Lifelong Learning Niagara is education for the ‘Third Age’

You’re never too old to learn something new. That’s a part of the rationale behind Lifelong Learning Niagara, the organization which hosts guest speakers on a wide variety of topics including health and wellness, technology, the arts and current events, said Joan McCurdy-Myers, board chair for the group.

“It started in 2015 when a group of seniors came together – a small group of seniors – and they had been to some kind of a lecture, and indicated interest in doing it themselves,” she said. “They ran two sort of trial lectures to see what the response would be.”

Those events proved to be a hit and what became Lifelong Learning Niagara was born. Today, the group runs a series of lectures for adults ages 50 and over featuring guest speakers in the fall and winter. Fall events are a mix of in-person and virtual while all winter lectures are virtual and are held via Zoom.

Lifelong Learning Niagara is a part of the Third Age Network, an umbrella organization with chapters throughout Ontario that offer educational programs for older adults.

But just because it’s part of a network geared to seniors, lectures are not just about seniors’ issues, McCurdy-Myers said.

“It’s what’s going on in the world and what may be of interest to the people who typically attend. We try and get across a broad range of topics,” she said. “We try and cover some science which might be medical … and we try and get in some culture history, social issues, political, not in the sense of party political, but political science kinds of things.”

The board for the organization includes people from across Niagara, McCurdy-Myers said.

"We have people from St Catharines, from Niagara Falls, from Grimsby. It’s a mix. But our reach in terms of people who are viewing, it’s from everywhere.”

Steinman agreed, adding that the group has 700 members.

“About 40 per cent are from St Catharines, 15 per cent from Pelham (Fonthill), Welland-Thorold, 10 per cent from (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and five per cent from Niagara Falls.”

Both women said that the programming committee, of which Steinman is a member, will brainstorm ideas for speakers to take part in the series.

“We just had one of our program committee members send a message this morning. Might be a good time to reach out to John Vaillant, author of the book Fire Weather (about the wildfire that swept through Fort McMurray, Alta., back in 2016) so we are keeping current with what’s going on.”

Steinman, of course, was referring to the devastating wildfires currently ravaging southern California near Los Angeles.

The next series of lectures begins next month – registration for the series ends Jan.31 – and will consist of six lectures held Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon starting Feb. 11.

Lectures include:

Feb. 11: Who Owns Outer Space and Why Does It Matter? Featuring Andrew Simon-Butler, Junior Fellow, Outer Space Institute, University of British Columbia.

Feb. 18: It Takes Two: Five Couples Who Transformed the World of Music, featuring Dr. Laura Carlson.

Feb. 25: Jazz in Canada: Canucks Can Swing Too! Featuring Heather Bambrick.

March 4: AI in Health Care: Existential Threat or Adding Value? Featuring Dr. James Tung.

March 11: Innovation in Humanitarian Assistance: Getting the Right Aid to the Right People at the Right Time, featuring Rahul Singh.

March 18: Magical Morocco: Glimpses of Architecture, featuring Shermeen Beg.

Membership for Lifelong Learning Niagara is free while tickets for the lecture series are $70. Tickets can be purchased for individual lectures for $15 each. More information and tickets can be purchased at llniagara.ca.