First Universalist Church of Denver   

States and counties across the U.S. are actively luring AI data centers with tax breaks and incentives involving electricity, water, and land, hoping to claim new municipal revenues and a share of AI's explosive growth. Data centers are genuinely resource-intensive: even a mid-sized one consumes as much water as a small town, while larger ones require up to 5 million gallons daily - equivalent to a city of 50,000. Powering and cooling server stacks also demands significant resources; a conventional data center draws as much electricity as 10,000 to 25,000 households. This series of OLLI sessions will examine the demands for water, energy, minerals, and land, as well as the potential environmental impacts of AI data centers, with world, state, and local examples.

This course dedicates its first hour to a discussion of the current week's events. Dick will do the first week's overview, after which two class volunteers are invited each week to provide a recap of the previous week. The second hour will be a discussion of a specific topic. This course approaches current events from a distinctly progressive political perspective.

Class members should expect to see one of the facilitator's favorite films and be expected to take part in the discussion at the conclusion of the film. Films will likely include (based on availability) They Shoot Horses Don't They, Elmer Gantry, On The Beach along with five other films. Class will start at 12:45pm and may extend a few minutes past 3pm.

You stand shivering alone on the boat deck, dreading each enormous wave that sinks your world deeper into the cold, dark, and very lonely ocean. Perhaps you've been startled out of deep sleep by the walls shaking while the floor beneath your bed slides inexorably into a debris-filled abyss. We visit these two calamities along with many others in our Tour of Disasters. Over six classes we will discuss various cataclysmic events in depth: shipwreck, famine, flood, fire, and more. You will acquire concrete tools to use in the next challenge that man or nature may throw at you. We analyze well-known disasters and lesser-known mishaps through readings, videos, podcasts, music, and artifacts. Each event will reveal a valuable lesson in survival. On each leg of the tour I will ask the question "What would you do?" Each time you will have an answer.

By 1890, the hubris of Europe's imperial powers was leading the world toward war. WWI ushered in the modern world and created a host of complications - from the autocratic rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Czar Nicholas II to the rise of Lenin, Mao, and Hitler. The world would wrestle for stability. The Great Depression and political chaos created instability in world leadership and a struggle to find a peaceful path into the 20th century. Join me for a journey through 1890 to 1939, a period that continues to shape today's world.

This lecture series examines the Middle East conflict through the lens of Israel's experience and viewpoint. The course opens with the historical background of Israel's conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah, and regional actors including Yemen and Iran, and examines the unique military challenges of fighting in densely populated areas.

Sessions will help participants become more sophisticated consumers of news by exploring media bias, and will examine the complexities of the Two-State Solution, the origins of the refugee problem, and the strong US-Israel partnership. The series will also address accusations of genocide and apartheid leveled against Israel, the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and rising antisemitism in the United States. A final session will explore Israel's economy during wartime.

Please note that this course presents a specific pro-Israel perspective on the conflict. Respectful discussion and questions are encouraged throughout.

The origins of Judeo-Christian values that cemented the foundation of Western civilization must be studied and understood in order to preserve them for the future. This series of lectures covers Jewish history, addressing major points of positive and negative intersection with Christianity and their complex relationship, while emphasizing that Judaism and Christianity have more commonalities than divisions. Topics include Biblical and post-Biblical Jewish history through the First and Second Temples, the history of the diaspora, the birth of Christianity, the interplay between Church and Synagogue in antiquity, the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and modern times. The goal of this series is to build a better understanding of the shared history and values within the Judeo-Christian world — and to construct bridges to a common future for generations to come.

Recommended Readings: 1) Max I. Dimont, Jews, God, and History; 2) Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews; 3) A.N. Wilson, Jesus: A Life; 4) James Carroll, Constantine's Sword.

There will be no class on 10/20.

Far too often, we live in a glittering world of masks and illusions, imprisoned by fear and longing for genuine human connection. No one understood this all-too-human tendency as acutely as William Shakespeare. In Much Ado About Nothing, one of his greatest comedies, Shakespeare explores this human struggle and may even suggest a possible way out of this predicament. Using a reading of the play and guided by generous clips from Kenneth Branagh's great film, we will explore not only our capacity for self-imprisonment, but also our real potential for human connection and genuine love.

Required Reading: Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.

The Framers of the Constitution detested factions and political parties. They believed self-interested political divisions were incompatible with republicanism, destructive of civic virtue, and dangerous to the stability of a nation. Organized political opposition, they feared, would poison the republic. Yet by the end of the 1790s, the United States had developed its first party system. What happened to cause such a dramatic change?

This course examines the events and personalities of the 1790s that triggered opposition, faction, and party. Debates over finance, constitutional power, regional interests, and America's relationship with Britain and revolutionary France divided the nation's leaders into rival camps with competing visions of what kind of republic the new nation should become. Americans were forced to ask if political opposition could exist without destroying republican government itself. What emerged was something new in the history of the world: the acceptance of a legitimate political opposition.

Required Reading: Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789 - 1815. Oxford University Press, 2009. Chapters 1 - 8

We will start by learning basic football concepts and terms. The class will then examine and discuss the pros and cons of allowing young people to play full-contact football. Finally, we will examine the current state of the game at the elementary school, high school, college, and professional levels.

This dialogue-based seminar will span three terms: Fall 2026, Winter 2027, and Spring 2027. We will cover the history of various kinds of socialism, as well as the cases that have been made in favor of or against it. We will review the history of various kinds of capitalism for comparison and contrast. In the Fall term, we will examine policy proposals that are compatible with socialist thought and practice, such as Universal Basic Income, a Land Value Tax, Public Banking, and Modern Monetary Theory. Subsequent classes will address topics such as Economic Democracy, a Debt Jubilee, Carbon Dividends, a Job Guarantee, a Maximum Wage, and Medicare for All, as well as additional suggestions by participants.

Recommend Reading: Understanding Socialism by Richard Wolff ($25 paperback, $10 kindle)

A lively current events class that bring awareness to what media is feeding you. Are you wasting your information calories at this most critical time? We'll compare news sources and shows literally up to the minute class begins. This class should change the way you see local and national news no matter what your news source. Political ads are on the menu too, with a side of ethics in journalism, algorithms, show stacking and producing.