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The University of the Third Age

U3A Okeover

Programme for Term 3, 2013

Term Completed

A China

Dates: Thursdays 29 August, 5, 12, 19, 26 September

B Women in Leadership

Dates: Thursdays 29 August, 5, 12, 19, 26 September

C India and Indians: Glimpses from different viewpoints

Dates: Thursdays 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 October

D Innovations

Dates: Thursdays 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 October

Scroll down for full details of each course.

Times: 10:30 - 11:45

Enrolments for this term closed on Thursday 29 Aug 2013.

Officers:

Chairman:Howard Harvey021 1363043
Treasurer:Colin Freeman027 2369476
Please hand your enrolment form to the treasurer at the desk.


Course A

China

Course organiser:Frank Tay

China’s relatively recent transformation from a Third World country into a potentially First World economic super-power has attracted much attention. This series of talks looks at China from a number of perspectives.

29 Aug:
Eric Livingstone on 'China in the 21st century and where it is going': Eric has been the Managing Director of Guthrey Breeding Services and a past National President of the NZ-China Friendship Society. He has visited China 16 times. His talk will focus on China’s achievements, growth and progress and the potential for NZ in China’s future.

5 Sep:
Diana Madgin on 'Chinese Gardens and the Landscapes that inspired them': Diana has been a garden writer for The Press for 13 years and is a garden tour guide and operator and advocate of Christchurch heritage. She has visited China five times. Her talk, illustrated with slides, will cover the traditional style of garden and how it has been influenced by Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.

12 Sep:
Phil Rolston on 'Food and Food Security in China': Dr Rolston is a Senior grassland scientist working on seed production with AgResearch at Lincoln. He has made 58 visits to China and worked on agricultural projects in 22 provinces. His talk will deal with the role of food in the social life of China and issues of future food security.

19 Sep:
Alex Tan on 'Enter the Dragon - Nationalism, Identity and Economics in China-Taiwan Relations': Dr Tan is a Professor of Political Science at Canterbury University and Associate Director of the NZ Contemporary China Research Centre and a specialist in East Asian politics. His talk will discuss the role of these three factors and their interplay in understanding the China-Taiwan relationship.

26 Sep:
Adam Lam on 'Contemporary Chinese Culture': Dr Lam is an Associate Professor in the Chinese section of the School of Languages and Culture and the Director of the Confucius Institute at Canterbury University. His talk will elaborate on contemporary Chinese culture with respect to films, TV, the internet and literature.


Course B

Women in Leadership

Course organiser:Jocelyn Baird

29 Aug:
Leeann Watson on 'Changing Times in Business': Leeann is General Manager of Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce, Director of Champion Canterbury Business Awards etc. She will speak about some of the factors that businesses now face, include changing business models, collaboration, technology, generation and gender differences, workplace culture, work locations and team dynamics.

5 Sep:
Sue Bramwell on 'Supporting the Nurse Maude Hospice one jacket at a time.': Sue has been General Manager Marketing for Nurse Maude since 2007, She has a background in journalism, corporate communications and public relations. She will talk about Nurse Maude Hospice and the importance of Hospice shops - how they started, who donates and what is Maudes on Trade Me.

12 Sep:
Dame Margaret Bazley on 'The Importance of Water to Canterbury’s future': Dame Margeret is the Chairperson of Environment Canterbury, a senior public servant, and has held many notable positions including Director General Social Welfare, Registrar of Pecuniary Interests of MP’s, Chair NZ Fire Service Commission, member Waitangi Tribunal.

19 Sep:
Pru Taylor on 'Learning for Your Life': Pru is the recently retired principal of Christchurch Girls’ High School for 13.5 years. She will present a look at at what secondary schools are charged with providing to prepare students for life in the 21st century.

