Before AD 1500, Native American cultures took advantage of southern Arizona’s long growing season and tackled its challenge of limited precipitation by developing the earliest and most extensive irrigation works in all of North America. Agriculture was introduced to Arizona more than 4,000 years before present, and irrigation systems were developed in our state at […]
Paul Hirt is a Professor of History, Senior Sustainability Scholar, and member of the public history faculty at Arizona State University. He specializes in the American West, environmental history, and sustainability studies. Hirt’s publications include a 2012 monograph on the history of electric power in the US Northwest and British Columbia titled The Wired Northwest, a […]
During the night of Christmas Eve in 1944, twenty-five Nazi German prisoners of war escaped from Papago Park POW camp on the outskirts of Phoenix and headed towards Mexico. These men were hardcore Nazis, ex U-boat commanders, and submariners, who had successfully dug a nearly 200-foot underground tunnel that took four months to complete. Many […]
Mankind has dreamed about and longed to explore space for ages. We are indeed fortunate to be living in this slice of time when we actually have the ability and technology to do it! This presentation will discuss the successes, failures, adventures, and discoveries of the final frontier. Dr. James Rice, is an Astrogeologist with […]
In Arizona and throughout the West, three innovations helped make farming and living possible: Windmills brought groundwater to the surface, barbed wire sectioned the vast landscape into parcels, and railroads moved men, women, families and materials from back east. In the old West, there were over 8 million windmills, a man caught cutting down a […]
Water is necessary for life, but as supply shrinks, choices must be made about who is given access to water and who isn’t. Communities across Arizona are going dry. This means that some residents may have no choice except to move. How do we decide who gets access to water, and who does not? Should […]
As we celebrate the 100th birthday of the 19th Amendment in 2020, it’s time to look back at the enormous effort it took for women to be granted full citizenship and the vote. History has downplayed suffrage, as if it were just a footnote in American history, when in fact, it was the nation’s largest […]
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, […]
Can music shape public opinions and foster social change? Does music expand our cultural knowledge or reinforce stereotypes? How does Hip Hop affect perceptions of youth, class, power and authority? This program examines how the specific musical genre, Hip Hop, has transformed the world through musical fusion, rhetorical jousting, cultural innovation, entrepreneurial-ism, and political commentary. […]
We come from different places and backgrounds. Our life experiences and backgrounds can affect the way we see the world and each other, for better or worse. What is implicit bias, and how does it shape our attitudes and actions towards others? How do stereotypes affect our understanding, actions, and decisions? “Implicit bias” can cause […]
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, […]
For more than a century and a half some of the world’s best photographers focused their lenses on Arizona. In addition to the renowned Edward S. Curtis, Kate Cory lived with the Hopi and represented them in photographs and on canvas, while C. S. Fly gave us the famous Geronimo pictures. In the 20th century […]
Arizonans are living in a period of energy transition. Cleaner, renewable energy sources are becoming cheaper than traditional fossil fuel energy sources. Although this transition may be better for the environment, its effects on the economies of some Arizona communities can be devastating. The rapid shift from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural […]
Originally conceived to celebrate Arizona’s Centennial in 2012, “The Ballad of Arizona” has been updated to provide a more complete survey of important, but often little-known, chapters of Arizona’s unique history. A blend of music, video, and lecture, “The Ballad of Arizona” is similar to “A Prairie Home Companion” but with an Arizona twist. The […]
Before AD 1500, Native American cultures took advantage of southern Arizona’s long growing season and tackled its challenge of limited precipitation by developing the earliest and most extensive irrigation works in all of North America. Agriculture was introduced to Arizona more than 4,000 years before present, and irrigation systems were developed in our state at […]
Arizonans are living in a period of energy transition. Cleaner, renewable energy sources are becoming cheaper than traditional fossil fuel energy sources. Although this transition may be better for the environment, its effects on the economies of some Arizona communities can be devastating. The rapid shift from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural […]
This visual presentation shows how Indigenous American women have contributed service to Arizona and the US, yet remain invisible in the media and stereotyped in early films. Nevertheless, they have been honored in all areas of public service—law, medicine, literature, military, education, and activism with awards such as, the Presidential Freedom, the McArthur (genius award), […]
Since the earliest days, Arizonans have been visited by entrepreneurs offering all kinds of get rich quick schemes. Benefitting from tales of abundant resources in the territory, limited law enforcement and communication, a scoundrel could create enticing promise of riches and success without much external oversight. Newspapers often fanned the hysteria only to later denounce […]
“The Vanishing Trading Posts” presents a snapshot of life in the southwest that has disappeared. In a little over one hundred years, trading posts in the Four Corners were founded, traders and Native Americans flourished, and then the posts faded away. The challenges and unexpected gifts of cross-cultural exchange and stories of trading family dynasties […]
Jana Bommersbach is one of Arizona’s most honored and respected journalists. She has won accolades in every facet of her career— investigative reporter, magazine columnist, television commentator and author of nationally acclaimed books. She currently writes for True West magazine, digging up the true stories behind the popular myths, with an emphasis on Arizona’s real […]
