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Luncheon on January 26, 2018. Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm
Thursday Night Lights Professor Michael Hurd Football, History, and BBQ! We all know about "Friday night lights" and high school football. Come listen to Michael Hurd talk about “Thursday Night Lights” and the African American teams across Texas who lit the field on Wednesday and Thursday nights. This exciting football gave birth to hundreds of super star players, many of whom became college All-Americans, All-Pros, and Pro Football Hall of Famers, including NFL greats such as "Mean" Joe Green (Temple Dunbar), Otis Taylor (Houston Worthing), Dick "Night Train" Lane (Austin Anderson), Ken Houston (Lufkin Dunbar), and Bubba Smith (Beaumont Charlton-Pollard). Thursday Night Lights tells the inspiring, largely unknown, story of African American high school football in Texas. Michael Hurd introduces the players, coaches, schools, and towns where African Americans built powerhouse football programs from 1920–1970. It is a wonderful and compelling history of high school football, including championship seasons and legendary rivalries such as the annual Turkey Day Classic game between Houston schools Jack Yates and Phillis Wheatley, which drew standing-room-only crowds of up to 40,000, making it the largest prep sports event in postwar America. In telling this story, Hurd explains why the Prairie View Interscholastic League was necessary, traces its development, and shows how football offered a potent source of pride and ambition in the black community. Michael Hurd is a writer and historian who was born in Texarkana, Texas and grew up in Houston. He is a graduate in Journalism of the University of Texas at Austin and has worked as a sports writer at the Houston Post, the Austin American-Statesman, USA Today, and Yahoo Sports. His career includes an eight-year stint in the U.S. Air Force as a medic, serving one year (1971) at Phu Cat Air Base, Vietnam. He was honorably discharged in May 1976 with the Air Force Commendation Medal. For more than a decade, he served as a member of the National Football Foundation’s Honors Court for Divisional Players, the group that selects small college players for the College Football Hall of Fame. He currently serves on the selection committee for the Black College Football Hall of Fame. Professor Hurd's book will be available for purchase at the luncheon.
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Lecture on February 11 and 18, 2018. Time: 3:00 - 5:00 pm
How Science and Art Interweave Fernando Casas PhD February 11th: Perspective: the Art and the Science of the Renaissance February 18th: Realism in Western Art: the Role of Science in Western art The European Renaissance is distinguished by two extraordinary events: the sudden emergence of vividly realistic visual art and the emergence of modern science. Recent scholarship has shown that these two events are very closely connected and in fact, mutually dependent. In our first lecture we will examine how the the science of perspective ( the geometry of visual space of Piero della Francesca and Albrecht Durer) which first appeared in the early 15th c. played a key and indispensable role that followed the creation of modern science by Galileo Galilei. In our second lecture we will see how during the ensuing decades and centuries, now conversely, it is science and technology that influence painting. Part of this lecture will be dedicated to the explanation of David Hockney’s now famous thesis VIZ that show that many of the great masters of Western Art used optical devices to construct their painting such as mirrors, lenses. the camera lucida and the camera obscura. Philosopher and artist Fernando Casas was born in Bolivia, where he won, as young man in his 20’s, the First National Awards in Painting and Drawing in 1964 and 1968 respectively. In 1968 he left for the USA with a LASPAU scholarship to study philosophy at Colorado College, graduating Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. While at Colorado College, in 1970 he was awarded the Hastings Prize for the best paper in philosophy. He continued his studies at Rice University graduating with an MA in 1972 and a PhD in Philosophy in 1978. Since the 1980s Casas has been a professor of philosophy at several universities in South and North America, but his closest association continues to be with Rice University where he has taught the Humanities and Philosophy as Distinguished Lecturer for about 20 years. For the last 15 years Casas has also lectured mainly on Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art at the Women’s Institute of Houston. Casas has exhibited his artwork in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the USA, South America, Europe and Japan. In 2003 he was awarded The Premio alla Carriera at the Florence Biennale. His work is in the collections of museums in South America, the USA as well as numerous important private collections. In the Houston area his work is represented by Gremillion Fine Arts & Co. Gallery.
