Seeing the Desert with Gregory McNamee

Chandler Museum 300 S. Chandler Village Drive, Chandler, AZ, United States

Most Arizonans are not originally from Arizona, and most come from places that are far greener and milder of climate than our desert. For many of us, it takes a shift of eye and of attitude to appreciate this hot, dry place—but once it gets into one’s soul, there’s nowhere like it. This talk explains […]

100 Years Grand – The Story of Arizona Highways Magazine with Win Holden

Flagstaff City - Coconino County Public Library - East Flagstaff Community Library 3000 North Fourth Street Suite 5, Flagstaff, United States

April 2025 will mark Arizona Highways magazine’s 100th birthday. How did a brochure produced by the Arizona Highway Department become one of the most revered travel publications in the world? How has Arizona Highways remained relevant for a century while other national magazines have failed? Former Arizona Highways Publisher, Win Holden, will share the inside […]

Arizona Snake Oil Salesmen, Scams, and Hoaxes with Christine Reid

San Tan Valley Library - Bronze Room (Building A) 31505 N Schnepft Road, San Tan Valley, United States

Entrepreneurs offering assorted “get rich quick” schemes and “cure-alls” have visited Arizona since the early days. Benefitting from tales of abundant resources in the territory, limited law enforcement and communication, a scoundrel could create enticing promises of wealth and health without much external oversight. Newspapers often fanned the hysteria only to later denounce and expose […]

Multilingual Baseball: Language and Identity across Borders with Brendan O’Connor

Southeast Regional Library 775 N Greenfield Rd, Gilbert, AZ, United States

Transnational baseball is a microcosm of globalizing societies around the world, inviting audiences to consider what we can learn from the bilingual understandings and misunderstandings that arise in everyday interactions. This presentation shares the voices of players, coaches, front office personnel, international scouts, language teachers, and interpreters, with experience in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, South […]

Rivers of Dreams: Songs and Stories of Arizona’s Waterways with Jay Cravath

Oro Valley Public Library 1305 W. Naranja Drive, Oro Valley, AZ, United States

The Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Hassayampa, the Santa Cruz: Arizona’s rivers were lush green ribbons of life flowing through a desert landscape. They became sustaining paths for indigenous traders and immigrants leaving wagon tracks and settlements. The Hohokam built vast canals from the Salt to direct irrigation water for crops. European […]

The Rise of Antisemitism and Nazi Propaganda with Björn Krondorfer

Maricopa County Library District - George T. Lord Library 1900 N Civic Square Drive, Goodyear, United States

In June of 2021, Holocaust education became a required subject in Arizona public middle and high schools, making space for a discussion on the rise of antisemitic propaganda in 20th century Germany. This presentation will begin with a brief look at the early stages of antisemitic messaging in the 1890s, 09’s and WWI into the […]

Multilingual Baseball: Language and Identity Across Borders with Brendan O’Connor

Queen Creek Library 21802 South Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek, United States

Transnational baseball is a microcosm of globalizing societies around the world, inviting audiences to consider what we can learn from the bilingual understandings and misunderstandings that arise in everyday interactions. This presentation shares the voices of players, coaches, front office personnel, international scouts, language teachers, and interpreters, with experience in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, South […]

Archaeology’s Deep Time Perspective on Environment and Sustainability with Allen Dart

Tohono Chul Park 7366 N. Paseo del Norte, Tucson, AZ, United States

The deep time perspective that archaeology, geology, and related disciplines provide about natural hazards, environmental change, and societal development is often ignored when societies today make decisions affecting social sustainability and human safety. Studies of ancient peoples and natural events can help modern society deal with problems of environmental and social change, overpopulation, and sustainability. […]

The Selling of the Grand Canyon: The Santa Fe, Harvey Company and the El Tovar with John Mack

Phippen Museum 4701 N Hwy 89, Prescott, AZ, United States

This presentation discusses the significance of the American Southwest in the early 20th century when national attention shifted to the canyons and deserts of the American Southwest. Although American scientists, artists, writers, fur traders, and explorers had been visiting the Southwest since the early 19th century, the arrival of the railroads eased access which in […]

Seeing the Desert with Gregory McNamee

Sun City Oro Valley 1495 Rancho Vistoso Blvd, Sun City, Arizona

Most Arizonans are not originally from Arizona, and most come from places that are far greener and milder of climate than our desert. For many of us, it takes a shift of eye and of attitude to appreciate this hot, dry place—but once it gets into one’s soul, there’s nowhere like it. This talk explains […]

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