High Renaissance style begins in Rome with Bramante. The aim was monumentality and the emulation of the spatial effects of Imperial Rome. The stage was set for the emergence of two main themes in 16th century architectural style such as “correctness” with the classical past and “inventiveness” verging on eccentricity. The latter is often referred to as “Mannerism”

A SPECIAL WRITERS’ WORKSHOP. This workshop is for those who have ever thought of writing a novel, a memoir, a work of serious non-fiction and getting your work published? Jane, who writes both fiction and school textbooks, will talk participants through getting started, the importance of planning, deadlines and finding a good editor. She will also discuss the various publishing options that exist today and the role of social media

Change Your Default Mode of Thinking for Less Anxiety and Stress and to Create Greater Joy in Life. In this lecture there will be an examination of the steps that can be taken in order to reset one’s negative or sabotaging “default self-dialogue mode” into one that serves that individual and leads to a better quality of life. Doing this will create inner peace, freedom, joy and well-being.

MAJOR CONTROVERSIES.In the U.S.A pupils are taught that the U.S. won its independence against Britain on the battlefield, and that  political and diplomatic considerations were unimportant. How accurate is their patriotic assessment?

The French attempt to build a canal in the 19th Century. The Panama Canal is much more than a fascinating story with new chapters unfolding almost daily. It is a complex engineering structure which has pushed the limits of engineering thinking over the past 150 years.

The American construction, operation and handover at the end of the 20th Century. The Panama Canal is much more than a fascinating story with new chapters unfolding almost daily. It is a complex engineering structure which has pushed the limits of engineering thinking over the past 150 years.

HOW AND WHY A TULIP WAS WORTH MORE THAN A HOUSE – The first recorded financial bubble, ‘tulipmania’, occurred in the Netherlands during the 17th century. Why and how did it happen; why were Spain and the Vatican interested in its tragic outcome? This presentation discusses what happened in Holland between 1635 and 1637, and how a charismatic Genoese merchant may have implemented a Hispano/Vatican conspiracy.

The Panamanian operation and expansion in the 21st Century. The Panama Canal is much more than a fascinating story with new chapters unfolding almost daily. It is a complex engineering structure which has pushed the limits of engineering thinking over the past 150 years.

Knowing how to live in the present without the mind taking one to the past or future with worry, stress, anger, pain, resentment, is one of the mindfulness’s principal goals. 20+ years ago, the Dalai Lama collaborated with neuroscientists to find a method that would help humanity find greater inner peace and well-being.

MAJOR CONTROVERSIES.Some of Britain’s rulers have been portrayed as less than wholly heterosexual, some even as practising homosexuals. How accurate is this portrayal?

Canals are complex engineering structures which balance demands of water and accessibility. To achieve this balance and produce a working canaL engineers have come up with some amazing structures. In this talk the presenter examines how canals work and shows some of structures necessary to achieve this; from James Smeaton in the late 18th century, via Thomas Telford in the Victorian age, though recently restored boat lifts, to the work of present day engineers in solving problems in new and sometimes unique ways.

The talk will cover the subject of scientific change over time; how scientists handle change, especially shifts of such magnitude they might be termed, “Revolutions.”   Some examples of changes from the renaissance to the present day will be used to explain the process science goes through during these periods of change, concluding with how science is dealing with the theory of reincarnation.

This is a review of the work of the most influential architects, Michaelangelo and Palladio. The movement of patrons and architects from Rome to other centres resulted in the rapid diffusion of High Renaissance forms throughout Italy. Examples of the masterpieces of this period of talented architects such as Raphael and others came to influence architecture all over Europe.

This lecture by Philip Crawford, a genealogist and local history researcher, is an anecdotal tour-de-force of the trials and tribulations of applying genealogy in the search for lost beneficiaries to inheritances worldwide.

Psychicism, Healing and Spirituality. The speaker Jan Siggs, is an international Medium, Psychic, Healer and Spiritual Minister. Her journey from early childhood experiences to the amazing discovery of how she was drawn towards Spirituality and in later years developing and learning the art of Healing and becoming a Medium and Psychic.

MAJOR CONTROVERSIES. Brexit is not new. What makes the British not European. It is a long, long time tale awinding.

World-wide there are thousands of British Legion branches. The Legion exists to provide support, assistance and friendship to serving and ex-serving members of HM Armed Forces, their dependants and carers. This talk will outline how the Legion assists its beneficiaries around the world and of course those in the south of Spain.

FORMATION, DEVELOPMENT AND FATE: The traditional model of our solar system formation is “spectacularly wrong”. New models point to a much more turbulent birth and development. What were the drivers of this cataclysmic period? Why is there relatively little terrestrial mass? What do exoplanet studies reveal and, the big question, what happens in the future?

July 2010 UN Resolution 64/292. “ Recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights. In 2009 Bafaluto village received a Water System. It is still providing safe and clean drinking water for 1,700 people. Five other villages followed. Here’s the fascinating story of PING.

