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English, like all other languages, changes over time and varies according to place and social setting. The way a person sounds—such as with the “southern drawl” or dropping their “r”s—immediately conjures up a sense of the place where they come from. But the way we speak is influenced by many factors: not only our geographical roots, but our social and educational background, our working environment, our friends, our own sense of identity, and even our political views all affect how we sound.

In this lecture, we will examine English dialects and accents around the world, and how they changed over time. We will wonder what Shakespeare really sounded like, and how we can know that. We will observe how English speakers can manipulate the way they speak to emphasize their identity. We will contemplate how Bostonians and New Yorkers, posh and working-class Londoners, Scots and Irishmen, Canadians and Australians speak.

Led by an expert on linguistics and history this lecture will open your eyes - and your ears! - to the great diversity of Englishes around the world.

Asya Pereltsvaig received a degree in English and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a PhD in Linguistics from McGill University. She taught at Yale, Cornell, and Stanford universities, and has been teaching in lifelong education programs since 2010. Her expertise is in language, culture, and history, and the relationship between them. Asya has published five scholarly books with Cambridge University Press. Asya is a popular instructor for several lifelong learning institutes around the country.

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

Christianity is a religion. Nevertheless, with the development of nationalism in the last few centuries, in some circles, Christianity has developed into both a religion and a political movement. This movement is known as Christian nationalism; it seeks to bring Christianity into government, and to lead nations using Christian principles, Christian ideas, and sometimes, is largely supported by a Christian imperialist way of thinking. This set of two lectures will dive deep into the origins of this Christian nationalism, and then also consider how Christian nationalism affects life in the United States today.

Jason Hensley, PhD (Holocaust and Genocide Studies), Dmin (Biblical Studies), teaches religious studies at a private school in Los Angeles. He is a fellow of the Michael LaPrade Holocaust Education Institute of the Anti-Defamation League, a higher-education ambassador for the Council on Foreign Relations, and the award-winning author of 12 books. His work has been featured in The Huffington Post as well as the BBC, and he has served as the historical advisor for a Holocaust documentary. Connect with him at jasonhensley.net.

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

Camerata Pacifica, the international chamber music collective renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming, launches the New Year with the first of two programs on the Camerata Pacifica Baroque series curated by acclaimed flutist Emi Ferguson. Anchored by Bach’s iconic Two-Part Inventions, the intimate and illuminating program, featuring Ferguson on traverso and celebrated classical and jazz keyboardist Dan Tepfer on amplified clavichord, promises both familiarity and surprise, creating a fascinating dialogue between Baroque traditions and contemporary improvisation.

The performances, spotlighting two of the quietest Baroque instruments – traverso and clavichord – are presented at four Southern California venues: Sunday, January 12, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, January 14, 7:30 pm, The Huntington in San Marino; Thursday, January 16, 8:00 pm, Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; and Friday, January 17, 2025, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West.

Dan Tepfer is celebrated for his innovative performances with artists including Renée Fleming and Lee Konitz and for his award-winning recordings and appearances on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. For this performance, Tepfer is drawing from his acclaimed 2023 solo album J.S. Bach / Dan Tepfer, Inventions / Reinventions on StorySound Records.

For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $91, including fees, at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

Join the Santa Barbara Chamber Players under the baton of Emmanuel Fratianni on February 1st at 7:30pm at the First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu Street, for an amazing concert with Schubert Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished,” and a feature of vocalist April Amante on Canteloube’s Chants d”Auvergne, Puccini’s O mio babbino caro (from Gianni Schicchi), Quando m’en vo (from La Boheme), and Schönberg’s I Dreamed a Dream (from Les Miserable). Tickets are $20 with K-12 free at https://sbchamberplayers.org/.

A community celebration for our love of all things plants!​ Native plants, succulents, house plants + more!

Native Plant Fest brings together our community to celebrate and showcase local plant-inspired culture, food, traditions, and creativity! This festival is community-led by plant enthusiasts of diverse backgrounds who will share their plants, services, artwork, culinary creations, products, educational resources, and much more!

November through the Spring is prime planting season in California and OPAC wants to bring together seasoned and newbie plant aficionados for this special event.

Guests will enjoy:

An Opening Blessing and Land Acknowledgment
Vendors selling art, crafts, plants, garden accessories, food, and more!
Interactive activities and art-making
Food Trucks
Educational speakers and workshops
Nonprofit exhibitors offering free plants, information and resources
Special musical performances

There’s plenty for kids to do too, such as making seed bombs, flower crowns and much, much more!

Free Event! NO ticket needed!

