All lectures are FREE—no registration or tickets are required.  

 

 

Jock Bartley– Philosophy & the Arts

March 15, Thursday in Buena Vista: “Accessing Childlike Creativity: Find  Your Natural  Spontaneous Connection With Your Muse.”

March 16, Friday in Salida: “Songwriting: Writing From the Heart and Your Right Brain.”

Thursday, Held At Buena Vista High School Cafeteria Marquette Ave

Friday, Held At Salida Middle School Commons Area 520 Milford St - Both Nights - 6:30 PM Kickoff - Lecture 7:00 PM

Jock Bartley is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer & artist. Bartley and the band Firefall have been involved with a number of wonderful social causes that include: child abuse and children’s rights issues, domestic violence, Make-A-Wish, Special Olympics, Denver Firefighter’s Burn Victims Camps and many environmental issues.

The two projects that have made the most difference are, first, Bartley’s work on Suicide Prevention. His song Call On Me propelled him into becoming a national spokesperson for Suicide Prevention between 1998–2002. The song was aimed especially at young people at risk between the ages of 15–25. That song in a small way helped to establish the very first national help line. Secondly, Jock Bartley’s 2008 song Walk More Softly is about taking better care of each other and our fragile planet. “The song is an amazing opportunity to connect with young people through music and the arts,” Bartley says, “and challenge them to think about walking more softly on this planet . . . and to be more friendly, helpful and compassionate with people.”

In Thursday’s lecture, Bartley will discuss the fact that when children do artwork, they ARE the artwork. They are absolutely connected to their creative muse. They are immersed, they are intuitive & instinctive, and they do the best they can do! It is a wonder to see. Unfortunately most adults have lost that natural spontaneous "connection" with the muse. Adults think too much; they worry about their creation “being good enough” or what “people will think;” they're afraid to fail; they get writer's block; and too many give up. In Jock’s lecture he will discuss how to be receptive enough, and tell your talkative left brain to take a break for a while and allow your right brain to connect with that lovely muse who's just waiting to come through you. The ideas, musical notes or poetic lines can just flow out.

In Friday’s lecture, Bartley will share that songs are powerful, whether they're serious or just for fun. No two songs get written the exact same way. Some start with a few chords and a groove; some start with a title first; some first come as a melody you hear. Many amazing songs have been written by people who don't sing or play an instrument very well! Bartley will share with the audience a different way to look at the process, a different way to be a writer, to trust in the muse and, without fear, to let whatever comes out, come out! He encourages people to write from the heart and from the right brain. He will also cover many specific techniques, some pitfalls, short cuts and helpful hints that will help songwriting, both musically and lyrically.

Paul K. Chappell – Philosophy of War & Peace

May 31, Thursday: “Why Peace is Possible and How We Can Achieve It.”

June 1, Friday: “Peace Leadership.”

Held at the Buena Vista Community Center 715 East Main Street, at 7:00 pm

Paul Chappell attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 2002. He then served seven years in the United States Army, rising to rank of captain, which took him on a tour of Baghdad. Contrary to how it might appear, his education and his war experience taught him that peace is not only possible, but crucial, to human survival.

Paul arrived at the conclusion that we need to wage peace, not war; hat living peacefully with people who have different beliefs is possible; and further, if we as a nation donʼt learn and practice how to live peacefully, we will become extinct. There is ample evidence to illustrate he knows the topic of peace. He is the author of Will War Ever End?: A Soldierʼs Vision of Peace for the 21st Century; The End of War: How Waging Peace Can Save Humanity, Our Planet, and Our Future; and Peaceful Revolution: How We Can Create the Future Needed for Humanityʼs Survival. He is currently at work on his fourth book, The Art of Waging Peace: A Strategic Approach to Improving Our Lives and the World. Paul also speaks throughout the country to colleges, high schools, veterans groups, churches and activist organizations on these topics. Some of his interaction with audiences is available on his website, www.willwareverend.com.

