2024 PROGRAM

(Updated as information becomes available)

This year’s program highlights including lectures, luncheons, trips, and special events

SERIES 1 – 2024

Series 1: ON SAFARI with Dr Judith Coullie

February 22nd  A.G.M. & Lecture #1
William Burchell: Discovering “unknown parts” of “Darkest Africa”

February 29th   Lecture #2
Early Safaris (mid- to late 1800s)

March 7th  Lecture #3
Frederick Selous and Theodore Roosevelt

March 14th  Lecture #4
The Glamour of Safaris: Ernest Hemingway

March 21st  Lecture #5 followed by Lunch for all Members
Contemporary Safaris: Conservation and other Challenges

March 28th - Rest Day

SERIES 2 – 2024

Series 2: POT POURRI

April 4th  Lecture #1
Opawaho: Recovering a Taonga, Malcolm Long

April 11th  Lecture #2
Enabling Good Lives, Jacqueline Campbell from Hōhepa Canterbury

April 18th  Lecture #3
Building a Highway, speaker from Fulton Hogan

April 25th  ANZAC Day - no lecture

May 2nd  Lecture #5
The Voyage of the “Self”, Pamela Glynn

May 9th - Rest Day

SERIES 3 – 2024

Series 3: MARCO POLO and the SILK ROAD, Frieda Looser

May 16th  Lecture #1    

Geography and early civilisations

May 23rd  Lecture #2    
Cultures, human movement, and trade

May 30th  Lecture #3    
Marco Polo’s journey to China

June 6th  Lecture #4    
Achievements and trading legacy

June 13th  Lecture #5    
21st-century vision and challenges

June 22nd - Rest Day

SERIES 4 – 2023

Series 4: POT POURRI

June 29th  Lecture #1    

The Ethics of Memory: When is Remembering or Forgetting Right or Wrong, Judith Coullie

July 6th  Lecture #2    
Parkinson's disease: Who, Where, and Why, Toni Pitcher & Melissa Haberfield

July 13th  Lecture #3    

Live Stronger for Longer: Healthy Aging and Exercise, Lily Purdon

July 20th  Lecture #4    

A History of Western Architecture as seen through New Zealand Buildings, Ian Lochhead

July 27th  Lecture #5    

Rethinking Tourism: Tourism for Good, David Simmons

August 3rd - Rest Day

SERIES 5 – 2023

Series 5: POLITICS & MOMENTS of LIGHT RELIEF

August 10th  Lecture #1    
“Golden Era” of Communism in Eastern Europe 1965-1980

August 17th  Lecture #2    
War in Ukraine

August 24th  Lecture #3
Politics in the age of Chat-GPT-An Augmented or Automated Future

August 31st  Lecture #2    
The Joys of Impersonations

September 7th  Lecture #5    
The Politics of Autonomous Weapons Systems in New Zealand and Beyond

September 14th - Rest Day

SERIES 6 – 2023

Series 6: POT POURRI

September 21st  Lecture #1    
Trees for Canterbury, more than just a plant nursery

September 28th  Lecture #2    

Ara Poutama Aotearoa (Department of Corrections) – Our place in NZ Society

October 5th  Lecture #3    

Shaken but not Stirred - Should we be concerned about the Alpine Fault?

October 12th  Lecture #4    
Legionnaires’ Disease – A Canterbury Problem People

October 19th  Lecture #5    
Sonnets of Shakespeare

October 26th - Rest Day 

SERIES 7 – 2023

Series 7 POT POURRI

November 2nd Lecture #1    
The Politics of Deep-Sea Mining and the Pacific Island Countries: A Controversy Mapping Approach 

November 9th Lecture #2
What does AI tell us about our own creativity?

November 16th - Rest Day 

November 23rd
Christmas Lunch @ Christchurch Golf Club

Sample Topics

A sample of program topics covered in recent years includes:

  • An Interesting Variety of Writers and Books
  • Art
  • Birds and Bees and Biodiversity
  • Balance of Power
  • Books and Print
  • Books
  • Catching the Wave
  • Chocolate: Food of the Gods and Elixir of Empires
  • Christchurch - The Garden City?
  • Disabilities
  • Eco Architecture
  • Exploring the Cosmos
  • From Gold Card to the Grave
  • Getting Started in Canterbury
  • Happenings in Canterbury
  • Law and Disorder
  • London: From the Romans to The Fire
  • Matters of the Heart
  • Medical Research Foundation
  • Music
  • Music, Music, Music
  • People in Uniform
  • Pills, Patients & Problems
  • Pot Pourri
  • History Through the Lens of a Political Scientist
  • Travellers’ Tales
  • Water Hotspots
  • World Religions