Originally conceived to celebrate Arizona’s Centennial in 2012, “The Ballad of Arizona” has been updated to provide a more complete survey of important, but often little-known, chapters of Arizona’s unique history. A blend of music, video, and lecture, “The Ballad of Arizona” is similar to “A Prairie Home Companion” but with an Arizona twist. The […]
The Navajo people of old were forced to leave their homes and walk over 450 miles to Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico where they were imprisoned on a small reservation. For four long years the Navajo people faced hunger, loneliness, disorientation, illnesses, severe environmental conditions, and hopelessness. Navajo women were forced to become warriors. […]
Freedom of speech is fundamental in a democratic society. It means that a person or a community can express their opinion or ideas without fear of retaliation or censorship. But what happens when the opinions expressed are unpopular, violent or dangerous? Whether expressed in person, or through social media, words can have a powerful effect […]
For more than a century and a half some of the world’s best photographers focused their lenses on Arizona. In addition to the renowned Edward S. Curtis, Kate Cory lived with the Hopi and represented them in photographs and on canvas, while C. S. Fly gave us the famous Geronimo pictures. In the 20th century […]
For more than a century and a half some of the world’s best photographers focused their lenses on Arizona. In addition to the renowned Edward S. Curtis, Kate Cory lived with the Hopi and represented them in photographs and on canvas, while C. S. Fly gave us the famous Geronimo pictures. In the 20th century […]
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, […]
Gregory McNamee is a writer, editor, photographer, and publisher. He is the author of 40 books and more than 6,000 articles and other publications. He is a contributing editor to the Encyclopædia Britannica, a research fellow at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona, and a lecturer in the Eller School of Management, at […]
We come from different places and backgrounds. Our life experiences and backgrounds can affect the way we see the world and each other, for better or worse. What is implicit bias, and how does it shape our attitudes and actions towards others? How do stereotypes affect our understanding, actions, and decisions? “Implicit bias” can cause […]
This visual presentation shows how Indigenous American women have contributed service to Arizona and the US, yet remain invisible in the media and stereotyped in early films. Nevertheless, they have been honored in all areas of public service—law, medicine, literature, military, education, and activism with awards such as, the Presidential Freedom, the McArthur (genius award), […]
For more than a century and a half some of the world’s best photographers focused their lenses on Arizona. In addition to the renowned Edward S. Curtis, Kate Cory lived with the Hopi and represented them in photographs and on canvas, while C. S. Fly gave us the famous Geronimo pictures. In the 20th century […]
The iconic image of the Grand Canyon, the state’s signature landscape, has inspired countless artists with its geologically impressive and colorful beauty. In the nineteenth century, there were few women who participated in the national enthusiasm for landscape painting, but in the twentieth century, women emphatically claimed this subject. The Santa Fe Railway formed the […]
Communication and secrecy were key to the successful operation of the Underground Railroad. Safety was more important than quickness. Both fugitive slaves and members of the Underground Railroad learned to code and decode hidden messages, and to disguise signs to avoid capture. There were code names for routes and code numbers for towns. A quilt […]
As we celebrate the 100th birthday of the 19th Amendment in 2020, it’s time to look back at the enormous effort it took for women to be granted full citizenship and the vote. History has downplayed suffrage, as if it were just a footnote in American history, when in fact, it was the nation’s largest […]
As we celebrate the 100th birthday of the 19th Amendment in 2020, it’s time to look back at the enormous effort it took for women to be granted full citizenship and the vote. History has downplayed suffrage, as if it were just a footnote in American history, when in fact, it was the nation’s largest […]
Take a virtual journey across some of the most interesting and off-the-beaten path Jewish communities on four different continents: from India’s historic Bene Israel community, to Alaska’s tight-knit “Frozen Chosen,” to Ecuador’s opulent JCC located just miles from the center of the world, to Myanmar’s miraculous Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon. This talk will explore […]
This visual presentation shows how Indigenous American women have contributed service to Arizona and the US, yet remain invisible in the media and stereotyped in early films. Nevertheless, they have been honored in all areas of public service—law, medicine, literature, military, education, and activism with awards such as, the Presidential Freedom, the McArthur (genius award), […]
Water is necessary for life, but as supply shrinks, choices must be made about who is given access to water and who isn’t. Communities across Arizona are going dry. This means that some residents may have no choice except to move. How do we decide who gets access to water, and who does not? Should […]
Communication and secrecy were key to the successful operation of the Underground Railroad. Safety was more important than quickness. Both fugitive slaves and members of the Underground Railroad learned to code and decode hidden messages, and to disguise signs to avoid capture. There were code names for routes and code numbers for towns. A quilt […]
The agave plant was used by Native peoples for numerous utilitarian items. Mescal served as a valuable food source still being harvested and prepared to this day by many Indigenous groups. For millennia people have pit roasted the heart of the plant yielding a nutritious food staple rich in calcium and zinc. This talk includes […]
Six hundred miles long from its source in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico to its confluence with the Colorado River above Yuma, the Gila has been an important avenue for the movement of birds, animals, plants, and peoples across the desert for millennia. Many cultures have sprung up on its banks, and millions of […]
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