Thursday September 6, 2001

Every fall, the Arizona State Museum invites the public to get a more intimate look at what it has to offer.

The Rare Glimpses Series, a monthlong presentation of lectures, lets participants get up close and personal with aspects of the museum the public-at-large can't.

"We feature little-known research topics and rarely-seen objects from the museum," said Darlene Lizarraga, marketing coordinator for the museum.

This year's series is subtitled "Tucson: A 3,000-Year History of Human Adaptation in a Desert Oasis." This topic was chosen by popular demand: When participants were asked to fill out an evaluation form during the museum's last series, Tucson's history was the topic most of them wanted to learn about.

Most of the presenters are experts from the museum, with one session presented by UA professor Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith. Since presenters are well acquainted with the museum, they can access the museum's large permanent collection and give participants a change to conduct a detailed study of the session's topics.

However, the museum has brought in experts from other museums for their series.

"When there's a topic that we're not the reigning experts in, we're happy to bring in someone from outside," said Lizarraga.

In first session of the series, Tom Sheridan, one of the museum's scholars, will show how Tucson has become what it is today. Archeologists Paul and Suzy Fish discuss pre-European Tucson desert traditions in the second installment of the series. Diana Hadley and Desert Archaeology's Homer Thiel present a more recent topic with a history of families and family business in Presidio, Tucson.

All sessions take place at the Arizona State Museum. Cost is $20 per person per session and $70 for the entire series for museum members. For non-members, the cost is $25 per person per session, and $90 for the entire series. There are three spots left for tonight's series. $10-$15 of the cost is a tax-deductible gift in support of collections care and research initiatives at ASM. Call 626-8381 to register.