"I really love all of it! I love learning about our area, the strong substance of the talks, the chance to meet new people, the question-and-answer session, and the respect given to the time. It is a lot of fun and I have been recommending it to anyone I see."
Engaging. Educational. Community.
LIFE@Lynchburg
Learning and Community
The University of Lynchburg’s LIFE@Lynchburg program offers not-for-credit learning opportunities for community members aged 50 and older.
The University of Lynchburg’s LIFE@Lynchburg program offers not-for-credit learning opportunities for community members age 50 and older. Ultimately, the program is a community of lifelong learners who explore topics together and do what the University of Lynchburg is known for — building friendships and connections that last a lifetime.
The program features weekly presentations on a variety of engaging topics, taught by current and retired faculty and staff members or area educators and presenters. Ten classes are offered each semester (fall and spring), with occasional field trips during the semesters and over the summer. LIFE@Lynchburg is for people who love learning, want to dig deeper in their areas of interest, or discover something new.
With LIFE@Lynchburg, you’ll learn about history, science and technology, arts, culture, politics, and more. The program is open to residents of the surrounding community, as well as alumni and existing Lynchburg friends and family! There are no requirements or prerequisites, only that you’re ready to dive in, learn about and discuss interesting topics, and make some new friends along the way. Also, after the presentations, you can eat lunch, get some coffee, or hang out with one or more of your new friends at Lynchburg’s dining facilities!
The Details
What it costs:
- Annual membership: $150
- Semester membership: $85
- Single event pass: $12
- Annual virtual membership: $79
- Semester virtual membership: $49
- Premium membership: $1,000
- Lifetime membership: $2,000
Our payment and membership options and benefits provide access to a range of on-campus amenities.
When it starts:
- Spring 2025 sessions begin on Feb. 5
- Wednesdays 10 a.m. – noon
What you get:
- Attendance at 10 in-person, two-hour interactive sessions held on the University of Lynchburg campus (typically in Sydnor Performance Hall, located in Schewel Hall).
- Reserved parking on Wednesdays.
- Access to live recordings after the event via emailed link.
- Free tickets to theatrical and musical performances on campus are available for annual and semester members.
- Borrowing privileges at Knight-Capron Library: Check out books, audiobooks, magazines, and DVDs, and use the library’s public spaces.
- Lunch in Burton Dining Hall on Wednesdays at the student price
Curriculum
The LIFE@Lynchburg curriculum varies by semester and is shaped by suggestions from our members. History, arts and culture, science and technology, the environment, and politics are just a few topics we will cover in 2024-25.
We want to know what interests you and what you’re passionate about. Have an idea for a topic? Let us know.
Spring 2025 Course Lineup
In the Footsteps of Frankenstein: Uncovering the Origins of Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece - Feb. 5
- Presented by Dr. Price Blair
“It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet…”
For over 200 years, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has endured as a popular myth, exploring themes of creation, responsibility, and the boundaries of scientific ambition. But how did Mary Shelley’s tumultuous life — including her experiences with love, loss, and intellectual radicalism — inspire and shape her story? This presentation will explore the intersection between Mary Shelley’s personal life and travels and her groundbreaking work of science fiction. The session will also preview a unique “study abroad” experience that will be available to Life @ Lynchburg members!
Dr. Price Blair is an associate professor in the University of Lynchburg’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program and the Westover Honors Program’s assistant director, joining the faculty in 2010. He earned his BA in both chemistry and classics from Washington and Lee University and his PhD in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics from Boston University School of Medicine before continuing postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School. Today, Blair teaches courses in various subjects, including a Westover Honors colloquium on Frankenstein and the Science of Synthetic Life. He has led multiple study abroad trips to Italy, England, Scotland, and Germany to study the history of anatomy and medicine, as well as Frankenstein. His current research interests include studying the local history of grave robbing and body snatching for medical education.
Canceled - Feb. 12
Coming soon
Silent Witnesses: Slavery’s Presence in Lynchburg Yesterday and Today - Feb. 26
- Presented by David Neumeyer and Ramona Battle
African-American slavery was central to Lynchburg’s economy before 1865, but its history is not taught in our schools or known by many of our residents. The nonprofit Silent Witnesses Inc. is identifying, marking, and providing education about slavery’s physical remnants and unmarked locations here. Board president David Neumeyer and vice president Ramona Battle will speak and present slides about the project’s history, work, and plans.