About the difficulties to draw the right conclusion from random data.This talk will aim to explain some of the biases (acquired or genetic) in dealing with randomness and the mechanisms by which the brain sees the world as less, far less, random that it actually is. This misperception can lead to misinterpret many events of everyday life in business, economics, politics and other areas of human affairs.

Words are central to being human but people are often unconscious of their impact. This talk examines how thought influences language, how one’s native language shapes thought, and how both affect behaviour. Drawing on art history, semiotics, theories of cognition and her own experience in travelling and living in a variety of countries, writer Joan Burton- Jones explores the interplay between language and thought and what it reveals about national cultures and homo sapiens as a species.

The old ways of living on earth are falling apart as the energies change. A New Age of Enlightenment is beginning and it’s time to “Be the Change”. With topics as diverse as spirit guidance, extra-terrestrial intervention on earth, healing, the shift of consciousness and even the truth about the Loch Ness Monster, there will be something for everyone.

Ismakogie is a training of posture and invisible movement which originated in Vienna, Austria. It is especially for people who don’t like heavy physical exercise, but who still want to be fit and vital, have more energy and always feel fantastic. It is a special way of living to stay fit without a heavy-duty fitness regime.

The Italian campaigns of the French Kings during the Italian Wars encouraged the introduction of a new architectural style. That style was influenced by antiquity through architectural books and later with imported Italian craftsmen.  Therefore Early Renaissance detail was merely grafted on to traditional building types such as Châteaux and Churches with Gothic vaults, in what might be described as a veneer Renaissance.

MEMOIRS BY CARMELLA DIGHT. In order to whet curiosity the talk is entitled: “When Hitler visited my Home” – “What? Hitler visited her home? When, where? Some members would be questioning and doubting. Thus, in order to allay further suspense, the true title of the memoirs is “Bombshells and Butterflies” written under the real name of Karola Feld. Who is Karola? Why not Carmella Dight as known to U3A members? Further confusion would arise, which later in the book would be brought to light.

In this wide ranging presentation author, consultant and academic, Alan Burton-Jones, discusses the emergence of a new form of collaborative, crowd-based capitalism that promises a potential middle road between individualistic capitalism and the communal  lockstep of extreme socialism. Drawing on latest research and examples from around the world he describes key features of the collaborative economy.

The transition from Gothic to Renaissance architecture in Spain took place during the later years of the fifteen century and the first quarter of the sixteen. The period is dominated by a style known as Plateresque meaning ‘silversmith-style’.  It is descriptive of a taste for ornamental surface decoration with no relation to the underlying structure. The Portuguese Manueline style was contemporary with the period of Renaissance Plateresque in Spain.

Canals are a familiar sight around the countryside of Great Britain but the question is why there are so many either meandering along following the shape of the land or rising many metres through complex locks or other structures. This talk examines how canals have developed over the centuries to become the World’s First Integrated Transport System long before railways or anything else known today.

MAJOR CONTROVERSIES. The Continent had a Reformation and sometimes also a Counter-Reformation.  Why didn’t England share either.

MAJOR CONTROVERSIES.’God’s greatest Englishman’ or the Devil Incarnate.  How to justly interpret Britain’s only non-royal ruler?

Architecture in England from 1500 to 1830 did not pass through a chronological sequence of styles as found in the continental Europe. There was an initial delay in the arrival of the Renaissance which makes very difficult to identify architectural styles with specific periods.  For these reasons, several divisions based on the successive dynasties of the Royal family have been retained.

The presenter’s goal is to help people change their lives one minute at a time.“WHEN YOU MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS, YOU MASTER YOUR DESTINY!” Based on the history of people’s emotional experiences, they habitually react to the triggers of the environment 40-45% of the time unless a conscious choice has been made to recognize the patterns and to change them.

Major Controversies. A persistent theme in British history with complicated causes and often less important to the country than emigration.

THE LATEST UPDATES ON SPACE DISCOVERY PROGRAMMES: Space agencies around the world have recently invested $ billions on space and land-based observatories. It can take years to decipher, collate and interpret the data collected. What are the emerging discoveries from these programs and what is in the pipeline for further exploration? How is the resulting view of the Universe changing?

Major Controversies. Why was Britain one of the last of the major powers to grant full equality to its female citizens?

Paddy O’Farrell discusses his books about a village twinned with Shangri La and Brigadoon and the villagers who don’t get out much but when they do create absolute international havoc causing confusion, hilarity and heartaches. He talks about his inspirations, and the trials and tribulations of publishing.

Major Controversies. Why is yet another analysis of Dunkirk needed after all the books and movies there are about it?

In Central Europe Renaissance elements were introduced by native architects around 1510 into largely Gothic buildings, while contact with Italian trading centres, particularly Venice, inspired several examples. The Austrian Habsburgs continued the tradition of importing Italian architects as well as craftsmen and as their power increased they produced magnificent examples of the style.

Major Controversies. Why is history ‘strip-mined’ for drama and the real story ignored?  Is it because the best known writers today are journalists and not historians?

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