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Coming in October:
The Prehistory of the Natives of the Southwest
- October 11-18 - WITCC Sioux City
Learn the story of the people behind the Pueblos, the Great Houses,
and the Cliff Dwellings. Who were they? Where did they come from?
And where did they go? We will hear first hand accounts of what early
explorers thought when they stumbled on these abandoned great houses,
larger than any building most had
experienced. We will also discuss the construction and how they got the
materials to build them, and why they were built where they were. Beyond
the buildings, which remain awe inspiring nearly 10 centuries later, we
will also investigate the vast trade network that united these people -
and their possible connection to other native groups of the era. What
have scientists determined in the past few decades about the
inhabitants of these regions, and their disappearance?
An early photo of a cliff dwelling, from 1874.
Photographed by William Henry Jackson.
Chaco
Canyon (Session 1) - October 11, Noon, Cargill Auditorium, and via ZOOM
Mesa Verdi and
the Four Corners Region (Session 2) - October 18, Noon, Cargill
Auditorium, and via ZOOM
Directions - Once on campus, use Parking Lot 4 and Entrance 14.
No stairs
entry to Cargill Auditorium is on the right,
Or you can use
the stairs straight ahead if you wish.
Western Iowa Tech Community
College is located at 4511 Stone Park
Sioux City Iowa. Presented as part of the Lifelong
Learning Institute, open to all.
Membership is $10 per year.
Power to the People? - November
1,8,15,22,29
Online Sneak Peek - the 1960s -
October 25 at 7 PM via ZOOM!
Weekly classes begin Monday, November 1 -
WITCC, Sioux City
(6 sessions)
The great American experiment in self
government - an idea that was ridiculed and dismissed in 1776 - would
inspire the world for over two centuries.
But as in all experiments, the initial groundbreaking
idea started in a severely limited way:
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Only the 'highest class' of citizens were
extended the vote - property owners.
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Women were
excluded from voting whether they owned property or not!
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Slaves had no
vote - and were only counted as 3/5 a person.
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And native
Americans were not counted as citizens - or even as fellow humans.
In the beginning,
the ONLY national office that could be directly elected 'by the people'
were their Representatives to the United States! That body was paired
with the U.S. Senate, and Senators were appointed by the States.
And the
President? He was elected by the Electoral College, not the people.
While the elector could follow the lead of his state, he was in no way
bound do do so.
Yet in as little as 15 years,
most of the individuals who had made these rules
would move to increase the access of other people to the level of a
voting citizen. That is the reality of
America's promise in self government - every generation or so since the
American revolution, the country opens the door a bit wider. By the
1820s, the property ownership idea was dropped. In the 1860s, black
males were included. By 1920, all adult females were included.
But here is the
other side of that coin. Each time it happens, at least part of the
preceding generation fights the stop it from becoming more inclusive,
certain that the change will destroy the country.
Join Russ Gifford
for a trip down memory lane as we recount the highs and lows of America
from 1965 to 2015.
While the session titles use the Presidents as touchstones, the story is
the journey of the American public from 1965, as the Baby Boomers come
of age, to fifty years later as they reach retirement.
In those 50
event-filled years, we will follow the generation 'Born to Be Wild' as
they ride the tiger of transitioning from 'outsiders demanding change'
to 'insiders in charge.' Having dispatched Johnson and Nixon, will they
uphold the protests that ended the war in future years, when they are
faced with the choice of sending troops abroad? Will they continue to
embrace change as women and people of color demand their Constitutional
rights? Will they remain inclusive as the entire fabric of their
workforce changes and competition for jobs increases as real pay
plummets with more workers and fewer jobs?
We will tell the story of the PEOPLE, and watch as the Hippies become
Yuppies, and many of their friends become Reagan Republicans in the post
populist disappointment of Jimmy Carter. Rock goes Country, and Country
goes Pop as the
middle class faces a middle age of rising debt. They try to live the
dream and bring up kids of their own, but some question the results. The
older ones say, hey, wait. The Wall fell, the Cold War is over. Where is that Peace Dividend?
As the first
Boomer reaches the Presidency, Clinton told us
to 'Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" - but celebrations are
short lived. The 1990s seem to be a
moment with lots of incredible events, but not many good ones. As
technology charges forward, and email and the internet change work and
business, some wonder if we lost something along the way? Music and fashion
blend together, as always, but in the 1990s, so do news and entertainment.
It seems bad now - but wait until the new millennium!
Everything changes
in the early 2000s! While computers disrupted some industries in the
late 1990, like print and internal communications, by the 2000s other
businesses seem to be almost destroyed by the new mix. Network and later
Cable delivered television had ruled since the 1960s, defining reality
and fashion for the lifetime of the Boomers. But by 2000, Reality TV is
the byword in programming, though it has no reality at all. Within a few
years, that entertainment option will spread to the news departments, as
they require ratings to stay solvent.
Fake News becomes any news someone wants to ignore. Into the vacuum flows new players, but some will
question their intentions. The 2016 election shows that not only banks
and industries can be compromised by hackers, but so can truth and
knowledge.
From 'Power to
the People' to 'Triangulation' and 'the Tea Party' this series will
cover it all. It might look like a 'Ball of Confusion' from your current
viewpoint but join Russ Gifford for trip back in time and see how the
cultural trail leads directly to the hot spots of today. Get ready
because we think you will agree "What a long, strange trip it's been!"
Directions - Once on campus, use Parking Lot 4 and Entrance 14.
No stairs
entry to Cargill Auditorium is on the right,
Or you can use
the stairs straight ahead if you wish.
Western Iowa Tech Community
College is located at 4511 Stone Park
Sioux City Iowa. Presented as part of the Lifelong
Learning Institute, open to all.
Membership is $10 per year.
Looking for a speaker that holds audiences
spellbound? Attend one of Russ Gifford's many classes!
Iowa's French Connection - December 6th -
Western Iowa Tech CC - Sioux City
Schools teach us the English colonists swept from
the east to the west in the settlement of America. That story is far too
narrow. The Spanish and the French, as well as the British, originally
explored and settled the North American continent. Each had far
different goals for their settlements, and each had their moment, and
set into place some far reaching customs and ideas. Their interactions with the
natives of those regions left their mark.
The French were Iowa's first non-native explorers,
but of great significance is the fact
it was the French that settled the Siouxland region.
See the important differences that made in Native interaction when Russ Gifford
examines "Iowa's French Connection."
December 6 at Noon
Directions - Once on campus, use Parking Lot 4 and Entrance 14.
No stairs
entry to Cargill Auditorium is on the right,
Or you can use
the stairs straight ahead if you wish.
Western Iowa Tech Community
College is located at 4511 Stone Park
Sioux City Iowa. Presented as part of the Lifelong
Learning Institute, open to all.
Membership is $10 per year.
“His ratings were the highest for our entire season of 12 workshops, and
far eclipsed those for the previous season. He created a fantastic
class, and people left feeling empowered.” -- Dr. Lynn Barteck, Tri
State Graduate Center
Why Hire Russ
Gifford?| Connect with Russ Gifford
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