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Open lectures: Autumn term 2019

Every term, the University organises free open lectures on a wide variety of topics and aimed at a general audience.

Most require tickets (available on individual event pages) but some do not. Where tickets are needed, this is also indicated in the publicity.

Upcoming events

There are no events to show here right now. Please check back another time.

Past events

Wednesday 11 December 2019 6pm

How can we explain the rise of populism, and how do recent waves of populism across Europe and Latin America differ from what we've seen in the past?

Thursday 5 December 2019 7.30pm

Following the flood damage to Tadcaster Bridge and later flood damage in Swaledale, David will explain the measures taken to repair the bridges and reinstate the highway...

Thursday 5 December 2019 2pm

Valuing benefits represents one of the greatest challenges facing health economists...

Wednesday 4 December 2019 1.30pm

Join expert Library and Archives staff for a look through our Christmas related collections

Wednesday 4 December 2019 1.15pm

This public lecture will look at the economics that underpins city performance and discuss the policy challenges that cities face

Tuesday 3 December 2019 7pm

A colourful Christmas demonstration lecture filled with spectacular chemical changes. Highlights to include Charles’ law illustrated by helium filled balloons, home-made vanilla and brandy ice cream, and flaming methane bubbles

Monday 2 December 2019 1pm

Join the Department of Biology for a fascinating York Biology Lecture on DNA

Friday 29 November 2019 1.15pm

Experts discuss how they are trying to find solutions to the climate emergency

Thursday 28 November 2019 6.30pm

Dr Paul Wordsworth presents the final lecture in this term's series for the York Islamic Art Circle

Thursday 28 November 2019 6.30pm

Is neoclassical growth theory dead? Why have the biggest industrial economies stagnated since the financial crisis?

Thursday 28 November 2019 6pm

The Equality and Diversity Office present the Disability History Month Lecture

Wednesday 27 November 2019 1.30pm

The Library & Archives hold many collections relating to the history of entertainment...

Thursday 21 November 2019 6.30pm

Emilie Pine’s Notes to Self investigates and challenges society's assumptions around pain, strength, resilience and identity, ultimately embracing joy and hope in the business of living

Thursday 21 November 2019 2.30pm

Masterclass Guest Lecture by Calvert Markham.

Wednesday 20 November 2019 5pm

Adam Phillips returns for his Autumn term lecture

Wednesday 20 November 2019 1.30pm

Come and see some of the Library & Archives collections on the theme of music … and also something more!

Tuesday 19 November 2019 6.30pm

Ian Foxley recounts his story of whistleblowing, its impact, and the political, philosophical, economic and legal implications of his experience

Friday 15 November 2019 1pm

Rukshana Kapali’s talk will address what it is like to live in Nepal as a queer person and how she and others within the movement disagree that the country is progressive

Thursday 14 November 2019 6.30pm

Dr Annabel Teh Gallop from the British Library talks about seals from Asia

Wednesday 13 November 2019 7.30pm

Bryce will present stories from both his own research and others about how scientists, conservationists and coastal communities are slowly turning the tide

Wednesday 13 November 2019 6.30pm

Loneliness is talked about as a “mental health crisis” in the 21st century, but its history has been neglected...

Wednesday 13 November 2019 4.30pm

Masterclass Guest Lecture by Edward Naylor.

Wednesday 13 November 2019 3.30pm

Dr Sethina Watson discusses Walter de Gray

Wednesday 13 November 2019 1.30pm

Drop in and take a look at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies collection

Tuesday 12 November 2019 7pm

Ghosts aren’t a key part in many supernatural medieval tales – but that doesn’t mean the dead don’t feature!

Tuesday 12 November 2019 7pm

A presentation of value to anyone with an interest in sport, business and the value of strategy, people management, teamwork, and planning for success

Friday 8 November 2019 6.30pm

Population growth, climate change and environmental degradation are just some of the challenges facing communities around the world over the coming decades...

Friday 8 November 2019 3pm

Sergei Nikitin describes the difficulties experienced by human rights defenders in Russia including police harassment and the attempted closure of the Amnesty office

Thursday 7 November 2019 7.30pm

This talk brings together TV history in the UK, recollections of the collapse in 1969 and the solutions.

Thursday 7 November 2019 7pm

What does the sleeping brain look like? Why do we sleep for a third of our lives? How does sleep support health and academic performance?

Thursday 7 November 2019 6.30pm

The Stockholm Environment Institute’s York Centre invites you to look back at some of its achievements over the last 30 years

Wednesday 6 November 2019 6.30pm

Robin's father, Max Perutz, is best known for his work on the structure of proteins but he had a sideline: glaciers...

Wednesday 6 November 2019 6.30pm

The signing of the 2016 peace agreement in Colombia made international headlines, but what happened next?

Wednesday 6 November 2019 4pm

Gentrification has long been addressed as a class remaking of the city led by the state.

Wednesday 6 November 2019 1.30pm

Chapbooks are small booklets produced for children. The University of York has some rare and unique items from York printer James Kendrew that are over 200 years old...

