LIFELONG LEARNING COURSE

In this very timely, seven-week course community members will study, without pressure of graded assignments, alongside University of Arizona graduate students enrolled in the Human Rights Practice program. The course is taught entirely online by Journalism Professor Margaret Zanger, an expert on covering and teaching about international crises.

The course will explore human rights repercussions globally stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic presents an era-defining challenge to public health and the global economy, but also to the protection of the human rights of vulnerable peoples such as migrant workers, prisoners, refugees, activists, women, and children. While restriction of some rights (freedom of movement, for example) may be necessary in some crises, and to ease a pandemic, the situation is ripe for more severe and long-term opportunistic curtailment of human rights in a number of countries. A global crisis like a pandemic also strains the international crisis response systems and further debilitates vulnerable populations.

In this learner-centered course, community participants will have access to almost all of the course materials from the graduate class including readings, lectures, and videos, and will be able to choose the level of their participation:

1)     Access to video-conference lectures by leading stakeholders on the ground from around the globe.

2)     Access to weekly discussion boards with a dedicated coordinator (Dr. Amalia Mora)

3)     Access to synchronous and asynchronous video conferences with the course instructor

4)     Access to presentations prepared by the enrolled graduate students

5)     Opportunities to take action to advance human rights

Weekly schedule:

• By Monday evening of each week a video introduction on the week’s topic and/or a recap of the last week will be posted along with a relevant list of readings, video documentaries and podcasts.
• Toward the end of each week we will host a guest discussant and will include community members live to the extent possible. Certainly, a video of the conversation will be posted ASAP for community members.
• The course coordinator or instructor will facilitate a discussion on the week’s topic during the week or beginning of the next. 

A typical week includes:

• A 15 to 30-minute video introduction to the weekly theme and a wrap up of the last week from the instructor
• A 60 to 90-minute online talk and discussion by a guest activist
• A weekly online discussion board moderated by the course coordinator 

Readings and Syllabus

Dr. Amalia Mora will be the coordinator in this class and will facilitate the access of the course materials, lead discussion boards, and host synchronous video conferences throughout the course. Once participants are registered, they will be connected with Amalia and be sent instructions on how to access materials.

Registration

Refunds are available and need to be requested before or by May 25. To drop a class, please contact Kerstin Miller at 520-621-5111 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu. A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Join us for a five-week online course and get a glimpse into a popular health psychology lecture class that was offered to University of Arizona undergraduates in the Department of Psychology this spring.   This non-credit course is open to the Tucson community without the pressure of exams and papers.

This new Community Classroom course will review the health issues that arose as the pandemic spread around the globe. At the time, Dr. David Sbarra was teaching a course on Health Psychology, which is an interdisciplinary approach to topics in medicine, public health, epidemiology, and nursing. This Community Classroom course will pick up where Dr. Sbarra’s undergraduate class left off and help examine the psychological research on the medical and social dimensions of health that can be used to improve health outcomes and healthcare systems.

If you register for this class, you will be able to review the 10 Key Topic mini-lectures (MLs) that Dr. Sbarra presented to his health psychology course. Each week you will review two such lectures on your own time. These mini-lectures are about 20 minutes long and were recorded between March and May 2020: some remain immediately relevant, while others are useful for background on current developments. After having reviewed two prerecorded lectures each week, you will then join Dr. Sbarra in an hour-long Zoom classroom for a real-time online discussion.  During this class period, you will get introduced to the vibrant field of health psychology, learn about how the issues involved have changed, and talk about personal and national challenges we are facing. 

Meeting schedule for the five hour-long Zoom classroom sessions:

Thursday, May 28: 10-11 AM

Thursday, June 4: 10-11 AM

Thursday, June 11: 10-11 AM

Thursday, June 18: 10-11 AM 

Thursday, June 25: 10-11 AM

List of  the 10 Key Topic mini-lectures:

1. Stress Management in the Face of a Disease Pandemic
2. The Biology of a Coronavirus and COVID-19
3. COVID-19 Epidemiology: Disease Transmission and Outbreak Patterns
4. The Psychology and Mental Health Ramifications of Social-distancing, Self-Quarantine, and Isolation
5. Illness Anxiety, and the Psychological of Panic and Hysteria
6. The Role of Public Health, Governments, and Politics in Health Decision Making
7. Social and Cultural Perspectives: Stigma, Blame, Acceptability of Government Interventions
8. Socioeconomics and Impact on Marginalized Communities
9. Science Communication and the Media
10. Mapping the History of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus and COVID-19

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at 10 a.m.