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Luncheon on March 2, 2018. Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm
Life in the Fast Lane: FBI Tales Zack Shelton Former Special Agent Shelton will be speaking about several key cases that he worked while performing his duties as a FBI Agent in the Chicago Office and the Beaumont, TX office. He will also update the information that he gave Lifetime Learning at his last engagement with the group concerning his investigation into the John F. Kennedy assassination. Shelton will speak about his involvement in the case that was depicted in the movie “Casino” starring Joe Pesci as Anthony Spilotro and Robert De Niro as Frankie Rosenthal. This case involved the Chicago Mob along with the Kansas City mafia placing their own people in key casinos in Las Vegas. This enabled the mob to skim millions of dollars from these casinos. Shelton will also speak about the events that surrounded the dragging death of James Byrd in Jasper, Texas. This case was in 1998 just before Shelton’s retirement from the FBI. Shelton has recently returned from a JFK Conference in Dallas, TX and will update the group on the important facts that he learned at the conference. Zack Shelton has a BA in Criminal Justice from Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana that he received in 1973 while working in a clerical capacity with the FBI. In the same year he became a Special Agent and spent time in the Kansas City Division, the Chicago Division and the Houston Division. He retired in the end of 1998. Zack is currently the President and Owner of Z. Shelton & Associates, a private investigative firm in Texas. Additionally, he has been investigating the assassination of JFK since his retirement in 1998, assisted by approximately eight other retired FBI Agents
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Luncheon on April 6, 2018. Time: 11:30am-1:00pm Iraq and Back Kim Olson (Rtd. Colonel) Colonel Olson will describe her introduction to Iraq, the environment the team was dropped into, and the responsibilities they undertook to rebuild a country that was devastated and struggling. Just after the Iraq War had been declared successful, a team led by U.S. Army Lt. General Jay Garner was sent to Iraq to rebuild the country. Garner's executive officer, Colonel Kim Olson, now retired, was part of the senior leadership charged with rebuilding Iraq. They were to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure, provide humanitarian assistance, and lay the foundation for a democratic process, no small endeavor. With the amazing narrative in her book, Iraq and Back: Inside the War to Win the Peace, Air Force retired Colonel Kim Olson tells how and why that mission was hit by roadblocks at almost every step. Always at risk for finding themselves in the middle of a new uprising, Colonel Olson will discuss her observations and the obstacles presented, sometimes terrible, often insurmountable. As one of the first wave of female jet pilots, Colonel Olson’s perspective is unique and a blend of consternation, pride, and determination to charge forward in her role as a Senior Adviser in Iraq. Her views combine the strength and duty of an officer and the empathy of a woman. Now Kim is devoted to promoting the agricultural industry of Texas. Kim is a fourth generation farmer, serving as a steward of our land, air, and water and sharing those lessons with others. On her own family farm in Palo Pinto County, Kim raises vegetables, keeps bees, and cultivates native grasses. She utilizes sustainable, generative practices that ensure that the farm’s resources will also be available for future generations of farmers. Kim Olsen's book will be available for purchase at the luncheon. |
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Luncheon on May 4, 2018
Trauma Care Today Catherine A. Musemeche, MD. JD We take for granted that if we need emergency medical care, trained emergency responders will respond quickly. This life-saving service is relatively new, as Dr. Kate Musemeche describes in her book, Hurt: The Inspiring, Untold Story of Trauma Care. An experienced surgeon, Dr. Kate Musemeche, will describe the origins of trauma care, which did not exist 40 years ago. Her talk, “The Medical Lessons of War: Spurring Innovation and Driving the Development of Modern Trauma Care,” will vividly bring home to us the rapid changes in trauma care. Dr. Musemeche is a former surgery professor at The University of Texas Medical School in Houston, the MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, and the University of New Mexico, where she was the chief of Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Trauma. We also will hear from members of our Washington County Emergency Medical Service (EMS). Learn what you need to know about how to receive help from our county EMS. Representatives from EMS will talk about a program that can bring help to your home and how to use the automatic external defibrillator. Dr. Musemeche's book will be available for purchase at the luncheon. |
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11:30am-1pm
May 4, 2018, Janis Sneed Banquet Room Blinn College Student Center Brenham Luncheon/Lecture Fee: $20 Register by April 27, 2018 |
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If you don't want to buy tickets online, download the Spring 2018 Events PDF brochure below. Print it for your convenience and mail it with your check to:
Lifetime Learning
P. O. Box 513
Brenham, TX 77834
lifetime_learning_spring_2018_programs.pdf
Brochure for Spring 2018 Programs
Lifetime Learning
P. O. Box 513
Brenham, TX 77834
lifetime_learning_spring_2018_programs.pdf
Brochure for Spring 2018 Programs