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 (1st semester)
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
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.
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
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.
June
Tuesday June 1
Ann Neill & Alison Dangerfield: Revitalising a City – the challenges of economics and heritage
Ann Neill is the General Manager, Central Region 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
Annual Lunch: Speaker and location to be confirmed
Midwinter School Holidays
July
August
September
October
November
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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 |
| A Bloody Journey: Italian Cities & Culture through Detective Fiction | Barbara Pezzotti |
$60 |
10C001A |
| A Traveller's Guide to the Must Do Sites of Ancient Greece | Matthew Trundle |
$40 |
10C002 |
| Stories Your Grandmother Never Told You: The depression in Wellington in the 1930s | Malcolm McKinnon |
$40 |
10C004A |
| The Prehistory of Egypt c.5000-3000BC | Sarah Vidler |
$30 |
10C020A |
| Cats and Dogs in Ancient Egypt | Sarah Vidler |
$30 |
10C021A |
| Ancient Egyptian Medicine & Health | Sarah Vidler |
$30 |
10C022A |
| Ancient Egypt - Negotiating the Cosmos: Mythology & Religion | Sarah Vidler |
$80 |
10C023A |
| Women in Ancient Egypt | Sarah Vidler |
$30 |
10C024A |
| Ancient Egyptian Sports & Entertainment | Sarah Vidler |
$30 |
10C025A |
| The Stories & Literature of Ancient Egypt | Sarah Vidler |
$30 |
10C026A |
| 2010 Opera Seminar - The Marriage of Figaro | Peter Baillie |
$25 |
10C027A |
| 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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