Seeing the Desert with Gregory McNamee

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, 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 […]

FREE

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

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, 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. […]

FREE

Writers of The Purple Sage with Jim Turner

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, AZ, United States

This presentation covers five Arizona novelists: Zane Grey spent his honeymoon at the Grand Canyon and went on to be one of the first and most famous Western writers of all time; Harold Bell Wright came to Tucson with lung problems and became a bestseller from 1900 to 1930. University of Arizona writing professor Richard […]

FREE

Deconstructing the Taco: The History and Lore of a Beloved Food with Gregory McNamee

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, AZ, United States

The foods of Arizona speak to the many cultures, native and newcomer, that make up our state. Consider the taco, that favorite treat, a staple of Mexican and Mexican American cooking and an old standby on an Arizonan’s plate. The corn in the tortilla comes from Mexico, the cheese from the Sahara, the lettuce from […]

FREE

Arizona Goes to the Movies: A Filmmaking History with Jim Turner

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, AZ, United States

From Douglas Fairbanks filming in Nogales in 1917 to “How the West Was Won” statewide in 1963, the state of Arizona has always been a photogenic favorite for movie producers. The program looks from “Real to Reel” to see how Hollywood has affected popular views of Western settlement and continues to impact social interactions. The […]

FREE

Southwest Rock Calendars and Ancient Time Pieces with Allen Dart

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, AZ, United States

Native Americans in the U.S. Southwest developed sophisticated skills in astronomy and predicting the seasons, centuries before non-Indian peoples entered the region. In this presentation archaeologist Allen Dart discusses the petroglyphs at Picture Rocks, the architecture of the “Great House” at Arizona’s Casa Grande Ruins, and other archaeological evidence of ancient southwestern astronomy and calendrical […]

FREE

Honky Tonks, Brothels and Mining Camps: Entertainment in Old Arizona

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, AZ, United States

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, […]

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