Special Presentations

Each term BILL will offer Special Presentations — periodic lectures by distinguished presenters on new, interesting topics. These special, one-time presentations on a variety of educational issues are open to the public and free of cost. Participants must, however, sign up in advance.

You can register for these noon Lunch & Learn and 3:30 p.m. Tea & Talk programs online in our registration pages, or you may telephone (570-522-0105) or email (lifelonglearning@bucknell.edu) the office to RSVP. BILL may photograph participants and/or record the program with the permission of the presenter.

Tea & Talks

Tea & Talk programs are free, special, one-time presentations held in the afternoon. Open to the public; BILL membership is not required to attend. Registered guests may arrive up to 30 minutes before the program begins to enjoy some social time over desserts and beverages (provided free of charge).

Lunch & Learns

Lunch & Learn programs are free, special, one-time presentations held at noon. BILL membership is not required to attend. Registered guests may arrive as early as 11:30 a.m. You may bring your own food if you would like to eat lunch with friends before the program, or you may order (at least 5 days before the event) a meal prepared by the Village for $14. Pay online or at the door.

Location

Buffalo Valley Lutheran Village Common
6 Tressler Blvd., Lewisburg
Along Reitz Blvd., between State Rt 45 & Buffalo Rd./State Rt 192. Park in front or along the sides of the parking lot circle.

Special Presentations: 2026 Winter & Spring Term

By Michael James, Bucknell University
No other issue is as much of a hot button in the United States today as immigration. Immigration was perhaps the decisive issue in the 2024 election, and Donald Trump’s subsequent actions to change or enforce immigration policy has raised many of the biggest concerns related to the administration. This lecture will endeavor to improve our understanding of immigration in the U.S. today by outlining its role in the 2024 election; articulating its position in public opinion in the U.S. and elsewhere; examining U.S. immigration policy in historical and comparative perspectives; and outlining how enforcing immigration policy has emerged as the most controversial and concerning issue in the second Trump administration.
MICHAEL JAMES has taught at Bucknell University since 1999. He is the author of Deliberative Democracy and the Plural Polity, and he has published several articles on the ethics of immigration in various political science and philosophy journals.
- The Ed Cotter Memorial Lecture
  In 2023, BILL introduced the Cotter Memorial Lecture to be offered annually among our Special Presentations in honor of Edward “Ed” Cotter. Professor emeritus of geology at Bucknell, Ed was instrumental in forming BILL in 2009 and served as BILL's director for its first six years.
  This year's Cotter Memorial Lecture comes from Michael James, professor of political science at Bucknell University. Professor James's lecture covers an important current topic, something Ed Cotter would have been interested in.
By Tulu Bayar, Bucknell University
Professor Tulu Bayar, art & art history, the department chair. Photo by Douglas Kilpatrick
This presentation explores immigrant identity and belonging through Mosaic Project, a collaborative art initiative involving recent immigrants who share personal photos, cultural artifacts, and stories through workshops. Using sustainable citrus image transfers, their contributions are transformed into a hand-bound artist book — an intimate archive of migration, memory, and resilience. As an immigrant artist, Bayar reflects on how the project challenges the notion of “otherness” by centering lived experiences and asking, What does home mean to you? Through tactile storytelling and collective authorship, Mosaic Project reframes immigrant narratives as integral to the American experience, inviting viewers to recognize themselves in the mosaic of shared humanity. Professor Tulu Bayar teaches in Bucknell's Department of Art and Art History. "Her work is particularly relevant in today's global climate, where issues of identity, immigration and cultural hybridity are at the forefront of societal discourse".
By Robert E. Lee III, historian, artist and educator
Robert E. Lee III has a rather unusual hobby: He excavates long-ago abandoned outhouse sites to recover the hidden history beneath. These sites contain a wealth of information about the past. Robert will share stories about some of the remarkable artifacts he has uncovered from his more than 400 digs over the past 20 years: a money purse with seven 1850s half-dollars, a single-shot pistol dating to mid-1800s and a child's denture plate with x-ray of gold pins holding porcelain teeth in place, among other things.
ROBERT E. LEE's love of the old pottery techniques, forms and their uses is what started his use of the pottery artifacts in historic programs. He has been the potter for the Warrior Run / Fort Freeland Heritage Society events for 30 years. He has mentored many who went on to teach the art and history of pottery techniques.
By Ben Barson, Bucknell University
Drawing from the presenter's book Brassroots Democracy, this talk explores how brass bands and Black musical communities in New Orleans forged new forms of democracy and resistance in the 19th century. Through music, ritual and collective joy, these communities created spaces of freedom that challenged slavery, segregation and empire. The presentation will trace how these traditions reverberated through time — from the Reconstruction era to the global struggles for liberation that jazz inspired.
Assistant Professor BEN BARSON in Bucknell's Department of Music is a saxophonist, historian and also an affiliated faculty member in the University's Latin American Studies program. His work explores the intersections of jazz, the Black freedom movement and environmental thought across the Americas. His book Brassroots Democracy: Maroon Ecologies and the Jazz Commons (Wesleyan University Press, 2024) was recently recognized with the Robert M. Stevenson Award from the American Musicological Society.
By Dave Elton, Auburn University
Cars are integral to American culture. Car metaphors fill our vernacular ("put the pedal to the metal", "it's a doozy", "deadman's curve"). They are part of all our lives. We follow the price of gas religiously, compare notes and gas mileage with strangers and engage in "driveway colloquiums" in the suburbs. We teach our kids to drive, we pay insurance, we use cars daily, we complain about traffic, we stand at stoplights, we get speeding tickets, and we all seek an honest mechanic. Dave Elton will talk about cars, particularly some automotive manufacturing disasters.
Professor Emeritus DAVE ELTON was a member of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Auburn University, with a doctorate in geotechnical engineering from Purdue University. He stopped working about 10 years ago (although his supervisor might say it was closer to 15). Elton has had a lifelong fascination with cars, including manufacture, history, racing, repair, technical specifications, music, culture and more. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians.

Bucknell Institute for Lifelong Learning

Location

115 Farley Circle, Suite 111

Contact

lifelonglearning@bucknell.edu