Occasional Seminars

What are the seminars?

The Seminars are an opportunity for members to talk about the topics that interest them – and it is amazing how wide the range of topics can be. Some of the Seminars have led to the formation of regular groups – e.g. Philosophy and American History – others have just provided a fascinating morning for all those who have attended, for example the experiences of evacuees and Alan Hills experiences on Christmas Island

We meet at the Abbott Hall Social Centre on Dowkers Lane. Coffee is available at 9.45 and the Seminars start at 10.00. The format is usually a presentation followed by questions and discussion – but it’s all very informal and flexible depending on the topic.

Everyone in U3A is always very welcome to come along and we look forward to seeing you.

For more information contact the coordinators Jackie Hinton or Terry McIntee.

Dates for your diary

The dates for the next Seminars are as follows, but do check the website and the newsletters for further details nearer the time.

• Wednesday 14 April: Enid Stilling will be telling us about Bryan’s experiences as a prisoner of war, based on his diaries and letters
• Wednesday 7 July: Shirley Paynes will gives us some musical insights with the intriguing title ‘The singer, the poet and the song’
• Wednesday 6 October: David Silk will be talking about early books and writing. Members who have heard David speak before know that it is guaranteed to be both interesting and entertaining.

Do please note these dates in your diary and come along to join us.

Recent Seminars

Wednesday 13th January, 2010. This morning 28 of our Members endured the bitter cold and skating-rink pavements to hear Walter Gent's entertaining and informative presentation on 'The Joys of Jazz'. We heard about the origins of this art form, watersheds in its development, and about some of its great exponents. Walter played us some wonderful CD tracks, but also played some jazz numbers himself on the piano. I'm sure that everyone would agree with me that Walter gave us an excellent and memorable morning. We were all sorry when it had to finish!

On 7 January 2009 23 members braved the snow to hear Mary Christian talking about the experiences of the children, men and women who were captured by Indians on the American western frontier.

1 April saw 30 members being challenged about the true meaning of things during David Silk’s seminar on ‘Philosophy – what is it and why study it?’ David introduced us to some of the ideas of the major philosophers, took us through some valid and invalid syllogisms and generally entertained us whilst giving everyone some serious food for thought. As one participant said afterwards: ‘I really enjoyed that, but there are no simple answers, are there.’