History & Current Events   

Optics is a branch of physics that studies light: how it behaves, how it moves, and how it interacts with matter. We will explore its more than 3,000-year-old history – first studied by Indian scholars, followed by the Greeks, the Islamic Golden Age, the European Renaissance, and to the present. Optics' effects are visible in our everyday life, from space telescopes to eye surgery to fiber optics and lasers. We will also touch on the powerful influence that optics has on fine arts via the interplay of light and objects.

Alberto Giacometti is one of the most important and famous sculptors of the 20th century but most people only know his later "stick figures." Giacometti was a member of the Paris Surrealist group in the 30's. He was friends/frenemies with Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, André Breton, Jean-Paul Sartre, Joan Miró, Hans Arp, Salvador Dalí and many more. We'll explore his art in its many forms, his turbulent personal life and his relationships with other famous artists.

This class will explore the varied styles of beer, from lager to bitter, gruit to porter. We will cover the style criteria, history, and brewing techniques of various styles. No background is necessary, just an inquiring and inquisitive mindset – and a love of beer, of course.

This class will explore the varied styles of beer, from lager to bitter, gruit to porter. We will cover the style criteria, history, and brewing techniques of various styles. No background is necessary, just an inquiring and inquisitive mindset – and a love of beer, of course.

Experience an engaging two-hour aviation field trip that brings local air history and aircraft operations to life. Begin with a warm welcome and overview of aviation basics before heading outdoors for a guided walk along the flight line to explore Cal Fire's aircraft, a vintage 1929 biplane, and Aero-Flite's air tanker operations. Conclude with an in-depth hangar tour.

Chico State's tradition of academic excellence goes back more than 130 years. With over 800 faculty members and 14,000 students, the University's teaching and learning community is thriving. Discover the imagination, cutting-edge research, and expertise that flourishes in our own backyard!

The University Farm is a "living laboratory" for agricultural education, literacy, and research in Northern California. Join us for a guided tour showcasing our fields, labs, and hands-on learning spaces, including the new Agricultural Education Center and Jay Gilbert Farm Store. This state-of-the-art facility features modern classrooms, collaboration areas, and a student-run retail space with farm-produced goods. Explore how the farm supports experiential learning, community engagement, and the next generation of leaders in sustainable agriculture.

This class includes short presentations (talks, slides, videos) followed by discussions on all sorts of current US and world topics involving history, government, policy, science, technology, literature, education, culture, and many more. Participants are welcome to make presentations, suggest topics, discuss, or just listen. Special guests are also welcome to present.

We will examine current controversies about federal government initiatives reported in popular media. In general, these issues relate to provisions in the US Constitution called the separation of powers. Why did the founders design this? How is it supposed to work? Our sources will be news articles, opinion columns, and letters to the editor. We will use the learning through conversation method to understand these public policy issues. We will not attempt to propose solutions.

We will examine current controversies about federal government initiatives reported in popular media. In general, these issues relate to provisions in the US Constitution called the separation of powers. Why did the founders design this? How is it supposed to work? Our sources will be news articles, opinion columns, and letters to the editor. We will use the learning through conversation method to understand these public policy issues. We will not attempt to propose solutions.

In For the Time Being, naturalist Annie Dillard explores how the sacred reveals itself in our modern, scientifically-oriented world. Her protagonists are the Baal Shem Tov, an eighteenth-century Hasidic rabbi, and Teilhard de Chardin, a twentieth-century Jesuit paleontologist. She brings the mystery of birth, the Chinese Emperor Qin's ten thousand terra-cotta soldiers, and an extended visit to modern Israel into her quest. Dillard asks, "Given things as they are, how shall one individual live?" Join this learning through conversation seminar to explore with her.

This is a video montage class of the greatest and most impossible sports scenes. Watch great moments from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, golf, bowling, tennis, soccer, and boxing. See and hear the most unbelievable March Madness buzzer-beaters, great sports calls made by the original announcers, the best walk-off wins, and original network TV sports themes from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Let's see if some of the class leader's memories match yours. This is a class for your enjoyment, so just sit back and watch.

This introductory class will provide an overview of Hinduism, the religion of India that originated about 3000 years ago. It will include a brief history about the origin of Hinduism and the contributions to it from different sources, the religion of Hinduism and its many components, the different philosophies that underpin the religious practices, including the non-dualism of Vedanta; and the interactions between Hinduism and Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Also covered in the class are the rituals, practices, customs, and festivals related to Hinduism.

If you haven't visited the Butte College Campus recently, here is your chance to join us on a wonderful campus tour. A student guide will help us explore various buildings, educational programs, and a bit of Butte College history. The tour will end at the new Science Building, where we will be given a sneak peek at the adjacent planetarium. Participants must be comfortable navigating steps and walking or standing for up to two hours. All walking paths are paved.

