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U3A

WOLLONGONG – INC

PATRON: Professor Paul Wellings CBE, Vice Chancellor UOW

Term 1, 2020 Newsletter:

MONDAY 3rd FEBRUARY – FRIDAY 5TH APRIL

ENROLMENT DAYs: THURSDAY 30th JANUARY 2020, 9.30-11am

MONDAY 3RD FEBRUARY, 10.30-12noon FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Colleagues I would like to welcome you back to U3A for 2020. I hope you have had a good break and are

returning healthy and refreshed, looking forward to this year’s range of talks, courses and

activities.

We are continuing with two presentations on Monday and Thursday mornings but Aileen and

Martin are stepping down at the end of the 2020 year. We really need 2 – 3 people to be the

Thursday program coordinators – you don’t have to present, just organise the speakers into the

term and introduce them. Aileen and Martin are available to mentor you and Kerrie Anne has four

program ideas for 2021.

Susan Walkerden who has been running Balance 'N Bones for a while now, retired at the end of

2019, many thanks to her. So we also need someone to run this group. Without people

volunteering for these roles the program will have to cease.

We trialled the payment of membership by direct deposit and this was successful, so we will continue it this year – see Wanda’s instructions in this newsletter. Credit cards cannot be accepted as they entail a large cost to our organisation. David Christian

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WOLLONGONG U3A - PAYMENT OF FEES FOR 2020 YEAR

Payment Options Members will again have a choice to pay their membership

1) in person by cash or cheque on Enrolment Days, Thursday 30th

January, and Monday 3rd February 2020, or pay Treasurer on

Mondays and Thursdays or

2) by Electronic Transfer to IMB

BSB 641-800

Account No. 001 142 057

Acc Name Wollongong U3A

For identification purposes, please ensure you supply

initials and surname only with your online payment.

Enrolment Forms Members paying by EFT will need to fill in an enrolment

form, available with newsletter or pick up from Treasurer.

Receipts Receipts for EFT payments will not be issued.

Name Tags Available from Treasurer on Mondays and Thursdays after

payment has been verified.

NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT MAKE EFT PAYMENT UNTIL JANUARY 2020

Wanda Chies

TERM DATES FOR 2020

ENROLMENT DAYS: THURSDAY 30th JANUARY, 9.30am – 11am

MONDAY 3RD FEBRUARY, 10.30am - 12.00

TERM 1: Monday 3rd February – Friday 3rd April

TERM 2: Monday 27th April – Friday 26th June

TERM 3: Monday 20th July – Friday 18th September

TERM 4: Monday 12th October – Friday 27th November

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Monday

Salvation Army Centre

Burelli Street

9.30 – 1.00

SESSION 1 – General Interest Talks

SESSION 2 – General Interest Talks

SESSION 3 – Current Affairs

- Monthly Book Club

(1st Monday)

Management Committee

(3rd Monday)

Auditorium

Auditorium

As Available

Auditorium

MP1

Tuesday

Varying Times and

Locations

- Opera Appreciation

- Philosophy at the Library

See elsewhere

in Newsletter

Thursday

Salvation Army Centre

Burelli Street

9.30 – 4pm

SESSION 1(A) – Scandinavia – Lands of

Ice and Fire

SESSION 1 (B) – Balance ‘N Bones (TBA)

SESSION 2(A) - Sex, Drugs and Queen

Victoria

SESSION 3 (1pm) – Film Society

Auditorium

As available

Auditorium

Auditorium

Friday

Wollongong Library

9.30 – 11am

Photography/Camera Group

Theatrette

Excursions, walks and social events as per term program

PROGRAM SYNOPSIS

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DATE TIME SPEAKER ADDRESS TITLE

3rd Feb 9.30 am Gareth Ward MP NSW State

Government, Family & Disability

Services Minister

TBA

11.00 am Enrolment to continue

10th Feb 9.30 am David Winterbottom (Member) History of Town Planning in

Wollongong

11.00 am Dr Patrick Bradley (Member) The Bubonic Plague Hits Sydney

17th Feb 9.30 am Professor Philip Laird (Member) Faster Trains from Sydney to

Wollongong and Other Cities

11.00 am Dr Robert M Caplan, Forensic

Psychiatrist UOW

Bea Miles: Sydney’s Most Famous Street

Character

24th Feb 9.30 am Don Driscoll Ned Kelly: “Victim or Villain”

11.00 am Ray O’Malley (Member) The Answer to Life

2nd Mar 9.30 am Paul Thompson – Podiatrist How to Take Care of Your Feet

11.00 am Professor Mitchell Byrne – UOW, Assoc.

