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Science, history and justice on tap in FLC’s free, autumn lecture series
Dennis O’Leary will kick off the fall 2014 Life-Long Learning series.

Science, history and restorative justice are some of the topics in the annual fall lineup of free lectures at Fort Lewis College.

The FLC Life-long Learning series resumes Thursday in 130 Noble Hall. Retired geologist Dennis O’Leary will discuss the controversial history of Yucca Mountain, the nation’s only repository for high-level nuclear waste.

All programs begin at 7 p.m. in 130 Noble Hall with two exceptions: On Oct. 15 and 22, the series shifts to Wednesday evenings and different locations to highlight the College’s 2014 Common Reading Experience.

As a highlight for the fall semester, the college selected Sister Helen Prejean’s Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty that Sparked a National Debate. Based on her experience as spiritual adviser to a convicted killer of two teenagers and published in 1993, Prejean’s powerful story ignited a renewed debate about the death penalty and the concept of restorative justice. The book has also inspired a number of interpretations, including a film, an opera and a play.

For the last several years, the Life-long Learning program has partnered with the College’s Common Reading Experience to expand the town-grown dialogue. To that end, a panel discussion chaired by Sarah Roberts-Cady of the Department of Philosophy will explore the topic of restorative justice from 7-9 p.m. Oct. 15 in the FLC Student Union Ballroom. The following Wednesday, Oct. 22, a reading of the play written by Tim Robbins will take place in the Mainstage Theatre.

Returning to the regular Thursday night schedule, there will be a panel discussion on Oct. 30 in Noble Hall about other works inspired by Prejean. The discussion will also include new music composed by FLC Director of Choral Studies Charissa Chiaravalloti and performed at Prejean’s talk at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 in the College’s Whalen Gymnasium.

The fall series is as follows:

Sept. 18: Yucca Mountain and the Problem of America’s Nuclear Waste, by geologist Dennis O’Leary.

Sept. 25: The Long Journey Home: Life, Death and Deliverance at a Frontier Army Post, by archaeologist Jeffrey Hanson.

Oct. 2: A Guide to Action for Ending a Dictatorship or Other Forms of Oppression, by Jamila Raqib, executive director of the Albert Einstein Institute at MIT.

Oct. 9: Black Bears in Durango: Examining the Influence of Urban Environments on Bear Behavior and Population Dynamics, by wildlife researcher Heather Johnson.

Oct. 15: Common Reading Experience Panel Discussion: Restorative Justice, FLC Student Union Ballroom.

Oct. 22: Play reading of Dead Man Walking, Mainstage Theatre.

Oct. 30: Walking into the Arts: A panel discussion of the film, play, opera and new music inspired by Dead Man Walking.

Nov. 6: How the World Could Come to an End in the 21st Century, and How to Prevent It, by David Denkenberger, Global Catastrophic Risk Institute.

Nov. 13: Economic Transition to a New Future: From Command to Market-based Economics Through a Croatian Lens, by Robert Sonora, FLC economics professor.

Nov. 20: Cancer in Southwest Colorado: Statistics, Hereditary Cancer Syndromes and Other Important Information You Need to Know, by Randi Rycroft, director of the Colorado Central Cancer Registry, and Elena Strait, certified genetic counselor.

Dec. 4. On the Trail with Lewis and Clark: Wilderness and Environmental Change in the American West, by Andrew Gulliford, professor of history at FLC.

jreynolds@durangoherald.com. Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, art historian and arts journalist.

If you go

The free Life-Long Learning Series will kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday with retired geologist Dennis O’Leary’s presentation of “Yucca Mountain and the Problem of America’s Nuclear Waste” in Noble Hall, Room 130, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.



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