- Presented by David Neumeyer and Ramona Battle
David Neumeyer is an attorney and has served as executive director of Virginia Legal Aid Society, a nonprofit law firm which uses legal skills to solve problems affecting the basics of life for low-income people in south-central Virginia, since 1990.
Neumeyer was the founding president of Silent Witnesses, Inc., in 2021; CVANE, the Central Virginia Academy for Nonprofit Excellence, in 2013; James River Arts in 2008; and Opera on the James in 2005. He is currently board president for the Legacy Museum of African American History and for Silent Witnesses, and chairs committees of the Virginia State Bar and the Supreme Court of Virginia Access to Justice Commission. He served as vice chair and chair of the Lynchburg Electoral Board 2017-2023.
He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Maine School of Law.
Ramona Battle, who was born on Long Island in New York State, relocated to Lynchburg in 2009. She has worked in various Educational and Health and Human Services positions beginning in New Mexico, California and ending on Long Island. Battle holds a BS from New Mexico State University and an MS from New York Institute of Technology. She retired after 37 years of service and relocated here to become her late mother’s caretaker. Battle now focuses her energies on volunteering her time with several local organizations, working as a docent, researching maternal and paternal family history and providing childcare.
Battle serves on the board of The Legacy Museum of African American History, Lynchburg Museum Systems, Poplar Forest African American Advisory Council, and the Lynchburg CDC. She is a founding member and Vice-president of Silent Witnesses, Inc. and is experiencing life to her fullest esthetic.
‘Our Germans are better than their Germans’: How Project Paperclip transformed the US National Security State - Mar. 12
Presented by Dr. Brian E. Crim
As World War II came to a close, U.S. military intelligence prioritized capturing the Third Reich’s so-called “wonder weapons” and the scientists who built them. Project Paperclip arranged to transfer 1,600 German scientists and technicians to the U.S. for long-term exploitation in America’s defense and space programs. This lecture explains the reasons why the U.S. initiated Project Paperclip, the internal debates over the program’s efficacy, and its controversial legacy.Dr. Brian E. Crim is the John Franklin East Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and chair of the Department of History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies at the University of Lynchburg. He teaches courses in modern European history, the Holocaust, military history, intelligence analysis, and historical methodology. A former intelligence analyst, Crim co-created Lynchburg’s intelligence studies major. He has written numerous publications about German military history and edited the memoir of Walter Jessel, a German-Jewish emigre who served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army and returned to his native Frankfurt during the occupation period. Crim is currently writing a book about author John le Carré titled “A Most Angry Man: John le Carré and the War on Terror.”
Vanishing Villages: Bethel at Salt Creek- Mar. 19
Paul Kilgore and Douglas MacLeod will join us to discuss the history of the colonial-era town of Bethel, later known as Salt Creek, in Amherst County.
Biographies
Paul Kilgore is a lifelong resident of Amherst County. He spent almost 30 years as a firefighter and paramedic with the Lynchburg Fire Department, serving the last few years as a battalion chief. Concurrently with his fire service career, he has been a real estate broker and investor focusing on Amherst County properties for over 40 years. He has a keen interest in the history of Lynchburg and Amherst County. He is a board member of the Amherst County Museum and Historical Society and the Amherst County Economic Authority. He purchased almost 200 acres on the James River west of Lynchburg in 2017, which contains the ruins of the colonial-era town of Bethel, later known as Salt Creek, Virginia. He has been collecting the history of the property ever since.
Douglas MacLeod lives in Bedford County and has written local history for 30 years. He is a member of the Amherst and Campbell county museums and a life member of the Virginia Canals and Navigation Society; and assists in archiving Lynchburg theater history at the Academy Center of Arts. He has written numerous articles for museum publications in Bedford, Amherst, Campbell counties, canal society newsletters, and Lynch’s Ferry magazine. His topics of interest are the James River and Kanawha Canal, local people, businesses, or settlements often along the Upper James River above Lynchburg, covered bridges, early road systems, and grist mills.
The Apollo Program: The Missions, the Men, and the Machines - Mar. 26
Presented by Robert Lipscomb ’89
Following President Kennedy’s statement to a joint session of Congress in May 1961, NASA and the nation began the long process of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, this goal was met with the successful landing of Apollo 11’s Eagle at Tranquility Base. Although Apollo 11 is the best-known of the Apollo-era space missions, NASA conducted 14 other flights that included five additional moon landings, a manned space station, and the first-ever joint USA and Soviet Union space flight. This presentation will review the missions, the men, and the machines that made this program one of history’s most extraordinary accomplishments.
