LIR Course Schedule

Learning in Retirement Course Schedule

Click here for the UCBRC event calendarScroll down the page to see the upcoming Learning in Retirement (LIR) course offerings, or you can view them, along with all other upcoming Retirement Center events, by clicking the Events Calendar button. When you find a class you would like to attend, click on the Click Here to Register link and complete the registration process.

You can watch past LIR lectures on the Retirement Center YouTube channel by clicking here.

We look forward to seeing you at an LIR soon!

Fall 2023 Lectures

Ecology and Evolution of Pathogens in Wildlife

Lecture I: The Viruses Infecting Managed Honeybees and Native Wild Bees

Tuesday, October 3, 2:00-3:30pm via Zoom

The Viruses Infecting Managed Honeybees and Native Wild Bees

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This past year nearly half of all commercial honeybee hives in the US were lost, and four species of bumblebees are beginning to gain protection under the California Endangered Species Act due to their declines. Although both managed honeybees and native wild bees are key to our agricultural systems, their losses are uniquely different. In this talk, Nina will describe her research which focuses on the viral dynamics through time between managed honeybees and native wild bees in California.

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Lecture II: The Broad-Reaching Impacts of Bacteriophage Viruses: From Bacterial Evolution to Microbiomes and Human Health

Tuesday, October 10, 1:30-3:00pm via Zoom

The Broad-Reaching Impacts of Bacteriophage Viruses: From Bacterial Evolution to Microbiomes and Human Health

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Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria, and in doing so shape everything from pathogenicity to bacterial competition to microbiome function. In this talk, Professor Koskella will discuss what we know about these remarkable, ubiquitous viruses and their impacts within the bacterial populations and communities in which they reside. Koskella will discuss their importance in our broad understanding of microbial ecology but also highlight how this knowledge might be useful as we leverage microbes to solve some of society's grandest challenges. 

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Lecture III: The Big Picture of Large Carnivore Decline and Recovery - From West Africa to the Western U.S.

Tuesday, October 17, 2:00 - 3:30pm via Zoom

The Big Picture of Large Carnivore Decline and Recovery: From West Africa to the Western U.S. 

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Over the last few decades, the science and management of large carnivores has focused on the role these apex predators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. This research has centered on the ways in which large carnivores promote species diversity, but it has more recently expanded to consider how predators may impact not just other species but also processes like fire, carbon sequestration and disease. In this talk, Justin will report on field research from West Africa that highlights the far-reaching influence of large carnivores, particularly lions and leopards, on ecosystems and people, and some unexpected consequences of their loss. He will then bring us closer to home by introducing us to new research on the very current recovery of grey wolves and other large carnivores in California. 


Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence

Lecture I: AI, Medicine, and the Limits of the Human Mind

Tuesday, November 7, 2:00-3:30pm

AI, Medicine, and the Limits of the Human Mind

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 “Will we still have doctors in 20 years?” is a common question. The answer is yes. But medicine, along with both the doctor and patient roles, will be fundamentally transformed by AI. Rather than simply automating tasks that doctors already do, AI will open up transformative new possibilities—along with enormous potential to scale up harms and inequalities.

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Lecture II: Understanding Generative AI and Language - Humans, Animals, and Machines

Tuesday, November 14, 2:00 - 3:30pm

Understanding Generative AI and Language: Humans, Animals, and Machines

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Speaker: Gašper Beguš, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, affiliate of Institute of Cognitive and Brain Science.

Understanding how AI models learn is the new frontier in machine learning research. In this talk, I argue that we can use human language to better understand how AI learns and, vice versa, use AI to better understand how humans acquire the defining human property: language. I will present an AI model of language that learns in a manner more similar to human infants, along with several interpretability techniques to better understand AI's inner workings. I show that AI interpretability can bring several new insights for neuroscience, cognitive science, the study of animal communication, and finally, elucidating similarities and differences between humans and machines. 

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Lecture III: Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence

Tuesday, December 5th, 2:00-3:30pm

Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence

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Professor Stuart Russell will briefly survey recent and expected developments in AI and their implications. Some are enormously positive, while others, such as the development of autonomous weapons and the replacement of humans in economic roles, may be negative. Beyond these, one must expect that AI capabilities will eventually exceed those of humans across a range of real-world-decision making scenarios. Should this be a cause for concern, as Alan Turing, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and others have suggested?  And, if so, what can we do about it?


The Carol D’Onofrio LIR Lecture in Public Health

Carol D’Onofrio was Chair of the UCB Retirement Center Board from 2009-2011 and served as a member at large from 2006-08. She served on the Learning in Retirement Committee for many years, chairing the committee in 2017-2019. Carol passed away on April 14, 2020. Updates on this lecture series will be posted soon.

Carbon Negative Technology to Solve the Climate Crisis, Sept 2023

Learning in Retirement - Carbon Negative Technology to Solve the Climate Crisis

Firearm Violence: What We Can Do, Sept 2023

Learning in Retirement - Firearm Violence: What We Can Do

The Better Care Plan for Continuously Improving the US Healthcare System, May 2023

The Better Care Plan for Continuously Improving the US Healthcare System

Learning in Retirement - Brain Science with the Dalai Lama, April 2023

Learning in Retirement - Brain Science with the Dalai Lama

Learning in Retirement - Worse than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism, April 2023

Learning in Retirement - Worse than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism

Learning in Retirement - Let There Be Light: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe with Neutrinos, April 2023

Learning in Retirement - Let There Be Light: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe with Neutrinos

Learning in Retirement - Francisco de Goya and the Art of Critique, April 2023

Learning in Retirement - Francisco de Goya and the Art of Critique

Learning in Retirement - Dark Matter, March 2023

Learning in Retirement - Dark Matter

Learning in Retirement - Dark Energy, March 2023

Learning in Retirement: Dark Energy

Learning in Retirement - UC Open-Access Policy and Open-Access Initiatives, Feb 2023

Learning in Retirement: UC Open-Access Policy and Open-Access Initiatives

Learning in Retirement - Rights Issues and How They Affect Reading, Teaching, and Publishing, Feb 2023

Learning in Retirement - Rights Issues and How They Affect Reading, Teaching, and Publishing

Changing Landscape of Library Acquisitions, January 2023

Changing Landscape of Library Acquisitions: Transformative Agreements and Other OA Publishing Models

The slides can be accessed here

Learning in Retirement - Reflections on the Election: Town Hall Discussion

Learning in Retirement - Reflections on the Election: Town Hall Discussion

Environment and Regulation, October 2022

Learning in Retirement - Environment and Regulation

The Future of Housing and Community Development, September 2022

The Future of Housing and Community Development

California’s Homekey Program: Unlocking Housing Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness, September 2022

California’s Homekey Program: Unlocking Housing Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness

Alzheimer's Disease: What is it, and Can we Treat it?, April 2022

Alzheimer's Disease: What is it, and Can we Treat it?