Lecture Programme 2010
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
VUW Continuing Education
Lecture programme archive
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Venue and Times
All lectures will be held from 10.30am - 12 noon in the Theatrette of the Spectrum Health and Fitness Centre, corner of Johnston Street and Customhouse Quay.
Occasionally the attendance at the lectures is so great that we have to turn away people because the theatre is full. We regret having to do this, but please understand that it is necessary in order to comply with safety regulations and the requirements of the theatre lease-holder.
Entrance Fee
The entrance fee to all lectures is $3.
Coffee is available in the foyer from 10am at a cost of $2.
Please note that membership cards must be shown for admission to the lectures.
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Lecture programme 2010
March
Tuesday March 23
Jenny Pattrick: Six months writing in Menton, France
Jenny Pattrick is widely known as a historical novelist, is also a celebrated jeweller. She plays an active role in the New Zealand arts community. Jenny was the winner of the 2009 New Zealand Post Mansfield Prize, incorporating the six months Katherine Mansfield Fellowship in Menton, France. During her time as the Katherine Mansfield Fellow Jenny wrote a novel called ‘Inheritance’ and it is due for release early in March.
Friday March 26
Glenys Knight: How to grow cannabis and (not) get away with murder
Glenys Knight is a forensic scientist with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd. She is a botanist who before her present position worked at Museum of NZ Te Papa for seven years. Glenys will describe the role of the Forensic Scientist in New Zealand, and explain some of the different types of forensic evidence that are examined by ESR when visiting a crime scene. Case examples will illustrate how forensic science has helped solve criminal cases in New Zealand.
Tuesday March 30
David O’Donnell : Contemporary New Zealand Theatre
David O’Donnell is a Senior Lecturer in the Theatre Programme at VUW. He has an extensive list of publications, including co-editing Performing Aotearoa: NZ Theatre and Drama in an Age of Transition and is an actor, playwright and director. He directed Collapsing Creations at Downstage late last year, and he directed Albert Speer for which he won a Chapman Tripp award. He has also directed such hits as Yours Truly, Heat, and Te Karakia.
Easter School Holidays
April
Friday April 23
Sue Wickison: A Brief History of Botanical Art
Sue Wickison has a degree in scientific illustration. She worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew for a period of nine years working on different plant families and publications. Sue has travelled widely and exhibited around the world. During her lecture she will link her subject to a few current artists and her own work. Be prepared for a visually interesting experience.
Tuesday April 27
Penny Carnaby: New Directions for our National Library
Penny Carnaby was appointed Chief Executive and National Librarian in January 2003. The transformation of the National Library began in 2007, with the development of the Library’s Strategic Directions to 2017. Penny’s professional interest is in creating national frameworks and strategies to enhance the flow of information to all parts of society.
Friday April 30
Geoff Chambers: The Four Horsemen of the New Enlightenment Ride Out
Geoff Chambers is a Reader in Cell Molecular Biology at VUW. He lectures on the history and philosophy of evolutionary thought. Geoff will discuss in his lecture a series of recent and remarkable books by Sagan, Dawkins, Harris and Dennett which represent a concerted scientific and philosophical challenge to the very foundations of theism. ‘Intelligent designers’ have repeatedly attacked Darwinian evolution and the scientific establishment.
May
Tuesday May 4
Bill Hastings: Ulysses: the banned book and the film
Bill Hastings has been New Zealand’s Chief Censor since 1999. He is a Canadian by birth and education. He has law degrees from a Canadian University and the London School of Economics. He moved to New Zealand in 1985.
Friday May 7
Sir Ngatata Love: The Tenths Trust
Sir Ngatata Love, a Professor of business development in the school of Management at VUW, has been associated with the Wellington Tenths Trust for many years. In his talk he will outline the reason it was established, the progress that has been made and future aspirations for Wellington Maori of Te Atiawa descent.
