Life Enrichment Series

The Florida College Life Enrichment Series began during the 1982-83 school year to provide cultural and academic programs to enrich the lives of students, staff and interested community people. The multidisciplinary programs take the form of lectures, forums, seminars and musical performances. Topics have related to such subjects as the performing arts, science, humanities, social science, psychology, law, business and communication. The programs in the Life Enrichment Series are planned by a faculty/student committee chaired by music professor Becky Barlar.

Schedule

Monday, September 22, 7:30 PM, Puckett Auditorium
“Ultimate Money Skills: Scholars, Dollars, Budgets and Bills”
Making It Count, an educational service provider for students and a business unit of Monster Worldwide, Inc., and Bank of America, created this financial success presentation to educate and empower college students to develop smart money management skills. “Ultimate Money Skills” educates students on the appropriate use of credit, developing and following a budget, taking control of student loan debt, protecting themselves from identity theft and investing for the future.

Thursday, October 2, 7:30 PM, Puckett Auditorium
Project “ Music and the Arts”
Leonidas Lipovetsky, piano
Mr. Lipovetsky, a native of Uruguay, received his bachelors and masters from the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. As a concert pianist, he has toured the US, Canada, Europe, Russia, China and Central and South America. He also taught piano at Florida State University for many years. Mr. Lipovetsky will use a lecture-recital format to correlate music to the visual arts and language, utilizing examples from architecture and our spoken and written languages. Examples of piano music dating from different eras, beginning with the Baroque and reaching into our contemporary world, will be performed.

Thursday, October 23, 7:30 PM, Puckett Auditorium
“The Challenge of Expanding Into Overseas Markets”
Ross Statham, President and CEO of Birch Systems Inc.
Birch Systems has offices in the US and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Statham is also a partner in WindTalkers, Inc. He has worked as the US Business Development Manager for the publicly-traded Japanese technology company Kyocera and as a Regional Manager for an Israeli technology company. He will discuss American companies doing business internationally – the challenges of working with different cultures, values, time zones, and negotiation and management styles. This enlightening and informative presentation will be followed by a question and answer period.

Tuesday, February 17, 7:30 PM, Puckett Auditorium
“The Untold Story”
Photojournalist Val Mazzenga
Mr. Mazzenga spent many years as a photojournalist with The Chicago Tribune and now freelances for major publications. His photos have won more than 200 awards, and he has been nominated for six Pulitzer Prizes and five Beck Awards, The Chicago Tribune’s highest accolade. He was recently inducted into the International Press Club of Chicago’s Hall of Fame. He has covered major breaking stories on nearly every continent. During this multi-media presentation, Mr. Mazzenga will take us on a journey through time and places while he reveals the untold stories behind some of his most famous pictures.

Monday, March 2, 7:30 PM, Puckett Auditorium
Vocal and Piano Recital
Dr. Luis Sanchez, piano, and Jennifer Sanchez, soprano
Dr. Sanchez, a native of Argentina, holds degrees from the National Conservatory of Music “Carlos Lopez Buchardo” and Ball State University. After serving on the faculty of St. Petersburg College for several years, Dr. Sanchez was appointed as Assistant Professor of Piano at Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2007. He is also active as a soloist, clinician, collaborative artist and adjudicator. In 2000, he created the Sanchez-Duo with his wife, soprano Jennifer Sanchez. On this recital they will perform works by Faure, Strauss, Liszt and Rachmaninoff.

All of these Life Enrichment Series programs are free and open to the public.