Open lectures: Spring term 2019
Every term, the University organises free open lectures on a wide variety of topics and aimed at a general audience.
Some require tickets (available on individual event pages) but most do not. Where tickets are needed, this is also indicated in the publicity.
Upcoming events
Past events
-
Train of thought
A brief presentation on the history and railway structures of the Whitby - Pickering Line, 1836 – present day
-
Writing a philosopher’s life: The case of George Berkeley
This lecture will consider some of the challenges of writing the biography of a philosopher, focusing on George Berkeley (1685-1753)
-
POSTPONED: Communities for Health in Africa
This seminar focuses on the role of communities for health in Africa, drawing on examples from Zimbabwe and Malawi in particular
-
Smoking cessation and tobacco control throughout the ages
Professor Keir Lewis provides a lively and fascinating insight into smoking cessation and tobacco control through the ages
-
The creation and expansion of the worldwide smallpox eradication programme
In this seminar, our panelists will focus on the smallpox control programmes operating in the 1950s and 1960s, with particular reference to China, Nepal, Brazil and India
-
Serendipitous Science: Accidental discoveries that changed the world
Dr Annie Hodgson talks about accidental scientific discoveries
-
POSTPONED - Journeys into sport
Beth and Mo will share their RaceRunning stories and Beth will also cover her involvement in Boccia
-
Wonders on Wednesday
Join expert Library and Archive staff to learn more about the wonderful, often remarkable, stories that the University's collections can tell
-
Through the looking glass, and what amino acids found there
Dr Kirsty Penkman discusses how analysing proteins from fossils can take us back in time
-
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
Professor David W Blight discusses his brand new landmark biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
-
Regulations around Blockchain in Industry
Six distinguished speakers in the Blockchain space discuss and debate the regulations around Blockchain and it's applications in industry
-
Displaying the Bayeux Tapestry, now and then
Professor Christopher Norton discusses the Bayeux Tapestry
-
Book Launch: #YearningForJustice
Join us for the launch of visiting Fellow Han Hui Hui's book, #YearningForJustice : A mother's musings to her future child. At the launch we will also hear from guest speaker Leong Sze Hian
-
On the Front Line: Creative Activism
The Centre for Applied Human Rights participates in this year's York International Women's Week with an afternoon of music and visual arts exploring creative activism
-
Walking amongst the dead: The York Death and Culture walk
Wherever you walk in the ancient walled city of York you are never too far away from the deceased...
-
International Women’s Day panel discussion
The discussion will focus on women and human rights in Zimbabwe
-
The Thames tideway scheme
James will give an overview of the Thames Tideway project, together with a more detailed look at the challenges faced by the Arup Atkins team working on the design of the Western Section between Acton and Wandsworth
-
Sex Robots: A sign of an attachment crisis
Why is loneliness and human disconnection one of the biggest problems facing modern society?
-
Melancholia and the third age
Professor Simon Gilbody discusses melancholia in the beautiful setting of the Merchant Adventurers' Hall
-
Wonders on Wednesday
Join expert Library and Archive staff to learn more about the wonderful, often remarkable, stories that the University's collections can tell
-
Air pollution: Local contexts, universal effects
This seminar will examine the cultural drivers of increased air pollution and state and community-based responses to the problem
-
Language comprehension in children with autism disorder
The last in the series of seminars looking at psychology in education
-
Executions in Belarus: Conveyor of death in the heart of Europe
How do we put an end to capital punishment?
-
Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? And why?
Today’s antipathy toward wolves has a very long history, but it hasn’t always been this way
-
Telling Feminist Stories
What feminism means to us locally and around the world
-
Why believe that there is a God?
In this talk, Professor Swinburne will examine some reasons for believing that there is a God
-
The Weight of Expectation comic launch: Illustrating how obesity stigma gets under the skin
The launch of The World of Expectation comic which tells the story of how stigma associated with bodyweight and size gets under the skin and is felt in the flesh
-
Engaging with armed groups to enhance their respect of humanitarian norms: Mission impossible?
Ezequiel will speak about his experiences of engaging a variety of non-state armed groups in humanitarian dialogue, the successes of such work, as well as the challenges
-
Obesity, stigma and reflexive embodiment: Feeling (and illustrating) the “weight” of expectations
Oli Williams and Ellen Annandale discuss the effects of obesity stigma
-
Wonders on Wednesday
Join expert Library and Archive staff to learn more about the wonderful, often remarkable, stories that the University's collections can tell
-
“Ring out your bells”: Popular music from Tudor England
A lecture recital on Tudor music, performed on replica Tudor musical instruments, to include Renaissance lute, wheel fiddle (hurdy gurdy), recorders, and dulcimer, as well as songs to the accompaniment of the lute.
