Gentrain Lectures are usually held in LF 103 from 1:30 to 2:30 pm unless differently specified. Visitors are welcome; no charge or registration is required. Parking is $1.00 (quarters only) for non-society menbers.

April 6, 2011 - Serving the Gods: Performance of Ritual in Ancient Egyptian Temples Ancient Egyptian religion focused on the cult of the gods within their temples, especially in the form of offerings. Performance of cult was the responsibility of the Pharaoh, and the maintenance of the cosmos and the world were dependent on his actions. Egyptian cult employed the use of magic to facilitate the offering, and the temple acted as a model of the cosmos. Dr. Cindy Ausec will discuss the various elements of Egyptian cult and will end with an examination of the daily cult as depicted at Abydos and the various types of offering that were provided for the gods. In 1998, Cindy returned to school and earned a Masters Degree in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Arizona. In May 2010 Cindy earned her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Religions, a joint Ph.D. program between the University of California Berkeley and the Graduate Theologian Union. Her major is Egyptian Religion with minors in Egyptian Art and the Religions of the Israelites and Canaanites in the Bronze and Iron Ages. She is currently working as an adjunct professor at MPC teaching the Religion and Philosophy section of the Gentrain class and the History of World Religions. April 20, 2011 - Origin of the Solar System Recent spacecraft missions like STARDUST to small bodies in the outer solar system as well advances in observational astronomy and laboratory instrumentation have led to new understanding about the earliest stages of solar system formation. The new findings provide insight about the evolution of accretion disks around into planetary systems as well as the development of life on terrestrial planets. Prior to joining Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, John Bradley was the Executive Director of MVA Inc., a privately held company that specializes in materials science consulting and research for industry and the federal government. Since 1996, he has also held the position of Adjunct Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a Senior Research Scientist with McCrone Associates in Chicago ('83-'92) and conducted his postdoctoral research in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington in Seattle ('82). John earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Arizona State University in 1982 and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1976. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the Meteoritical Society and Microbeam Analysis Society. May 4, 2011 Day of Discovery - Scuba for Special Needs Kids Marv Tuttle will give us an insight into his program "Kids Day of Discovery" which is to provide an opportunity for children with special needs to have an amazing scuba experience that helps build self-esteem and independence. They want to make this opportunity free to all children with any cognitive or physical special need. With the cooperation of the National Instructors Association for Divers with Disabilities (NIADD), Oceanic, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium's dive office, they bring together 20 kids four times a year to the Aquarium for a day of diving in their Great Tide Pool Mr. Tuttle will talk about his being a wheelchair diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, his Day of Discovery program, how and where he recruits special needs kids and about the program. Marv Tuttle lives in San Jose with his wife Connie, and is a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He brings his zest for life and as a very caring father and grandfather into all he does. He is a polio and two-time cancer survivor, a Viet Nam vet and is involved in volunteer work. May 18, 2011 - “Sage & Sexuality”: The Story Not Being Told As we grow older, we notice that the subject of sexuality is rarely paired with aging. Elders are often confused about the changes in their aging bodies. And heaven forbid that they would discuss sexuality. Not only are individuals confused but society at large ignores that elders might have sexual desires. It is often assumed that as age increases sexual desire and activity decrease. Joni Caldwell's presentation will address some of the story not being told. You will be excited to hear what Joni has to say on this subject of "Sage & Sexuality." She comes to us with a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from San Francisco University and a Bachelors Degree from Michigan State University. She is a sexuality educator, counselor and has a small private practice in counseling and clinical hypnotherapy. Her 30 year teaching career has spanned the subjects of: Human Sexuality, Psychology, Human Relationship, Anger Management, Assertiveness Training, and Women’s Studies with additional training in Sexual Enrichment, Tantra, Sage and Early Childhood Sexuality, Marriage Enrichment, Transpersonal Hypnotherapy, Communication, and Mediation.