This course will focus on the most important astronomical discoveries from ancient times into the 21st century. This will be light on technical details, while still explaining the science, and focusing on the people who made these amazing discoveries. We’ll provide the significant background of the individual’s life and the interesting stories of what they learned, leading us to our current understanding of the universe. A few of the super stars of astronomy such as: Aristotle, Claudius Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Edwin Hubble, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking plus more. This course is a follow up to the more technical “Astronomy 101” class from past semesters but is not a prerequisite. It is suggested you take both in no specific order. Astronomy 101 will return in the spring.

Birding Basics: Birding may be the perfect pastime, almost anyone can do it and no special knowledge or skill is required. This course is designed for beginners or those just getting started.  In this class you will learn how to get started in birding, basic bird identification, and common apps to make identification easier. 

Beginning Digital Bird Photography will discuss the fundamentals of photography (rule of thirds, exposure triangle, etc.), camera/gear selection and use, shot composition, bird location and identification, post-production techniques, and storage and display of your photographs. The instructor will take you through his journey into photographing birds in a candid and transparent way, sharing his successes and failures so all can learn from his experience and apply what they find helpful to their own journey into digital bird photography.

Our world and our lives are continually shaped by bias and prejudice.  We are taught that these are MALIGN influences, yet bias and prejudice are BENIGN in innumerable ways--many that are absolutely vital to our survival.  Learn what these influences are, why they occur, how they differ and when you can (and when you cannot) do anything about them.

We will explore Charles Darwin's impact on Christian thinking at the end of the 19th, and into the 20th century by looking at Darwin's writings and those of Christian naturalists and theologians who reacted to his theory of evolution as put forward in his "On the Origin of Species," published in 1859. Attention will be given to the precedents to Darwin's work that set the stage for the debates that followed.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) refers to the manipulation of eggs or embryos to achieve pregnancy. This course will explore controversial issues in ART including In vitro fertilization (IVF), genetic testing of embryos, status and disposal of IVF embryos, surrogacy, selling and using donor sperm and eggs, medical and social freezing of sperm and eggs, and new technologies testing the boundaries of ART. 

All diseases and medical conditions (except trauma) have a genetic component. DNA sequencing is revolutionizing medical genetics by enabling earlier detection of diseases and development of knowledge and technologies for prevention and treatment of diseases, including genetic vaccines and gene edits targeting specific cancers, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and others. This course is designed for a lay audience interested in learning about current and anticipated benefits from DNA sequencing and medical genetics research.

The James Webb Space Telescope has been in development for decades and was just launched into a unique orbit around the Sun, beyond the Earth's orbit. This lecture will be an overview of the telescope's mission, its development and construction, its launch, and orbital insertion around the Lagrange 2 point.

Still have a yard? Do you have trees in your yard? If so, are you properly taking care of their health? This course will walk you through the basics of good tree care to ensure they live as long as possible, don't pose a hazard to people or property, and provide great shade.

At the heart of botanical science you can find a herbarium: a scientific collection of preserved plants that documents knowledge about plant life on Earth. In this lecture, you should expect to better understand how botanical specimens are collected from around the world, how they are preserved (since the 1500s!), and how they are an essential part of naming and understanding our world flora. You'll learn what value herbarium specimens represent to science, and hopefully gain an appreciation for the way art, history, and science manifest in these tangible objects that curators preserve for generations to come. Plant-, history-, science- and art-lovers, lovers are likely to enjoy this lecture. This program will take place at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT). 

For ages, bizarre and unseen influences have affected us (mostly in unknown ways). These occur at all times and even during our most private moments. They are occurring to you now--as you read these very words. We will learn how recent evidence of some influences has shocked the scientific community to its core. Then we will examine theories that not only upset our conventional understanding of the world but also promise a future of unimagined splendor.

Fundamental physics teaches us about how the universe is designed. Quantum mechanics shows us that at the fundamental level the design is very strange indeed. Particles behave as both particles and waves; properties seem not to exist until they are measured, and entangled particles seem to communicate over long distances almost instantaneously. All of this defies normal human intuition. This class will discuss these ideas in a non-mathematical way. While we will avoid math, we will discuss experiments that require some thought to understand. People who attend this class should come prepared to think hard about concepts that defy intuition.

The Wright Brothers, bicycle shop owners in Dayton Ohio, designed, built, and flew the first powered airplane in 1903. This course will review their early lives prior to their entry into the world of flight, then the amazing accomplishments in early aeronautical research, glider test flights, engine development, and the most famous 12 seconds in the history of aviation. The design of the Wright Flyer 1 will be explained in some detail, leading to further discussion of following development and improvements. Their lives as now-famous inventors and businessmen will complete this course.