Earlier Talks
2023
Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River: from source to estuary
Course organiser: Barrie and Caroline Greenwood
Presenter: Frieda Looser
Frieda Looser has an MA (Hons) in History and is the author of Fendall’s Legacy, a history of Fendalton and Northwest Christchurch. She was a Senior Tutor in the History Dept., UC , tutoring and lecturing in a number of courses, and currently teaches in the UC Academic Skills Centre. Frieda was a contributor to the University’s Community Education programme from 1998 to 2012, offering a wide range of courses exploring European, as well as New Zealand and local Canterbury history. When the University disestablished Continuing Education, Frieda founded her own business in 2013 and teaches history courses, leads overseas study tours, and offers talks to U3A, Probus and other community groups.
The rivers of Canterbury have provided food and transport routes for human settlers since the 13th century, as well as the most obvious purpose of draining the land, as rainfall became stormwater. Ōpāwaho means ‘The Place of the Outward Pā’, or ‘The Outpost’ and refers to a pā near the river providing food and rest for Māori en route from Horomaka (Banks Peninsula) to Kaiapoi. European settlers in 1850 named the river after Sir William Heathcote, Secretary of the Canterbury Association. The river meanders around the foot of the Port Hills on its way to the estuary and the ocean. This lecture series will trace the history of residential, community and industrial sites along the river as the values of heritage, culture, landscape, ecology and recreation are considered along with the significance of drainage in a flood-prone, low-lying corridor of the city of Christchurch.
6 Apr: Headwaters, springs and catchment.
13 Apr: Cracroft and Cashmere.
20 Apr: Beckenham, St Martins and Opawa.
27 Apr: Woolston
4 May: Ferrymead
Music Through The Ages
Course organiser: Barrie and Caroline Greenwood
Presenter: Various
2 Mar: Mark Menzies, Prof. School of Music Head of Performance Violin, Viola and Chamber Music
The music of Mozart, Schubert, Dvořák, and Tchaikovsky are immediately recognizable as part of the core of our 'classical music' heritage – cemented as twentieth century energies of mass marketing and the epic scale of the classical music business model took off. This had a profound effect on the branding of what it is claimed the music seeks to express, and therefore what these composers' contribution to our classical tradition represents.
Given the truly endless number of performances, recordings, and academic (biographical, socio-biographical et al etc) studies these hapless four composers' music and lives have since generated, they can only be described as dizzyingly successful cultural icons – and this talk explores a hint of the dark side to this success.
9 Mar: Jonathan le Coq, Prof, School of Music Faculty of Arts UC. Researcher of Music, esp French composers 16th & 17th century, aesthetics and economics of music, performance on lute and related instruments.
“The Beethoven cult … whose origins lie early in the nineteenth century but which shows little sign of abating as it enters the new millennium, is a (perhaps the) central pillar in the culture of classical music.” (Nicholas Cook, 1998) Although it sounds extravagant, the musicologist Nicholas Cook’s claim is borne out by the composer’s reputation amongst his contemporaries and successors down to the present day. Why? What has made Beethoven and his music such an ideal for future generations? And will his status survive the present-day relativist turn? Professor Jonathan Le Cocq of the University of Canterbury School of Music offers some suggestions and even better, promises to shut up long enough for you to hear some examples.
16 Mar: Marlene Verwey Cooper is currently studying towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She has won numerous awards as a flautist, including the 2012 Sir James Galway Rising Star Award and the third prize in the International de Lorenzo Competition.
Since at least the nineteenth century, there has been an established tradition of transcribing for the flute solo works originally written for other instruments. In part, this is because of the paucity of solo repertoire of significant aesthetic weight from this period for the flute. Notwithstanding this, there have been very few transcriptions of Robert Schumann’s works for the flute.
One reason for this is a belief that the flute of Schumann’s day was unsuited to his musical ideals. However, current research has not adequately considered advances in flute technique that developed as a result of the invention of the modern Boehm flute.
