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