PROGRAMME
Lecture Programme 2026
[continually updated]
Lectures will usually be held on the first 3 Mondays of each month March to November, with adjustments around Easter
See the NEWSLETTERS page for details of each lecture.
[ TBC - To Be Confirmed ]
Series 1: GOING LOCAL
9 March: South Canterbury Museum - Past, Present & Future - Philip Howe
16 March: Two Big Macs who made their mark on South Canterbury - Sean Brosnahan
23 March: Work of a Crown Prosecutor - Andrew McCrae (Crown Prosecutor)
Series 2: HISTORY
13 April: Extraordinary New Zealanders in WW1&2 : Nancy Wake - David Hodgson
20 April: For we take our homeland with us, however we change our sky - Language & Identity
in NZ's early Scottish immigrants - Sarah van Eyndhoven .. (followed by AGM)
27 April: ANZAC DAY substitute day - no lecture
Series 3: MEDICAL
11 May: The happiness of different countries in 2026 - Simon Kemp
18 May: Preventing Strokes,Improving lives and Building a Healthier New Zealand - Jo Lambert
25 May: 'Parkinson's disease: where we are at and the challenges ahead'- Toni Pitcher
Series 4: POLITICS
8 June: Local Democracy: How did we get here and what’s ahead? - Janine Hayward
15 June: Why not Populism? - David Jenkins
22 June: Cina's Foregin Policy from Mao to Now - Nicholas Khoo
Series 5: LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
6 July: Shakespeare's Sonnets - Judith Coullie
13 July: Accents & Assumptions: Why do those people talk funny? - Kevin Watson
20 July: TBC -
Series 6: PLEASURE
3 August: Join the Movement - Sharon Peck
10 August: Humour in Music - Patrick Shepherd
17 August: Divas, Drama & Delight - Rachael Walkinton
Series 7: RELIGION
7 September: Galileo / Science / Religion - Greg Dawes
14 September: The Belief Instinct - Jamin Halberstqadt
21 September: Mythology - Terence Doyle
Series 8: CONSERVATION
5 October: TBC -
12 October: I am a Camera - Max Quinn
19 October: TBC -
Series 9: POTPOURRI
9 November: European Politics - Serena Kelly
16 November: Transatlantic marriages - Maureen Montgomery
23 November: TBC -