THE ART OF BONSAI

Course Leader
Trevor Wheeler 5476 2286

Outline of Course
Add another dimension to your home, learn how to create and maintain bonsai. 1. What is bonsai? Bonsai Styles-Tools and equipment. Bring a bonsai/potential tree for discussion, if you have one. 2. Workshop ‘Growing a bonsai from nursery stock’. Create your own bonsai. Demonstrator/ speaker-Sye Zefara is a Nurseryman and past President of Goldfields Bonsai. Venue will be a general plant nursery. 3. ‘Growing local indigenous plants as bonsai’. Demonstrator/speaker, John Wilson, a bonsai enthusiast and past bonsai nursery owner, and a workshop creating Melaleuca or Fig bonsai. 4. Bonsai Nursery Excursion. Demonstrator and guide is nursery owner Diederik Haneveld, Shepherds Flat, Franklinford (car pool). After these sessions you will have at least one bonsai and the confidence to create others to enhance your home.

Entry Criterion
None

Meeting Time
Four sessions: 1.30pm Wednesday, 2, 9, 16 and 23 February (session length 2 hours)

Venue
Fellowship Room, Uniting Church (car pool from Uniting Church car park for visits)

 

CATASTROPHES WAITING TO HAPPEN - John Neil

Course Leader
Win Jodell 5472 3792

Outline of Course
Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and devastating storms: this PowerPoint presentation will look at the underlying causes of these geological and meteorological occurrences. We look then at the outcomes of, and recovery from, recent catastrophes, and the scientific and human responses to them.

Entry Criterion
None

Meeting Time
Single session: Thursday 28 April 10am (session length 2 hours)

Venue
U3A office

 

COOKING FOR MEN

Course Leaders
Sue Turner and Sally Kaptein Sue: 5472 1015 Sally: 5470 6340

Outline of Course
In these three sessions we aim to provide inspiration and confidence to those U3A men who might have little experience cooking. These sessions are also for those men who want some new ideas.

Entry Criterion
None

Meeting Time
Three sessions: 10am-12noon Tuesdays, 29 March, 12 and 26 April

Venue
First Session 6 Munro Court, Castlemaine

 

CROQUET FOR BEGINNERS

Course Leader
Nigel Harland 5474 8246

Outline of Course
An introduction to the sport of Golf Croquet. Being offered is a series of six one-hour sessions of free tuition. This version of Croquet is growing in popularity owing to its simplicity and competiveness. Croquet is easy to play, highly social, and requires strategic skills and accuracy.

Entry criteria
Wear flat shoes. You will need to be on your feet for an hour and to be able to swing a mallet of 1.5kg.

Meeting Time
Six sessions: 10am Tuesdays, commencing 12 April

Venue
Castlemaine Bowling Club, Berkeley Street

 

ELECTROMAGNETIC POLLUTION ISSUES

Course Leader
Janobai Smith 5473 4153

Outline of Course
“You cannot see it, taste it or smell it, but [electromagnetic radiation] is one of the most pervasive environmental exposures in industrialised countries today” Cindy Sage, BioInitiative Report, 2007. This presentation focuses on the sources of electromagnetic pollution we are exposed to, how we can identify them and what we can do to lessen our exposure to them. We will also look at why, from the viewpoint of our health and the environment, it is important to minimise exposure levels.

Entry criteria
None

Meeting Time
Single session: Thursday 24 February 10am (session length 2 hours)

Venue
U3A office

 

ETHICS

Course Leader
Karen Mather 9347 6925

Outline of Course
This course is designed for beginners. The first session presents an introduction to ethics, including the principals of Aristotle, Kant and Bentham, together with the method of reasoning employed by professional ethicists. The remaining sessions provide overviews of special branches of ethics: Professional Ethics, in relation to work; Environmental Ethics and the dilemma of human need versus the needs of the natural environment; and finally an ethicist’s approach to the problems of world poverty.

Entry criteria
None

Meeting Time
Four sessions: 10.30am each Thursday, 5, 12, 19 & 26 May (length 1.5 hours)

Venue
U3A office

 

HOW TO LOOK AT PAINTINGS: ‘Believing your Eyes’

Course Leader
Kate Stones 0431 998 707

Outline of Course
A talk and discussion, followed by morning tea – and then a writing workshop. Through discussion we will explore a variety of ‘entry points’ into analysing and responding to paintings and other visual art forms. The workshop will also be an opportunity to view the National Gallery of Victoria touring exhibition ‘Imagining the Orient’. The talk and gallery entry are free; morning tea and workshop $5.

