In world religious and spiritual traditions as distant as Central America, the Andes, and the Middle East, the concept of the soul and the axis of its universe, the Tree of Life, provide a unifying thread of thought. This lecture compares and contrasts images of the soul from the great mystical texts of Mayans, pre-Incan […]

With the exception of the most ardent collectors and older generation, the influence and legacy of the big bands is largely forgotten despite their overwhelming popularity and significant role in early radio. Join Larson as he revisits the sounds America listened and danced to for more than three decades. Learn how iconic artists like Glenn […]

Early traders traveled through Arizona Territory, selling goods from their wagons, but they soon built stores that evolved into trading and social centers where wool, sheep, and Native Arts were exchanged for food and necessities. Navajo trading posts are best known, but trading posts existed on every reservation in Arizona. Traders became the intermediaries between […]

In pioneer Arizona, among the best places to experience the performing arts were in the mining towns. Striking it rich meant having disposable income and miners, like the well-heeled of the Gilded Age, wanted to demonstrate their sophistication with culture. From the early popular music of ragtime and minstrelsy during the forming of these communities […]

Arizona’s New Deal built sidewalks, post offices, provided school lunches and outhouses. It produced roadside shrines and monuments to encourage tourism, check dams and mud stock tanks to support Arizona ranchers as well as golf courses and pools for recreation. The federal investment in the built and cultural landscape of 1930s Arizona and the nation […]

Throughout history, the ability of a people to survive and thrive has been tied to environmental conditions.  The skill to predict the climatic change of the seasons was an essential element in the ability to “control” those conditions.  Seasonal calendars thus became the foundation of early cultures: hunting and gathering, planting and harvesting, worshiping and […]

Many neuroscientists study music to elucidate mysteries of the brain. Why is music such a rich resource?  Not only can scientists physically track the process of learning music as different areas of the brain light up, they can trace music’s powerful effect on our emotions, muscles and memory.  The benefits of music span well beyond […]

Every day we use words and phrases whose roots lie in the American West. Words like “brand,” “maverick,” and “railroaded,” along with phrases like “climb down of your high horse” and “passing the buck” all grew out of the culture and experiences of those who resided west of the Mississippi. Thse creative words and phrases are poetic, descriptive and […]

Throughout history, the ability of a people to survive has been tied to environmental conditions.  The skill to predict the seasons was an essential element in the ability to “control” those conditions. Seasonal calendars became the foundation of early cultures for hunting and gathering, planting and harvesting, worshiping and celebrating. The goal of cultural astronomy […]