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Series Description: This course will review cutting edge research from the last decade to better understand the purpose of sleep. The first session will examine sleep as a critical process from neurodevelopment (i.e., the development of our brain) to neurodegeneration (the decline of our brain function). The second session will review the causes and treatments of the most common sleep disorders including sleep apnea, insomnia, restless legs disorder, REM sleep behavior disorder, and parasomnias like sleepwalking. The final session will review the fascinating new field of circadian medicine, which helps us understand how conditions like jetlag and shift work disorder impair physical and psychological health.

This class meets from 10:00-11:45 a.m. on Tuesdays (February 4-18).

Series Instructor: J. Roxann Prichard, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at the University of St. Thomas. She earned a BA in Biopsychology from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a widely sought after speaker and served on the NCAA Taskforce for Sleep and Well-being. Her research on sleep and mental health has been summarized in a variety of national media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and NPR’s 1A podcast, among others. Her TEDx talk “Addressing our Children’s Sleep Debt” was featured in the lecture series: Transforming Education. She is also the Principal Investigator on major grants from Howard Hughes Medical Association and the National Science Foundation on inclusive excellence in STEM education.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

This class is only available as an online live Zoom broadcast. No recordings will be available and no in-person sessions will be available. The Zoom link for this class will be emailed out to registrants 2 business days prior to the first session.

Series Description: Why is English so weird? Why do we pronounce the letters G and H differently in “ghost” than we do in “laugh” or “neighbor”? Why does our language look like German sometimes and like French other times? Why do we have so many words that mean “poop”? The history of English has some answers, plus a lot more questions, all along with invading armies and doomed romances, consequential misfits and crazy coincidences.

This class meets from 10:00-11:45 a.m. on Wednesdays (Feb. 26-March 12).

Series Instructor: Dr. Michael Getty is a St. Thomas staff member who, before becoming an academic administrator, started his working life as a linguist. In that role, his love for language remains strong. He has taught courses on the English language at colleges and universities throughout the Midwest.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

This class is only available as an online live Zoom broadcast. No recordings will be available and no in-person sessions will be available. The Zoom link for this class will be emailed out to registrants 2 business days prior to the first session.

Series Description: At one point the triumph of democracy seemed inevitable. Decolonization of and independence in Africa, the demise of autocracies in Latin and South America, and the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union in Europe portended a global victory for democracy. Leading the charge for democracy was the US. Yet today, democracies across the world, including in the US, are endangered or in retreat. This talk examines the state and fate of democracy across the world and in America. It asks what the possibilities for democracy without the United States or the United State without a democracy.

Series Information: Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: David Schultz is Hamline University Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Legal Studies, and Environmental Studies, and an adjunct professor of law at the University of St. Thomas. He also is a professor at the Lithuanian Military Academy in Vilnius, Lithuania. David is author of more than forty-five books and 200 articles on various aspects of American politics and law. He was recently named editor-in-chief of the Minneapolis Times.

Fee for the session: $25.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), Justice Alito’s majority decision went deep into common law history to articulate a standard of interpretation based on history and tradition.  The court’s increased emphasis on history and tradition has already been used to significantly influence Second Amendment jurisprudence, and it may impact the separation of powers as well.  In this session, we will unearth the basis of this standard, see how the court has recently used it, and explore how this standard may change American constitutional law in the near future.

Series Information: Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Caleb Goltz is an assistant professor in the Political Science Department at St. Thomas. He teaches courses in the separation of powers, civil rights and liberties, judicial politics, and American political development. 

Fee for the session: $25.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: The ideas of the “American nation” and “American people” in the United States are frequently invoked, but their evolution is more nuanced and—in a global context—more unusual than we might appreciate. In contrast to the dominant global pattern of national formation, the United States as a continuous government is relatively old, while its geographic and cultural roots are deeply contested and obscure. In this lecture, we will engage in a brief overview of how Americans of different generations, backgrounds, and interests have answered the question “what makes an American?,” with attention to the causes and consequences of the definitions they produced.

Series Information: Tuesday, April 15, 2025, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: David C. Williard is an associate professor in the history department at St. Thomas. His scholarship examines the relationship between the law, violence, and race in nineteenth century America as well as the relationship between political culture and national memory in the Civil War Era. His work appears in The Journal of the Civil War Era and the Journal of Southern History among other venues. At St. Thomas, he co-directs the We March for Justice annual study trip and teachers courses in Modern United States History, the Civil Ware Era, United States Military History, Slavery and Emancipation, and American Legal History.

Fee for the session: $25.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: Historians are always developing new ways to understand the story of humanity, and Environmental History is one of the discipline’s most ground-breaking recent approaches. These lectures provide an introduction to this new field, explaining how attention to nature reveals helps us understand people better. We will consider how natural processes like pre-modern climate change or animal behaviors have mattered to human societies, as well as how people have altered their environments, whether on farms or in cities. Combining these two approaches, we will conclude with what history looks like when humanity and nature are considered together, with environments always a part of the human story. Though attention to environmental change often highlights problems, it also celebrates expansive visions of justice and stewardship, as people and nature can only flourish together.

