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This is a U3A Network open to any U3A but currently members are those resident in the areas, East or West Sussex. The membership comprises 31 U3As who benefit from quarterly meetings at Ringmer & study/away days held across the network usually on a Saturday.
This network together with Central Surrey & Kent Networks form the South East Area Forum Network with an annual events shared by these Networks
Following the re-structuring of U3A national representation into government regions at the 2008 National AGM all three Networks together with the South East Area Forum are part of a larger U3A South East Region which includes the geographic counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, Surrey & Sussex.
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The South East Region Trustee on the National Executive Committee is
Mr Colin Mitchell (Wokingham U3A).
For U3A’s with their own web sites, addresses are shown
on the page Member U3A's
Below is the programme of study days & other events for the Sussex Network. If you want to see the programme of study days for Central Surrey please click here
2010/2011 Study Day Details
Study days marked * are arranged in conjunction with the University of Brighton.
Study days marked ** are arranged in conjunction with the University of Chichester.
Downloadable Study Day Programme/Application Forms
Downloadable study day programme/application forms are available where there is a link under the detail for a particular day. Paper versions will be distributed to U3A representatives as usual – and please be assured that there are no plans to withdraw the paper version.
For Storytelling see the “Workshops” page
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Events Calendar
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Date
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Event
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Venue
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2010
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25th September 2010
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This Study Day is FULL
Pompeii & Herculaneum: Art and History
Leslie Pitcher
In the year 79AD, the ancient Roman city of Pompeii was dramatically buried by a volcanic eruption. This miraculously conserved a wealth of information about their daily life. Using slide illustrations we will study this, together with outstanding examples of Roman of art - mosaics, painting and sculpture.
Leslie Pitcher has done several art history days for us in the past. Pompeii and Herculaneum are his specialist subject.
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Crawley
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2nd October 2010
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Voting systems: is there anything better out there than
first-past-the-post?
Dr Tim Bale
The coalition government is pledged to hold a referendum on the UK’s electoral system. The only alternative on offer in that referendum will be the so-called alternative vote. How does that work and would it make a big difference if we were to choose it? Is it really the best we can do if we want to shake up politics in this country? Or are there other systems used in other countries that we should also think about? This study day aims to take a look around the world to see what options are out there, combining practical insights with normative questions about, for example, the balance between fairness and effective government.
Dr Tim Bale teaches politics at the University of Sussex. He specialises in parties and elections. His most recent books are European Politics: a Comparative Introduction and The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron
For an application form please click here
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Shoreham
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9th October 2010
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Scattered Squalor and Urban Charm:
UK Housing History and Urban Change
Geoff Mead
The wide spectrum of UK housing spans Regency seaside terraces to interwar army huts and obsolete railway carriages. We look at some of these contrasts that make up our housing history.
Geoff Mead has done many study days for us over the years. He was born and bred in Brighton. He attended Sussex University as a mature student gaining a Geography degree, and followed this up with a Master’s degree in Local and Regional History. Since 1996 he has been a Convenor in Local History and Landscape Studies for the Centre for Continuing Education at Sussex University. He is currently submitting a PhD thesis on suburban developments in Brighton
For an application form please click here
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Hastings
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16th October 2010
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Change on the Downs: The Use of our Famous Chalk Landscape from prehistory to Now
Dr Sue Berry
The open and empty downs we see today would surprise many past generations who were accustomed to living there and left a rich legacy of prehistoric remains. Depopulation probably began late in the Middle Ages. As the hamlets and villages disappeared so tracts became popular for leisure hunting and country houses, some of which have also disappeared.
The open aspect became fashionable in the eighteenth century when sea bathing began to change the communities along the coast and then fell out of fashion in the early nineteenth century.
From around 1880 the downs began to be eroded by rapid suburban development and, before 1914 there were campaigns to protect sections. A campaign to save the rural image eventually culminated in the establishment of the South Downs Conservation Board and then, the National Park.
We will explore the rich heritage of this area.
Dr Sue Berry has done several previous study days for us. She is an Associate Lecturer at CCE, University of Sussex and the editor of the Victoria County History for the City of Brighton and Hove (now being written up). She has written about farming and estate management on the downs and it is the subject of her thesis. Sue also wrote Georgian Brighton a classic example of a small downland town, which from the 1780s starts to build up the downs as it prospers.