Refunds are available and need to be requested before or by June 5. To drop a class, please contact Kerstin Miller at 520-621-5111 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu. A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

In this seven-week course community members will be introduced to one of the most interesting and cutting-edge issues in human rights practice.  They will study, without pressure of graded assignments, alongside University of Arizona graduate students enrolled in the online Human Rights Practice program.  This fully online course is taught by Dr. Robin Reineke, who has been on the forefront of using the tools of forensic anthropology to advance human rights.

Dr. Reineke will introduce course participants to the field of forensic anthropology and demonstrate how this field has been applied in human rights investigations. The science and technology of forensic anthropology is uniquely capable of corroborating victim testimony, revealing systematic violence, and providing pathways for healing for post-conflict societies. Dr. Reineke will lead the class through a fascinating history of the use of forensic anthropology in human rights investigations, and facilitate discussions of the complicated challenges by forensic scientists and survivor communities alike. Guest speakers will include high-profile forensic anthropologists with experience in such human rights contexts including Argentina, Guatemala, the former Yugoslavia, the U.S.-Mexico border, and others.

Participants will have access to readings, online documentaries, podcasts, and interactive web-content that they can explore at their own pace. They will have access to lectures by the instructor and presentations by guest experts from around the globe. They will be invited to participate in weekly discussion boards, where they will receive feedback from Dr. Amalia Mora, the course coordinator, and also join two synchronous video discussions with fellow classmates led by the course coordinator.  Those two video discussions are scheduled for week one and tentatively week six. Finally, participants will be provided with opportunities to engage in human rights work related to forensic anthropology locally.

Synchronous meetings with the instructor and the course coordinator will be hosted through the Zoom video conferencing platform.

Readings and Syllabus

Dr. Amalia Mora will be the coordinator in this class and will facilitate the access of the course materials, lead discussion boards, and host two synchronous video conferences throughout the course, one in week one and the other in week five. Once participants are registered, they will be connected with Amalia and be sent instructions on how to access materials.

Weekly schedule:

• The instructor will post weekly videos early in the week; these videos will contain a "tour" of the week ahead and a conceptual intro to the content.
• A 60 to 90-minute talk and discussion by a guest forensic anthropologist towards the end of the week
• An opportunity to engage with the course coordinator on a weekly discussion board

Registration

Refunds are available and need to be requested before or by May 25. To drop a class, please contact Kerstin Miller at 520-621-5111 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu. A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Please note that this class has been transitioned into a 5 week, 2 hour synchronous online class scheduled to run from 3-5:30 pm on the following five Thursdays: April 16, 23, 30, May 7, and 14. 

This online course provides an opportunity to step back from the daunting challenges we currently face to reflect upon formative moments in our lives.  In five class sessions we will delve into some of major trends that emerged in the 1970s: 1) How We Think Now will explore how the microchip, ethernet, and personal computer changed how we think and communicate. 2) Sexual Politics will examine how we first became aware of sexism and the politics of gender. 3) The Changing Face of America will review how deindustrialization fueled white working-class resentment. 4) What Should We Have Learned from Viet Nam will consider the interactions of tribalism and globalism from the 1970s to the current moment.  5) Can we evolve fast enough to avoid extinction will examine the ecological consciousness of the generations born since the first Earth Day in 1970. 

Each of our two-hour classes will conclude with an optional half-happy hour (5-5:30 pm)  in which we spend thirty minutes listening and chatting about the music, films, and events of the 70s as a way to renew our historic awareness of how we have responded to and grown from other historic moments in our lives.

Readings and Syllabus

Required Text:

Borstelmann, Thomas. The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic Inequality. ISBN-13: 978-0691157917

Other readings on the weekly topics will be made available online to registered students.

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Thursday, April 9, at 10 am.

Location & Parking

This is an online class to be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. 

It is difficult to understand China today without understanding the China of Mao Zedong. Over the course of Mao’s lifetime China experienced imperial rule, warlordism, republicanism, and ultimately communism. The country experienced invasion, civil war, and famine. And through this all, Mao led an insurgent movement that allowed China to “stand on its own two legs.” Governing, however, was at least as challenging as making revolution. This challenge to Mao would be summed by the official assessment of Mao after his death: Mao was a great revolutionary leader, but made mistakes governing China. 

This course examines the grand sweep of 20th Century Chinese history through the lens of Mao’s life – a life that was complex and often contradictory, but one that ultimately left a lasting legacy for today’s China. The meaning of Mao and Maoism is contested by historians of modern China, but all would not argue with a Time Magazine assessment several years ago that he was among the 20th Century’s most significant historical figures. The course also will examine this historical legacy to surface the meaning of Mao in today’s China – a China that resonates with Maoist goals, namely a country of wealth and power, but differ significantly in the social and cultural means towards those ends.