Series Information: Tuesdays, April 22-May 6, 2025, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: William Cavert is an award-winning environmental historian, whose research expertise focuses on coal burning, air pollution, climate change, and vermin hunting in Britain from 1500-1800. He earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern University and has held a post-doctoral fellowship at Cambridge University and a Fulbright Fellowship at Sheffield University, in the UK. At St. Thomas he teaches an introductory Environmental History course and a research seminar on Natural Disasters in History, as well as courses on global history and Europe from 1400-1800.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: From the meatpacking plants of southern Minnesota and the iron mines of the Mesabi Range, to the hospitals and nursing homes of the Metro area, immigrant workers have been central to Minnesota's economy and, especially, to the development of our state's labor movement. In the mid-19th century, Irish, German, and Swedish immigrants built and ran our railroads, and they labored in the processing plants and factories which turned raw materials into finished products. In the early 20th century, Finnish, Slavic and Mexican immigrants provided the labor which fueled the next stages of the industrial revolution. And in the late 20th and early 21^st centuries, Asian, Central American, and African immigrants became the core of our healthcare, retail, and service industries. In all these instances, when confronted with low pay, disrespectful treatment, and difficult working conditions, they drew on their collective values and organized to make their lives – and the lives of all of Minnesota’s working people --  better.

Series Information: Tuesdays, April 1-15, 1:00-2:45 p.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Peter Rachleff taught labor and immigration history at Macalester College from 1982-2012. In 2014, he co-founded the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul as a nonprofit project to "inpire solidarity, work for justice, and advocate for equity for all."

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: We alter, degrade, and occasionally restore the environment. We shape landscapes, and as they evolve, they provide new opportunities and constraints for future generations. This lecture series focuses on the environmental challenges we face, and the surprising, hopeful array of sustainable solutions being pursued worldwide. We will explore how conservation science informs restoration and even rewilding on an increasingly human-dominated planet. 

Series Information: Tuesdays, April 22-May 6, 1:00-2:45 p.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Dr. Paul Lorah is a geographer in the Department of Earth, Environment and Society. He studies conservation science and is interested in how people interact with nature to form cultural landscapes. His students have given more than 100 conference presentations on conservation geography and sustainable development. He has served on the Board of Trustees for the Minnesota chapter of the Nature Conservancy and consulted for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Alliance and the Great Plains Restoration Council.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: The word “theology” derives from Greek words that mean “talking about God.” In this three-session course, we will explore language about gender in sacred texts, and how that language has influenced understandings of women in the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as well as understandings of the Divine. We will examine select texts that speak about individual women or attitudes toward women, as well as language about God, and will note briefly how the question of gender is approached in contemporary religious conversation.

Series Information: Wednesdays, April 2-16, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Dr. Susan Myers is an associate professor in the Department of Theology at the University of St. Thomas.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: The year 2025 marks the 1700^th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The fruits of this ecumenical council, one of which is the Nicene Creed, continue to regularly affect the lives of Christians around the world. How did an event that happened seventeen centuries ago have such a far-reaching impact? This course will explore the events that led to Nicaea, what happened at the council, the contested reception of the Nicene Creed in the aftermath of the council and it eventual acceptance as the standard of orthodoxy, and its abiding centrality for most Christian churches today.

Series Information: Wednesdays, April 23-May 7, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Dr. Mark DelCogliano is professor and chair of the Theology Department at the University of St. Thomas. DelCogliano is a scholar of early Christianity. He studies the ways in which doctrine was debated and developed. In addition, he studies landmark figures from the early centuries of Christian history such as Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Didymus, Basil of Caesarea, Augustine, and Gregory the Great. DelCogliano holds a masters in theological studies from the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. from Emory University.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $75.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: This course offers an introduction to the history of East-Central Europe from the nineteenth century to the present, with special emphasis on Poland, the Czech Republic or Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. The people of the region experimented with liberalism, nationalism, fascism, communism, and democracy. The following questions will guide our survey of this fascinating region: What/where is Eastern Europe / East-Central Europe? Is there something peculiar about its political, economic and cultural development? What forces shaped the region? To what degree did the Eastern Europeans have control over their own history?

Series Information: Wednesdays, April 2-May 7, 1:00-2:45 p.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Dr. Zsolt Nagy is a historian of modern Europe with specific focus on East and East-Central Europe. He is the author of Great Expectations and Interware Realities: Hungarian Cultural Diplomacy, 1918-1941, published in 2017 by Central European University Press, as well as articles in Contemporary European History and the Hungarian Studies Review. He offers classes on a wide variety of topics ranging from the Holocaust and Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union, the history of the First World War, history of Modern Europe and modern East-Central Europe, as well as his course on the History of the World since 1900. His research relates to the lived experience of state socialism. Dr. Nagy was born in Hungary, he is a sci-fi fan, and a longtime supporter of Liverpool FC.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $150.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: Is Buddhism a philosophy, a “way of life,” or a religion? Are Buddhists atheist? Is Buddhism simply about meditation? This course will explore the history, development, and thought of the various “Buddhisms” of the world. We will also explore some of the common questions and misconceptions we in the West tend to have about this rich and complex tradition.