Tuesday May 11
Dr Rick McGovern-Wilson: Rediscovering a City: historic archaeology in central Wellington
Dr Rick McGovern-Wilson, is a Senior Archaeologist at New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Friday May 14
Chris Frazer: The Paradox of Aid: Non Governmental Organisations’ responses to people trafficking
Chris Frazer is Social Justice Advocate for the Salvation Army’s Policy and Parliamentary Unit. She has a twenty year history of management of social services both within the Methodist Church as an ordained minister and within the Salvation Army in New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. For the past four years Chris has coordinated the Salvation Army’s work in relation to people trafficking.
She will talk about human trafficking and how focus on sex trafficking by some NGO’s can lead to splashy rescue raids on brothels. This can be at the expense of focus on the larger issues of immigration policy, access to education, rights of farm, restaurant and domestic workers, women’s rights and official corruption.
Tuesday May 18
Catherine Trundle: The Grand Tour of Italy from 17-19th century
Catherine Trundle is a Lecturer in the School of Social and Cultural Studies VUW. She lectures in anthropology and co-ordinates a course on social and cultural diversity.
Friday May 21 (Note change of speaker & topic)
Professor Tim Naish: Antarctica Ice Sheets in a Warmer World
Professor Naish is Director of the Antarctic Research Centre and Professor of Geology at VUW. Professor Naish will update us on the research that he and the team are undertaking investigating past climate from sediment cores in the McMurdo region of Antarctica. He will talk about the likely influence of the Antarctic ice on a rise in sea level in the future as a consequence of global warming.
Tuesday May 25
Dame Fiona Kidman: Memoir
Dame Fiona Kidman has written over 20 books, including novels, short stories, poetry and more recently a memoir. Her last two books At the end of Darwin Road and Beside the Dark Pool give an account of her life. She has won several prizes and awards. Dame Fiona has an OBE for her services to literature and is a Dame Commander of the New Zealand Order of Merit. She will talk about the importance of keeping records and photographs (even if not intended for publication). Dame Fiona will read some extracts from her memoirs.
Friday May 28 (Note change of speaker & topic)
Dr George Gibbs: Update of ‘Ghosts of Gondwana’
Dr Gibbs is a retired academic who taught at the School of Biological Sciences at Victoria University. He established new interests that led to the publication of a Montana Award – winning book ‘Ghosts of Gondwana.’ In his book he had the temerity to suggest that New Zealand’s ancient life-forms like the tuatara and frogs are directly descended from Gondwana and have been here for 80+ million years. An alternative view has been put forward by some geologists who have suggested that New Zealand sank beneath the waves 23 million years ago. He will reveal various new studies since 2006 which have a bearing on the topic.
June
Tuesday June 1
Robert McLean, Snr. & Alison Dangerfield: Revitalising a City – the challenges of economics and heritage
Robert McLean is Heritage Policy Advisor, New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Alison Dangerfield is Heritage Advisor-Architecture, Central Region New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Queen’s Birthday Weekend
Friday June 11
Sarah Vidler: Dangerous Goddesses - or why you should never upset the Pharaoh’s divine mother
Sarah Vidler has an undergraduate degree in Archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean followed by a Master’s Degree awarded with distinction in Egyptian Archaeology at University College London. She has been a resident of New Zealand since 2005. Sarah has led tours of Egypt and says that in ancient Egypt the realms of the gods and the people overlapped, moving between the land, the sky and the underworld.
Tuesday June 15
Marie Shroff: Privacy: personal, social and political
Marie Shroff has been the Privacy Commissioner since 2003. She has had a distinguished career in the public service having previously been Secretary of Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council for 15 years. The Privacy Commissioner’s Office works to develop and promote a culture in which personal information is protected and respected.
Friday June 18
Dr Hamish Campbell: The origins of New Zealand: the fossil evidence
Dr Campbell is a geologist and palaeontologist who works with the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) in Lower Hutt. In his illustrated talk he will explore the role of fossils in our understanding of the geological history of New Zealand, presenting the key fossils that enable us to recognise our links with Gondwanaland, our subsequent history as part of the doomed break-away continent of Zealandia, and the rise of New Zealand.
