February - March, 2022

Zoom Webinar Classes

​The concern of SCANS has always been the health and safety of our members. The increasing large number of COVID cases and the presence of the highly transmissible  Omicron variant with ensuing public health restrictions have resulted in our pivoting from in-person to virtual classes for the winter term.

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1. How Geology Rocks Everyday Life - Marcos Zentilli

How Geology Rocks Everyday Life - Marcos Zentilli
Tuesdays 10:00 AM-12:00 PM (6 wks) Feb 01 to Mar 08
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Course Description
Beyond the natural fascination for dinosaurs and volcanos, both important aspects of the field of geology, this course follows my very personal attraction to geology: as for a hammer everything looks like a nail, I see geology everywhere. 
Geology is at the base of the environment, it governed the evolution of life, landscape, and climate, and it impacts most human affairs:  natural and environmental disasters (earthquakes, landslides, erosion), mineral and energy resource distribution, and thus politics.  From the Stone Age to space exploration, humans have relied on the Earth for survival, from safe drinking water, cave dwellings to marble cathedrals and skyscrapers, from construction materials, metals for weapons, agricultural tools and means of transportation, through brass musical instruments, cellphones to the salt for your eggs in the morning. To put it simply, if it can’t be grown it has to be mined, and the geological history determines where.

Tentative Schedule (changes are probable)

1. Geologic time; geologic history; the past is the key to the future; relative age; fossils and evolution; rock dating. Ancient climates, catastrophic extinctions. Erosion; from rivers to sea; sediments and sedimentary rocks    
2. Plate tectonics; Earth interior; opening and closing of oceans; subduction zones; Earthquakes and tsunamis; faults and folds; metamorphism, growth of mountains; magmas: granite batholiths; Volcanos   
3. Minerals; crystal growth, gemstones; mineral resources and mining, metals; industrial minerals; energy minerals; fossil fuels: Coal, Oil, Gas; shale gas and fracking           
4. A) Volcanos and people; Geothermal energy, volcanic hazards (e.g. Pompeii 79AD) and effects on climate (e.g. Laki eruption, Iceland, 1783 and famine). ​ B) Soils and “Medical Geology”, Geology and Health.       
5. Cities and geology: architecture, building materials. Limestone, the wholly organic rock;               from fossils to Marble, cathedrals, and Michelangelo. Caves, sinkholes, cenotes, early            humans               
6. Geology of water; the water cycle; deserts; drought; glaciers, thawing permafrost, rivers, floods, dams, agriculture. Groundwater. Human impacts on Earth. The Anthropocene                

 
​Instructor Biography
​​Born and educated in Chile, Marcos Zentilli completed a doctorate at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. After working as exploration geologist for industry, he joined Dalhousie University in 1973.  Together with numerous students, he carried out geoscience research specializing in mineral resources and age determination of rocks, mainly in the Andes mountains, Atlantic Canada, and the Canadian Arctic. How many geologists have an Andean volcano named after them, or have studied the geology of a rock-loaded Greenland iceberg? Now retired from Dalhousie as Emeritus Professor, he remains active as researcher and international consultant.​

2. Let's Talk ABout Dementia Or Where Did I Put My Keys? - Barbara Ross

Let’s Talk About Dementia or Where Did I Put My Keys? - Barbara Ross
Wednesdays 10:00 AM-11:30 AM (6 wks) Feb 02 to Mar 9

​Course Description
Have you ever walked into a room and forgot why you were there? Or forgotten a name or even a word no matter how hard you try but somehow remember 5 minutes later? Memory lapses can be frustrating, but most of the time they aren’t a cause for concern. Age-related memory changes are not the same thing as dementia. The start of the course will take a “deep dive” into what is normal aging and what is not. In the following weeks we will go on to identify the different types of dementia, the experience of people living with dementia, a caregivers guide to managing dementia behaviour, the risks and how to prevent the onset of dementia and finally, the current treatment and promising research. Henry Ford reminds us that “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
 
​Instructor Biography
​Barbara is a retired RN, Midwife and Public Health Nurse but continues to provide homecare to seniors in the community, many who are living with dementia. Throughout her 40 + years of practice, she has experienced a wide range of individuals living with or caring for a loved one with different types of dementia including AIDS related dementia, Huntington’s Disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Lewy Body Disease and Young Onset Dementia as well as the more common Alzheimer’s and Vascular dementia.
 
Barbara is trained in the Teepa Snow approach to care that focuses on understanding what is happening to the person living with dementia and how to support them in a more positive and respectful way.

3. Six Questions - Norman Pereira

Six Questions - Norman Pereira
Thursdays 10:00 AM-12:00 AM (6 wks) Jan 27 to Mar 10 [no class on Feb 10]

​Course Description
Week 1: Is American Democracy in Crisis?
Week 2: Who is Putin and What Does He Want?
Week 3: What Happened to Liberal Education at our Universities?
Week 4: What is Islamophobia?
Week 5: What is the Difference between Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism?
Week 6: Are President Xi Jinping [习近平] and His Policies Bringing China to World Dominance or Disaster?

​Instructor Biography
Norman Pereira is Emeritus Professor of History and Russian Studies at Dalhousie University, where he taught for 36 years. He is the author of three monographs and dozens of articles, as well as numerous reviews and opinion pieces. His research publications have included 19th and 20th century Russian and Soviet History, historiography, and comparative politics. Since retirement from full time university teaching he has been studying the comparative histories of the Abrahamic religions, with particular emphasis on Islam.

4. HOW INSECTS CONQUERED THE EARTH - PAUL MANNING

How Insects Conquered the Earth - Paul Manning
Fridays 1:30 PM-3:30 PM (6 wks) Feb 04 to Mar 11

Course Description
Insects are a highly diverse group of organisms that can be found in all terrestrial ecosystems. They play a wide variety of crucial ecological roles that collectively support life as we know it. In this course, we will explore the various qualities of insects that underpin their success, and discuss the various ways that insects shape the world we live in.

Week 1: What are insects, and why are they so successful? [General Introduction]
Week 2: What kind of insect is this? [An Introduction to Identifying Insects]
Week 3: How do insects do what they do? [Basic Physiology]
Week 4: What makes an insect a pest? [Pest Science & Ecology]
Week 5: How do insects support healthy ecosystems? [Ecosystem Services]
Week 6: Insect Armageddon? [Insect declines and the future of insect conservation]  
 
Instructor Biography
Dr. Manning holds a BSc Agriculture from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, and a DPhil in Zoology from the University of Oxford. He is a newly appointed Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University (Faculty of Agriculture) in the Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences. His research program is focused on understanding on the importance of insect biodiversity to the health of agricultural ecosystems and sustainable food production. ​