Lectures

In Person Date: Feb. 02

Zoom Date: Feb. 05

Presenter: Gene Bigler, Former Diplomat and Retired Professor

A 1967 graduate of Pacific’s Raymond College, he earned MA and Ph.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University, & specialized in public diplomacy and political-economic relations in the US Foreign Service and served as University Professor of International Relations at Pacific. His five books and many professional papers address a variety of the basic issues of politics and economics in the U.S. and Latin America, including public opinion, development, public policy, strongman politics, & democracy. 

The Trump Administration 2.0 is already beset with problems of a record government shut down, massive demonstrations, festering scandals, proliferating court reversals, electoral snubs, losses of public confidence, and a worsening economy. Observers debate the crux of the problem and worry about preserving American democracy while staring blankly at the corruption booming all around them.

In Person Date: Feb. 23

Zoom Date: Feb. 26

Presenter: Mario Enriquez, Director of Experiential Learning & Research, Jacoby Center

Mario Enríquez serves as the Stockton City Councilmember for District 4. A proud UOP and USC graduate, he has led nationally with UnidosUS and the LGBTQ Victory Institute. As Director at Pacific’s Jacoby Center, he connects students and communities through civic engagement. Mario champions equity, small businesses, and inclusive leadership, bringing a fresh, community-driven vision to Stockton.

Stockton City Councilmember Mario Enríquez shares how his work in local government and as a Director at the Jacoby Center for Public Service at Pacific intersect to advance equity, belonging, and civic engagement. Hear insights on leadership, representation, and building inclusive communities in Stockton and beyond.

In Person Date: Mar. 02

Zoom Date: Mar. 05

Presenter: Mike Wurtz, Head of Pacific’s Special Collections and Archives

Mike Wurtz is the Head of the Pacific’s Archives. He teaches courses and gives presentations about Muir, wrote John Muir’s Grand Yosemite– a guide to Muir’s drawings, and is awaiting publication of an article about Muir and the Giant Sequoias. 

Naturalist John Muir had just turned thirty when he first arrived in California in 1868. He came for many reasons, but certainly as a botanist, he wanted to see the Giant Sequoia of the Sierra Nevada. Throughout the rest of his life, Muir’s focus on the Big Tree changed and those changes matched his pursuits in life. At first, he reveled among the groves like the young man that broke away from the factories to “study the inventions of God.” Then he studied the trees scientifically as he had studied the glaciers of the Sierra. Lastly, he worked tirelessly to preserve them as he helped to establish national parks and tried to prevent the flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley.

In Person Date: Mar. 16

Zoom Date:  Mar. 19

Presenter: Matt Abraham, Author

Awarded Pulp Detective’s Best Newcomer of 2015, Matt Abraham currently lives in Stockton, California where he splits his time between being a father, husband, and author. Currently he’s finishing his series, The Black Cape Case Files, which follows Dane Curse, a former villain turned PI, as he navigates the powered underbelly of Gold Coast City, and Northland Mysteries which stars Detective Jake Carter and his partner Dr. Nafissa Rayan. 

Do you have dreams of writing a book but don’t know where to begin? Then you’re invited to Write a Novel in an Hour where author Matt Abraham will lead you through everything a novelist needs to create objectively great fiction. Focusing on sentence typology, MRU’s, scene construction, and three-act-structure, this workshop will provide concrete techniques from the most basic to the complex.

In Person Date: Mar. 23

Zoom Date:  Mar. 26

Presenter: Marie Young, Author

Marie A. Young is a talented author who has made an impact in children’s literature. Her educational background in Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults from the University of San Francisco has undoubtedly influenced her writing style and approach to storytelling. Her books, “Where Is My Sock?” and “The Porters” are a testament to her creativity and ability to craft engaging narratives that captivate young readers. 