Registration

Online registration for this course opens on Thursday, November 21, 2019, at 10 a.m.

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (January 12). To drop a class, please contact Kerstin Miller at 520-621-5111 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu.  A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Location & Parking

This class meets in the meeting room in the historic side of the Dunbar Pavilion at 325 W. 2nd Street, Tucson, Arizona 85705 .

Plenty of free parking is available in the parking lot adjacent to the Dunbar Pavilion. Please enter the parking lot from Main Street just south of West 2nd Street and park in the upper parking lot directly south of the Dunbar Pavilion.

Join Professor Kurzer, an expert in European politics, for an overview of how and why Brexit happened. This Community Classroom course will examine the interaction between post-war developments in British politics and the growth of the European Union. Domestic political developments influenced British policy towards European integration, but progress in European integration also affected British politics and policies. For four decades, British elites debated the utility of Britain’s membership in the EU. When a referendum was finally held, a narrow majority voted for leaving the European Union. The final class meeting will address the most recent complications in the Brexit saga.

If you are interested in European politics, you will not want to miss Professor Kurzer’s analysis about what is unique about the British story and why it is highly unlikely that another EU member state will leave the EU.

This course is offered in partnership with Dunbar African American Cultural Center.

Registration

You can register online starting Monday, August 19, 2019, at 10 a.m. 

Refunds are available and need to be requested before the second class meeting (October 29). To drop a class, please contact Kerstin Miller at 520-621-5111 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu. A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Location & Parking

This class meets in the meeting room in the historic side of the Dunbar Pavilion at 325 W. 2nd Street, Tucson, Arizona 85705 .

Plenty of free parking is available in the parking lot adjacent to the Dunbar Pavilion. Enter the parking lot from Main Street just south of West 2nd Street and park in the upper parking lot directly south of the Dunbar Pavilion.

Superheroes are not an exclusive American experience. In many places around the world, these cultural icons usually embody popular notions of justice, patriotism, solidarity, and protection. In Mexico, fantastic heroes are not new, for they have represented people’s aspirations, fears, and hopes in different times and historical contexts.  In five weeks, Professor Coronado Guel will demonstrate the connection between history, society, and wrestlers. Students will remember many of these icons by enjoying popular and mass culture fragments, such as music, film, comics, and television shows. Each 2-hour class will include viewings of clips and shorter films, lectures, some discussion, and a lot of joyful memories.

Registration

Register online starting Monday, August 19, 2019, at 10 a.m.

Refunds are available and need to be requested BEFORE the second class meeting (October 2). To drop a class, please contact Kerstin Miller at 520-621-5111 or sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu. A $25 administrative fee for each cancellation will apply.

Location & Parking

The class meets at The Loft Cinema, Screen 3 (3233 E. Speedway Blvd.) Screen 3 is fully accessible and has a Hearing Loop Induction service.

The Loft Cinema features several dedicated parking lots next to the building, with parking available at no cost.

This course will provide a chance to study with one of the leading experts on US gun politics.  In this six week course, Professor Jennifer Carlson will trace the profound changes in gun culture and gun law in recent decades. In 2000, Gallup asked Americans whether they thought having a gun made their homes safer or more dangerous. More than half saw a gun as dangerous, and only a third saw guns making a home safer. Within a decade and a half, though, those numbers dramatically reversed: by 2014, 63% of respondents said that guns make homes safer. As annual deaths from gunshot wounds in the US hover just under 40,000, these survey data point to a profound shift in the social life of guns in America. This course will explore the historical, criminological, political, legal, sociological, and cultural perspectives that can help make sense of the contemporary views of guns as tools of safety versus objects of danger. 

Join us for Professor Carlson’s examinations of the relationship between gun rights and gun rules, between crime and self-defense, and between the past and present politics of guns.

Just 15 years after the birth of the moving image, the first film was shot in Tucson. Sunshine, railroad access, and exotic flora, fauna, and faces made Tucson an ideal movie location. Images of the frontier, the Old West, and the New West have been shaped in the public imagination by our celluloid desert. This course will look at some of the many iterations of film in Tucson, including early silent films; Hollywood westerns, melodramas, and mysteries; television series; commercials; and homemade films about the region. Professor Jenkins’ course will give a thorough background of Tucson’s rich cinematic history, building up to the incredible array of local film activity that will occur in Tucson during the month of October.

Leave the green rectangle of “AUTO” in the dust! This course will tackle the technical functions of the camera, explain how and why to shoot in manual exposure, and help you apply these skills in a variety of settings. Whether you want to take better pictures of family, nail the game-winning play, or enter the scary world of OCF (you just Googled it, didn’t you), you will learn to develop your photography skills in a collaborative, supportive atmosphere.