23 Mar: Philip Norman https://www.philipnormancomposer.com PhD Musicology. NZ Composer, author, numerous awards including Montana Book Award, Writer’s award UC, inaugural research fellow Alexander Turnbull Library.
"Someone once said to me that being a composer in New Zealand must be like being a Matador in Finland." Thus says composer, author, conductor, speaker and publisher Dr Philip Norman CNZM who has been entertaining Christchurch audiences for over fifty years.
In this session, Philip looks back on some of the highlights of his career, plays excerpts of some of his best and worst compositions and introduces his latest publication – A Complete Absence of WIT & WISDOM, a selection of his occasional writing from five decades of commenting. Copies will be available for purchase, ($30) as will that of his award-winning biography of New Zealand’s premier composer, Douglas Lilburn.
30 Mar: Dr Graham Sattler, Dip. Operatic Art & Music Theatre, Master of Performance (conducting) PhD Music Education. Current CEO Christchurch Symphony Orchestra
Dr Sattler is on sabbatical, taking up his (2019) Churchill Fellowship, evaluating best-practice inclusive community music leadership training across the globe.
He returns on the 23rd March. Needless to say, his talk should be extremely interesting.
Water as a Resource
Course organiser: Howard Harvey
Presenter:Various
25 May: Jessica Hamilton, Senior Water Engineer, Jacobs Engineering on 'Our Drinking Water.'
Where it comes from, depth and location of wells and the pumping system.
Water purity and standards. Issues such as methods to reduce contamination and the place of chlorine and fluoride.
The future, especially coping with the growth of Christchurch. Is there a new wells programme?
The place of alternatives such as tank water attached to dwellings.
1 Jun: Daniel Clark, Senior Scientist, Hydrology, Environment Caterbury (ECan) on 'The Role of Regional Councils and Ecan.'
The Overview of water management. How does Ecan determine limits for water takes and other activities that impact water quality and quantity? How do we ensure limits are being met?
8 Jun: Shaun McCracken, Flood Protection Recovery Manager, ECan on 'Rivers and Floods.'
Using case studies to look at the different types of rivers. The changes in the braided rivers such as gravel accumulation. Can we control their flow? Systems of flood protection. For example, the pros and cons of flood banks, ponding areas, flood ways, planting along the river banks, rock edging and walls to protect against bank erosion.
15 Jun: Scott Wilson, Hydrologist, Lincoln Agritech Ltd, Lincoln University on 'Groundwater and Aquifers.'
What are the natural processes of groundwater? How do braided rivers such as the Waimakariri work beneath the surface? What new technology is available to make observations of river processes? How does nitrate move from our soils through ground water and into surface water? How do we measure groundwater recharge rates?
22 Jun: Eoghan O’Neill, Technical Director, Pattle, Delamore Partners Ltd on 'Stormwater, Sewerage and Drainage.'
Eoghan will discuss our stormwater Infrastructure such as waterways, pipes, pumping stations and stop banks, also the effects of the earthquakes and tidal flow-back on the system, issues facing Southshore/Brighton, our Wastewater and Sewerage Network from domestic and trade waste. We will learn about the gravity, pressure and vacuum systems and the Christchurch Treatment plant. Plus the role of oxidation ponds, odour control and how water is monitored as a discharge into the sea.
All Things Wine
Course organiser: Pat Braithwaite
Presenter: Various
The Wine Industry in New Zealand has grown markedly in the last 40 years. This course will cover some aspects from the science of wine through to varieties, climate, locations, taste and biosecurity.
At the conclusion of this course a trip is being organised for a food and wine tasting experience at a local vineyard.
29 Jun: Prof. Stephen On, Dept. of Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences, Lincoln University on 'The Fascinating and Complex Science of Wine'.
6 Jul: Nick Gill, General Manager, Greystones Wines on 'The Philosophy, History and Development of Greystones becoming an Organic Vineyard'.
Nick’s presentation will cover the development of Greystone Wines over the last 19 years and the movement from conventional practices to becoming a certified organic winery and their next challenge in the winemaking industry.
