The New Year Social event will take place at The David Rayner Building at Scotsdales Garden Centre on Friday 10 January 2025 from 12 – 2. Cost: £8.50. Application forms are available here: https://www.u3ac.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/New-Year-Social-event-2025.pdf, on the Social events page of the website or in person from the Office. This is a member only event and places must be booked in advance.
The Spring term commences on Monday 13 January.
Tuesday 14 January at 1 pm – Film Group screening will be Chinatown
Tuesday 14 January at 4.30 pm – Norah Boyce Science Lecture – Rewilding Britain – busting the myths and making it happen by Professor Alastair Driver.
Wednesday 15 January at 2.15 pm – Wednesday Lecture – David Parr by Holly O’ Brien/ a representative of the David Parr House Charity
Booking is now open to attend in person in the Pink room – please email the Office.
Cases of winter flu and colds are rising and as U3AC members are a high-risk demographic group we politely request you to consider your fellow U3AC members and if you feel unwell, particularly if you have a temperature and display symptoms of a respiratory infection, please do not attend your courses or enter the Bridge Street premises or any of our external venues used for courses and activities.
LEI 31(z): Cryptic crosswords for real beginners (Spring term)
Organiser: Mick Jump
Day and time: Tuesday 11:30 – 13:00
Venue: Zoom
Length of course: 1 term. Spring (10 weeks)
Places: 8
Start date: 14 Jan
This course is a repeat (on Zoom) of LEI 10
Format: Taught course or activity
About me: I’m a regular cryptic crossworder and find them a great way to keep the brain ticking over!
PSY 04: Psychology stories 2 (Spring term)
Tutor: John Cooter-Baker
Day and time: Thursday 12:30 – 13:45
Venue: U3AC (Green room)
Length of course: 1 term. Spring (9 weeks)
Places: 12
Start date: 16 Jan
This course is a repeat of PSY 02. NB: no session on 27 February.
Format: Lecture
About me: Tutor: I have taught Psychology for 20 years at first degree level and for A level/GCSE.
CMP 03 Staying safe online (Spring term)
CMP 03(z) Staying safe online (Spring term)
ECN 05(z) The economy and society: past theories, present issues, future options (Spring term)
FRE 13 Vercors: le Silence de la Mer pub. Albin Michel 1951 (Spring term)
GDN 05 Just vegetating (Spring term)
HIN 01 Hindi for beginners (Spring term)
HIS 09 Cambridge sport: in Fenner’s hands (Spring term)
HIS 27(z) Ten Turning Points in European History (Spring term)
HIS 37 Your family genealogy and history (Spring term)
HIS 37(z) Your family genealogy and history (Spring term)
HIS 43(z) Anti-Slavery Advocacy in early-Victorian Britain (Spring and Summer terms)
LEI 29 Driving skills 2 (Spring term)
LEI 30 Beginners’ Bridge (Spring and Summer terms)
LEI 31(z) Cryptic crosswords for real beginners (Spring term)
LIT 08 Classical Greek Tragedy in English Translation (Spring term)
LIT 18(z) Folk tales of Ireland (Spring term)
LIT 22(z) Louis MacNeice (Spring and Summer terms)
LIT 36 The odes of John Keats (Spring term)
LIT 44 George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’ (Spring term)
MTH 02(z) Maths can be fun 2 (Spring term)
PHL 01(z) The gospel according to St Luke (Spring and Summer terms)
PSY 03(z) Magical thinking (Spring term)
PSY 04 Psychology stories 2 (Spring term)
SCE 05 Computers, brains and AI (Spring term)
SCE 13 Our earth, yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Spring term)
SCE 13(z) Our earth, yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Spring term)
SCE 17 The material world (Spring term)
WLL 04 Buddhist meditation 2: ‘Exploring states of mind and feeling’ (Spring term)
WLL 14 Sort your stuff out 2 (Spring term)
If you are interested in applying for additional courses, there is a Vacancy list on the website showing all courses with current spaces; this is regularly updated.
Philip Stott, the Chair, will be holding his next session on Monday 20 January, 14.00 – 16.00 in the U3AC Social area.
As we increasingly rely on virtual platforms like Zoom to stay connected, it’s important to be mindful of a few basic etiquette tips.
Privacy and respect: Remember, even if you’ve chosen not to view other participants, your own camera may still be on. It’s essential to be mindful of your appearance and surroundings. Dress appropriately, as you would for any other virtual meeting. Avoid engaging in distracting activities, such as eating or drinking, which can disrupt the flow of the conversation.
Active listening: When others are speaking, give them your full attention. Minimize distractions and avoid multitasking. This shows respect for the speaker and helps create a more engaging and productive sessions.
By following these simple guidelines, you can ensure a positive and enjoyable Zoom experience for yourself and other members.
