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Bedford College Classroom. Tutor of WEA Sydney

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Bedford College Reception. Tutor of WEA Sydney

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Dr Howard Bell OAM, LL.M, PhD has taught in the fields of law, business and human rights for over thirty years through TAFE NSW and at community colleges and universities. He has taught social justice, climate change and environmental law at WEA for the past five years. He has also served on the Board of WEA. His deep passion about teaching is clearly apparent from his enthusiastic teaching style. He strongly believes in contributing to lifelong learning in the community.  Howard is a full-time legal practitioner with the NSW State Government and also serves part-time as a Major in the Australian Army. He continues to volunteer extensively in the community through a range of charities and peak bodies. In 2011 as part of the Queens Birthday Honours List, Howard was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to the community through social justice and legal organisations.

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Dr Carmel Bendon is an academic, author and presenter on “all things medieval”. She has a PhD in Medieval Literature and a 1st Class Honours degree in Early English Literature, both from Macquarie University where she was a lecturer in English Literature and Medieval Studies. She is the author of many academic papers and books that include Mysticism and Space (CUA Press, 2008), the novel Grasping at Water (Odyssey Books, 2018) and the creative non-fiction The Mystics Who Came to Dinner (Orbis Books, 2022).

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Inez was born and raised in Germany, obtained a degree in Economics (Diplom-Kauffrau, equivalent to Master in Business Administration) and had a successful international career in marketing and sales, at first based in Germany, later in Australia. She then decided to go back to university to complete a Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Teaching Foreign Language. She also holds a certificate IV in Teaching and Assessment from TAFE NSW. Inez enjoys sharing her language knowledge with learners from a variety of backgrounds and ages in different countries through face to face and online teaching.

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Lanning has over forty years experience as an entrepreneur, banker, musician, author and is a passionate global food traveller. Since the sale of his business in 2015 Lanning has pursed his passion for teaching and education, delivering courses in music and business, culture and history, both here and overseas. Lanning is an author of both fiction and non fiction in music, self help and crime fiction. Lanning has taught at WEA for several years. Lanning also consults to government and other stakeholders on issues concerning retirement and ageing policy and is the author of two books in this area.

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Scott Benning first came into contact with Indian classical music through a curiosity for different musical sounds from around the world. A trip through India brought Scott into closer contact with this music and he eventually moved to the Netherlands where he completed a degree in North Indian Classical music at the Rotterdam Conservatorium.

Here he attended master classes with world-renowned sitar master Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee. Since his return to Australia, Scott has continued his studies with annual trips to India (Kolkata) where he has studied with sitar/surbahar legend Ustad Imrat Khan and a student of master sitarist, Ustad Shahid Parvez.

Scott has taught and performed in Australia and Europe. He has also completed a masters degree in Music Therapy. Scott is passionate about Hindustani music and is keen to share his knowledge with others and instill an appreciation in those wanting to know more about this rich music tradition.

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Jessica graduated with top marks at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, obtaining her Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages in 2014. After an experience as French teacher in Italy, she moved to Australia in 2016. Since then she has started tutoring students learning Italian, children and adults of all levels. She has a strong passion for her mother tongue and always tries her best to pass it down to her students.

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Payal Bhargava has a Master's degree in business administration (MBA) which she completed after her double bachelor's degree in International Business and Journalism.  Having achieved this somewhat unique professional qualification, Payal embarked on a career in publishing where, among other responsibilities, she managed export and licensing of Australian craft design and related content in other countries.  Her work sparked her interest in Crochet as a means for improving mindfulness and as a way for relaxation in a busy corporate world. She now teaches Crochet to others to help them relax, improve focus and for their overall mindfulness. She researches new trends in craft, writes her own patterns and enjoys sharing the joy of crocheting. She uses specific techniques in her teaching of crochet to encourage students to achieve mindfulness. Payal believes crochet ‘stops her from unraveling’ and hopes that students can learn and practice meditative craft techniques through the Crochet.

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Laura Biemmi is a musicologist and oboist from Western Australia. She completed her PhD entitled 'Opera as Sexualwissenschaft: sexology, the ‘third sex’, and the intermediary voice in Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos' in 2023. During the completion of her doctoral studies, she worked as a lecturer and unit coordinator at the University of Western Australia for three years. In addition to her research, Laura has worked as a freelance oboist for a number of professional orchestras and chamber ensembles, and as such has a huge love of music and particularly for all things orchestral and operatic.