13 Jul: Dr. Amber Parker, Director of the Centre of Viticulture & Oenology, Lincoln University on 'Climate Change and the Overall Effects on the Wine Industry'.
Climate change: grape and wine production. Grapes are ripening earlier and changes in berry composition have already been observed globally as a result of increasing temperatures due to climate change. This presentation will explore the concept of impacts, adaptations and mitigation for the wine industry in the context of climate change. It will take a deep dive into the effects of warming temperatures on phenology, grape and wine composition. Short term adaptation strategies will be presented.
Finally, the importance of mitigation will be discussed, with a surprising cherry on the top from a neighbouring orchard in Central Otago.
20 Jul: Dr. Romy Moukarzel, Lincoln University on 'Plant Protection using Beneficial Microbes.'
Romy will talk about their role in enhancing plan health and growth, as well as their role in inducing resistance against pests and diseases, with particular reference to vineyards and the production of grapes.
27 Jul: Sophie Badland, Biosecurity & Emergency Response Manager, NZ Winegrowers on 'Biosecurity - Nationally and Internationally'.
Sophie started her career in biosecurity with MPI as a quarantine office working at the border clearing passenger, air and sea cargo, planes, cruise ships and other vessels of biosecurity risks as they arrived from international destinations. She also worked as a dog detector handler at Wellington airport and CentrePort, before moving to Marlborough and becoming the inaugural Biosecurity Adviser for NZ Winegrowers.
Sophie’s presentation will cover protecting the NZ Wine industry from biosecurity threats.
NZ winegrowers and their role.
Why biosecurity is important in the industry.
The wine industry’s “Most Unwanted’ pests and diseases.
The Government-Industry Agreement for biosecurity readiness and response.
The Grafted Grapevine Standard and PlantPass Biosecurity Scheme.
Biosecurity Awareness and Action in vineyards.
Economic Issues
Course organiser: Howard Harvey
Presenter: Various
21 Sep: Stephen Hickson, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Dept. of Economics and Finance, UC, on 'Inequality and Poverty.'
We all care about inequality and poverty. How do we define these things in the New Zealand context? What does the data say? How successful has the current government been at reducing child poverty given Jacinda Adern made it a leading issue in 2017?
28 Sep: Stephen Hickson, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Dept. of Economics and Finance, UC, on 'Economic Growth.'
Why do we care about economic growth.? Some say we should not. In this talk Stephen will set out the reasons why we do care about it and why our politicians should as well.
5 Oct: Stephen Hickson, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Dept. of Economics and Finance, UC, on 'Globalisation and Openness.'
Since World War 2 the world has enjoyed a widely held consensus that the way to peace and prosperity is be open. The more open to the world a country is and the more open the world is, in general the better off we are. But is this now fraying? Might Brexit and the election of Donald Trump signal a breakdown in that?
12 Oct: Dr. Michael Gousmett, Adjunct Fellow Dept. of Accounting and Information Systems, UC, on 'Deficits in Our Health System.'
19 Oct: Dr. Michael Gousmett, Adjunct Fellow Dept. of Accounting and Information Systems, UC, on 'To Pay or Not To Pay. Tax and Charitable Organisations.'
Advancing Science
Course organiser: Chris Botur
Presenter: Various
17 Aug: Prof. Richard Green, Computer Science and Software Engineering Dept., UC, on 'Artificial Intelligence for NZ Industry and Environment.'
The recent explosion of AI accuracy, efficiency and low processing cost has suddenly enabled AI applications undreamt of even five years ago. Our AI research is interested in real-world applications, such as rapid data reduction of petabytes of data from scanning a farm (such as orchards or vineyards) from sub-mm under-canopy/underwater scans. I will describe UC contributions across these research areas, including recent autonomous systems research into drones pruning forests, robots pruning vineyards, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) inspecting mussel farms and scanning wharf pylons to detect invasive biofouling species, AUVs harvesting scallops and even automating blood spatter analysis.
24 Aug: Dr. Sarah McSweeney, School of Earth and Environment, UC, on 'Climate Change and its Effect on Coastal Environments.'