Tuesday 5 November 2019 6.30pm

The York Union, in partnership with The University of York Labour Club, warmly invite you to attend their first debate of the term

Tuesday 5 November 2019 12pm

This seminar will involve former smallpox eradicators and historians to present a multi-faceted and nuanced view of this eradication, and the socio-cultural contexts that made the eradication dream a reality

Monday 4 November 2019 6.30pm

Come and hear examples of ways in which you can shape and collaborate on exciting research taking place at the University of York

Monday 4 November 2019 6pm

Participants in this interactive event will consider the role of economics, trade, global development and domestic politics as they work together to develop a plan to combat climate change!

Friday 1 November 2019 6pm

Gavin Wood shall be providing a talk on all things Ethereum, blockchain and Smart Contracts!

Friday 1 November 2019 1pm

Betty Abah will discuss her work as a child rights advocate in Nigeria and the risks it brings with it

Thursday 31 October 2019 6.30pm

York Islamic Art Circle present a talk on new discoveries in Abbasid-Chinese ceramics

Wednesday 30 October 2019 3pm

Dr James Harriman-Smith looks at teaching eighteenth-century material in the twenty-first century

Wednesday 30 October 2019 1.30pm

From manuscript to printed to digital, the technological journey of the book can be mapped through the collections of the Library & Archives at the University of York

Tuesday 29 October 2019 6.30pm

Distinguished journalist and author Peter Hitches discusses the case against the legalisation of cannabis

Monday 28 October 2019 7pm

With basic geographic data lacking in many low income countries, Andy explores how cell phone and satellite technologies offer new ways to help achieve and monitor the Sustainable Development Goals

Monday 28 October 2019 7pm

This talk will examine the medieval clothier, and his (or occasionally her) work in both the making and marketing of cloth

Friday 25 October 2019 6pm

The York Blockchain and Innovation Society and the Northern Blockchain Group are excited to bring together a fantastic panel of speakers!

Friday 25 October 2019 2pm

A discussion of the social, cultural, emotional and medical meanings and associations of faces, facial transplants, and identity,

Thursday 24 October 2019 5.30pm

In this lecture, Dr Paul Dryburgh introduces one of the most calamitous but least known battles of the Anglo-Scots wars in its 700th-anniversary year

Thursday 24 October 2019 5.30pm

Professor Hylton brings a voice to the sociology of sport and leisure that reflects an intricate engagement with, and commitment to challenge, the endemic issues that mark race relations in the UK

Wednesday 23 October 2019 7pm

Barbara investigates MI9’s wartime escape and evasion mapping programme, including how maps were smuggled to prisoners and how they helped orchestrate some of the most famous escapes in history

Tuesday 22 October 2019 6.30pm

Henrice Altink talks about 'colourism' in Jamaica

Friday 18 October 2019 1pm

Find out why Brazil is possibly the most dangerous country for human rights defenders (HRDs) in the world

Thursday 17 October 2019 6.15pm

Martin Hägglund will give a short reading from his book 'This Life', followed by a dialogue with Dr Adam Kelly from York’s Department of English, a Q & A with the audience, and a book signing

Thursday 17 October 2019 6.15pm

Dr Sania Nishtar discusses health systems financing models

Wednesday 16 October 2019 6.15pm

The emergence of “fake news” along with sophisticated techniques using machine learning to create realistic looking media such as DeepFakes, has led to a renewed interest in digital media forensics...

Wednesday 16 October 2019 1.30pm

Masterclass Guest Lecture by Philip Newborough.

Tuesday 15 October 2019 7pm

Hear about Richard's trek along the Slovenia Mountain Trail. A 600km trail capturing more than just mountains and scenery, but a place of understanding

Tuesday 15 October 2019 6.30pm

The first in this term's York Islamic Art Circle talks

Tuesday 15 October 2019 5.30pm

Discover more about the long, curious and problematic history of comparisons between the voyaging cultures of the Polynesians and the Viking-Age Scandinavians

Monday 14 October 2019 5pm

Carrie Gracie talks about the fight for equal pay, from a personal perspective, along with case studies and interviews

Thursday 10 October 2019 8pm

The Jacobean playhouses produced the finest line-up of playwrights the English stage has ever seen...

Thursday 10 October 2019 6.30pm

Kavita Puri talks about her work preserving the stories of South Asians who were once subjects of the British Raj

Wednesday 9 October 2019 8pm

The Jacobean playhouses produced the finest line-up of playwrights the English stage has ever seen...

Wednesday 9 October 2019 6.30pm

Do digital technologies have an impact on our health, relationships and society?

Tuesday 8 October 2019 6.30pm

Celeste-Marie Bernier discusses how the whole Douglass family played a vital role in the freedom struggles of Frederick Douglass

Tuesday 8 October 2019 6.30pm

Presented by The York Union, guest speaker Matjaz Vidmar (University of Edinburgh) commemorates the United Nations World Space Week in this talk on the past, present and future of space exploration.

Tuesday 8 October 2019 9am

The University of York welcomes REAL's international travelling exhibition on Climate Change for an interactive one-month stay in our JB Morrell Library

Friday 4 October 2019 4pm

Dr Sam Hellmuth talks about the intonation of the York accent

Thursday 3 October 2019 7.30pm

Join Steve Saunders from Arup to discover what is energy storage and why it is so important as we move into more greener energy

Thursday 3 October 2019 6.30pm

Will Brexit boost jobs? Or wreck the NHS? And what about food shortages? Gavin Esler answers questions on Brexit without the bullshit

Friday 20 September 2019 1pm

The University marks Global Climate Strike Day with a talk from experts in Green Chemistry