Ken Sorensen sharing a story during a lecture
Ken Sorensen · Educator & lecturerGilbert, Arizona

History · Literature · The human story

Extraordinary lives.
Remarkable stories.
A world to discover.

Explore the personalities and events that have shaped our world, through the stories Ken Sorensen loves to tell.

A lifelong educator. An enduring curiosity.

There’s always another story worth knowing.

116 lectures to explore

The lecture collection

Follow your curiosity.

Discover a familiar name, an unexpected connection, or a topic for your next program. Browse by subject or find a lecture suited to a particular month.

116 stories. Countless connections.
Showing 12 of 116 lectures
20th Century America

1968

A year of tragedy in a decade of turmoil. The 1960s changed how America viewed the world. One of those years, 1968, was heart wrenching. With the assassinations…

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19th Century America

Abraham Lincoln

From the most humble of beginnings, Abraham Lincoln rose to the pinnacle of achievement; not only in politics but also in the hearts of Americans. Elected at a …

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Literature

Alexandre Dumas

For someone who wrote such incredible stories, how close did fiction replicate the truth? This Alexandre had his father die when he was 4. The father was a bani…

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20th Century America

Babe Ruth

He came from a working family in Baltimore. He had a rugged youth so that he was left in a Baltimore orphanage to be raised. It became obvious that he was talen…

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American History

Benjamin Franklin

More than the kite. Most know of the story of the kite. It is a great story and scientifically put Franklin at the lead of his generation. But, he was also an a…

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The complete collection · Alphabetical by title

Meet your storyteller

A teacher’s heart.
A historian’s curiosity.

Understanding people brings their stories—and their world—to life.

History & English educator30-year teaching career

Not quite an Arizona native, Ken Sorensen moved here with his family as a young child. He grew up in Glendale and attended high school and junior college there. As Ken married and started a family, he worked in construction equipment related jobs until an economic downturn hit the Valley of the Sun. Being unemployed, Ken and his young family made the sacrifices necessary for him to return to school. He completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and began teaching high school; a life-long dream. Ken is certified to teach both history and English and, during a 30-year career in education, has taught high school in two states. He also taught junior college at both Mesa and Chandler-Gilbert Community Colleges for 12 of those years. Ken has always taught with a humanities approach believing that if we understand who people are and what their motives are, we will more likely understand what they have written.

In the summer of 2005, Ken won a scholarship to attend Exeter College in Oxford, England for a summer term of graduate studies. That experience changed his life. Ken was able to experience things he had read about and taught all his life. In 2013, Ken was honored to be elected Teacher of the Year by the Mesa Arizona Chamber of Commerce following a student’s recommendation.

Ken is an avid reader and has an extensive collection of books. He also enjoys woodworking and has made children’s furniture, inlaid clocks, and finely crafted pens and pencils.

Ken lives in Gilbert with his wife Susan. They have seven children and many grandchildren.

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