Course Synopsis - First Semester 2015 FIRST Session 9:00 - 10:30 am Wendy Summers THE JOY OF SINGING HOW LUCKY ARE WE?…For those who have been enjoying the "Joy of Singing" with Nicky de Hoog in the past years, we have now been successful in engaging Wendy Summers as Nicki is not able to lead our singers again. Wendy Summers has been singing since before she was born! Her Mother was an opera singer and sang in many productions and made many radio broadcasts, so music has always been in Wendy's life. She played flute and sang in productions as a young adult and, more recently, has been singing with the Mandurah City Choral Society. Wendy has an interest in a wide variety of music and, with a background in health and psychology, Wendy knows only too well the value of music, and especially singing, in both physical and mental wellbeing. If you have never sung before, she will be able to take you through the basics of breathing, voice production and singing in tune so that you will be happily singing in no time. There is sure to be something for everyone, including much laughter and great tunes! Teena Raffa-Mulligan CREATIVE WRITING Be inspired by these fun, informal sessions and discover your potential as a writer. The Write Direction encourages you to venture into the world of the imagination and explore the territory of your creative self. Tour the areas of fact, fantasy and fiction in these creative writing sessions with a focus on individual expression and the voice of the heart. Every session includes activities to stimulate the imagination and improve writing practice, along with practical information and advice. Find out where writers get ideas and gain an insight into the writing process from first draft to publication. All sessions are tailored to individual group requirements and include a question time segment. No experience is necessary, just pack pen, paper and enthusiasm to join the journey. Teena has had a long career in journalism and is the author of eight children’s books plus many short stories and poems for children and adults. She has been presenting talks and workshops to all age groups ever since the release of her stranger danger picture book in 1981. Her aim is to enthuse people of all ages about books and writing, inspire them to explore their creative abilities and encourage them to have a go at producing their own stories. “When presenting writing sessions for adults, I don’t see myself as teaching participants how to write but rather sharing a creative experience with them in an atmosphere of trust and support.” SECOND Session 11:00 - 12:30 pm Peter Reynolds AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTERS 1901 - 2013 This unit will examine the roles and policies of over twenty-five prime ministers within the context of the political and economic development of the new nation, - the first modern nation founded after the industrial revolution, which was itself only the second great revolution in human history. Peter has a long history of lecturing to MALA audiences, both in Perth and Mandurah. He has been enthusiastically received in whatever topic he has presented. Come and enjoy the knowledge of our history and, more particularly, of the individuals who have made a large contribution to our development of this nation in the relatively short span of our history. Meera Finnigan PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS This course in Philosophy will explore t he ideas of some of the greatest thinkers in the Western world - from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle to Descartes (I think therefore I am), Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Frederich Nietzsche, John Paul Sartre and many more. We will see that even though we all have a personal philosophy that shapes everything we believe and do, it is intellectually stimulating and enlivening to consider broader philosophies that can give us other frameworks for seeing ourselves, each other, and the world in which we live; often giving us fresh and liberating ways of thinking, acting and being. It is a course for everyone with an interest in philosophy and is designed to be enjoyable and easy to understand. Around 350 BC, Aristotle said “Philosophy begins with wonder”, and so it is from this beginning that we will explore the big questions in life. THIRD Session 1:30 - 3:00pm Chris Meredith DNA DETECTIVES WEAR MANY HATS Individual identification - tracking down dangerous criminals, social killers, sexual predators and naughty politicians; cold case investigations. Family and genealogical relationships; mass disaster victims; paternity issues; finding Ned Kelly’s skeleton in an axe box; Duke of Edinburgh and the enduring mystery of Anastasia Romanov; the unknown child of the Titanic; Oetzi the Iceman; Genghis Kahn's lineage; Mitochondrial Eve and her daughters. Human disease genes - their discovery, testing and genetic therapy; cancer as a genetic disease. DNA, the definitive forensic evidence for evolution - our battle-scarred genome; fossil genes; how DNA makes the fittest; the conservation of genes and adaptive solutions across species. Printed courtesy of the office of Hon. Alanna Clohesy MLC