Dean Education (IntroHealth)

TBA

9th Mar 9.30 am Dr Ron and Mrs Janette Smart The Journey to build a School

11.00 am Charlotte Farrelly Assistance Dogs Australia

16th Mar 9.30 am Jade Farrar, Waste Education Officer

WCC

Discover the Art of Worm Farming

11.00 am Kerrie Anne Christian (Member) Tip to Tip – Cape Horn to Cape York

23rd Mar 9.30 am Dr Colin Woodroffe – UOW Coastal

Geomorphologist

Coastal Wetlands and Sea Level Rise

11.00 am Tom Mylne (Member) Sea Mail & Email – Communicating with

the Colonies in the Nineteenth Century

30th Mar 9.30 am Jacqui Price (Member) “My Father Grew Up in India”

11.00 am U3A Choir:

Director – Yvonne McColl,

Asst Director–Margaret Stratton (Mem)

Accompanist – Jean Burn

Musical Memories

MONDAY, SESSION 3 – 12.00 – 1.00 PM

CURRENT AFFAIRS Group Participation, New Members Welcome

Weekly Group coordination

BOOK CLUB New Members Welcome (first Monday of the month)

Coordinator – Nancy Harman

Coordinator: Nancy Harman

MONDAY. 9.30 AM – 12 noon – Coordinator: Jennifer Mattock

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THURSDAY PROGRAM Programme Planners: Aileen Harland, Martin Arrowsmith

SESSION 1 (A) 9.30 – 10.30 Auditorium

SCANDINAVIA – LANDS OF ICE AND FIRE – Coordinator: Martin Arrowsmith

This module will look at the diverse nature of Scandinavian history, culture and inventiveness. Topics will cover such things as murder and mayhem in Scandi Noir Literature, goddesses, music, folk tales and even the adventure that is shopping at Ikea.

DATE TOPIC PRESENTER

6th Feb Hygge, saunas and Smoked Salmon – Life in Modern

Scandinavia

Martin Arrowsmith

13th Feb Design and innovation – from Viking Longboats to

the Sydney Opera House.

Pauline Reynolds

20th Feb Why the World Loves Nordic Noir Professor Susan Turnbull

27th Feb Viking History and a Family Connection David Winterbottom & David

Christian

5th Mar Return of the Norse Goddesses – the role of the

goddess from saga to Saga

Aileen Harland

12th Mar Iceland – My Story Dawn Epton

19th Mar Famous Scandinavians -

Raoul Wallenberg

Alfred Nobel

Roald Amundsen

Annette Bouwens

John Stewart

Simon Hodsden

26th mar Scandinavian Contribution to the Arts -

Edvard Grieg

Hans Christian Anderson

Allayne Foley

Keith Allen

2nd Apr U3A Member Travellers’ Tales Jacqui Price et al

THURSDAY SESSION 1(B) 9.30 – 10.30

BALANCE ‘N BONES

This exercise class follows a DVD presentation provided by U3A

Network NSW.

This class will continue if someone volunteers to run it. It is also

subject to the availability of a room.

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THURSDAY SESSION 2 (A) 11am-12 noon Auditorium

SEX, DRUGS AND QUEEN VICTORIA – A different look at the Victorian Era

Coordinator: Aileen Harland

DATE TOPIC PRESENTER

6TH Feb “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

…” The Victorian Era

Aileen Harland

13th Feb Through a Child’s Eyes Robyn Menghi

20th Feb The Unspoken Topics: The Fallen Woman v The

Angel of the House; Victorian Drugs

Aileen Harland

27th Feb Death and Beyond – The Victorian Obsession

with the Afterlife

Pauline Reynolds

5th march Outstanding Personalities:

(a) Dante Gabriel Rossetti

(b) Arthur Rackham

(a) Robin Masters

(b) Jacqui Price

12th Mar The Novel as Social Commentary Anne Powter

19th Mar The Underbelly of Victorian Society – Crime and

Punishment

Keith Allen

26th Mar Welcome to the Music Hall!! Robyn Menghi and

the Victorian Players

Robyn Menghi

2nd April FEMINISM – the First Wave Barbara Cattunar

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THURSDAY THEMES TERM 2, 2020

Session 1 (A) A HISTORY OF COMEDY The idea behind this unit is to look at comedy through the ages and how comedy has reflected the society of the time. This module will make extensive use of video/film to illustrate the various types of comedy. Session 2(A) WORLD LEADERS In this module we would like to explore the concept of Leadership. What makes a good or bad leader? Who judges this? Do the times in which they live alter the idea of good leadership?

Aileen Harland, David Price and Jacqui Price – in costume for

Jacqui’s talk on her experience of an Indian wedding.