26 Sep:
Joanna Norris on 'An Outsiders Guide to Happiness': Joanna has been editor of The Press since Oct. 2012. Previously journalist for newspapers in NZ, Britain and Middle East. Several awards for journalism, leadership, media reporting and feature writing. She will present a perspective of a rebuilding city.


Course C

India and Indians: Glimpses from different viewpoints

Course organiser:Neil Fleming

3 Oct:
David Sutherland on 'NZ Involvement in Indian Village developments' AND Dr Arindam Basu on 'Telehealth': There will be two speakers: David Sutherland will present a perspective on how the International Rotary organisation, and its New Zealand arm, has combined with the New Zealand Overseas Aid Programme, to work with residents in Himanchal Pradesh, North West India. Then Dr Arindam Basu, from the New Zealand South Asia Centre at University of Canterbury, will present a brief look at Telehealth - delivering health to remote areas-- a project for which he is seeking funding.

10 Oct:
Topic and speaker TBA

17 Oct:
Two speakers from University of Canterbury invite questions about India's 'Marriages, Music and Customs': A joint presentation with opportunities to ask those interesting but 'hard' questions about this great country.

24 Oct:
Dr Arindam Basu on 'Us and Them': Dr Arindam Basu, who is also Physician and epidemiologist and senior lecturer at the Health Sciences Centre of the University of Canterbury, will speak about Healthcare in India, medical tourism, disease and prevention.

31 Oct:
Dr Kuntal Das on 'Stories of the poor and the very rich in India': Dr Das is from the Department of Economics and Finance at University of Canterbury. He has been a consultant for the World Bank, and an intern at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, India, and at the IMF and the Asian Development Bank.


Course D

Innovations

Course organiser:Kathryn Ell & Bob Ryburn

3 Oct:
John Vargo on 'Resilient Organisations for a resilient society': Dr Vargo is co-leader of the Resilient Organisations Research Programme, Dept. of Accounting and Information of the University of Canterbury. Organisational resilience, almost unheard of prior to the mid-2000s, is about surviving a crisis and thriving in a world of uncertainty. The Resilient Organisations Research Programme at the University of Canterbury has been working on this innovative concept since 2004. John will describe organisational resilience, why it is important and some of the outcomes, especially following the Christchurch earthquake sequence of 2010-11.

10 Oct:
Paul Millar on 'Preserving Our Stories: The UC CEISMIC Canterbury Earthquake Digital Archive.' Associate Professor Paul Millar is Head of the School of Humanities, University of Canterbury. Following the 22 February Canterbury earthquake, Paul wondered how a Professor of English Literature could help his community. The setting up of the ‘9/11 Digital Archive (which documented the impact of the 9/11 attacks on the US) provided the model which resulted in an archive of stories, images and media about the Canterbury earthquakes. Two years on, the UC CEISMIC archive is already one of the most significant projects of its kind. In this session Paul talks about its development, achievements, and his plans for the future.

17 Oct:
Andrew West on 'Productivity opportunities in agriculture': Dr Andrew West is the Vice-chancellor of Lincoln University. He will explore opportunities and threats facing New Zealand agriculture and suggest how innovative education & training and research & development may contribute to a positive future for this sector.

24 Oct:
Judith Tatom on 'Y.E.S. – The Young Enterprise Scheme – What is it ?': Judith is the coordinator of the Young Enterprise Scheme, CORE Education Ltd. This competitive scheme invites secondary school students to design an innovation, arrange its manufacture and its marketing. The session will describe how the scheme operates, explain why it is run, its important events and how you can become involved. The speaker hopes to have one or two student participants to give first -hand experiences.

31 Oct:
Stephen Hampson on 'Powerhouse - an innovation facilitator': Dr Hampson is the managing partner of Powerhouse, a venture capital partnership sponsored by Canterbury Development Corporation. It commercialises innovative ventures from Universities and from Crown Research. It harnesses business concepts & ideas which in many cases have come from tertiary research facilities without commercial experience. As we will hear it has had a number of interesting and varied successes.