Tuesday June 22
Graham Stewart: When Trams were Trumps in Wellington
Graham Stewart is a publisher and director of Grantham House, a firm which specializes in publishing New Zealand books. The subject is rather topical this year on the eve of local body elections. Some Wellington citizens, for example Sir Robert Jones, want to make the Golden Mile from Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place a mall for pedestrians with a light-rail system.
Friday June 25
Wyn Beasley: Denouncing Darwin
Wyn Beasley’s first career was as an Orthopaedic Surgeon. His second career has been as a writer and speaker on historical topics. Wyn will discuss the people, events, findings and debates associated with the round the world voyage of HMS Beagle 1831-1836 under the command of Captain Robert Fitzroy and with Charles Darwin as naturalist –geologist.
Tuesday June 29
Midwinter School Holidays
July
Friday July 23
Professor Jonathan Boston: Cooking the Planet: The Economics and Politics of Climate Change
Professor Boston is Director of the Institute of Policy Studies, School of Government at VUW.
Climate change represents one of the more serious challenges currently facing humanity. Professor Boston will consider the recent debate over the economics of climate change mitigation and the reasons why it has proved so difficult to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, both globally and locally. The recent changes in New Zealand’s policy settings will also be explored. In particular, why does New Zealand now prefer to be a climate change ‘laggard’ rather than an international leader?
Tuesday July 27
Dr Malcolm McKinnon: An Absence of Occidentals: Thoughts on Asian Cities in the 21st Century
Dr McKinnon is a Wellington historian and international relations expert. He is currently a researcher at VUW. He has written extensively on New Zealand’s relations with Asia, including “Immigrants and Citizens: New Zealanders and Asian Immigration in a Historical Context” ( 1996 )
In this talk Malcolm describes his research in a number of Asian cities in which Westerners are few and far between, and assesses the significance of such an absence. The research was carried out as part of an investigation into the impact of globalization of Asian cities.
Friday July 30
Helen Kettles: Out of Sight out of Mind?
Helen Kettles is a marine ecologist with the Wellington - Hawke’s Bay Conservancy of the Department of Conservation. Her role is to provide regional information, support and advice.
Helen’s talk will cover what is special about the Wellington marine environment and why it matters. She will give some suggestions on what you can do to look after it. Part of her talk will present a new interactive CD-ROM marine information resource she has developed for the region.
August
Tuesday August 3
Professor Paul Morris: Religions in New Zealand: Dialogue, Diversity, Directions
Professor Morris is in the Religious Studies Department at VUW. He has a particular interest in religions in New Zealand. In his talk Professor Morris will explore the religions of New Zealanders, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism and Maori Ritenga, focusing on the implications of our increasing religious diversity.
Friday August 6
Chris Robertson: Albatrosses on my Doorstep
Chris Robinson is an ornithologist. He was involved in the Atlas Scheme for the Ornithologist Society and co-authored ‘An Atlas of Bird Distribution in NZ 1999- 2004.’
Chris will discuss and illustrate the world of albatrosses and mollymawks from taxonomy to lifestyle, and nesting area to autopsy table. The birds wide - ranging lifestyle can expose them to the effects of climatic events, fishing practices, predators at nesting sites and increasing tourism.
Tuesday August 10
Maarten Kleintjes: Investigations of Electronic Crime
Maarten Kleintjes is the National Manager of the Electronic Crime Laboratory,New Zealand Police. His specializations include electronic evidence recovery and electronic surveillance. As a software developer he has produced a number of investigative and computer security tools currently in use by a large number of investigators around the world
Friday August 13
Professor Jim Johnston: Golden Wool – Nanoscience Adds Value to NZ Wool
Professor Johnston has a Personal Chair in Chemistry at VUW. His research interests are concerned with the development of innovative new materials and chemical process technologies utilising nanoscience and nanotechnology. He works closely with New Zealand and international industries in these developments.