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TUESDAY – OPERA APPRECIATION

Fortnightly at 5 Bushlands Avenue, Mount Pleasant

Contact: Kevin Rigby (42284 2721) for any vacancies

U3A LUNCH GROUP

U3A Lunches will be held on the SECOND MONDAY of each month after the morning session at U3A. We use a variety of venues within walking distance of U3A. The first lunch for 2020 will be Monday 10th February at The Steelers Club in Burelli Street. This is a social outing and everyone is welcome. Regards Christine White

See notice on sign-in table or contact: Christine White on 0409 669184

DAY TRIPS

Sheets for day trips for Term 1 will be available on

Enrolment Day, Thursday 30th January, 2020.

SPAM EMAIL ALERT

Barbara Cattunar has been approached by a couple of people about emails they have been receiving, ostensibly from her, but which she has not sent This also occurred several years ago when people who are not even on her list of contacts received an ad about weight-loss products from her Yahoo account. Barbara dropped the Yahoo account and opened a new Bigpond email but it is happening again. If you receive one of these emails you should immediately block or mark as spam any emails that seem to come from Barbara Cattunar.

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OUR TWO PHILOSOPHY STUDY GROUPS

Wollongong U3A has a long-running Philosophy group which was formed in 2015 and meets

in the Flinders Room at the City Library, on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month,

between February and November. (There are a dozen members.)

The group has worked its way through the great philosophers of western history,

commencing with the Greeks, and is now studying some pivotal 20th century thinkers and

their ideas.

In the first half of 2020, it will be studying: aspects of art and aesthetics; the pioneering

analytic philosophers GE Moore, Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein; the Vienna

Circle and logical positivism; and then venturing into structuralism and postmodernism.

In July, for the past two years, the group has organised a special event called Philosophy at

the Frat, with a guest speaker and afternoon tea at the Fraternity Club, Fairy Meadow. An

invitation is extended to all U3A members in the Illawarra to attend, not just Wollongong

U3A.

A second Philosophy study group was organised at the tail end of 2018 and it also meets in

the Flinders Room at the City Library, but on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month. This

new group currently has 6 participants and so there is room for more members.

It began with early Greek philosophy and then progressed to the major figures of the

Enlightenment. It will venture into 19th century philosophy in 2020, after spending a few

months on some broader topics, namely: the philosophy of Jesus, humanism, Buddhism and

a brief history of moral thought.

Further information contact:

Gale Witcombe 0449 849 740

Huw Thomas 0439 069 316

Stuart Traynor 0457 342 358

WALKING WITH SUE

Sue Fisher will not be putting on any walks in Term 1 2020. It is too hot a period

and fewer people wish to do the walks.

Sue has been leading the walks for several years and we thank her for the time

and effort she puts in planning and organising this activity.

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PHOTOGRAPHY & CAMERA GROUP – Coordinator: Brendon

Parker

FRIDAY 9.30 – 11.00 AM – WOLLONGONG LIBRARY THEATRETTE

New Members Welcome

BOOK CLUB – TERM 1

I hadn’t been able to consult with members on which books we would read this year in

time for inclusion in the newsletter so I have chosen three books for term 1 which have

been recommended by members.

Monday 10th February – The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton

This is my pick as it is an American classic which I have always wanted to read. It tells of the tragic fall of Lily Bart, a beautiful socialite who loses her footing in the savage social-climbing world of New York high society in the nineteenth century.

Monday 2nd March – Picnic at Hanging Rock – Joan Lindsay

One of our new members suggested this book. I think we may all have seen the film but

not read the book. Picnic at Hanging Rock is an Australian historical fiction novel by Joan

Lindsay. Set in 1900, it is about a group of female students attending an Australian girls'

boarding school who vanish at Hanging Rock while on a Valentine’s Day picnic, and the

effects the disappearances have on the school and local community.

Monday 30 March –The Warden – Anthony Trollope

Annette suggested this book as she really loved Barchester Towers which we read in 2018.

This is the first of the Barchester Chronicles and possibly the best; at least the Warden of

the title is the nicest of the Barchester character

.Nancy Harman

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING DATES

TERM 1, 2020

Monday - 17th February

Monday – 16th March

Meetings are held at 12noon, in morning tea area – any members

welcome

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FILM SOCIETY PROGRAM TERM 1 2020 - Coordinators: Rick Thompson, Aileen Harland

1pm-3.30pm Thursdays – Auditorium. Note that films marked * will be shown with subtitles

for the hard of hearing.