This lecture uses the heartwarming story of Inaya and her great Uncle Henry from the children s book The Porters as a portal into a critical era of labor and civil rights history. Marie will delve into the profound experiences of the Black men who worked as porters on North American railroads, examining their lives not just as service workers, but as pivotal figures in the struggle for equality.

In Person Date: Mar. 30

Zoom Date:  Apr. 02

Presenter: Irene Calimlim, Community Development Director

Irene’s passion is to build resident leaders and improve the built and social conditions in redlined communities. She works as the Community Development Director for Little Manila Rising to work on strategies to revitalize and preserve the culture and history of the Little Manila neighborhood and to build healthy/sustainable communities in South Stockton. She holds a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University and a dual Master in Public Health and City Planning from UC Berkeley.

This lecture explores the Little Manila Historic District through the remarkable story of the trunks and personal artifacts now featured in the Smithsonian exhibition. Attendees will learn how these items were uncovered, the community efforts that preserved them, and the journey that ultimately brought them to the nation’s premier museum. By tracing the objects’ path from discovery to exhibition, the talk highlights their deep historical significance— illuminating the lives, struggles, and cultural legacy of Filipino Americans who built and sustained Little Manila.

In Person Date: Apr. 06

Zoom Date:  Apr. 09

Presenter: Carolyn Dougherty, Retired Teacher

Carolyn Dougherty is a retired teacher who volunteers for various organizations. She is the founder of Rational Roundtable, a group that promotes critical thinking. She was a speaker for the Sunday Papers session at CSICon 2024.

Lately, there are a lot of conflicting messages about science, which is causing confusion and uncertainty. We’ll discuss some criticisms, the possible agendas behind them, and the concern experts have over the potential harm they will have on our society.

In Person Date: Apr. 20

Zoom Date:  Apr. 23

Presenter: Preeti Oza, Professor, Department of Physical Therapy

Preeti Oza PT, PhD is Board-Certified Specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy and Professor at University of the Pacific. She teaches Neuromuscular Physical Therapy, Motor Control, and Psychosocial Aspects of Illness in the Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences. Her research and community engagement work focus on fall prevention education for older adults and developing exercise programs that improve function for people with neurologic conditions.

Discover how your brain can grow new cells at any age! Learn how simple brain and body exercises support healthy aging, memory, and mental sharpness. Physical Therapy faculty will share the latest research and guide practical exercises to keep both your body and brain strong.

In Person Date: Apr. 27

Zoom Date:  Apr. 30

Presenter: Olivia Evans Risucci, National Sales Manager

Pacific Coast Producers is a farmer-grower owned cooperative in the central valley, specializing in canning thousands of tons of fresh fruit and tomatoes every year. Olivia has been with PCP for 8 years, where her main responsibilities are to partner with grocery chains to optimize their private label selection and strategy. She has a Masters in Public Health from USC and a Bachelors in Agriculture Business from CSU Chico and in her free time she likes to hang out with her husband and her bulldog, Stitch.

Ever wonder how ripe peaches or flavorful tomatoes end up in cans on grocery shelves? This lecture opens the lid on Pacific Coast Producers, a cooperative rooted in California’s rich farming tradition. We’ll explore the people, farms, and processes behind the scenes, highlighting how fruit and tomatoes are selected, processed, and preserved at peak freshness. From the orchards to the canning lines, discover the fascinating journey of some of the foods we enjoy year-round.

In Person Date: May. 04

Zoom Date:  May. 07

Presenter: Gene Bigler, Former Diplomat and Retired Professor

As the 2026 mid-term election season gets under way, the key concern seems likely to be how far can the push back against Trump initiatives take the country. With opponents already calling even for Constitutional remedies and supporters hoping for staying power, the outlook for the contest and how to gauge the progress of the opponents will seek to identify some of the major points of contention.

Date: Thursday, Feb. 12

Presenter: Anette Isaacs, German Historian

German born and raised Anette Isaacs, MA, is a Historian and Public Educator who has been presenting hundreds of programs on more than 40 different topics (all pertaining to her native country’s history, politics, and culture) all over the United States. She holds master’s Degrees in American Studies, Political Science, and History and is currently serving as the Director of OLLI at FIU (Florida International University) in Miami, FL.

