Located in the Academy Village (un)- retirement community, at the foot of the Rincon Mountains, the non-profit ASA supports lifelong engagement with learning, creativity and public service.
The non-profit Arizona Senior Academy exists to support lifelong engagement with extended learning, creativity and public service for adults in or near retirement. We are located in the Academy Village/Altura active 55+ adult community in the Rincon Valley of eastern Tucson. Founded by a former UA president, our affiliation with the University of Arizona helps the ASA provide a rich year-round menu of public concerts, lectures, and activities. Each week we enjoy a range of talented artists, experts, scholars, and musicians as well as classes and activities for members, all of which provide active engagement in learning.
TANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
To our Members and Friends:
ASA live lectures and concerts are open to ASA members and the public.
A number of past lectures are available as Video Lectures: Click here.
Recorded Concerts by our presenters are also available via our Video Concerts. Click here
Arizona Senior Academy building and parking are wheelchair accessible.
The Koffler Great Room is equipped with an audio loop for the hearing impaired.
Current Presentations
LECTURE
Monday, Lecture, December 11, 2:30pm-3:30pm, ASA Koffler Great Room “Volcanoes & Sea: Rocky Point & El Pinacate UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.” Borderlandia Director Alex La Pierre will enlighten us about the history of Rocky Point and take us on a visual trip to El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar UNESCO Biological Reserve, a vast wilderness area and home to some of Mexico’s most stunning geological formations. Read More…

Wednesday, Lecture, December 13, 2:30pm-3:30pm, ASA Koffler Great Room “Misinformation: Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Tool Kit for 2023 & 2024” Bryan Heidorn will explain Carl Sagan’s toolkit for recognizing misinformation and also add new cognitive tools to deal better with today’s fractured information landscape. He’ll also explain how AI and other algorithms are helping to spread untruth and how the same methods are being used in baloney detection. Read More…
LIVE CONCERTS
TUESDAY EVENING CONCERT DECEMBER 12th, 7:00pm-8:00pm, ASA Koffler Great Room
The Arizona Women’s Chorus presents “Holiday Surprises” – an eclectic mix of traditional and nontraditional songs for the holidays. As the premier women’s chorus of Tucson, AWC sings music from the ever-expanding and highly varied repertoire written specifically for women’s or treble voices. The ensemble is led by award-winning director Terrie Ashbaugh.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
DIGITIZED EVENTS
ART. The Arizona Senior Academy and the AV Home Owners Association held a one day event with art produced by Academy villagers. Here is a slideshow that focuses on this art: click photo or here
POETRY: This Chapbook presents the poetry written during a class led by the well-known poet, Nancy Fitzgerald. The poems were were recently presented to an audience in the ASA Great Room. For view of the Chapbook, click photo or here
PLAYS: “The Sunshine Boys”, a play by Neil Simon that premiered in 1972, was recently presented by the the Village Theater Group in the Arizona Senior Academy Great Room. This play-reading version involved a number of Academy Village residents, and was directed by resident Mary Mitchell. Photograph by Deon Holt. Click photo or here for video

Samples of past events: Classical cello and piano by Sanda Schuldmann and Harry Clark; concert from Vail Chorale led by Academy member, Fritz Reinagel; lectures on topics in science and art; ASA concert by steel drum band from Empire High; concert by Ronstadt Generations; pre-season Downton Abbey preview at ASA via PBS and KUAT
The ASA mission supports extended learning, creative engagement, mentoring and public service over the entire span of retirement. It is located within Academy Village, a 55-plus retirement community in Southeast Tucson, Arizona.
All residents of Academy Village become full dues-paying Senior Academy members at age 60, providing support for the ASA. In addition to the concerts and lectures each week, the resident members have a number of amenities available to them.
The ASA support organization, Academy Services Corporation, runs the Academy Villas, an assisted living residence.
Live lectures and musical programs are available to ASA members and the public; and videos of lectures and recorded concerts on videos are available on this website.
From time to time, our members and friends also make direct donations to sponsor the appearance of an artist or expert of special interest.
This mosaic depicts a sampler of past events, including a concert by the Vail Chorale founded and led by an Academy member, plus an early preview of the the final season of Downton Abbey which was co-hosted by ASA and our local PBS station KUAT.