Caricature of Peter Tregillus by J. Reynolds for Sept. 11 presentation “John Hawkins and the Slave Trade.”
“The Fall Life-long Learning lecture series begins on a Wednesday this year,” said Gary Rottman, LLL team leader. “We usually convene on Thursdays in 130 Noble Hall on the Fort Lewis College campus. But we are lucky to have two Chautauqua speakers launching our series this fall.
Gary Rottman, chair of the FLC Life-long Learning Team.(Courtesy of J. Reynolds)
“We open our 14-part series with two Chautauqua-style presentations by Brian ‘Fox’ Ellis and Becky Stone. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, Brian, who has performed many times in Durango, will portray William ‘Billy’ Herndon, Abraham Lincoln’s law partner. The following night, Sept. 4, Becky will transform herself into Harriet Tubman, an American heroine from the Civil War era who liberated over 750 slaves.
If you go
WHAT: Fort Lewis College Fall Life-long Learning Lecture Series.
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 3; and Thursday evenings, 7 to 8:30 p.m. to Dec. 4.
“Our September programs are presented in cooperation with the Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable as part of History LIVE!” he said. “The rest of our roster is co-sponsored by the Office of the President. We’re excited about the topics as they range from history to science, gardening, music and everyday law that impacts everyone.”
The FLC lecture series began March 20, 2001, Rottman said, so it’s wrapping up its 24th year of offering free programs to the community. All Life-long learning programs are held in 130 Noble Hall.
Fall 2025 schedule
*Sept. 3: Chautauqua Scholar-actor Brian “Fox: Ellis will appear as Abe Lincoln’s law partner William “Billy” Herndon who wrote an early biography about the president. *Note the Wednesday start.Sept. 4: Chautauqua presenter Becky Stone will transform herself into Harriet Tubman, who served as a Union nurse, spy and raid leader during the Civil War.Sept. 11: Retired community leader Peter Tregillus will examine “John Hawkins and the Rise of the Slave Trade in the 1560s.”Sept. 18: FLC Anthropology professor emerita Kathy Fine-Dare will examine and update NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.Sept. 25: Retired aerospace engineer and world traveler Florian Walchak will trace a 5,000-year history of Crete.Oct. 2: FLC professor and nuclear engineer Billy Nollet will discuss the power, peril and logic of Mutual Assured Destruction, which remains the unwritten law of our time.Oct. 9: Local gardening expert Mike Smedley will upload some horticultural horrors when he discusses “Landscaping mistakes and mulch mayhem.”Oct. 16: California Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann will talk about “Laws That Impact Your Everyday Life.”Oct. 23: Thomas Heuser, music director and conductor of the San Juan Symphony, will whimsically explore the musical world of theme and variation from film, drama and the concert hall.Oct. 30: Alice Bean, University of Kansas physics professor, will discuss real-world applications from “Quarked,” an accessible project that introduces subatomic physics to all ages.Nov. 6: Stephen Farina will share his quest for lost musical treasures in “Dylan, Hendrix and the Holy Grail.” Farina is professor emeritus of communication and media from Clarkson University.Nov. 13: The scope of “Nitrates in Water, Disease, and Human Health,” will be explored by professor emeritus of biological chemistry from the University of Nebraska Paul Black.Nov. 20: FLC History professor Michael Martin will explore how A.I. shapes teaching and everyday life in the post-COVID-19 world.Nov. 27: Thanksgiving Break – no lecture.Dec. 4: Former U.N. Prosecutor Herb Bowman will explore “International Criminal Tribunals for Cambodia and East Timor” to close the Life-long Learning series for 2025.
