Learning in Depth with a U3A Mini Series
Several times throughout the year U3A brings in a guest lecturer to run a mini series. An example of a recent lecture series is below.
Usually, on a Monday, over a period of three or four weeks the lectures run for 90 minutes. It is a casual and friendly format with a question time at the end. Class size is limited so early registration is recommended. You must be a current U3A member to attend and there is a small registration fee.
The Peter Dornauf Lecture Series - November 2026
This is the last Series for the year. Numbers will be capped at 55.
TIME AND TIME AGAIN
Just as the telescopes blew the lid off the comfortable parameters of space we once lived inside, so the scientists have pushed open the gates and exposed us to the eons of ages that disappear behind us and loom in front of us. We are mere dots in the chronology of time.
Subsequently we have had to adjust to these massive changes in the co-ordinates of our existence.
This series will track that journey and trace in literary, artistic and philosophical works, the history of that unsettling and/or exciting experience.
Details of the August Series:
Mondays 9th, 16th and 23rd August
10.30 – 12.00
The Union Church, Queen Street, Cambridge
Cost : $30 dollars for the total of three lectures.
Lecture Two
TIME IN A LINEAR COSMOS
The introduction of linear time. Time has a beginning and an ending. It began, miraculously, not too long ago and moves forward in a relatively straight line from its original starting point. It will not go on forever or circle round. There is a definitive plan working itself out in the universe.
Lecture Three
MODERN TIMES
Geology, the fossil record and radiometric dating, have forced us to reconsider the nature of time : its gargantuan dimensions, where we fit into the process and how we come to terms with the fact. Modern artists, writers and thinkers have pondered these issues and responded in various ways to these new, unsettling realities.
Peter Dornauf - Lecturer
Peter Dornauf (MA, Dip Tchg) has taught in secondary schools, Wintec and Waikato University collectively for over 25 years. He is a well known Waikato artist, art critic and a writer of poetry, fiction and non-fiction and general academic. Peter presents lectures on art and architecture, philosophy and literature. His talks always draw on his broad knowledge of the classics and history, legends and literature. Peter is able to make the most complex ideas accessible and his lectures are always stimulating and thought provoking.