Entry Criterion
None.

Meeting Time
10am Wednesday 9 February (session length 2.5 hours)

Venue
Castlemaine Art Gallery, Lyttleton Street

 

INTRODUCTION TO CONTRACT BRIDGE

Course Leader
Hans van Gemert 5472 1082

Outline of Course
This course will enable participants to learn (or relearn) to play bridge. Usually 4 to 6 weeks is needed and notes are provided. On completion, members will be encouraged to join the continuing Bridge class on Tuesday afternoons.

Entry Criterion
It is suggested that participants have some card playing experience

Meeting Time
Four to six session: 1.30-3.30pm each Wednesday, commencing 2 February

Venue
U3A Office

 

MINDFULNESS FOR WELLBEING

Course Leader
Karina de Wolf 5472 2956

Outline of Course
This four week introductory course will teach you the principles of Mindfulness as a meditation. Each session will be a guided meditation. Mindfulness is a long tradition and has many benefits. These include deep relaxation, relief of stress leading to greater peace of mind. Participants will be seated in chairs, or on the floor if you choose. Bring a wrap or shawl as the body cools when one is still.

Entry Criterion
No former experience required

Meeting Time
Four sessions: 10am Wednesday 2, 9, 16 and 23 March

Venue
Fellowship Room, Uniting Church

 

PAPIER MACHÉ

Course Leader
Diana Collier 5443 0137

Outline of Course
Learn how to make papier maché; model into plates, trays and bowls; paint or glaze these items. This course will then move into découpage. There will be an opportunity for students to continue with more ambitious projects, boxes and perhaps chairs.

Entry Criterion
None

Meeting Time
Four sessions: 2pm Tuesday, 1 and 15 February, 1 and 15 March

Venue
Small room next to Kindergarten Room, Uniting Church complex

 

PÉTANQUE

Course Leaders
Jenni Rutherford and Sally Kaptein  Jenni 5472 3468 Sally 5470 6340

Outline of Course
An ancient game originally played with stone balls and bought to France by the Romans. The game, so close to French hearts, is played with metallic balls, on a dirt surface. This is a chance to learn the rules, technique and strategies – and the café will be open after the game.

Entry Criterion
Ability to bend and if you have a set of boules, all the better. Maximum 8 players.

Meeting Time
Six sessions: 2pm every Friday, from Term II

Venue
Living Stones Café (Skydancers), Cnr Midland Hwy & Blackjack Rd, Harcourt

 

PICASA FOR BEGINNERS

Course Leader
David Sime 5472 3756

Outline of Course
Downloading of photos to computer. Organising them into “Albums’. Very basic editing and cropping of images. Emailing, uploading and creating a Photo CD. You should bring photos on your camera or on a memory stick.

Entry Criterion
You will need to have digital camera and a computer

Meeting Time
1.30pm each Tuesday for 4 weeks. (session length 1.5 hours) at the beginning of each term. This is followed by an informal Q&A session at the same time each Tuesday until the end of term, this is open to everyone

Venue
The Octopus, Duke Street, Castlemaine

Note
This is a Short Course - 4 sessions

 

THE LEOPARD PRINCES

Course Leader
Tom Comerford 5470 6230

Outline of Course
This four-session course will examine the origins, character, lifestyles and significance of the Sicilian nobility known as the “leopard princes”, and the role they played in the Italian Risorgimento. You should be familiar with Lampedusa’s The Leopard, or have seen the film.

Entry Criterion
An elementary knowledge of the unification of Italy

Meeting Time
Four sessions: 2pm on each Thursday, 17 & 24 February, 3 & 10 March (1.5 hours)

Venue
Kindergarten Hall, Uniting Church complex

 

LIVING CELL: the spice of life

Course Leader
Christobel Comerford 5470 6230

Outline of Course
Cytology – The living cell
1. The generalised cell, its structure and function.
2. Differences between bacterial, plant and animal cells
3. Cell specialisation – a range of particular examples.
4.Introduction to cell genetics.
(With a view to a subsequent but not sequential course – “It’s all in your genes”.)

Entry Criterion
None

Meeting Time
Four sessions: 2pm Wednesday, 2, 9, 16 and 23 March

Venue
U3A Office