In an exciting development the nanoscience of gold is combined with NZ merino wool to produce a suite of innovative new products of different colours - high value textiles, premium carpets and international fashion apparel. The nanogold wool contains only pure wool and pure gold, and is environmentally friendly.
Tuesday August 17
Ken Scadden: By Fire Rocks and Ice - Hazards of Nineteenth Century Ship Travel to New Zealand
Ken Scadden is the former Director of the Wellington Maritime Museum/Museum of Wellington City and Sea. He is President of the Maritime Archaeological Association of New Zealand and is a freelance Heritage Consultant specialising in Museums and Archives. He has recently co-authored a book on the wreck of the General Grant on the Auckland Islands.
Friday August 20
Graduate Students’ Research Projects
Two postgraduate students who are at present working on interesting research projects will discuss their findings and possible future developments.
Tuesday August 24
Professor John Burrows QC: 'A Tortuous and Ungodly Jumble.’, How can we Make the Law Easier to Read and Understand?
Professor Burrows is a Law Commissioner and a former Professor of Law at the University of Canterbury. One of his particular interests is the drafting and enactment of Acts of Parliament.
Many people who are not legally trained have to understand and apply the law in their everyday jobs. Yet the language in which the law is expressed is often very difficult to understand. This lecture on the language and structure of the law asks what has been done, and what could be done, to make the law more accessible to us all.
Friday August 27
David Halliday : Reserves and Walkways Development via Policy
David Halliway is Walkways and Reserves Officer for Wellington City Council.
David will discuss the guiding policies for the development of Wellington Council reserves and walkways. He takes a look at the policy background, and consultation and implementation plans, including constraints on policy implementation such as opposition to particular works and budgetary restraints.
Tuesday August 31
Judge Peter Spiller : The Disputes Tribunal: the Work it Does and Where it Fits into the Legal Process
Judge Spiller is the Principal Disputes Tribunal Referee, and oversees the operation of the Disputes Tribunals in New Zealand. Judge Spiller taught law for 31 years and was a Professor of Law at Waikato University.
The Tribunal is an affordable and important contact with the Justice System for all New Zealanders.
September
Friday September 3
Dr James Urry: Who are the Russian Mennonites?
Dr Urry is a graduate of the University of London and Oxford University, is a Reader in Anthropology at VUW. His books include “ None But Saints : the Transformation of Mennonite Life in Russia, 1789 – 1889” and “Mennonites, Politics and Peoplehood, Europe – Russia – Canada.”
Mennonites are a religious group whose origins lie in the Reformation of Western Europe. Today their descendants still exist in Europe but are mainly spread through the Americas: Canada, Mexico, Belize, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Tuesday September 7
Tony Mackle: The Greenwoods at home and abroad
Tony Mackle is the long- serving Collection Manager of Prints and Drawings at Te Papa.
In 1843 Dr John Danforth Greenwood and family emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Motueka. The talk will centre around a painting of a family member they brought with them, John Singleton Copley’s painting of Mrs Humphrey Devereux. The painting was donated to the National Art Collection in 1965 and is one of the most important paintings in the collection.
Friday September 10
Lt Col. Bob Campbell: New Zealand’s Role in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan’s Bamyan Province
Lt. Col. Campbell is a member of the New Zealand Defence Force.
Bamyan is one of the central provinces of Afghanistan, and is located in what is known as the central highlands region. The estimated population is 500,000 people, and perhaps 100,000 of these live in Bamyan city and surrounding area. Bamyan’s climate is one of extremes: temperatures may reach 40 degrees C in the summer and winter temperatures have been recorded as low as minus 30 degrees C.
Tuesday September 14
Dr Matthew Trundle: Living in Ancient Greece Part 1
Dr Trundle is a Senior Lecturer in the Classics Department at VUW. He has given a number of very popular lectures to U3A members.
Matthew will explore what life was like in the ancient Greek community, especially in Classical Athens, for ordinary Greeks.