Saturday, January 25th, 2025 | 11am-4pm
Location: Community Center Park East (located next to OPAC)
800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030
https://www.theopac.org/

Camerata Pacifica, the international chamber music collective renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming, launches the New Year with the first of two programs on the Camerata Pacifica Baroque series curated by acclaimed flutist Emi Ferguson. Anchored by Bach’s iconic Two-Part Inventions, the intimate and illuminating program, featuring Ferguson on traverso and celebrated classical and jazz keyboardist Dan Tepfer on amplified clavichord, promises both familiarity and surprise, creating a fascinating dialogue between Baroque traditions and contemporary improvisation.

The performances, spotlighting two of the quietest Baroque instruments – traverso and clavichord – are presented at four Southern California venues: Sunday, January 12, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, January 14, 7:30 pm, The Huntington in San Marino; Thursday, January 16, 8:00 pm, Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; and Friday, January 17, 2025, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West.

Dan Tepfer is celebrated for his innovative performances with artists including Renée Fleming and Lee Konitz and for his award-winning recordings and appearances on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. For this performance, Tepfer is drawing from his acclaimed 2023 solo album J.S. Bach / Dan Tepfer, Inventions / Reinventions on StorySound Records.

For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $91, including fees, at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

UCSB Library is pleased to present Haewon Jeong (Electrical and Computer Engineering) in the Pacific Views: Library Speaker Series for Winter 2025.

In her talk "Ethical AI: Serving Humanity or Falling Short?", Jeong will explore the ethical considerations surrounding the development and deployment of AI technologies, discussing how we can ensure that these systems are designed to benefit society while minimizing harm.

Haewon Jeong is a leading scholar in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, with a focus on the intersection of technology, morality, and societal impact. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Santa Barbara and a co-director of REAL AI, a consortium at UCSB for building Artificial Scientific Intelligence (ASI), where she leads a research lab on developing ethical AI technologies.

In 2024, the National Science Foundation (NSF) granted Jeong an Early CAREER Award, the federal agency’s most highly regarded honor for junior faculty, for her project "From Dirty Data to Fair Prediction: Data Preparation Framework for End-to-End Equitable Machine Learning," which targets the data-preparation pipeline as a strategic opportunity for eliminating unwanted bias and bolstering desirable ethical objectives.

Jeong's approximately 45-minute presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

This event may be photographed or recorded.

California Avocados: A Delicious History
A Talk by Rob Crisell

Santa Barbara Historical Museum
Wednesday, January 15
5:30 – 7 pm PST

Avocados were first introduced to California in 1871 when Judge R.B. Ord planted three seedling trees from Mexico in Santa Barbara, sparking a century-long love affair that transformed California into “Avocado Land.” Twenty-four years later, Kinton Stevens established the nation’s first commercial avocado orchard in Montecito. These early efforts laid the foundation for California's avocado industry, which now supplies about 90% of the U.S. crop.

In his latest book, California Avocados: A Delicious History, author Rob Crisell explores how California’s favorite fruit became one of the most famous and iconic foods of the twenty-first century.


Reservation required. Click the link below to make your reservation!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/california-avocados-a-delicious-history-tickets-1127948156299?aff=oddtdtcreator


Santa Barbara Historical Museum
visitorservices@sbhistorical.org
(805) – 966- 1601

Silents on the Islands: Silent Movies on the Channel Islands
A talk by Betsy J. Green

Santa Barbara Historical Museum
Wednesday, January 29
5:30 – 7 pm PST

Hundreds of silent movies were filmed on the idyllic islands of California starring luminaries such as Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Buster Keaton, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and many more. Daring actors and actresses jumped off cliffs, battled pirates, swam with sharks, thwarted evildoers, and rescued mermaids. The earliest films were five- or ten-minutes long and filmed on the beaches. Island movies later grew into million-dollar features with casts of thousands.

Join local author and historian Betsy J. Green for a talk on her latest book, Silents on the Islands: Silent movies filmed on California’s Channel Islands.



Reservation required. Click the link below to make your reservation!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/silents-on-the-islands-silent-movies-on-the-channel-islands-tickets-1127967052819?aff=oddtdtcreator&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&ref=eemail

We've never backed down from a fight, and we won't start now.

Join us at Boogie for Our Bodies to recommit to the fight for reproductive freedom for all. Come to the Wildcat Lounge for a western-themed disco with dancing, advocacy, and fun with friends! We'll have a raffle, a costume contest, silent disco and more.

Please note this venue is 21+. We encourage attendees to dress up in their wildest cowboy attire. Come get funky for our fundamental rights!