Robert Lipscomb is a 1989 graduate of Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg) with a degree in education. He pursued a career in public safety and retired in January 2023. A lifelong student of history, Lipscomb has pursued this interest professionally and personally, authoring a book on the history of the Lynchburg Fire Department and documenting its line-of-duty deaths. He enjoys restoring antique automobiles, researching family genealogy, and building scale models. He currently serves on local nonprofit boards and advisory committees, including the LIFE@Lynchburg Curriculum Committee.
Daura Museum of Art: Mounting an Exhibition - Apr. 2
Presented by Brooke Marcy
This presentation will provide insight into the process of creating an art exhibition, beginning with the initial idea and concluding with the final exhibition. Visuals from current and past exhibitions will be used to discuss the selection of artists and themes, the criteria for choosing artworks, and Marcy’s approach to curation based on color and rhythm. The session will also cover the logistics of handling and hanging artwork, creating informative panels and labels, and packing and transporting art.
Brooke Marcy’s passion for art began in childhood and continued throughout her education. She studied at Hamilton College, the Art Students League in New York, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and George Mason University, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts. She served as the curator at Riverviews Artspace and taught art at Randolph College and George Mason University. She also gained valuable experience working at the Museum of Modern Art and Art Capital Group in New York City. Currently, she is the director of the Daura Museum of Art at the University of Lynchburg, where she also teaches drawing and printmaking. An accomplished oil painter, she has exhibited her work nationally and internationally.
Curtain Call Cabaret - Apr. 9
Presented by Dana Ballard
Meet with Curtain Call, the University of Lynchburg’s musical theater ensemble. Enjoy their music and see how students gain various performance experiences, while reaching out and representing the University in the community.
Dana Ballard is the musical director for Curtain Call, the University of Lynchburg’s musical theater ensemble. She holds a BA in piano performance from Northwestern University and an MA in choral conducting from the University of Lynchburg. On staff in the theatre and music departments at the University, she accompanies vocal and instrumental students and professors in the music department. She is the collaborative pianist with the Opera Workshop. She teaches musical theater courses in the theatre department, directs musical performances, and assists with the performing arts scholarship competition. She has collaborated with various Lynchburg area theater groups, including the Academy Center of the Arts and university and high school productions. She is also the organist and choirmaster at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Forest.
Student Scholar Showcase - Apr. 16
The annual Student Scholar Showcase allows students to present their research, analytical, creative, or experiential learning projects to the campus community.
BWXT – Its Impact on Lynchburg and the Nuclear Industry - Apr. 23
Presented by Richard W. Loving
The nuclear industry was still in its infancy when Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) started construction of the first privately financed nuclear facility in the U.S on the site of the former Mt. Athos plantation just outside Lynchburg, a decision with a profound impact on Central Virginia, as well as the entire global nuclear industry. This session is a story of advancing nuclear technology from the ocean’s depths to the far reaches of space. It is also a story of dedicated people of diverse backgrounds, varied skills, and education with a “can do” attitude that built the business from the ground up and the legacy that continues to drive future generations.
Richard W. Loving retired in 2023 as the senior vice president and chief administrative officer for BWX Technologies, Inc., where he was responsible for overseeing human resource management, communications, security, and environmental health and safety functions. His 43-year career spans manufacturing, energy, and government operations. He began his career at B&W in Lynchburg and progressed through various positions in safety, security, community/government relations, and human resources at multiple B&W/BWXT facilities in the U.S. A Lynchburg native, Loving is active with numerous nonprofit/civic organizations and is the author of the children’s book “Goodnight Lynchburg,” which highlights historical sites in the city.
Thank you!
Thank you to the Treadway Family Fund for their support of LIFE@Lynchburg.
Thank you to our community sponsor,
Have a question?
Contact
Sarah M. Rhodes
434.544.8084
Director of Donor Relations and Endowment Administration
LIFE@Lynchburg Program Director
1501 Lakeside Drive | Lynchburg, VA 24501-3113 | (434) 544-8100 | Privacy Policy | Non-discrimination Statement
The University of Lynchburg inspires independent thinkers to become trustworthy, effective leaders who shape caring communities.
© 2025 University of Lynchburg. All Rights Reserved
© 2025 University of Lynchburg. All Rights Reserved