Friday September 17 AGM
Dr Bob Brockie: What has Happened to the Tree of Life?
Dr Brockie is an Honorary Research Associate at VUW. He has been a cartoonist and a science columnist for Wellington’s Dominion Post since 2001.
The Tree of Life in science describes the relationships of all life on earth in an evolutionary context. For some years Bob Brockie has been updating the world’s Tree of Life, reconciling fossil and DNA evidence. Today’s Tree looks rather different from the first one drawn by Ernst Haeckel in the 1860s. Haeckel was the first great popularizer of Darwin’s theory of evolution and the first to suggest that the ancestry of humans was among the Great Apes.
Tuesday September 21
Dr Matthew Trundle: Living in Ancient Greece Part 2
October
Spring Holidays September 24 - October 11
Friday October 15
Michael Hodgen: South Africa – A Personal Perspective
Michael Hodgen is a South African born lawyer who came to New Zealand some years ago. He was a practising lawyer and a member of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, New Zealand.
Michael Hodgen will talk of growing up, living and working in South Africa during a period of historic changes. He will discuss his youth in Rivonia made famous by the trial of top ANC members, including Nelson Mandela. The trial was named the ‘Rivonia Trial’ by the media. Michael will also describe an inquiry he headed into the abduction and murder of four ANC activists during the early 1990’s.
Tuesday October 19
Associate Professor Harry Ricketts: “Hey! Stop that! What on Earth D’you Think You’re Playing at?” Antonia Forest, the Danger of Fantasy and Other Matters
Professor Harry Ricketts has given many lectures to U3A over the years. He lectures in the School of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies at VUW.He is an author, biographer (Kipling), poet, broadcaster, and book and theatre reviewer.
Professor Ricketts will talk on Antonia Forest (1915- 2003) and her role in children’s literature. Born of part Russian-Jewish and Irish parents, she grew up in Hampstead, London. Most of her books are concerned with the Marlow family, an ancient landed family whose patriarch is a Navy Commander ( later Captain), and whose 6 daughters (out of 8 children in all) all go to Kingscote School for Girls, a boarding school where all the Marlow books are set. After many years out of print, her books have recently been returned to the public eye with reprints by Faber.
Friday October 22
Dr Elizabeth Forbes: Food Allergy – is Skin - Deep so Superficial After All?
Dr Forbes is a post – doctoral Research Fellow at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research. She is investigating food allergies.
Dr Forbes will bring us up to date on her latest findings on food allergies and the influence they have on other allergic diseases like asthma.
Labour Weekend October 25
Friday October 29
Trevor Morley: Catching Crooks and Fighting Felons
Trevor Morley was a Detective in the NZ Police Force from 1961 – 1977, and since leaving the Police has been a licensed private investigator and security consultant. His assignments have taken him to such diverse countries as Samoa and Cambodia, Ireland and the Netherlands. He was made an ANZAC Fellow (1983) by the Australian Federal Government and a Churchill Fellow (2001) by the NZ Government.
Trevor will speak about his experiences as a Detective in the Police and as a private sector investigator, and present his own views and opinions on law and order covering 45 years of “ crook catching”.
November
Tuesday November 2
Murray Trenberth: Youth, Alcohol and Drugs
Murray Trenberth is Director of WellTrust, a youth (aged 10-19 years) alcohol and drug support service for the greater Wellington area. WellTrust is mainly funded by the District Health Board. Murray was formerly Principal of Taita College.
Murray will describe his work as head of a team of 13 counsellors working with troubled youth who are often addicted to marijuana and alcohol.
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V U W Continuing Education Courses
A number of courses are available to U3A members at discounted prices from March to June 2010:
| Course Name | Tutor |
U3A discount fee |
Course Number |
| 2010 Opera Seminar - Macbeth (September) | Peter Baillie |
$25 |
10C031A |
For further information visit www.victoria.ac.nz/conted
or phone 04 463 6556.
For purposes of administration and catering it is necessary to pre-enrol for Seminars. No admissions can be accepted at the door.
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