Join us for an outdoor adventure exploring an interesting town. We will meander at a leisurely pace for 2 miles. Participants must be comfortable walking and standing for up to two hours. This class will include viewing and discussing murals that depict events, people, and sights that have been drawing people to Oroville since the Gold Rush.

World War II was the first modern mass media war. Radio, newsreels, and movies were heavily censored, or actually produced, by governments. This mass media was generally accepted as news rather than the propaganda it actually was. Many misconceptions have persisted and been reinforced by movies, documentaries, and "skewed" official "histories." For example, to this day, we don't often admit that we missed Nagasaki. Stop by and get the details.

W.B. Yeats, in his essay "The Celtic Element In Literature," spoke of visions of a world expressed by people who "believed that trees were divine, and could take a human or grotesque shape and dance among the shadows." Once a powerful people who dominated much of Europe, the Celts were reduced to a few small groups after the Roman invasions. However, their mythology survived, thanks largely to the efforts of medieval Irish and Welsh monks who wrote down the stories.

Join us for this beginner's guide to navigating the heavens. We will consider an eclectic mix of mythology, historic viewpoints, and current events in meteorology, astronomy, and cosmology. Eyes to the sky!

Located at the corner of Fifth and Salem Streets, the Stansbury Home was built by Dr. Oscar Stansbury, a local physician, in 1883. Owned by the City of Chico since 1976, it is operated by the Stansbury Home Preservation Association as a historic house museum. This tour will include Dr. Stansbury's office, with its display of the tools used in his practice, as well as rooms used by the Stansbury family with original interiors and furnishings intact.

Located at the corner of Fifth and Salem Streets, the Stansbury Home was built by Dr. Oscar Stansbury, a local physician, in 1883. Owned by the City of Chico since 1976, it is operated by the Stansbury Home Preservation Association as a historic house museum. This tour will include Dr. Stansbury's office, with its display of the tools used in his practice, as well as rooms used by the Stansbury family with original interiors and furnishings intact.

The Constitution of the United States, established in 1787, created the government that we have today. There were many flaws in this document, and over 200 years there have been many attempts to amend the Constitution, beginning with the Bill of Rights. Currently there are 27 amendments, and they all deserve investigation from an historic perspective.

The Basque people have lived in northern Spain for thousands of years. Who are they and where did they come from? Why did they settle there? What makes them unique? We will discuss these questions, and more, as well as the unique culture and attitudes of these people today. The presentation will include photos from a recent visit to Spain.

Vercors, an alpine fortress in the French Alps, saw many French Resistance fighters join the movement in 1944. The fighters were set to disrupt German activities to support the Provence Landing. This class will look at what happened and why through the eyes of the instructor's father, a teen at the time, who was pulled into the Resistance movement at the eleventh hour. We will read excerpts of his book about his unbelievable experience during this battle that remained controversial for many years.

Sports and politics have always been connected, even when athletes and fans try to claim they're separate. From the original Olympics to Jesse Owens competing in Nazi Germany in 1936, to Muhammad Ali's resistance to the Vietnam War draft, the two have been intertwined – whether we like it or not. This class explores the historical relationship between sports and political movements, as well as how politics has shaped the world of sports. We'll examine how teams, leagues, and athletes have navigated race, gender, laws, and nationalism in a seminar setting that encourages discussion and participation.

Socrates spent his life "examining" men in public places: the agora (marketplace) and Lyceum (a gymnasium). He became a celebrity and was, at the age of 47, rudely caricatured by the comic poet Aristophanes in Clouds. In his 60s, Socrates met a handsome young nobleman, Plato, then in his late teens, and convinced him to give up poetry in favor of philosophy. In 399 BC, Socrates was convicted of impiety and corrupting the youth and sentenced to death. After the death of Socrates, Plato wrote some 26 dialogues, four of which touch on the last days of Socrates.

The Cousins' War, as it was called contemporaneously, that ripped apart the ruling Plantagenet family in England affords some insights into competitions for leadership, control, and alliances, even in the present day. Join us as we dissect the complicated relationships that played out in 15th-century England and ended with the throne occupied by the first Tudor king, Henry VII.

Movies like The Thomas Crown Affair portray art theft as ingenious and sophisticated. Reality is usually quite different. We will examine thefts that have occurred over the last 100 years and attempt to answer a number of questions: How common is art theft? Is it profitable for the thief? If not for profit, why do people steal art? Do thieves act alone or are more thefts accomplished by teams? Are most stolen artworks found? And, of course, what do the Mona Lisa and The Scream have in common?

Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son. Hundreds of Americans frequently gathered to watch Black people lynched. Tens of thousands of Germans helped to implement Hitler's Final Solution. Police and prison guards are known to abuse their authority. Why? Two experiments deal with two possible answers: the late Stanley Milgram at Yale addressed "following orders" in 1961, and the late Phillip Zimbardo at Stanford addressed "going along with the crowd" in 1971. We'll look at both experiments (which could be a wee bit scary) in an attempt to answer the Why question.