Paul makes the case that humans are not naturally violent. Or else, he asks, “why would so many soldiers go insane, and why is there such a high incidence of suicide among soldiers?” He cites statistics from World War II, that only 15% of U.S. soldiers fired their guns, and says that is because the military at the time wasnʼt as good at training soldiers to kill. By the time of the Viet Nam Conflict, 90% of soldiers actually fired their weapons. “Why the increase?” Paul asks his audience of students. “What happened is that training changed and armies got better at training soldiers to kill.”

Paul uses Martin Luther King and Adolph Hitler to make the point that violence is easy to predict because it gives off the most warning signs. Wars are easy to predict and to prevent. If you address the problems early you can fix it so the unrest doesnʼt get to the stage of war. It raises the question: could nonviolence have stopped Hitler.” 

“Of course, war will end on earth, as the human race is simply on its way to extinction,” he calmly predicts. On the political level, he says, America must stop sending mixed signals to other nations about its intentions. “How can we protect the universe and the world? We need to practice what we preach and not wage war, is one of the ways America can be seen as a truly peace-loving nation.”

Dr. Marc Bekoff – Science-Environmental

July 20, Friday at 7:00 pm: “Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals.”

July 21, Saturday at 10:00 am: “The Emotional Lives of Animals and Why They Matter: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why.”

Held at the Buena Vista Community Center 715 East Main Street, Buena Vista

Marc  Bekoff, former Professor of Ecology and Evoutionary Biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society , past Guggenheim Fellow, was awarded the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society in 2000 for his contributions to the field of Animal Behavior.  He is also an ambassador for Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots program and is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute.  In 2006, he was named and  honorary board member of Ration Animal and a patron of the Captive Animal’s Protection Society.   Marc is a faculty member of the Humane Society University and since 2010 he was named to the advisory board member of Living  With Wolves.  In 2005 he was presented with the Bank One Faculty Community Service Award for work with children, senior citizens, and prisoners.  He was awarded the St. Francis of Assisi Award in 2009 by the Auckland, New Zealand,  SPCA.

Marc’s main  areas of research include animal behavior, cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds) and behavioral ecology.  He has published more than 200 papers and 22 books on animal behavior.    He is working on a number of new books including Ignoring Nature No More: The Case for Compassionate Conservation and Rewilding Our Hearts will appear in 2013 along with a children’s book,

Dr. Bekoff’s work has been featured on 48 Hours, in time Magazine, Life Magazine, US New and World Report, The New York Times, New Scientist, and many other programs.  Marc has also appeared on CNN, Good Morning America and 20/20.

In 1986, Dr. Bekoff, became the first American to win his age-class at the Tour du Var bicycle race (also called the Master’s/age-graded Tour de France).  His hobbies include cycling, skiing, hiking, and reading spy novels.

Marc’s lecture, “Wild Justice:  The Moral Lives of Animals”, centers the many ways in which animals play fairly and honestly, and the consequences of not playing fairly.  In his second lecture, “he Emtional Lives of Animals and Why They Matter:  Who Lives, Who Dies and Why,” Dr. Bekoff will discuss emotional and moral intelligence in animals and ground some of his discussion using Charles Darwin’s notion of evolutionary continuity and Nobel-laureate Niko Tinbergen’s ideas on how ethological studies should be conducted.

Dr. Bekoff states, “ We owe it to all individual animals to make every attempt to come to greater understanding and appreciation of who they are –emotional, empathic, and often moral beings.  When we’re not sure what they’re feeling, we should leave them alone.”

Dr. Mark Zoback – Science Geophysics

September 13, Thursday at 7:00 p.m. “Producing Natural Gas From Shale: Opportunities and Challenges of a Major New Energy Source”

Held at the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum 120 W. 10th Street in Leadville at 7:00 pm

Dr. Mark Zoback believes natural gas represents the perfect bridge fuel toward achieving a less carbon-dependent economy. The dilemma, however, is to fully realize the benefits of gas while producing it safely and with minimal environmental impact. Dr. Zoback believes these concerns and challenges have been answered by theSecretary  of Energyʼs committee on which Dr. Zoback served. The recently produced report on shale gas development and environmental protection concludes it is possible to produce natural gas safely and with minimal environmental traces.

