Academy for Learning in Retirement spring lineup includes sports, health, art, history, weather

The Academy for Learning in Retirement (ALR) will cover sports and society, medicines and older patients, Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan and climate.

Because of the pandemic, ALR shifted from live, in-person to Zoom presentations in fall 2020, and they have been very successful, ALR said in a news release. It will offer Zoom presentations January through May 2022.

Here are the topics and speakers:

• January 2022: “Sports and Society,” with speakers New Mexico State University economics professor emeritus James Peach, Ph.D.; Doña Ana Community College President Mónica Torres, Ph.D.; NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia; and NMSU Women’s Softball Coach Kathy Rodolph. They will discuss the changing legal and economic environment of sports, sports as reflected in American film and literature, the challenges faced by a college athletics program and the challenges faced by a head coach in achieving success in a quickly changing environment, ALR said. The presentations will be Mondays, Jan. 10 and 17 and Wednesdays, Jan. 12 and 19.
• February: “Medications and the Older Patient,” with Mark Stratton, Ph.D., professor emeritus professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Oklahoma. Stratton will discuss the problems older people encounter when medications are used inappropriately, excessively and unnecessarily and how to use medications to minimize their risk. The series will conclude with a presentation on managing chronic non-cancer pain with a focus on avoiding opioids. The presentations will be Tuesdays, Feb. 8 and 15 and Thursdays, Feb. 10 and 17.
• March: “Dutch Renaissance artist Hieronymus Bosch,” with Margaret Goehring, Ph.D., associate professor in the NMSU Department of Art. Goehring will discuss Bosch’s art, including the “Garden of Earthly Delights” in a series that will explore theories that have been proposed to explain his imagery. The presentations will be Tuesdays, March 15 and 22 and Thursdays, March 17 and 24.
• April: “Why Spain Was Able to Conquer Tenochtitlan,” with NMSU Anthropology Department Head Rani Alexander, Ph.D. Alexander will explore why Spain was able to conquer Tenochtitlan, the largest city in pre-colonial Mexico, in 1521. She will explore the pandemic that developed and spread during and after the conquest. The presentations will be Tuesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 14.
• May: “Climate,” with New Mexico Climatologist David DuBois, Ph.D., who is a member of NMSU’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. DuBois will discuss what climate means and how we know that it is changing, impacts of climate change and how humanity can respond to it? The presentations will be Mondays, May 9 and 16 and Wednesdays, May 16 and 18.

ALR will post the times and dates of these presentations and information about ALR’s free Jan. 6 online overview session at dacc.nmsu.edu/ALR. You can register for presentations on that website. Registration begins Jan. 2.

The fee is $20 for each month’s four presentations; $10 in April when there will be two presentations, or a reduced fee of $54 for the entire set of 18 spring presentations. 

ALR is a nonprofit started in 1992 by former NMSU President Gerald Thomas, along with retired deans Thomas Gale, Virginia Higbie, Flavia McCormick and others, including former professor and teacher Clarence Fielder.