Lifelong learners registering for Comox Valley ElderCollege’s popular Winter Lecture Series will now have an additional mode by which to enjoy the long-standing Saturday morning tradition.
Registrants will have the option of getting up close and personal with presenters at the Stan Hagen Theatre or, if circumstances don’t permit that, tuning in via Zoom.
While the biannual Lecture Series is beloved by its attendees almost as much for its coffee and camaraderie as it is for its varied and riveting presentations, organizers realize that sometimes it’s simply not possible to attend in person. Having successfully established the technology for a simulcast pilot during a recent CVEC Information Forum, a team of ElderCollege volunteers have expanded that competency to support a hybrid model of delivery for the forthcoming Lecture Series.
Registration will proceed as usual, with CVEC members registering and paying for the lectures they want to attend, after course registration opens the week of Jan. 23. The last date to register for any particular Saturday lecture will be the previous Monday. Sometime during the week before each lecture, a Zoom link will be sent to everyone who has registered for all or part of the series.
Organizers are encouraging participants to continue to physically attend, in order that both the audience and the presenters benefit from the synergy and magic of the live experience. However, those who find it difficult to attend in-person for health or mobility reasons or by virtue of being out of town can opt in via Zoom instead.
The Winter 2023 CVEC Lecture Series - Herstory: BC Women of Note - features six outstanding women who have made significant contributions to fields as varied as astronomy, indigenous language revitalization, marine science, choral music, and nursing practice. The series runs Saturdays 10 a.m.-noon from Feb. 11 to March 25 (with no lecture on Feb. 18) at the Stan Hagen Theatre of North Island College. Tickets are $36 for the series or $6 per lecture. Those who have missed registering for a particular lecture that they wish to attend, can show up at the theatre on that Saturday and pay a $10 cash admission.
Here is some background information on each of the presenters and their topics:
Sarah Crowe (Feb. 11)
Nurse Practitioner on the COVID Frontline: Insights and Perspectives
Sarah Crowe is an adjunct professor at UBC School of Nursing, and a nurse practitioner in critical care. She researches the improvement of patient outcomes in ICU, advanced care for the chronically critically ill, and the impacts of a pandemic on the mental well-being of nurses.
Fiona Blackburn (Feb. 25)
Giving Voice: Six Decades of Singing
Fiona Blackburn is a music educator, choral director, performer and recording artist. She has been an adjunct professor at UBC, the founding director of the BC Girls Choir, and a performer with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and Vancouver Opera.
Tłakwama’ogwa Sara Child (March 4)
Exploring Language Leadership Through a Localized Lens
Tłakwama’ogwa Sara Child is a leading educator instrumental in developing numerous indigenous language courses. Her language revitalization project - the Sayakola Project - brings together students and staff at NIC in a holistic learning environment.
Verena Tunnicliffe (March 11)
The Deep Ocean: Life in Our Last Wilderness
Verena Tunnicliffe researched ecology and evolution of seafloor ecosystems at the University of Victoria for 38 years. She helped to develop technologies to enable deep sea exploration, served as director of the VENUS Observatory for 10 years, and was part of expeditions that discovered hot vent areas in oceans around the world.
Sally Thorne (March 18)
A Nursing Perspective on the Evolving Context of MAID
Sally Thorne is a professor and former director of the School of Nursing and the associate dean of applied science at UBC. A researcher in the field of patient experience in chronic illness and cancer, her recent focus has been nursing practice in the context of patients and families considering medical assistance in dying.
Brenda Matthews (March 25)
Planet Formation with ALMA
Dr. Matthews is an astronomer with the Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre. She is an expert in infrared and submillimetre-wavelength astronomy, and studies the disks surrounding young and old stars, which trace the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
For more information visit nic.bc.ca/CVEC