Public Lectures at the University of York

Every term, the University organises free public lectures on a wide variety of topics and aimed at a general audience. Some require tickets (available from the Communications Office) but most do not. Where tickets are needed, this is indicated in the publicity.
We distribute information on upcoming lectures to interested members of the public at the start of each academic term (October, January and April). If you would like to receive a free copy of this leaflet either by email or by post, please join our mailing list. Updated lecture details are also available here on our web pages. As they are updated frequently, they may publicise lectures which we were unable to include in the leaflet.
If you have an accessibility need, please contact us at publiclectures@york.ac.uk or 01904 432622, and we will make every effort to accommodate you.
Upcoming events
The Internet, Web 2.0 and 'having your say'
The development, uptake and use of new digital technologies raises the interesting question “To what extent can, or indeed should, we make use of the technologies to assist in the collaborative development of government policies?”
Toleration, self-expression and communication
Does toleration demand more than indifference to what others do and say? If so tolerating what they say is rather easy: we can simply ignore it. This minimal view makes sense if freedom of speech is no more than freedom of expression. Why should it be hard to tolerate self-expression, unless it has further, harmful effects? But if we think of speech as communication, and not merely self expression, we must see it as intrinsically audience directed, and aiming to reach and affect others. On this view toleration may be harder, and may require us to grasp and respond to unwelcome, offensive, even dangerous speech—whether or not it has 'further' effects.
Life-saving chemistry
Professor Smith will give this year's Merchant Adventurers' Science Discovery Lecture.