This appears to work out well, since vast quantities of natural gas are found in North America, and in other places around the world, in organic-rich shale deposits. “The benefits of natural gas are it emits less carbon dioxide, less mercury, less nitrogen oxide, and less sulfur oxide than any other viable hydrocarbon energy source,” Dr. Zoback says. 

Dr. Zoback is the Benjamin M. Page Professor of Geophysics and chair of the Department of Geophysics at Stanford University, where he received masterʼs and PhD degrees in geophysics. He has taught at Stanford since 1984. His research is on in situ stress, fault mechanics, and reservoir geomechanics, and he has authored and coauthored 300 technical papers on these topics. He was one of the principal investigators of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) project, in which a scientific research well was successfully drilled through the San Andreas Fault at seismogenic depth.

He is the author of a textbook, Reservoir Geomechanics, now in its fifth printing, which establishes the basic principles involved before introducing practical measurement and experimental techniques to improve recovery and reduce costs, and it illustrates through case studies their successful application. The book integrates the fields of structural geology, rock mechanics and petroleum engineering with application to problems in the oil and gas industry. “Reservoir Mechanics is a practical reference for geoscientists and engineers in the petroleum and geothermal industries, and for research scientists interested in stress measurements and their application to problems of faulting and fluid flow in the crust.”

Dr. Zoback co-founded GeoMechanics International in 1996 and was chairman of the board until 2008.

In Thursday’s Lecture, Dr. Zoback will share how it is now clear that vast quantities of natural gas can be recovered from organic-rich shale deposits that are found throughout North America and in many locations around the world. It emits less carbon dioxide, less mercury, less nitrogen oxide, less sulfur oxide than any other viable hydrocarbon energy source.  Natural gas represents the perfect bridge fuel on the way to achieving a less carbon-dependent economy. This said, if the potential benefits of gas production are going to be fully realized, development of shale gas resources must be done safely.  Development must be accomplished with minimal environmental impact. The gas industry and state and federal regulators have been making progress on reducing the environmental impact of shale gas development. A recent report of an advisory group to the U.S. Secretary of Energy on shale gas development and environmental protection  points out that the full economic, environmental and energy security benefits of shale gas development can be realized without sacrificing public health, environmental protection and safety. The report of this group made recommendations in a number of areas in which shale gas development practices could be further improved to reduce its environmental impact.

Dr. Mary Lou Zoback – Science Geophysics

September 14, Friday: “Reducing Risk and  Increasing Resilience in Highly Urbanized Centers.”

Held at the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum 120 W. 10th St. Leadville at 7:00 pm

Mary Lou Zoback, an American geophysicist who led the World Stress Map Project of the International Lithosphere Program ,  graduated from Standford University , receiving her B.S. in 1974, her M.S. in 1975 and her Ph.D in 1978.  In 1978 and 1979, she did a post-doctoral programs with the National  Research Council and the U. S. Geological Survey’s heat Flow- Studies group.  She was a research scientist with the USGS from 1979 to 2003.  Her major area of interest is active tectonics, emphasizing in the relationship of the in-situ tectonic stress field to earthquake deformation, with studies centering on the San Andreas Fault System. 

Zoback led the World Stress Map Project of the International Lithosphere Program from 1986 to 1992.  The project included more than 40 scientists from over 30 countries.  The objective was to compile and interpret geologic and geophysical data on the present day tectonic stress field.

She is currently Vice-president of Earthquake Risk Applications with Risk Management Solutions in Newark, California, the world’s leading catastrophe modeling firm.  He responsibilities include leading initiatives on the quantification for expanding the role of earthquake insurance, disaster management and risk reduction world-wide.   She is also working to develop high-quality source and earthquake risk models for new regions of the world. 

Dr. Zoback has served on numerous national committees and panels on a variety of topics related to the study of earthquakes, is a member of the National Academy of Siences and Past President of the Geological Society of America.   In 2007, she received the GSA Day medal, GSA Public Service Award.  In 2006, she was awarded the Leadership, Innovation, and Outstanding Accomplishments in Earthquake Risk Reduction” Award from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the AGU Macelwane Award for young scientists in 1987.