Series Information: Thursdays, April 3-May 8, 10:00-11:45 a.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Jake E. Nagasawa is Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies at Macalester College. he received a PhD and MA in Religious Studies with an emphasis in Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received a BA in Theology & Religious Studies and Asian Studies from the University of San Francisco. He is interested in ancient and medieval Tibetan Buddhism, and Asian American religions in the contemporary U.S.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $150.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Series Description: With retirement from the University of ÀÇÓÑÊÓƵ coming later in 2025, musician (and Selim Center Program Manager) Susan Anderson-Benson is making one last sojourn into the classroom this spring for an eclectic series on her favorite musical things. Be prepared for a wild ride through everything from classical music to jazz to Dolly Parton and more.

Series Information: Thursdays, April 3-May 8, 1:00-2:45 p.m., O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium, UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.)

Series Instructor: Susan Anderson-Benson, pianist, composer and musicologist, brings a combined 51 years of classroom and studio teaching to this program. Her specialty is telling the story behind the music, and in this series of talks, she’ll take you through some of her favorite genres in presentations designed to educate and entertain.

Session Descriptions:

Fee for the series: $150.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Event Description: It is well accepted that the true history of the Native American experience has been expunged from the American historical narrative. What is less well known are the values and lessons that the Native experience has to offer as we try to shape a worthy path forward in the 21st century. Kent Nerburn has spent 30 years working in Native America and has been described as one of America’s living spiritual teachers & one of the few authors who can respectfully bridge the gap between Native & non-Native cultures. In this presentation, he will share some of the insights he has gained on his journey.

Event Information: Friday, April 11, 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Anderson Student Center Woulfe Alumni Hall (3rd Floor), UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.) The live Zoom simulcast begins at 12:15 p.m.; in-person registrants will be eating lunch from 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Please note that if you are attending in-person and need a special dietary accommodation, you must indicate this when you register. Registration deadline for this event is April 4th.

Event Entree: Baked Potato Bar

Event Instructor: Kent Nerburn has been described as one of America's living spiritual teachers and one of the few authors who can respectfully bridge the gap between Native and non-Native cultures.  He holds a Ph.D. in Religion and Art and is the author of 16 books, including the internationally praised trilogy, Neither Wolf nor Dog, The Wolf at Twilight, and The Girl who Sang to the Buffalo. His work has been praised by such diverse authors as Louise Erdrich, Howard Zinn, Margaret Atwood and William Kent Krueger.  He and his wife live in St. Paul, after 25 years in northern Minnesota and 10 years in the Pacific Northwest. 

Fee for the event: $45.00 per person

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form:Printable Registration Form

Event Description & Speakers: Bob Shoemake is retiring after a long, circuitous work life with many stops along the way, the most recent being leading the Selim Center for Lifelong Learning. In conversation with his friend, Fr. Chris Collins, S.J., the VP for Mission at St. Thomas, he will explore what it means to have a vocation as a consistent thread through all of those different kinds of work – and life.

Event Information: Friday, May 2, 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Anderson Student Center Woulfe Alumni Hall (3rd Floor), UST St. Paul Campus, with a live Zoom simulcast also available. (No recordings are made or available; this is available as a live event, only.) The live Zoom simulcast begins at 12:15 p.m.; in-person registrants will be eating lunch from 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Please note that if you are attending in-person and need a special dietary accommodation, you must indicate this when you register. Registration deadline for this event is April 25th.

Event Entree: Mandarin Orange Salad with Grilled Chicken

Fee for the event: $45.00 per person (registration opens in February)

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

We March for Justice Civil Rights Study-Travel: March 21-29, 2025

Hosts: Todd Lawrence, Ph.D. and David Williard, Ph.D.

Program Description: Join the Selim Center and UST undergraduate students from March 21-29 for a unique intergenerational study-travel experience. You'll learn about the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, visiting the sites where this history happened and guided by people who were there as foot soldiers in the struggles for justice and freedom.

Program details will be found in this informational piece: Program Overview

Complete cost information will be found in this document: Terms and Conditions

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link:

Art, Architecture, and Culture in Norway: September 4-14, 2025

Host: Kristin Anderson, Ph.D.

Program Description: Join us on this 11-day journey through the stunning scenery and distinctive art and architecture of southern Norway. We will see the gorgeous beauty of Norway's geography while delving into its layered culture and history, paying particular attention to the interaction among nature, the arts, and architecture. Read more in the Program Brochure.

Program Registration Fee: Deposit of $600.00 per person. Total cost: $5,995.00 per person. Single Accommodations supplement: $1,048. Cost based on a group size of 25 paying participants. Program cost will increase if group size is smaller.

To register with a credit card on our secure page, click on this link: