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.

“There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also isn’t an American at all…This is a nation, not a polyglot boarding house.” Although these words might sound familiar considering our contemporary political rhetoric, it was Theodore Roosevelt who uttered these words more than 100 years ago. This course will explore and trace the past, present and future of global authoritarian movements. From the rise of notorious 20th Century dictators such as Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Pol Pot to the present global authoritarian/populist shift, we will examine how and why these forms of government take hold, even in democratic societies. Along these lines, we will play special attention to the American experience with authoritarianism; both its short and long-term consequences and what it tells us about our current global moment.

This course takes place both in-person at the Thousand Oaks campus and online via Zoom.

Course does not meet on Tuesday, September 23.

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 Arctic world is a land of stark duality. Geographically peripheral, yet central to today’s most pressing strategic, economic, and climatological questions. A primordial wilderness that nonetheless hosts several million human inhabitants and a surprisingly rich—if endangered—ecosystem. Presently, one of the most important places on earth, yet still one of the most poorly understood. Come explore this forbidding but endlessly fascinating region, starting with its indigenous peoples, then moving on to Euro-American exploration (including the race to the North Pole), scientific and anthropological research, and the industrial and military exploitation of the Arctic.

Week 1: Encounters: Indigenous Northerners and Early European Incursions

Week 2: From Bering to Franklin: Exploration in the 1700s and Early 1800s

Week 3: Northern Steeplechase: Exploration and Nation-Building from the 1840s to the 1940s

Week 4: Arcticide? Militarization, Exploitation, and Climate Change from 1945 to the Present

This course takes place online via Zoom.

Course does not meet on Wednesday, September 24.

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.

Cults capture our attention because we wonder why they exist and how people can be made to make such out of the ordinary choices and have vastly different views of reality. In the previous course, we considered some of the more well-known cults, looking deeply into Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, and NXIVM. This second course will discuss some lesser-known cults, such as Heaven’s Gate and Synanon. Each week will examine one specific cult to understand its inception and its end. The final week will investigate the members of the various cults discussed in parts 1 and 2, in order to grasp what makes people join cults and why they stay.

You do not need to have attended the Part 1 course in order to attend Part 2.

This course takes place both in-person at the Thousand Oaks campus and online via Zoom.

Course does not meet on Wednesday, September 24.

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 Artemis II mission will return astronauts on a mission to the Moon for the first time since 1972. Join NASA Solar System Ambassador, Christopher Mick as he provides an in-depth look at the mission objectives, crew members, and how Artemis II will setup future Lunar surface missions near the South Pole of the Moon.

A brief history of the Apollo program will be provided to help illustrate the goals of the Artemis campaign. The hardware, such as the Space Launch System rocket, Orion Crew Capsule, and launch and recovery assets will also be presented.

This lecture takes place online via Zoom.

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.

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.

The framers of the American Constitution put in place checks and balances to ensure that no branch of government, especially the executive, could amass too much power. We had recently fought a war over the assertion that our nation would run better without a King than with one. The current administration has systematically and effectively consolidated power, enacted policy and silenced its critics. Our system has seen a shocking realignment of power in a very short period of time.

After reviewing the way our government is supposed to work, we will look at a question that is essential for the future of America’s experiment with democracy: What guardrails are left to ensure our democratic system of government remains intact?

This lecture takes place online via Zoom.

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.

“There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also isn’t an American at all…This is a nation, not a polyglot boarding house.” Although these words might sound familiar considering our contemporary political rhetoric, it was Theodore Roosevelt who uttered these words more than 100 years ago. This course will explore and trace the past, present and future of global authoritarian movements. From the rise of notorious 20th Century dictators such as Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Pol Pot to the present global authoritarian/populist shift, we will examine how and why these forms of government take hold, even in democratic societies. Along these lines, we will play special attention to the American experience with authoritarianism; both its short and long-term consequences and what it tells us about our current global moment.

This course takes place both in-person at the Thousand Oaks campus and online via Zoom.

Course does not meet on Tuesday, September 23.

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 Arctic world is a land of stark duality. Geographically peripheral, yet central to today’s most pressing strategic, economic, and climatological questions. A primordial wilderness that nonetheless hosts several million human inhabitants and a surprisingly rich—if endangered—ecosystem. Presently, one of the most important places on earth, yet still one of the most poorly understood. Come explore this forbidding but endlessly fascinating region, starting with its indigenous peoples, then moving on to Euro-American exploration (including the race to the North Pole), scientific and anthropological research, and the industrial and military exploitation of the Arctic.

Week 1: Encounters: Indigenous Northerners and Early European Incursions

Week 2: From Bering to Franklin: Exploration in the 1700s and Early 1800s

Week 3: Northern Steeplechase: Exploration and Nation-Building from the 1840s to the 1940s

Week 4: Arcticide? Militarization, Exploitation, and Climate Change from 1945 to the Present

This course takes place online via Zoom.

Course does not meet on Wednesday, September 24.

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.