VIRTUAL EVENTS
EXPERIENCE CHAUTAUQUA FROM HOME
Can’t make it to Chautauqua? We have selected some of our favorite talks from 2020 for you to view at home! Check here frequently as we will continue to add events throughout 2021. Enjoy!
Dr. Philip Plait – Strange New Worlds: Is Earth Special?
Since the 1990s, astronomers have found over four thousand (and counting!) exoplanets, alien worlds orbiting other stars. These planets orbit a wide variety of stars, and themselves are all wildly different; huge, small, hot, cold, airless, or with thick atmospheres. As we learn more about them, we come closer to answering the Big Questions: Is there another Earth out there? And if so, will it support life? Is Earth unique, or is the galaxy filled with blue-green worlds that look achingly like our own? In this engaging and fun talk, astronomer Phil Plait will show you how we find these planets, and how our own compares to them.
Dr. Sheldon Drobot – RST: Humanity’s Next Great Leap
Dark energy and dark matter are not just the tales of exciting blockbuster movies – they are mysterious, ominous forces that can shape and destroy planets or build cosmic empires. Unlocking the mysteries of the universe requires a keen eye and WFIRST (the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope) will take the legacy left by the great Hubble Telescope and amplify its effects tremendously. Join us as we explore the mysteries of our own galaxy and that of our interstellar neighbors through the eyes of the most powerful telescope on Earth: WFIRST.
Sarah Bell – The Inimitable Theodosia Ammons
Long before Ruth Bader Ginsburg blazed a legal path for women’s rights, Chautauqua’s own Theodosia Ammons broke through barriers as president of the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association and the first female dean at Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University). In 1899, she designed and built Gwenthean Cottage, a model Chautauqua home that preserves Ammons’ innovations for making women’s domestic work easier. Speaker Sarah Bell was joined by Catherine Long Gates, who gives the audience a first-ever virtual tour of Gwenthean Cottage. Gates is Ammons’ great niece, Boulder native and owner of Long’s Gardens.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy and U.S. Women’s Rights
Women of the 19th Century United States were fighting not just for voting rights, but for their very existence under the law. Organized religion, gender-related science, politics, policy, and social constructs all weighed heavily against personal autonomy for women. Fighting these odds, what inspired suffragists to think they could create a world where women could be agents of their own being? The surprising answer may lie with the powerful women of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of six nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) in upstate New York. This program is presented by Professor Sally Roesch Wagner and Mohawk Clan Mother Louise Herne.
Dr. Larry Esposito – Mysteries Cassini Did Not Solve
As plumes of dust and ice erupt through Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, the second-largest planet in our cosmic neighborhood remains a deep-seeded mystery. While the US-European space mission Cassini may have ended in 2017, there are still many mysteries to solve and interesting finds to unlock. How did Saturn’s rings form? Does Enceladus harbor life? Dr. Larry Esposito discusses the mysteries and data derived from Cassini and how it will shape our understanding of the ringed planet and its moons.
Jon Waterman – National Geographic Atlas of The National Parks
On assignment National Geographic, Jonathan Waterman embarked on an intensive research project to celebrate the National Parks in his book, the Atlas of the National Parks. Waterman, a former park ranger, has spent four decades—paddling, working as a rescuer, climbing and exploring—from the Everglades to Denali. An award-winning author of 14 books, Waterman has spoken to hundreds of audiences about environmental awareness in a rapidly changing world. His story follows his own career journey: from dirt-bag climber, to park service ranger, to wilderness spokesperson and National Endowment of the Arts Literary Fellow.
Los Seis de Boulder
The Boulder Six were six Chicano activists and students killed in two car bombings in Boulder, Colorado. The bombings occurred at the end of May 1974, and the name Los Seis de Boulder was coined posthumously. The students were protesting the treatment of Mexican-American students at the University of Colorado, Boulder at the time of their death. On May 27, 2020, a memorial stone was placed on the East side of the Chautauqua Auditorium commemorating the Los Seis de Boulder and the tragedy that occurred 46 years earlier. The memorial event included members of the families of the deceased, a City Council member, Chautauqua staff and the Boulder community.
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