannot make the live sessions. 

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Monday, December 6, 2021, at 10 a.m. After registration, participants will receive instructions about how to access the course online.

Refunds

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (January 26). To drop a class, please contact Stephanie Noriega at 520-626-0626 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu.  A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.