Upcoming Events
Philosophers' Café | May 8
Is the United Nations Organisation Still Relevant?
The United Nations Organisation (UNO) began its existence after the end of World War 2, and has been an important factor in international life ever since. How successful (or otherwise) has it been in resolving international disputes? How has the veto in the Security Council affected its effectiveness and the perception of its fairness and equality? Does it need changing, and if so, how?
The Philosopher’s Cafés will be held in the Club Room in Tapestry at Wesbrook Village from 11:00am.
Coffee and tea will be offered by Tapestry. You may reserve to have lunch at Tapestry after the Café by calling (604) 225-5000 or by checking in with the front desk before the Café.
General Meeting | May 15
Join us at our Annual General Meeting of the 2023-2024 year.
JWST: A successor to Hubble? No, it is so much more.
with Dr. Jeremy Heyl, Head of UBC Physics and Astronomy
On Christmas Day 2021, astronomers received a long awaited gift, the launch of the most ambitious and expensive science experiment: the James Webb Space Telescope. I will describe the launch and deployment of JWST to the second Lagrange point (L2), the capabilities of JWST and some recent discoveries from the mission. My team was fortunate to be awarded time in the first year of JWST operations and again for next year. Our first program was to search for evidence of planets in the ancient and metal-poor cluster of stars, 47 Tucanae. Next years' program follows this up with two more clusters (Terzan 5 and Liller 1) by taking a movie of each cluster to look for stars with planets and stars losing mass to unseen companions.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Heyl has published over 200 research papers on topics ranging from quantum field theory and cosmology to high-energy and stellar astrophysics. He studied at Princeton, Durham, Cambridge and Santa Cruz and worked at Caltech and Harvard. He joined the UBC faculty in 2003 and became the head of physics and astronomy at UBC in 2024. He is an expert on stellar evolution and especially stellar remnants, such as white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. With his students, he measured for the first time the cooling of both typical white dwarfs and massive dwarfs, the mass-loss of solar-mass stars in globular clusters, the evolutionary timescale of blue straggler stars and the effects of vacuum birefringence on the polarization of light. All of these projects have required the combination of theoretical insights (and calculations) with innovative statistical techniques to understand the astrophysical datasets.
Schedule - TBC:
1:00 - 1:30 pm Coffee and tea
1:30 - 2:00 pm Business Meeting
2:00 - 3:00 pm Speaker
3:00 - 3:30 pm Q&A
Location:
Ponderosa Commons Ballroom, located in Oak House
Enter across from Harvest Market and continue to lower level
Stairs and elevator available
6445 University Blvd
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z2
Parking: The closest parking is either UBC West Parkade (2140 Lower Mall) or Fraser River Parkade (6440 Memorial Rd).
Please note this is an in-person event. A recording will be made available on the Emeritus College YouTube page after the event but there will be no hybrid option.
Wednesday, 15 May 2024 - 1:00pmTravel Group | May 16
Nice, France and environs
with Paul Steinbok, Professor Emeritus, Surgery
At the end of a cruise down the Rhone river, from Avignon we went to Nice for a week. We enjoyed the city’s historic walking areas, the beach, the beautiful vistas and museums, especially the Marc Chagall National Museum. On day trips by train and by car, we explored other sites on the French Riviera and in the adjacent mountains. On the coast, we visited Villefrance-sur-Mer, Villa Ephrussi and gardens, Antibes and Menton and in the mountains, Valbone, Gourdon,Tourettes-sur-Loup, Eze and Dolceaqua, across the border in Italy. It was wonderful mix of activities, sights and food.
Format: Zoom
If you wish to receive the zoom link for the meeting and are not already on the EC Travel group list, please contact Paul Steinbok at psteinbok@cw.bc.ca.
A zoom link will be sent out before each meeting.
Thursday, 16 May 2024 - 3:00pmCURAC Annual National Conference | May 22 - 24
THE 2024 CURAC National Conference
“Thriving in Retirement” is the theme for the CURAC 2024 National Conference, hosted by the University of Waterloo Retirees Association. The conference aims to provide retirees (and the soon-to-retire) with useful and practical information in key areas:
- Health and wellness
- Housing options
- Services for seniors
- Finance
- Recreation and leisure
- Safety and security
Don’t just survive in retirement; thrive in retirement!
Wednesday, 22 May 2024 - 9:30am to Friday, 24 May 2024 - 1:00pmPhoto Group | May 24
Theme: Windows
As always, you can send photos on other themes, and the photos can be recent (preferred!) or from your catalog.
Please send two photos to Richard Spencer on this theme (or your choice) before the meeting.
If you would like to join, please contact Richard Spencer at richard@rhspencer.ca for Zoom details
Check out the Photo Group’s Flickr account to view photos from their last meeting.
Friday, 24 May 2024 - 3:00pmUBC Okanagan Meeting | June 5
Join us for a Special Meeting with Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon. Dr. Bacon will meet with members of the Emeritus College on the Okanagan campus and give a short presentation on his journey to UBC, what he sees for the future of UBC and where Emeriti fit in.
Paul Harrison, Emeritus College Principal, will also be in attendance to discuss the benefits of the Emeritus College and how members living in the Okanagan can access all that the Emeritus College has to offer.
Finally, we hope to discuss ideas for expansion of the UBC Emeritus College special interest groups for those living in the Okanagan. Currently there is a UBC-O Outdoor Activities Group but any new ideas will be most welcome!
Please note this is an in-person event.
Wednesday, 5 June 2024 - 9:00am