FEB 6 *BROKEN BLOSSOMS, (USA. 1919, 90 MINUTES) Directed by D.W.Griffith. Silent film, with Lillian Gish,

Richard Barthelmess and Donald Crisp. "Broken Blossoms" is the story of two wounded, abused, seemingly

hopeless individuals who find comfort and strength in one another. The Chinaman (Richard Barthelmess)

and little Lucy Burrows (Lillian Gish) are as different as night is to day, however they complement each

other: Lucy gives the Chinaman respect as a human being, he in turn gives Lucy affection and love.

FEB 13 *THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. (USA, 1938, 102 mins.) Directed by Michael Curtiz. With Errol Flynn,

Olivia de Haviland, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone. In addition to telling the Robin Hood legend, this film is an

archetypal synthesis of all the new cinematic techniques developed since the coming of synchronised

sound: remarkable uses of color, space, time, music, magnificent sets, narrative structure, and

performance. A classic.

FEB 20 *THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. (USA, 1995, 129 mins.) Directed by Clint Eastwood. With Eastwood,

Meryl Streep. As a director, Eastwood moved across many genres; here it is the romantic difficulties of

photographer Eastwood and a housewife Meryl Streep, settled in their ways until they meet and must

refashion their lives.

FEB 27 *REAR WINDOW. USA, 1954, 115 mins.) With James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Raymond Burr. In the 1950s,

Hitchcock refashioned the suspense film genre: here housebound photographer Stewart witnesses through

his window ambiguous events of his neighbours and builds them into an increasing narrative of crime…

MAR 5 *THE BLUE ANGEL. (Germany, 1930, 106 mins.) Directed by Josef von Sternberg. With Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings. As sound became the norm, von Sternberg used this film to climax Germany’s Weimar cinema culture. A puritanical schoolmaster (Jannings) disapprovingly investigates a sexy nightclub singer (Dietrich) but falls for her at first sight and finds his life completely changed.

MAR 12 THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND (Australia, 1976, 107 mins.) Directed by Fred Schepisi. Starring Arthur Dignan, Nick Tate and Simon Burke. Set in 1953, Schepisi’s focus is on the conflicted ways people react in circumstances governed by rules that run counter to natural impulses. Oppression does not fit into the natural landscape of this world: the sensual images involving the young boys are constantly interrupted by the jarring images of their keepers, in their black cassocks, looking alien and out of place in this Australian wilderness.

MAR 19 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. (USA, 1934, 105 mins.) Directed by Frank Capra. With Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert. Frank Capra developed a very large following with his 1930s light romantic comedies. Here runaway heiress Colbert and reporter Clark Gable meet on a cross-country bus ride and are drawn together by one unforeseen event after another. Archetypal 1930s comedy. (As a mark of its popularity, it won all five major Academy Awards that year).

MAR 26 *ONIBABA.(Japan, 1964, 103 mins.) Directed by Kaneto Shindo. With Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura. In the major setting for much classic Japanese cinema, the war-torn Middle Ages, a poor mother and her daughter-in-law murder a samurai and live off the spoils. Things darken, and an ominous demon seals their fate.

APRIL 2 *BEND OF THE RIVER. (USA, 1952, 92 mins.) Directed by Anthony Mann. With James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams. One of series of classic James Stewart westerns by Anthony Mann. Stewart guides a band of pioneers over the Oregon Trail to the Columbia River, in the course of which the pioneers are cheated out of their cattle and chance of settling. Stewart pursues the hijackers and is double-crossed along the way.

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EXCURSIONS & HOLIDAYS:

Doreen Teasdale 0414703271

Kathy Moore, 4228 3969

LIBRARIAN:

Pam Hennen

MONDAY PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Jennifer Mattock – 0418 449811

THURSDAY PROGRAM PLANNERS

Aileen Harland – 4229 3549

Martin Arrowsmith

TECHNICAL TEAM

Allayne Foley

Janet Holloway

Marilyn Walters

WEB MANAGER

Allayne Foley

WELFARE OFFICER

Sandra Harding - 42259868

PRESIDENT:

David Christian – 4267 1488

VICE-PRESIDENT:

Alan Collis – 0414 044384

SECRETARY:

Christine White – 0409 669 184

TREASURER:

Wanda Chies 4261 5351, 0403 755351

NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

Nancy Harman 4262 8429, 0422 068627

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Lawrence Bond

David Crawford

Nancy Harman

Aileen Harland

Pam Hennen

Jennifer Mattock

Leila Moss

Doreen Teasdale

FILM SOCIETY COMMITTEE

Richard Thompson, Jeanette Bond, Lawrence

Bond, Alan Collis, Allayne Foley, Susan

Walkerden, Aileen Harland, Pam Allen, Keith

Allen

U3A Wollongong

P O Box 532

Wollongong, 2520

Web Site: www.wollongong.u3anet.org.au

email: u3awollongong@gmail.com