From Climate Change to Tucson Cinema: Learn Online with UArizona Community Classes

This spring, the University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is offering nine online, non-credit courses – on topics ranging from climate change and human rights to Tucson cinema and Sonoran desert fibers – as part of its Community Classroom Program.

"As much as we miss in-person classes, these online courses offer an exciting opportunity for people from all over the world to learn from experts in their fields, including from renowned public intellectual Noam Chomsky, said Maribel Alvarez, associate dean of community engagement for the College of SBS. "For those looking to explore a new topic in 2021, our programs offer several interesting options."

Most courses are offered live online, while others consist of a mixture of pre-recorded lectures and live online sessions. All live online sessions will be recorded and shared with those registered participants who cannot make the live sessions.

Consequences of Capitalism
Linguistics Professor and Agnese Nelms Haury Chair Noam Chomsky and Emeritus Professor Marv Waterstone will co-teach this seven-week class that is both a general education course for undergraduates and open to lifelong learners from the public.

The course will examine how a “capitalist realism” worldview has come to dominate the way we organize the political economy, as well as the salient consequences of this orientation, including income inequality, the climate crisis and the country’s response to the pandemic.

Sonoran Desert Fibers, Furs, and Fun
Taught by Jesús García, research associate with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, this two-week, cultural immersion course explores local fiber resources and individual plant species traditionally used by Native Peoples of the Sonoran Desert region.

From Clovis to Coronado: An Introduction to Southwest Archaeology
This six-week course – taught by Regents Anthropology Professor Barbara Mills – provides an archaeological overview of American Indian societies in the Southwest from the earliest occupation at least 12,000 years ago through the colonial period, including where, when and how they lived.

Crafting Climate Justice in Our Communities and Our World
Join Regents Professor and world-renowned geographer Diana Liverman in exploring who is most responsible for climate change, who is most vulnerable to it, and the need to develop solutions that reduce the risks of climate change without undermining other goals of sustainable development.

Nothing About Us Without Us: Community-Based Program Evaluation
In this five-week professional development course, Beth Myerson, research professor with the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, will help participants explore the history and practice of community-based participatory and action research, including how findings are best translated to policy and practice in order to achieve change.

The Art of Access: Acquiring Government Records for Career and Life
In this five-week course, Journalism Professor David Cuillier will provide participants with the skills necessary to find and acquire public records, analyze data, and understand the forces in society that are increasing government secrecy in the United States.

Celluloid Desert: Tucson in Cinema History
Join English Professor and film scholar Jennifer Jenkins as she discusses some of the many iterations of film in Tucson, from Hollywood westerns to homemade films. Participants of the five-week course will learn about the mechanics of the early moving image, the ways in which cinemagoing changed, and visual and cultural themes of films shot in our desert region. 

Migration from Central America and West Africa: Human Rights Virtual Field Trips
In this seven-week course, community members will study alongside UArizona graduate students enrolled in the Human Rights Practice Program. Join anthropologist Mette Brogden and guest speakers from around the world in exploring the experiences of people migrating, as well as those facilitating or trying to prevent these journeys.

Native Peoples of the Southwest
Join Distinguished Outreach Professor Tom Sheridan for a six-week course on the Native Peoples of the Southwest and their interactions with the Spanish empire, the Mexican republic, and the United States over the last 500 years.