If you are doing courses on Zoom, please make sure your Zoom app is up to date before term starts. Zoom links for courses will be sent later this week.
As many U3AC members will know, my predecessor as organiser of the U3AC Film Group, David Jakes, died in June 2024. David instigated the Film Group and remained as organiser for very many years until he asked me to take over in October 2013. David had a tremendous enthusiasm for all kinds of cinema and indeed was extremely knowledgeable about a wide variety of films. Naturally David had his favourite films, and in particular he had a penchant for classic “Film Noir”. As a tribute to David, and the way in which he ran the Group for very many years, I shall be including some film noir films in both the Spring & Summer Term programmes, together with a few of the fine choices he made from world cinema. [Film noir refers to a type of film or a style of film making which shows the world as a dangerous or depressing place where many people suffer, especially because of the greed or cruelty of others. It’s also a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylized Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasise cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s & 1950s are generally regarded as the “classic period of American film noir]
Jeremy Buncombe- Organiser
If you are unable to attend one of your allocated courses, please let us know so that the place can be offered to someone on the waiting list. Thank you.
HIN 01: Hindi for beginners (Spring term)
Tutor: Narinder Kumar
Day and time: Friday 09:45 – 10:45
Venue: U3AC (Orange room)
Length of course: 1 term. Spring (10 weeks)
Places: 8
Start date: 17 Jan
Learn to write and read Hindi from absolute beginners’ stage. The course will include learning the alphabets, their formation, pronunciation and grammar. It is meant to be a fun project as well as an informative one.
Format: Taught course or activity
About me: I grew up in India studying and speaking Hindi. Since my move to the UK about 44 years ago, I miss it, hence the decision to teach to like-minded people.
HIS 43(z): Anti-Slavery Advocacy in early-Victorian Britain (Spring and Summer terms)
Tutor: Paul Donohoe
Day and time: Alternate Thursdays, 14:15 – 15:15
Venue: Zoom
Length of course: 2 terms. Spring (5 weeks), Summer (4 weeks) Places: 20
Start date: 16 Jan
Slavery in the Southern states of America continued long after it was banned in the British Empire. The course is about (1) the slaves who escaped the cotton plantations and found their way to Britain to build funds and support for the anti-slavery campaign and (2) the individuals who provided them with sustenance while they were here. In detail, we will look at the work of black abolitionists William Wells Brown, Henry Hyland Garnet, J W C Pennington and Alexander Crummell who toured the country lecturing against chattel slavery and drew large audiences from across British society. Also on our agenda are their predecessors Moses Roper, Charles Lennox Remond and Frederick Douglass. The slave Narratives of which there are many provide a basis for the course. Prior reading, in no way obligatory, would include the first two volumes of the autobiography of Frederick Douglass.
Format: Lecture
About me: I was educated at Cambridge University, spent most of my career in the food industry, travelled extensively and participated in U3AC courses for years.
LEI 30: Beginners’ Bridge (Spring and Summer terms)
Day and time: Thursday 13:30 – 16:00
Venue: St Mark’s Community Centre (Large Hall)
Length of course: 2 terms. Spring (10 weeks), Summer (8 weeks)
Places: 36 Start date: 16 Jan
This course is aimed at complete beginners – people who are interested in playing Bridge but have not yet learned the basics of the game. People who are not complete beginners but who would like to revise their bridge skills would also be very welcome to join this class. We will start by learning how to play a more basic form of the game. We will then gradually learn the bidding and playing of the game of bridge, using Acol, which is the main bidding system used in the UK. In each session there will be a short lecture, followed by tutored play. Bridge is a challenging game, but is great fun and quite addictive! There is bike parking and limited car parking in the church grounds. If this is full, there are other parking places nearby. However, please do not park in Millington Road, which is a private road.
Format: Taught course or activity
About us: We are all moderately experienced bridge players who have played with U3AC for some years. We all love playing Bridge, and would like to share our love of the game with the members of this class.
The recent newsletter listed the wrong speaker for the lecture on 28 January. The lecture entitled Is ageing modifiable? will be given by Professor Kay-Tee Khaw. We apologise for any confusion.
** There is now one place remaining**
Once full, we will take names for a waiting list in case anyone cancels their place.
A visit to Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Norwich Theatre Royal has been arranged for Thursday 20 March 2025. Cost £68. Application forms are now available on the Trips and Visits page of the website or in person from the Office.
U3AC supports other local organisations by listing their activities on the Other organisations page of our website https://www.u3ac.org.uk/news/other-organisations/
Remember to check out our Facebook page to see the latest photos – shared with permission – of U3AC courses, activities and events. Facebook does not replace our Weekly Bulletin and will not be used for communicating directly with members about courses or cancellations. Please follow, like and share U3AC’s Facebook page if you have a Facebook account.