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Center for Lifelong Learning

Cochise County is unique in its combination of historical and geographical attractions. No other border county offers so graphic a representation of so many cultural factors:

  • Indigenous peoples whose remains date to some of the earliest found so far in North America, and whose final representatives, the Chiricahua Apache, are symbols of native resistance recognized throughout the world.
  • The first incursion of the Spanish Conquest into the Southwest traveled through this area as Francisco Vasquez de Coronado sought the rich cities reported by earlier travelers. His followers established outposts whose remains are visible today.
  • The most colorful representatives of the westward movement of 19th-century U.S. expansion gathered here, with the mining boom symbolized by Tombstone and the legendary cowboys and outlaws who made their homes here. Following in their footsteps, a strong pioneer contingent is still evident in the descendants of families who ranched and homesteaded here.
  • A U.S. military presence which dates to earliest territorial days and remains strong today.
  • A fusion of cultures that grew out of the meeting of all these forces and the international border, with a growing Hispanic population and cultural influence.
  • A physical environment that is as varied as the cultural one. The landscape varies from desert to forest as altitudes rise from 2,000 feet to nearly 10,000 feet.

This combination of factors makes Cochise College the logical setting for a center dedicated to exploring, disseminating and protecting these cultural and natural resources and contributing to the economic development of our border region. The Center for Lifelong Learning will do so by:

  • Establishing Cochise College as a leader in border-related studies, training and research.
  • Developing an international classroom setting for the exchange of ideas and the broadening of our educational reach.
  • Providing a forum for a broad range of topics related to border issues and dynamics.
  • Partnering with existing organizations to become a repository for resource availability and a keystone in resource procurement.
  • Assuming a leadership role in identifying and implementing entrepreneurial activities related to the rich historical, cultural and geographical characteristics of Southeast Arizona and the regional/border area.

The Center for Lifelong Learning is a dynamic project and open to new ideas. Public input is valued and may be directed to:

Cochise College
Center for Lifelong Learning
Director, Rebecca Orozco
4190 W. Hwy. 80
Douglas, Arizona, 85607
(520) 417-4772
orozcor@cochise.edu

 

 

 Last Updated On: 2/4/08