Registration starts Monday, Jan. 22, for the many diverse, compelling courses of Third Age Learning at Kwantlen (TALK) this winter/spring.
The themed sessions are reserved for adults 50 years of age or older.
Now 25 years active, TALK is “a participatory learning experience with no quizzes, grades or prerequisites,” explains a post on kpu.ca/talk, where a course brochure is posted as a PDF. “The learning process is lively, full of discussion, controversy, humour, insight and wisdom. In addition to participating in courses, you can become a TALK volunteer.”
Held during daytime hours, the courses cover science, health and wellness, arts and culture, history, travel and more. Fees range from $15 to $25 per session, plus TALK membership of $10.
This winter/spring, nine courses are online (on the Zoom conference platform), and another 17 are held in-person at a KPU campus or as a “field trip” locally.
The 2024 courses kick off Feb. 13 with “The Last Wildlife Control Officer in B.C.,” a chat with Dennis Pemble about his career and memoir, at KPU Langley starting at 10 a.m.
In-person courses at KPU Surrey include “Film Study: Elvis” (an in-depth look at Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic in a two-part session, March 11-12), Dr. Les Ennis on “Tanzania: The people, the animals, and dentistry” (March 20), Linda Quigley’s talk about “Art, Propaganda and the French Revolution” (April 23) and violinist Ellen Farrugia on “The Universal Language of Music” (how music affects our brains and how we communicate with each other and society as a whole, April 30).
Field-trip destinations this winter/spring include Surrey’s Traffic Management Centre (April 9), the B.C. Golf Museum in Vancouver (March 6), Richmond’s Terra Nova Rural Park and Natural Area for bird watching (May 10) and the historic Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Steveston (May 15).
TALK’s online courses start Feb. 21 with “Social Media Manipulation,” followed by sessions focused on “Freedom of Information” (Feb. 29), “Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Photography” (March 5), “What COVID Reveals About Gender/Age Relations” (March 8), “Doukhabors’ History in Canada” (March 19), “Armchair Travel: Scotland” (April 15) and other subjects.
Meantime, KPU-backed Philosophers’ Corner sessions are planned in South Surrey, Langley and Richmond. Topics covered during the 11:30 a.m. sessions in Surrey (at Crescent Gardens, 1222 King George Blvd.) include “Does humour have curative powers?” (Feb. 8), “Ghosts: real or imagined?” (March 14), “Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). Who should qualify?” (April 11) and “Aging and invisibility” (May 9).
TALK membership is not required for the Philosophers’ Corner events, no registration is necessary and sessions are open to people of all ages (first-come, first-served as space permits). There is a drop-in fee of $2 for the Surrey sessions, and participants must pre-order a meal at $18 (soup, main course, coffee/tea and dessert). Email jeangarnett@shaw.ca for more info.