ASU Health Futures Center   

In this combined lecture and studio experience, Legacy Instructor Allen Reamer guides you through Georgia O’Keeffe’s life year by year, exploring how her distinctive style developed: when, where, and why it changed. You’ll gain insight into the influences that shaped her work, including periods of illness and the key individuals who supported her career. Beyond learning about her art, you’ll create your own original works inspired by O’Keeffe’s techniques and compositions, without copying her paintings. Working with large-scale forms and expressive design, you’ll explore a variety of media and complete one or two pieces each session. Please bring your materials from the supply list to the first class. For questions regarding the class, contact areamerart@mindspring.com.

Nature journaling blends observation, curiosity, reflection, and creativity to deepen your connection with the natural world, and the research is clear: time in nature supports both physical and psychological well-being. In this class, a short indoor lecture is followed by time outdoors in the beautiful desert landscape surrounding ASU’s Health Futures Center. You’ll explore a variety of observational techniques like drawing, labeling, mapping, and descriptive writing, and discover which approaches resonate most with your own style. You’ll also reflect on your personal experiences in nature, deepening your awareness and appreciation of the world around you. The goal isn’t to become an expert artist or naturalist, but to cultivate a lasting practice of curiosity, wonder, and building a mindful connection to nature.

Join Midori Hall, community educator, and her husband Jim for a moving and deeply personal exploration of Arizona's two Japanese American incarceration camps, Gila River and Poston, during World War II. Born at the Gila River camp in Aug. 1942, Midori shares her family's lived experiences, childhood memories, and the historical research that later confirmed many of those recollections. The presentation examines the profound cultural meanings of the Japanese concepts "Shigata-nai," "Nozomi," and "Gaman" and how these ideas helped families endure extraordinary hardship with resilience, hope, and dignity. Through stories of unexpected kindness, perseverance, and healing, Midori and Jim reflect on their return to Arizona in 1986 and their ongoing commitment to preserving this vital history.

This class is the same as class 114

This lecture will examine the errors in planning and decision-making committed by General Robert E. Lee and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, leading up to and during their respective defining battles. I used these case studies to teach planning and decision-making to students at the U.S. Naval War College because error yields more lessons than success. The recurrence of these errors, as well as an interesting series of parallels that the respective campaigns exhibit, gives credence to Mark Twain's remark that "It is not worthwhile to try and keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible."

Why do conflicts escalate even when no one intends them to? Drawing on criminology, psychology, and behavioral science, this presentation explores the hidden dynamics of trauma, stress, and human behavior that lie just beneath the surface of everyday interactions. You'll gain insight into how unresolved emotional experiences shape individuals, families, and entire communities, and discover practical approaches to resilience, communication, and de-escalation. Susan Magestro brings more than 40 years of experience working with youth, families, schools, law enforcement, and crisis situations, making this a class that is as thought-provoking as it is immediately useful.

We live in one of the most remarkable ecosystems on Earth, the Sonoran Desert. Despite extreme heat and scarce rainfall, an extraordinary diversity of plants, animals, and people have called this place home for thousands of years. But human development is changing the landscape faster than ever, making the work of organizations like the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy more important than ever. In this class, we'll explore the processes that shaped this desert, how ecosystems form and sustain themselves, how living things adapt to environmental challenges, and what it means for humans to leave such a deep mark in such a short time. Core principles of ecology from the rocks beneath our feet to the communities above them. Come alive in this local context.

In 1620, the Mayflower left Southampton carrying 102 passengers and a crew of thirty, bound for the unknown. What drove them to risk everything on such a dangerous journey? Two very different motivations: religious freedom and economic opportunity. Historian George Willison, in his 1945 book Saints and Strangers, gave us the terms we still use today. The "Saints", Bradford, Carver, and Brewster, are better known, but the "Strangers", Alden, Warren, Hopkins, Standish, and Billington made names for themselves too. And what of the women? We'll explore the passengers, the ship, the harrowing journey, the Mayflower Compact, the early days of Plymouth, and the myths that have grown up around them.

Discover the fascinating stories of influential women whose lives provide a unique window into the political, cultural, and historical development of the Middle East.Through engaging narratives and lively discussion, class members will explore how these remarkable women challenged expectations, led movements, and influenced the course of their societies. Their courage, leadership, and resilience offer valuable insights into the region’s history while highlighting the lasting impact individuals can have on shaping the world around them.

"Just take it easy". It's advice many of us have heard after an injury or bout of pain. But as we age, that guidance can often do more harm than good. This class explores how the body's capacity to heal changes over time and why pain or injuries may persist despite rest, stretching, or conventional treatments. We'll examine the critical roles that strength, movement patterns, and overall physical capacity play in recovery, and factors that are frequently underestimated or overlooked. Rather than chasing temporary relief, this class focuses on what truly helps the body regain resilience, restore function, and move with greater confidence. You'll leave with a clearer, more proactive understanding of how to maintain your activity, mobility, and independence.

Arizona settlers celebrated the Walnut Grove Dam as a symbol of progress, proof that human ambition could tame the wilderness and transform Arizona's rugged frontier into prosperous farmland and mining country. Those ambitions came to a tragic end in February 1890, when the dam failed, unleashing millions of gallons of water down the Hassayampa River and claiming as many as 150 lives. In this presentation, Dr. Eduardo Pagán, former co-host of History Detectives (PBS), Bob Stump Endowed Professor of History, and Associate Dean of Barrett, The Honors College, explores the engineering ambitions behind the dam, the catastrophic collapse, and what the disaster reveals about Arizona's territorial development.

This class is the same as class 095

This lecture will examine the errors in planning and decision-making committed by General Robert E. Lee and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, leading up to and during their respective defining battles. I used these case studies to teach planning and decision-making to students at the U.S. Naval War College because error yields more lessons than success. The recurrence of these errors, as well as an interesting series of parallels that the respective campaigns exhibit, gives credence to Mark Twain's remark that "It is not worthwhile to try and keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible."

Johnny Guitar (1954) bursts at the seams with sexual tension and expressionist frenzy, two feuding female leads (Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge), the men they love (Sterling Hayden and Scott Brady), and a story that defies every convention of the Western genre. Director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause, In a Lonely Place) shreds the genre's rulebook through operatic close-ups, tilted angles, flamboyant performances, a lush score, and eye-popping color. And threaded through every frame: the paranoia, suspicion, and betrayal of the McCarthy era, bleeding through like few films of its time. Coffee Pot Rock, the Two Nuns, and Oak Creek Canyon form the backdrop as ASU's Dr. Kevin Sandler guides us through the film's themes and its equally wild production history at Republic Pictures' permanent Western set in Sedona.

Cold cases are among the most challenging investigations in law enforcement, and the ones involving missing or unidentified persons carry a particular weight. In this compelling presentation, retired detective Stuart Somershoe of the Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit examines the investigative strategies used to pursue answers in cases that have gone unsolved for years, or even decades. Through real case studies, you'll explore the key differences between missing-person and unidentified-person investigations, the obstacles detectives face, and the critical roles of forensic science, DNA technology, and interagency collaboration. The class also puts a human face on cold-case work, honoring the families still seeking answers and the investigators who never stop looking.