Her current research interest focus on the relationship between active faulting and state of stress, qualifying earthquake likelihood, characterizing natural hazard risk and valuing nature’s defenses against natural hazards.

In 2012, she will be co-teaching, with George Hilley in GES, a new course entitled “Understanding Natural Hazards, Quantifying Risk and Increasing Resillence on Highly Urbanized Regions”, which will be the topic of her lecture.

 

 

Dr. Kirk Johnson and Dr. Ian Miller - Science

April 13, Friday at 7:00 p.m.“The Discovery of Snowmastodon”

Held at the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum 120 W. 10th St. Leadville at 7:00 pm

You wouldnʼt think two very well educated scientists could get so excited about old dead leaves, even if some of them are still green after 45,000 years. But Doctors Kirk Johnson and Ian Miller are so enthusiastic about their fields of paleontology and fossils that you would think the green stuff was money.

It isnʼt. Dr. Kirk Johnson, a Yale man, is vice president of research and collections and chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and his expertise is fossil plants and geology. “A curator acquires objects and studies them to learn their stories,”

Dr. Johnson says. He studies fossil leaves and measures the age of the rocks in which he finds them to refine geologic time. That is, to reconstruct ancient landscapes, track climate change, and document the evolution and extinction of species and ecosystems.

Dr. Ian Miller, also a Yale man, is department chair of earth sciences and curator of paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. As a paleontologist his expertise is fossil plants, and he uses fossil leaves to interpret past climates, fossil ecosystems and how western North American, particularly its mountains and basins, has changed over the last 100 million years. This helps us understand climate change and the evolution of life on earth. For instance, did you know that western Washington, British Columbia and Alaska used to be in Mexico? That area was “smeared” north. Thatʼs the sort of revelation one gets from Dr. Millerʼs studies.

The two doctors are integral to understanding the ancient bones found in October, 2010, in the Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, CO. Within two days of a bulldozer operator unearthing bones, scientists from Denver Museum of Nature & Science were on site. Within two weeks a museum team was excavating what has become one of the most significant discoveries in Colorado history. The excavation has revealed an amazing series of animals. Eight to 10 American mastodons, four Columbian mammoths, a Jeffsonʼs ground sloth, four gigantic bision, two ice age deer, snails, iridescent insects and plant matter fossils and bones have been dug up.

 

 Dr. Amy Frykholm - Religion

October 11, Thursday at 7:00 p.m. “Doing it Right: Sex and Christianity in American Media”

Held at Congregational United Church of Christ 217 Crossman Ave., Buena Vista

Using her latest book, See Me Naked: Stories of Sexual Exile in American Christianity, and her work as a cultural critic, Amy Frykholm will examine the relationship between religion and sexuality in books, movies, and television; aka, the media culture.

Amy Frykholm is well trained both by her PhD in literature from Duke University, and the variety of topics her three books deal with, to be a writer, critic and speaker in the fields of religion and culture. She is associate editor for The Christian Century, where she writes feature stories, identifies contributors and solicites articles on Christianity, ecumenism, human connection and contemporary life.

“These stories are messy,” Frykholm says of her latest book, from which she draws her lecture. “These are not fables or compilations. They do not come together neatly in the end with a moral and a clear sense of direction, but through the stories we can begin to make sense of where we come from and where we are going.”

Frykholmʼs books tell the breadth of her studies, imagination and interests. Her second book, Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography, tells about the first woman author of a book written in English. In the 14th Century, Julian playfully and subtly maneuvered amid political dangers and a world of social limitations. With curiosity and dry humor, she confronted a world of heavy religious obligation and suggested revolutionary ideas.  Julianʼs book is an account of spiritual direction and theological reflection. She wrote, “The soul must perform two duties. One is that we reverently marvel. The other is that we humbly endure, ever taking pleasure in God…” Six hundred years ago Julian said that the righteousness required of us is simply to delight in Godʼs good world. 

Frykholmʼs first book, Rapture Culture, published in 2004, is a study of readers of the apocalyptic Left Behind series. In it she explores the connection between reading fiction and articulating religious commitments; how imagination forms and shapes belief.