For an application form please click here
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Pulborough
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23rd October 2010
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HUMOUR WORKSHOP
for further details please see
10:30am - 3:30pm
Cost £5.00
For Application Forms see your U3A REPRESENTATIVE
or contact Nova on novaabrookes@talktalk.com
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Ringmer Village Hall
St Mary’s Room
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30th October 2010
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The History and Culture of the Indian Sub-Contintent
Jak Baksi
This fully illustrated study day will examine the cultures and civilisations of the Indian sub-continent covering 6000 years of history. Starting with the early Indus valley settlements (Mohenjo-daro & Harappa) we will look at successive civilisations right up to modern times, i.e. European occupation and rule and finally modern independent India.
Jayanta Baksi (aka Jak) was born in Calcutta India but has lived most of his life in the UK. He is interested in the symbiotic relationship between music, languages and words, and the visual arts in various cultures and his presentations explore aspects of this. He lives in Lewes and is also a trained classical singer.
For an application form please click here
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Steyning
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13th November 2010
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This Study Day is FULL
The Towner Gallery Art Collection
The Towner Gallery
This varied day will include:
An introduction to the organisation and the building
Talk followed by a tour of the building and galleries – in small groups - with each group guided by a Gallery Assistant.
Tour of the collection stores – in small groups.
A presentation on the history of the Towner collection, the art of Eric Ravilious (at home and at war), contemporary collecting and what purchases are being made with an award of £1 million pounds from Art Fund International.
Free time to explore the collection in more detail
Maximum number 60
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Eastbourne
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20 th November 2010
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Our Geological Heritage
Mick Wright
This well illustrated study day gives a snapshot into how geology has shaped both the landscape and cultural history of selected areas of the British Isles. “A personal view”
Mick Wright teaches at Richmond Upon Thames College and for the Open University. He tutored a very successful study day for us in 2009
For an application form please click here
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Crawley
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4th December 2010
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The Caucasus and the Middle East
Malcolm Haslett and Brian Beeley
A focus on five very different countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Iran) separating Russia from the Arab Middle East, with reference to their impact on the wider contemporary scene - and on why the West should be interested.
Malcolm Haslett has worked for BBC World Service for almost forty years, mainly covering Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In the 1980s, up to and including the Gorbachov years, he headed a small research unit covering Soviet and East European affairs, before moving on to edit a wider World Affairs unit. Since retirement he has continued to work part-time for the Central Asian and Caucasus Service.
Brian Beeley is a retired university academic. He has worked in Turkey (as a research planner) and in Iran (Pahlavi University) and, more recently, as a consultant to the Arab Open University based in Kuwait. Nowadays Brian contemplates the implications for the Mid East and the West of conflicts from the Holy Land to Afghanistan.
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Falmer
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2011
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22nd January 2011
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The Operas of Mozart: Mirrors of the Times
Peter Medhurst
The day will be illustrated with digital images and live musical examples sung and played on the piano.
Mozart’s operas – and in particular the late ones – are part of the standard repertoire of all modern opera companies and are among the most admired of all stage works. However, what is often overlooked is that these works were very much part of the times in which they were written and exhibit the tastes, fears, aspirations and the political motions of Mozart’s world during the 1770s, 80, and 90s. Above all, they are operas of the closing moments of the Enlightenment and mirror the ideals – and the limitations – of a way of thinking that eventually fell victim to its own success. The study day places Mozart’s operas in context, and among other things examines how The Magic Flute came into being by Leopold II’s systematic closing of Masonic Lodges in Vienna in 1791; how the revolutionary message in The Marriage of Figaro caused Mozart’s patrons to fall away one by one; how Don Giovanni is caught up in the late 18th century fascination for the supernatural and the horrific; and how Seraglio is a product of Joseph II’s desire to establish in Austria a national form of entertainment that was – in part – inspired by the success of The Beggar’s Opera in England.
Peter Medhurst studied singing, composition and keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music. He won a scholarship to study Lieder interpretation in Salzburg, and studied the harpsichord with Ruth Dyson. On the concert platform his singing life is divided between oratorio and recital work for British festivals and choral societies, British and European music societies, and the Arts Council. He is well-known as a presenter and lecturer on music and the arts, and travels all over the world giving illustrated talks on a variety of musical subjects. He has undertaken study days sponsored by The Classical Music Company at the South Bank, in London.
Application not yet available
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Crawley
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12th February 2011
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The Bronte Sisters
Geoff Doel
An exploration of three Bronte novels: Wuthering Heights; Jane Eyre; and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - with relevant biographical and cultural background.
