Community Calendar

Peek behind-the-scenes of our chocolate factory to get a high-level overview of the chocolate-making process, from bean to bar! This event is great for families, corporate groups, bachelorette weekends, and anyone new to chocolate or curious about where their food comes from. You’ll get to taste warm, flowing dark chocolate from our tempering machine, and you’ll get to sample our single origin 75% dark chocolate bars.

Peek behind-the-scenes of our chocolate factory to get a high-level overview of the chocolate-making process, from bean to bar! This event is great for families, corporate groups, bachelorette weekends, and anyone new to chocolate or curious about where their food comes from. You’ll get to taste warm, flowing dark chocolate from our tempering machine, and you’ll get to sample our single origin 75% dark chocolate bars.

Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS affect millions, with limited treatment options. But what if we could repair or even replace damaged brain cells? In this lecture, we’ll explore the science of stem cells and their potential to revolutionize the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. Learn how stem cells work, the latest breakthroughs in research, and the challenges of translating discoveries into real-world therapies. We’ll also discuss ethical concerns, clinical trials, and the future of regenerative medicine. This lecture will provide a clear understanding of how stem cell technology is shaping the future of brain health and aging.

Wesley Tierney is currently a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Arizona State University. He studies the mechanisms of Herpes Simplex Virus infection of neurons. He has worked in various research labs for seven years ranging from social psychology, entomology, regenerative medicine, virology, and neuroscience.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

“The impact that Abramović has had on the contemporary-art scene cannot be underestimated.” Harper’s Bazaar

“By using the body as her medium, Abramović shows just how close art can get to life.” The Guardian (U.K.)

Renowned conceptual artist Marina Abramović has pushed the boundaries of contemporary art, not just within performance art but across the entire spectrum of the art world. Since the 1970s, her cutting-edge work has explored the body, endurance, the relationship between the performer and audience, and the possibilities of the mind. Her iconic performances include The Artist Is Present, the MOMA retrospective which sparked an HBO documentary as well as collaborations with such pop icons as Jay-Z and Lady Gaga. “Her life, performances, body art, controversial experiments and celebrity status all contribute to a larger narrative that could be considered one grand piece of art, curated by Abramović herself” (Widewalls).

On February 24, 2022, Russian troops launched a massive full-scale invasion of the Ukraine setting in motion the largest military conflict in Europe since the Second World War. Thousands have been killed and the fighting has displaced more than a quarter of Ukraine’s pre-war population. Although the West rallied to defend the Ukraine, the protracted conflict has strained the Western Alliance and threatens to undermine the world order The United States and its Allies fostered during what Time publisher Henry Luce called “The American Century.” This lecture will explore the core diplomatic, military, and political events that shaped over a century of United States foreign policy and offers insights on how to think about and understand the current crisis in U.S.-European relations.

David Livingstone received BA and MA degrees in History from California State University, Northridge and a PhD in Modern European History from the University of California, San Diego. He has taught at California Lutheran University, Moorpark College, and the United States Naval War College. He specializes in European political, diplomatic and military history with an emphasis on modern Germany.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

“One easy thing we can all do right now is to shut off that fight-or-flight system through our breath… it’s built to get out of threats quickly, but we run it constantly.” – Dr. Laurie Santos

A psychologist and an expert on human cognition, its origins and the evolutionary biases that influence our all-too-imperfect life choices, Dr. Laurie Santos’ work centers around how behavioral change through positive psychology can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. Host of the The Happiness Lab podcast and professor of Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years – Psychology and the Good Life – Santos will discuss the tools that science provides for managing stress and building a life of happiness, even when crisis looms large. Whether it’s the toll of environmental disasters and wildfires, the challenges of political instability or the anxiety that pervades modern life, Santos offers actionable insights for creating lasting positive change and provides practical habits to reduce stress, foster resilience and improve overall well-being, regardless of external pressures.

The Classic Blues style was recorded, defined and spread during the 1920-30s by its two foremost proponents, singers and songwriters Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues” and Ma Rainey, “The Mother of the Blues.” They shaped an expressive, lusty, sobbing, growling ‘opera of the vernacular,’ inscribing their distinctive voices onto America’s musical culture.

This two-part lecture explores the life and times of several extraordinary blues divas including the first woman to sell a million blues records, Mamie Smith, the bawdy Creole chanteuse, Lizzie Miles and cross-dressing singer/pianist, Gladys Bentley. Each lecture features a dozen or more video and film clips including Bessie’s 1929 collaboration with composer W.C. Handy in the landmark movie-with-sound, “The Saint Louis Blues.”

During the last four decades Dave Radlauer has been telling tales of early Jazz, Blues and Swing on the radio, garnering six broadcast awards and authoring 200 articles for online and print publications. For Stanford Libraries, he’s written interpretive online text and donated a large collection of unique music and photos. He teaches lifelong learning courses at UCLA, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Dominican University.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Ross Gay, the author of the UCSB Reads 2025 book The Book of Delights: Essays will present a free, public talk in UCSB’s Campbell Hall, followed by Q&A and a book signing. This event is presented by UCSB Library in partnership with UCSB Arts & Lectures.

This event is free but advance registration through the Arts & Lectures portal is required. If you don't have an Arts & Lectures account, you will be asked to create one. This event will be photographed or recorded.

The Book of Delights is a collection of essays celebrating small, ordinary wonders. Written daily over one tumultuous year, Gay’s humorous, poetic and philosophical essays cover a wide range of topics. From a high five with a stranger to cradling a tomato seedling aboard an airplane, Gay reveals how staking out a space for joy brings us closer together.

Ross Gay won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2015, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award in 2016 and the PEN/Jean Stein Award in 2021. He is a faculty member in the English Department at Indiana University.

UCSB Reads is an award-winning program that brings the campus and Santa Barbara communities together to read a common book that explores compelling issues of our time. The program is sponsored by UCSB Library and the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and was started in 2007. Each year, a committee of faculty, staff, students, and community partners convene to select an intellectually stimulating, interdisciplinary book by a living author that appeals to a wide range of readers and can be incorporated into the UCSB curriculum.

For up-to-date details about UCSB Reads events, sponsors, and more, go to www.library.ucsb.edu/ucsbreads2025.

“The delights Gay extols here feel purposeful and imperative as well as contagious in their joy.” The New York Times Book Review

UCSB Reads’ 2025 selection, The Book of Delights by Ross Gay, is a New York Times bestselling collection of essays celebrating small, ordinary wonders. Written daily over one tumultuous year, Gay’s humorous, poetic and philosophical essays cover a wide range of topics. From a high five with a stranger to cradling a tomato seedling aboard an airplane, Gay reveals how staking out a space for joy brings us closer together. Gay won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2015, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award in 2016 and the PEN/Jean Stein Award in 2021.

Peek behind-the-scenes of our chocolate factory to get a high-level overview of the chocolate-making process, from bean to bar! This event is great for families, corporate groups, bachelorette weekends, and anyone new to chocolate or curious about where their food comes from. You’ll get to taste warm, flowing dark chocolate from our tempering machine, and you’ll get to sample our single origin 75% dark chocolate bars.