Learning

Learning for pleasure at U3A

Ann SchraderRetirement is no reason to let the grey matter stagnate that is the attitude of Ann Schrader, president of U3A Rutherford one of ten groups in Christchurch that are part of the University of the Third Age.

“Anybody in U3A can do anything from setting up a small interest group to running a conference - that is the beauty of U3A,” she says.

Started in France in 1972, U3A is now an international phenomenon. Ann’s involvement dates back to the very beginnings of the movement in Christchurch. “I had the privilege and opportunity to be part of the planning group that established the very first U3A group, at the University of Canterbury. That group has now been going “close on 15 years”.

“The then Director of the Centre for Continuing Education, Brian O’Rourke, had come to us from the University of Otago. Christchurch seemed to be one of the few centres that didn’t have a U3A group. He gathered three of us together and we launched U3A Okeover.”

Ten independent groups

Of the ten independent groups operating in Christchurch, seven of them work in a more structured way, planning courses of lectures for five consecutive weeks, and usu ally focused on a particular topic. However, the actual philosophy of U3A is that a group of people gather together in someone’s home on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, studying a specific topic. We have three such groups here in the city.

The stronger desire in Christchurch is to have the more structured (approach). U3A Rutherford has been in existence for just over five years and we have introduced small interest groups as well. Those people normally come from our general membership, but we invite people who don’t come to our structured group on a Friday to participate in the small groups.

Art Appreciation, History, Book Club (who access their books through the W.E.A.), Music Appreciation and a Film group are the current “small groups” within U3A Rutherford. It is hoped to expand the number of these small groups next year.

Members are asked annually which topics they would like organised for the following year. Balancing a range of interests is important to ensure the lectures have broad appeal, Ann says.

“We are blessed in Christchurch with having such easy access to the university, so draw on a lot of excellent presenters from there. Many of them ask when they can return as we are such an enthusiastic audience. Hopefully at the end of the year, every member can say ‘that particular course was my course for the year; it was great’.”

Three dollars well spent

“For $3 per session they get an excellent lecture, a good old cup of tea or coffee and a choccie biccie. I reckon that’s a pretty good $3 worth,” she laughs.

“One of the most amazing courses we ever offered was called “Women with Attitude”. It was focused on five internationally-known women artists. We had a predominantly female audience, and it was fully subscribed. After the second lecture wives were telling their husbands what a fantastic course we were getting phone calls ‘any chance of (husbands) joining in?’. That was an extraordinary course and was one of many that we have offered over the years.”

Whilst each U3A group operates independently, the 10 groups are beginning to communicate more than they have in the past and starting to share programmes. “The presenters put a lot of time into their work for us and it’s a shame that they don’t get exposure to other U3A groups in the city. We’re trying to encourage that”.

New accommodation

Recently U3A Rutherford has moved out of the Arts Centre and have relocated to the Horticultural Centre. Far from being a disadvantage, Ann says that it’s proving to be a positive step for the group. In the last couple of years the quality of the presentations has meant many of the courses have been over-subscribed. “We constantly had to ballot (places) out.

“Our new accommodation will solve that dilemma offering a choice of two different-sized rooms, so we’ll probably expand our membership next year and hopefully reduce our waiting list of prospective members. With greater lecture room space we can accept all applications for a course. That’s going to be a really big plus for us.”

The September course, Water, water everywhere, but is there enough to drink?, has attracted 134 enrolments. Sam Mahon is one of the presenters, and Canterbury water is a hot topic at the moment, thanks to media coverage of the Central Plains Water irrigation scheme.

U3A has an annual subscription of $10 and five-week courses cost $15. Retired professionals make up much of the membership, but it is open to all retired people, Ann says. In addition to the mental stimulation the lectures provide, U3A offers companionship and the opportunity for social interaction.

International conference

In November (19th - 21st), the first-ever South Island U3A International Conference is being held here in Christchurch. The planning committee, who have been working on this for three years, has representation from four of the local groups.

The theme of the conference is “The World Ahead From Here to Where? and we hope participants will find it both stimulating and informative as we address many of the world-wide issues facing us all in the 21st Century.

The three-day programme includes The Environment (Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Human Wellbeing), Social Issues (Cutting Edge Science, Bioethics, the Pace of Technology) The Arts (The Place of the Arts in Society, The Artist’s Eye, Public Sculpture, Music for the People) with presenters ranging from well know scientist Randall Allardyce (of the Christchurch Charity Hospital Trust), Elric Hooper, retired Artistic Director of the Court Theatre, to internationally-renown sculptor and artist Neil Dawson.

More information