Dr Geoff Doel is an associate lecturer in literature with the University of Kent and runs day schools and residential courses for several universities and other organisations. He’s published 13 books and appeared several times on TV including ‘Time Team’.
Application not yet available
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Falmer
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26th February 2011
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20th Century British Sculpture
Graham Whitham
Sculpture in Britain underwent remarkable changes in the 20th century. Through images and discussion, this study day will examine its evolution from conventional representations of the human figure at the beginning of the century, to conceptual work at its close. In between we shall come across the work of some outstanding artists: Epstein; Gaudier-Brzeska; Moore; Hepworth; Caro and Long amongst them.
Well known to us from previous study days, Dr Graham Whitham has a PhD in the History and Theory of Art. He has lectured at the Tate Gallery, the Royal Academy, the University of Sussex and the Open University and is co-author of Teach Yourself Art History and the forthcoming Understanding Contemporary Art.
Application not yet available
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Crowborough
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12th March 2011
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150 years of Entertainment in the Home
From Mechanical Music to Mechanical TV
Ken Tythacott and Jon Weller
This day will be as much a visit to a mobile museum as a study day, as the tutors are bringing a number of historic examples with them.
Using illustrations and actual examples, the tutors will take us through 150 years of the history and development of mechanical music from 1800 to the 20th century, before moving on to the work of John Logie Baird.
Ken Tythacott is a retired Chartered Mechanical and Electrical Engineer who has had a long term interest in the history of technology and industrial history.
Prior to his retirement, Jon Weller ran his own IT consultancy. He has had a lifetime interest in audio, radio and television, and since retirement he has devoted his time to researching the work of John Logie Baird and early television.
Application not yet available
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Pulborough
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19th March 2011
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The Exploration of the Planets
Dr John Mason
South Downs Planetarium
Comfortable aircraft seats enable participants to fully enjoy the Star Theatre Planetarium, which is equipped with both a ‘night sky’ projector and large screen image projectors.
This one-day course, for people with little or no previous knowledge of astronomy, shows how spacecraft have explored the Solar System and helped to unlock the secrets of the planets, their rings and moons. We shall take you from the very first probes to the Moon and planets in the late 1950s and early 1960s, through the great journeys of discovery made by the Mariners, Pioneers and Voyagers, to the recent missions to the Red Planet, Mars, and the ongoing Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. We shall end with a look at space probes to comets, and the New Horizons mission to icy Pluto and beyond.
There is also a small astronomy museum that can be visited during breaks as well as the opportunity to view satellite weather pictures.
Dr John Mason tutored a very successful study day for us in 2009. He has been actively involved in science for over 30 years, with astronomy, astrophysics and space technology as his main interests. He is the Principal Lecturer at the South Downs Planetarium – and is well used to explaining things to those with little or no knowledge of astronomy. He lectures extensively in the UK and overseas and is a frequent broadcaster on radio and television, including BBC TV’s The Sky at Night.
Maximum number 70 - Minimum number 25
Application not yet available
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Chichester
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9th April 2011
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Piano Party
John Hursey and students
Though a CD can offer listeners fine music, live performance is still a unique experience. Come and spend the day being involved in the listening part of live performance with John Hursey and some of his students.
This is a chance also to talk about the mechanics of performance and to learn how to value the best. Invented for a bored Medici prince in the early 18th century, the piano has been the most popular instrument in people’s homes for nearly 200 years. The Day includes music from Beethoven and Chopin to Scot Joplin. No specialist knowledge required – only enthusiasm for music.
John Hursey has tutored many study days for us over the years, and his days are known for being both informative and fun. This time he will be accompanied by some of his very talented students
Application not yet available
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Steyning
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16th April 2011
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Bletchley Park & The Role of Intelligence
Hugh Davies
The Germans were convinced their codes were unbreakable, their experts could prove it by mathematics. So how did we break them, what advantage did it give us and how did we apply those advantages? Is it relevant to Today? It certainly is, because although technology has changed, people have not. We beat the system rather than broke the machine.
Hugh Davies is a guide at Bletchley Park, conducting public tours and giving talks on WW2 Intelligence matters to organisations such as U3A, and he is well used to explaining things to those with little or no technical knowledge. His main field of interest is in the human factor and how what happened 70 years ago is still so relevant today. He spent most of his working life in IT. He founded his own software company to exploit an invention he patented - an invention which won the British Computer Society overall Innovation Award.
Application not yet available
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Chichester
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