Dive into the extraordinary story of King Augustus the Strong, who dreamed of opulence, and Johann Friedrich Böttger, the alchemist he tasked with making gold—but who instead discovered something even more valuable: porcelain. Learn how their quest for riches led to the creation of Europe’s first “white gold” and turned Saxony into a hub of beauty and craftsmanship. German historian Anette Isaacs presents a tale of ambition, accidental genius, and the porcelain that dazzled a continent! This is a special 2 hour lecture, lasting from 3:30 to 5:30 pm.

Date: Thursday, Feb. 19

Presenter: Adrienne Hill, Science Advocate and Wikipedia Editor

Adrienne Hill, a retired math teacher, is a board member of Susan Gerbic’s About Time Project and is an editor for Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia. She regularly reports for The Skeptic Zone Podcast, and has appeared on Skeptoid, Squaring the Strange, and The Thinking Atheist podcasts. Adrienne has worked as a researcher and has appeared in videos on Coleman Watt’s Think This Through YouTube Channel, and contributed articles to The Skeptic (Australia), Skeptical Inquirer, and AIPT Comics.

Adrienne will explore the lore of Sarah Winchester and her well-known Mystery House in San Jose. Was she a crazy, superstitious woman afraid of dying and building a labyrinth house to confuse spirits? Or is there a deeper story behind this maze of a mansion? Join this interactive session to uncover the truth and separate myth from reality.

Date: Thursday, Mar. 12

Presenter: Richard Bell, Professor and Author

Richard Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland and author of the book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home which was a finalist for the George Washington Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize. His new book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, was published by Penguin in November 2025.

In this riveting program, Dr. Richard Bell invites us to rediscover the Revolution as a world war that unleashed chaos, opportunity, and transformation across six continents and traces the far-flung reverberations of the war through the lives of the people it displaced, empowered, or destroyed.

Date: Thursday, Apr. 16

Presenter: Keith Hatschek, Emeritus Professor of Music, UOP Conservatory

Keith Hatschek is Professor Emeritus of Music Management from UOP and the author of four books on the music industry. He directed the Music Management program for 20 years at Pacific. His most recent book, The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and Louis Armstrong Challenge Segregation won the 2023 ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Book on Popular Music. He resides in Livermore with his family and is writing and researching a new book on America’s music museums.

The blues are an original American musical artform that came to life in the fields of Mississippi in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Using field hollers, work songs, and folk traditions brought from Africa, Black Americans sang about the hardships they faced, and the resilience they needed to survive in the face of inequality. Join author Keith Hatschek to travel along the Mississippi Blues Trail: together, we will visit the plantation where Charlie Patton helped establish the blues, where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his fame, see the log cabin where electric blues pioneer Muddy Waters was born, and stop in Indianola, the town that B.B. King claimed as his home.

Date: Thursday, May. 14

Presenter: Mike Agron, Music Aficionado

Raised in LA’s entertainment scene, Mike Agron is a former high-tech exec & entrepreneur turned storyteller who crafts dynamic seminars on music and film. He’s led hundreds of engaging sessions for the Sacramento Renaissance Society, numerous OLLIs nationwide, Osher Online, Encore Learning, and other live programs—and returns to our OLLI for his 10th seminar presentation.

Take a lively trip through the moment Hollywood’s sunny Beach Party craze gave way to a new cultural wave. We’ll revisit the bright fun of Beach Party (1963) and The Girls on the Beach (1965), then jump to the Beatles’ gamechanging films—A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Help! (1965), and Yellow Submarine (1968). Whether you came of age during this era or simply enjoy music that makes you smile and tap your toes, this session offers a fresh look at how rock and pop on film quickly evolved—growing sharper, more playful, and ready to reshape a generation.