Schedule time for learning in the months ahead. Join our growing community of lifelong learners as you expand your understanding of a favorite topic or try something new. Enjoy a lecture and a gourmet lunch in our popular Food for Thought series, sample the local jazz scene, or explore art history.

For more information on our programs, email: info@thelearningcurvetucson.com or call us at 520-777-5817.

The Learning Curve Team
Now in our 22nd year of connecting those who love to teach with those who love to learn…

Click on a class image or title for complete details. Click on an instructor’s name for more information.

Spring 2024

Check back soon for new courses.

Let’s Face the Music and Dance!

Let’s Face the Music and Dance!

Celebrate the movie musicals that starred the greatest dancers of the 20th Century. We’ll explore the rich history of dance in movie musicals and toast the directors, choreographers, and stars who created dance works of art on film. Put on your dancin’ shoes! It’s lights, camera, action for an all singing, all dancing spectacular!

Tuesdays, Jan 9 – Feb 27
10:00 am - noon

Instructor: Richard T. Hanson

More Info / Registration
Britain and the Middle East

Britain and the Middle East

Britain has had a long-standing connection to the Middle East in the modern era. The Ottoman Empire was long supported by Britain in the 19th century and the 1917 Balfour Declaration marked British interest in the politics and oil of the Middle East. The current conflict between Hamas and Israel is just the most recent event that has forced Britain’s choices in foreign policy.

Tuesdays, Feb 13 - Mar 5
1:30 – 3:30 pm

Instructor: Richard A. Cosgrove

More Info / Registration
Capturing Color and Light: Impressionism in Art and Music

Capturing Color and Light: Impressionism in Art and Music

Monet and Debussy, Renoir and Ravel. 

Taken from the title of a Monet painting, the term was first used for the visual arts, but soon included the musical arts as well. Examine the use of the term Impressionism with a focus on painters, Monet and Renoir along with composers, Debussy and Ravel, all contemporaries of one another. Enjoy both visual and musical masterpieces as you learn about the social and political environment that influenced these cultural giants.

Wednesdays, Feb 21 – March 13
10:00 am - noon

Instructor: Kevin Justus

More Info / Registration
Soundtrack of the Seventies

Soundtrack of the Seventies

Delve into the stories and sounds of lyric legends such as Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Carole King, Jim Croce, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and more with musician Khris Dodge and friends. Blending lecture and performance, these three sessions will focus on the music that defined a decade.

Khris Dodge, Executive Director of the Tucson Jazz Festival and conductor and Music Director for the Tucson Pops Orchestra.

Thursdays, March 7 – 21
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Instructor: Khris Dodge

More Info / Registration
The Great Soliloquies of Shakespeare

The Great Soliloquies of Shakespeare

Listen in on the innermost thoughts of Shakespeare’s larger-than-life characters. Read beyond the famous first lines and take a closer look at the passages that continue to inspire us more than four hundred years after they were written.

Tuesdays, March 12 – Apr 2
1:30 – 3:30 pm

Instructor: Cynthia Meier

More Info / Registration
William Fry

Bookmarks: Literary Lectures

Move beyond the well-known works of great American authors to discover often overlooked treasures in this new series of monthly lectures by literature professor William Fry.

– Register for each session individually –

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Self Reliance” from Essays, First Series

Jan 5
10:00 am - noon

Instructor: William A. Fry

More Info / Registration
Jack London

Jack London

Move beyond the well-known works of great American authors to discover and discuss often overlooked treasures in this series of monthly lectures by literature professor William Fry.

John Barleycorn, an autobiographical novel serialized in the Saturday Evening Post (1913)

Friday, Feb 2
10:00 am – noon

Instructor: William A. Fry

More Info / Registration
Robert Frost

Robert Frost

Move beyond the well-known works of great American authors to discover and discuss often overlooked treasures in this series of monthly lectures by literature professor William Fry.

Robert Frost Selected Poetry

Friday, Mar 1
10:00 am – noon

Instructor: William A. Fry

More Info / Registration
O. Henry

O. Henry

Move beyond the well-known works of great American authors to discover and discuss often overlooked treasures in this series of monthly lectures by literature professor William Fry.

O. Henry Short stories including The Merry Month of May, The Pendulum and The Last Leaf.

Friday, Apr 5
10:00 am – noon

Instructor: William A. Fry

More Info / Registration
Vivace Restaurant

Food For Thought: a lunch lecture series

Nourish your intellect while you enjoy the delicious northern Italian dishes offered by Vivace Restaurant in this series featuring presenters from a variety of disciplines.

Food for Thought - A Child’s Christmas in Wales - Dec 11

Food for Thought – A Child’s Christmas in Wales – Dec 11

Enjoy the memories of Christmas from the view of a young child and discover more about a nostalgic and simpler time through this beloved work by Dylan Thomas

Monday, Dec 11
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Instructor: Cynthia Meier and Joseph McGrath

More Info / Registration
Food For Thought - Brave the Wild River - Jan 8

Food For Thought – Brave the Wild River – Jan 8

Marvel at the riveting tale of two pioneering women who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon on their historic boat trip down the Colorado River in the summer of 1938.

Monday, Jan 8
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Instructor: Melissa Sevigny

More Info / Registration
Food For Thought – Brave the Wild River – Jan 9

Food For Thought – Brave the Wild River – Jan 9

Marvel at the riveting tale of two pioneering women who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon on their historic boat trip down the Colorado River in the summer of 1938.

Tuesday, Jan 9
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Instructor: Melissa Sevigny

More Info / Registration
In the Arms of Saguaros

In the Arms of Saguaros

Discover the intriguing history of saguaro cactus imagery that followed the railroad’s progress through the Sonoran Desert in the early 1880s —resulting in transplanted displays from Southern Pacific depots to world’s fairs that acquainted Americans with the plants firsthand. The use of highly imaginative images by the tourism industry after WWII continues to the present day, making the saguaro an icon of the American West.

Monday, Jan 29
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Instructor: William L Bird Jr

More Info / Registration
Food For Thought - Food in Art and the Art of Food - Feb 19

Food For Thought – Food in Art and the Art of Food – Feb 19

From the tombs of Egypt and the walls of Pompei to Leonardo, the still life painters of the North, the Realists and Impressionists and beyond, food has always played an important role in representing elements of culture.

Monday, Feb 19
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Instructor: Kevin Justus

More Info / Registration
Food For Thought - From Olympia to the Olympics - March 18

Food For Thought – From Olympia to the Olympics – March 18

Let the games begin. Hear the stories of Greek gods and explore their connection to tradition of athletic competition that led to the modern Olympic Games.

Monday, March 18
11:30 – 1:30 pm

Instructor: Alison Futrell

More Info / Registration
Food For Thought - Remarkable Arizona Women - Apr 8

Food For Thought – Remarkable Arizona Women – Apr 8

Hear the stories of some of the state’s most fascinating figures—women from across Arizona, from many different backgrounds, and from various walks of life. These remarkable women broke through social, cultural, or political barriers to make contributions to society that still have an impact today.

Monday, April 8
11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Instructor: Wynne Brown

More Info / Registration