Alaska & Arctic
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Alaska Films: Classics . . . or Not (III)
FP1 Session I: Sept. 10, 17, 24, Oct. 1
Tuesdays 1:30 – 4:30 pm
Week 1: The Gold Rush (1925). Charlie Chaplin and this classic film set the standard for many of the ways the Klondike and Alaska are subsequently portrayed in film and television.
Week 2: The Silver Horde (1930). Based on a Rex Beach novel.
Week 3: Road to Utopia (1946). Bing Crosby and Bob Hope’s “On the Road…” series leads them to “Utopia” (Alaska).
Week 4: On Deadly Ground (1994). An oil-rig roughneck and a Native Alaskan environmental activist battle a renegade oil company in this early action thriller movie.
Facilitator Ron Inouye, retired from UAF Rasmuson Library, says that his major qualification is having regularly and willingly paid admission to see movies – from childhood Saturday afternoon movies to the current offerings of our local cinemas.
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PM2.5 & Wood-Burning in Fairbanks
HL4 Session I: Sept. 9, 16, 23, 30
Mondays 3:45 – 5:00 pm
Sept. 9: What is PM2.5 and why do we care? Cathy Cahill, UAF & FNSB Air Pollution Control Commission
Sept. 16: What is the extent of pollution from wood smoke in the Borough? Jim Conner, FNSB Air Quality Monitoring Section
Sept. 23: What is the best way to dry wood to reduce emissions? Colin Craven, CCHRC
Sept. 30: The Enhanced Wood Stove Change-out program and other policy options. John Davies, CCHRC & FNSB Assembly
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Environmental Medicine
HL6 Session II: Oct. 14, 21, 28, Nov. 4
Mondays 2:00 – 3:15 pm
Environmental medicine is a multidisciplinary field involving human health and environmental sciences. In Alaska, areas of concern include indoor air quality, the sulfolane spill in North Pole, hormone disrupters and other environmental toxins. It is incumbent upon us to become discerning about products and compounds we encounter in our surroundings and our community's impact on ourselves and future generations.
Instructor Dr. Mary Minor graduated from Bastyr University in1983 as a naturopathic doctor. She has treated patients in Washington, Connecticut and Alaska. She has worked with many people whose health has been impacted by environmental factors.
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History at Pioneer Park
HIS1 Session I: Sept. 11, 18, 25, Oct. 2, 9 *5 weeks
Wednesdays 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Held at Pioneer Park
Learn about local and state history at Pioneer Park. Meet at the Pioneer Hall.
Week 1: Park and cabin history
Week 2: Riverboat Nenana and the Harding Car
Week 3: Railroad Museum
Week 4: Air Museum
Week 5: Pioneer Museum and Stampede Show
Topics may swap dates due to volunteer availability.
Organizer Donna Krier and Pioneer Park volunteers.
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Project Jukebox: Alaska’s History on the Web
HIS5 Session II: Oct. 15, 22, 29, Nov. 5
Tuesdays 8:45 – 10:00 am
Learn about Alaska’s history from the people themselves through Project Jukebox, the digital branch of the Oral History Program at UAF. Explore Alaska’s Digital Archives as it presents innumerable historical photographs, albums, oral histories, moving images, maps documents and physical objects all held at museums and archives across the state. The goal is to learn about these fabulous resources and how to use them. No computer experience necessary.
Instructor, Leslie McCartney, is the curator of Oral History at UAF. As an anthropologist/oral historian, she has recorded the life stories of an array of people in projects in Alaska, Canada, England and Ireland.
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Northern Literature
LP3 Session I: Sept. 12, 26, Oct. 3, 10 *No class 9/19
Thursdays 8:45 – 10:00 am
Study the creation and evolution of frontier myths and how they apply to Alaska and the Yukon, beginning with a look at how philosophies shape the expression of frontier. Contrast how authors use frontier themes and motifs to perpetuate the idea of The Last Frontier and how that perspective differs from Alaska Native writers. Survey Alaska Native writers and trends, exploring how people who write about a location as home, express themselves differently from someone who looks from the outside in. A bibliography of Alaska and Yukon books will be provided. The final session will feature a roundtable on participants’ favorite Alaskana titles, personal connections to literature of the north and trends to identify in current and future writers.
Instructor Pete Pinney, UAF Interim Vice Chancellor of Rural, Community and Native Education/Executive Dean of the College of Rural and Community Development (CRCD), has taught composition, literature and grant-writing courses for CRCD, UAF eLearning and the Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management for several decades. He says he has yet to write the definitive frontier novel.
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"Good Reads" in Alaskana Fiction
LP5 Session II: Oct. 16, 23, 30, Nov. 6, 13 *5 weeks
Wednesdays 12:15 - 1:30 pm
Looking for suggestions for good fiction to read – especially with an Alaska focus? You'll be introduced to a cluster of eminently readable fiction set in Alaska, with focus on a different genre group each week. Class participants will also have the opportunity to share their favorite Alaskana titles in each genre.
Week 1: Overview; general and literary fiction
Week 2: Mysteries, suspense and thrillers
Week 3: Science fiction and fantasy
Week 4: Historical fiction
Week 5 (optional, according to class interest): Romance and women's fiction
Instructor Georgine Olson is the FNSB Public Libraries Outreach Services Manager and leader of OLLI's Book Club.
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Alaska Scholars’ Backstage Tales
LP9 Session II: Oct. 17, 24, 31, Nov. 7
Thursdays 10:30 – 11:45 am
This course will focus on the memorable moments in natural and social science research that help us understand the people behind the work: the routine, the breakthroughs, the humor, the ironies, the unexpected. Invited speakers and archival sources will introduce us to the personal side and inspire us to share our stories from our life's work.