Sarah will talk about the impact climate change and sea level rise are having upon coastal processes, estuaries, beaches, and coastal ecology. She will discuss using local examples from Canterbury, including projections and impacts over the next 100 years, and draw from her international research experience. Sarah will also use case studies of past climate change impacts to compare to issues we see happening today.
31 Aug: Senior Constable Bryan Price, Scene of Crime Officer, Chch Police, on 'Forensic Fundamentals, Police Use and Cost of Forensic Examinations.'
A mixture of slideshow and hands on.
7 Sep: Dr. Andy Howell, Earthquake Geologist, UC and GNS Science, on 'Active Tectonics and Fault Mapping.'
Andy will talk about the tectonic setting of New Zealand, a small sliver of land forced upwards by the convergence of the Pacific and Australian Plates. He will explain how tectonic deformation is accommodated differently in different parts of New Zealand, and the observations that tell us about that deformation. Finally, Andy will cover work currently being done to prepare New Zealand for future earthquakes and their secondary effects like tsunamis and landslides.
14 Sep: Assoc. Prof. Heather Purdie, glaciologist in the School of Earth and Environment, UC, on 'Glaciers and Climate Change: Our Changing Alpine Environment.'
If you are still uncertain about climate change then go visit a glacier – if you can find one. Glaciers don’t lie; their size is directly linked to climate; they expand and recede as temperature and snowfall patterns change. Glaciers store fresh water, conveniently releasing it during the warmest months of the year. If water is locked-up in a glacier, then it cannot contribute to sea level rise. Glaciers provide pathways into remote mountains, they are beautiful, they are complex. Weaving her latest research results from inside crevasses at Haupapa | Tasman Glacier with long-term glacier monitoring in Ka Tiritiri te Moana | Southern Alps, Dr Heather Purdie will take you on a journey into the mountains explaining how glaciers work, and why scientists view them as accurate indicators of climate change.
November Series
Course organiser: Various
Presenter: Various
26 Oct: Alan Blackburn on 'Legacy of the Ming Dynasty 1368-1644.'
The hypothesis that the Ming Dynasty defines our popular image of Chinese civilisation.
A dynasty with a period of remarkable creativity - Ming Porcelain & links to the Hall of Oriental arts at the Christchurch Museum
The framework for the lecture is the rise and collapse of the Ming dynasty which has a disturbing familiarity to the world we live in today. Organiser: Alan Blackburn
2 Nov: Amy Carter, Chief Executive, Christchurch Foundation on 'The Tui Corridor. '
The Christchurch Foundation is an organisation that is set up to ensure that philanthropy in Canterbury could operate in a coercive and effective way that has impact. One of its many projects is the "Tui Corridor". This is a project to plant a corridor of correct food for nectar feeding birds to encourage them into the city and suburbs. Amy will talk about the research and efforts that have gone into this project. Organiser: Peter Moody
9 Nov: Assoc. Prof. Karen Pollard on 'UC Mt. John Observatory - Researching the Planets and Stars.'
I will give a brief introduction to the history and facilities at the UC Mt John Observatory near Lake Tekapo. The Observatory lies at the heart of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky reserve, so I will show some time lapse movies from this dark sky site. I will present some of the recent research projects that I (and my students) have been involved in using Mt John, including working out the orbits of a quadruple star system, measuring explosions from the surface of a white dwarf star and observing evaporating comets in a nearby star system. Organiser: Barrie Greenwood
16 Nov: Sarah Murray, Head of Collections and Research, Canterbury Museum, on 'Canterbury Museum - Past, Present and Future.'
Sarah will give an illustrated talk about the Museum’s major redevelopment of its Rolleston Avenue site. She will discuss the evolution of the Museum’s building complex over the last 150 plus years, the numerous reasons behind the need for the redevelopment, and the massive project to move the collection and staff to offsite storage and offices in the space of just 8 months. The talk will conclude with some sneak peeks at what the new Museum will look like when it reopens in 2028. Organiser: Hilary Talbot