Organized by Dave Norton, assisted by Bill Schneider and guest discussants.
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Marine Invertebrates (I & II)
SC1 Session I: Sept. 9, 16, 23, 30
SC2 Session II: Oct. 14, 21, 28, Nov. 4
Mondays 8:45 – 10:00 am
Each 4-week session stands alone; you can register for either one or both.
Marine invertebrates are a huge diverse group of organisms. As we survey the major phyla and classes, we will compare their anatomy, feeding, reproduction, life histories, and ecological roles. The course is designed to discover the lower invertebrates the first 4 weeks and higher invertebrates the last 4 weeks. Since the nearest ocean is 500 miles away, I will bring my specimens for discussion. Emphasis will be on the marine invertebrates of Alaska.
Instructor Janice Ott is an adjunct professor at UAF, retired high school biology teacher, and someone who has a passion for unusual things. She holds a M.S. in biology with an emphasis on wildlife disease.
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Alaska’s 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, 3rd Edition
SC3 Session I: Sept. 9, 16, 23, 30
Mondays 10:30 – 11:45 am
Explore the significance to modern scientific theory of the largest magnitude earthquake so far recorded in North America by modern instruments, in anticipation of the event’s 50th anniversary in 2014. The first edition of the course confirmed that the 27th March 1964 quake helped persuade scientists that Plate Tectonic Theory works well to explain the mobility and seismicity of Earth’s lithic plates. The second edition tapped into continuing tsunami and other research and public policy ramifications growing out of Alaska’s and other recent and ancient Pacific seismic events. Seismologists, geophysicists, and other current earth scientists tell us we still have more topics to cover before we achieve full appreciation for the importance of Alaska’s shaky ground in the investigation of geologic processes. Newcomers and students returning from previous editions of this course are equally welcome to enroll.
Organized by Dave Norton. Guest discussants: Rich Koehler, DGGS; Jeff Freymueller, Geophysical Institute, Seismology Group.
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Inspired Creativity and the Geomagnetic Storm
SC4 Session I: Sept. 11, 18, 25, Oct. 2
Wednesdays 8:45 – 10:00 am
What is "inspired creativity" and how can you tap into it? A breakthrough in understanding the geomagnetic storm provides an example of inspired creativity in action.
Instructor Joe Kan, UAF emeritus professor and dean of the graduate school, spent decades studying and puzzling over the geomagnetic storm and is eager to share the key he found to unlock it.
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Assembling Beringia and Alaska
SC6 Session II: Oct. 15, 22, 29, Nov. 5
Tuesdays 10:30 – 11:45 am
A team-taught, multi-disciplinary look at Beringia and Alaska.
Week 1: Geological and geophysical processes. How old are Beringia and Alaska, and how do we estimate that age?
Week 2: Peopling: Who first settled Beringia and Alaska, and what uncertainties persist about their identities?
Week 3: Russian America: selected legacies from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Week 4: Steps toward modern self-awareness in Alaska and Beringia.
Organized by Dave Norton. Guest discussants: TBN, Geology and Geophysics; TBN, Dept. Anthropology; Marvin Falk, Professor of Library Science and Curator of Rare Books, emeritus.
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Aurora
SC8 Session II: Oct. 18, 25, Nov. 1, 8
Fridays 8:45 – 10:00 am
You stop, look, and wonder as a quiet star-filled Alaska sky becomes awash with movement and color. That light and motion of aurora are but a tiny part of all that is happening as a result of an almost invisible storm that originated on the sun. Learn about the visible and invisible aspects of aurora and their potential impact on us. Some solar storms create space weather phenomena that are hazardous to human exploration of our moon and other planets. Near Earth these solar storms can create phenomena that affect Earth-orbiting satellites, navigation, radio, radar, electrical power grid and more. And, you will learn how experiments launched on sounding rockets from nearby Poker Flat Research Range have been and are being used to investigate the latest problems associated with aurora.
Instructor Neal Brown is a science enthusiast who thoroughly enjoys teaching K through grey students. While on the faculty of UAF for 45 years he taught physics and space physics for non-science majors, carried out research, and was for 18 years Director of Poker Flat Research Range.
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Weather Forecasting and the Use of Weather Satellites in Alaska
SC9 Session II: Oct. 18, 25, Nov. 1, 8
Fridays 10:30 – 11:45 am
Basic principles of weather analysis and forecasting will be discussed, with special emphasis on weather in Alaska. Topics will include winter weather, marine weather, aviation weather, the interaction of weather systems with various kinds of terrain, hydrology, the impact of weather on forest fires, and more. The role of weather satellites in the forecast process will also be investigated, again with Alaska’s unique circumstances in mind.
Instructor Eric Stevens worked as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service for 18 years, the majority of this time in Alaska. He now works at UAF’s Geographic Information Network of Alaska.
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Pension Benefits & Challenges : Bucket List for Public Employee Retirees
SOC4 Add-On I: Oct. 7, 8
Monday & Tuesday 5:15 – 6:30 pm
We will review the history of Alaska’s Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers Retirement System (TRS) pensions, the different tiers and major legal decisions, and discuss how our state’s past decisions, as well as stock market volatility, have created today’s fiscal crisis for its pensioners and an uncertain future for employees and their families. We’ll also review Alaska’s Long Term Care Insurance program that is 100% retiree-funded. The speakers will discuss possible remedies and/or management improvements that the State could implement now to ensure the future financial security of its pensions and delivery of services promised to its retirees.
Instructors: Frank Abegg, Dr. Ron Johnson, and Charlie Gallagher
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