-
Vicky Bond: The Humane League
Vicky will be talking about the need for effective animal advocacy in a world where over 50 billion land animals are slaughtered for food each year
-
Materials from the margins: A Seljuk horizon and pre-Mongol ‘globalism’
This lecture will discuss a range of materials from regions that lay on the peripheries of the Islamic world from 1150 to 1250
-
The bitter future for coffee: Challenges in a changing world
Professor Rob Marchant looks at the challenges facing coffee-growers
-
Convenient bedfellows: Economists, politicians and the creation of a new political economy of health
Has health economics been used as a rationale for politically risky health policies?
-
The importance of being listened to: Epistemic justice, children and mental illness
Edward Harcourt has been a member of the Oxford Philosophy Faculty and a Fellow of Keble College since 2005.
-
Wonders on Wednesday
Join expert Library and Archive staff to learn more about the wonderful, often remarkable, stories that the University's collections can tell
-
Memory, Emotion and Truth: The Posthumous Trial of Joan of Arc
This lecture will re-evaluate the reliability of witness statements in reconstructing the story of Joan of Arc
-
The pitfalls of Uganda’s 32-year political dynasty on civic space
Johncation will talk about defending human rights in Uganda today under one man’s 32-year military dictatorship.
-
Climate change, health impacts and health and social inequalities in the UK
Professor Jouni Paavola looks at the health impacts of climate change in this fascinating lecture
-
Amor Mundi: Documentary, contemporary art and the descriptive power of lens-based capture
What if capturing the surfaces of physical reality were not conceived as a superficial act, devoid of creativity, but as an ethics of attunement, able to reconnect us to a sense of a shared world?
-
Plastic in our oceans: Who are the biggest culprits?
Josh Milburn discusses plastic pollution and the impact of the fishing industry on our oceans
-
Spatial justice and the struggle for housing rights: The Vila Acaba Mundo case
A discussion about the possibilities and limits of housing public policies in the context of extreme poverty
-
Wonders on Wednesday
Join expert Library and Archive staff to learn more about the wonderful, often remarkable, stories that the University's collections can tell
-
The poetics of retreat: Meditation and space at the shrine in Mahan
A discussion on the fifteenth-century shrine of the Sufi-poet Shah Ni’matullah-e Wali
-
Brexit, a new twist in the debate about electoral reform?
What has really been the impact on public attitudes towards Brexit over the last 3 years? And what does Brexit mean for Britain's electoral future?
-
Sustainable Architecture with Native Architects
Do we really need to rely on highly polluting, energy intensive materials like concrete, or imported building products such as plastic insulations, when we have a viable alternative growing in the field down the road?
-
Resisting the kingdom of fear
Ameen Nemer talks about contemporary human rights in his home country of Saudi Arabia
-
Sustainable Materials: The new black
A research symposium featuring a range of speakers talking about their research into sustainable materials and innovative alternatives for currently used single use or unsustainable products
-
Should we be worried about indoor air pollution?
Dr Nic Carslaw talks about indoor air pollution
-
From scarcity to abundance: How water resource management can contribute to cooperation and stability in the Middle East
The first talk in a new series from the Department of Environment and Geography
-
Dark Matters
Professor Silk will describe the dark side of the Universe, how we measure it, and why it matters.
-
On attention-seeking
Adam Phillips discusses attention-seeking
-
Going probiotic: The turn to life in human and environmental health
To date the Anthropocene has been an antibiotic epoch, marked by systematic (if patchy) efforts to eradicate, control, and rationalise life...
-
Wonders on Wednesday
Join expert Library and Archive staff to learn more about the wonderful, often remarkable, stories that the University's collections can tell
-
Protecting Human Rights in Kazakhstan
A visiting human rights defender from Kazakhstan will speak about some of the many issues defenders face in their daily work
-
Conspiracy Theory: A Lizards Tale by Marlon Solomon
Marlon's a Jew. This didn't bother him much until he realised that some people he knew didn't believe the Holocaust happened. A darkly comic take of one man's journey through the conspiracy underworld...
-
A private rebellion: Indian painting in the Qajar court of the nineteenth century
A talk exploring the so-called Nasir al-Din Shah Album, currently held at the Golestan Palace Library in Tehran
-
Squatting London: A history of the present
This talk looks at the links between the history of squatting in London with current conflicts around housing, space, and property which prevail in that city today
-
Testimony of Holocaust survivor Marc Schatzberger
Marc Schatzberger talks about his memories of the Holocaust
-
Troubling times for human rights in Turkey
A visiting human rights defender from Turkey will speak about this climate of fear, and the socio-political environment
-
Spreading the word: Why science communication is so vital
Jim Al-Khalili talks about science communication
-
Turning historical research into performance
Lisa and Michael discuss two case studies of turning an academic project into public enlightenment, entertainment and impact
-
‘On Thin Ice’: The launch of Thin Ice Press
Join the Department of English and Related Literature to celebrate the launch of Thin Ice Press
-
Standing up for minorities in Egypt
Mina Gabi will talk about his work defending minority rights in the MENA region
-
Dealers, collectors and curators: The rise in fascination with Mina’i ware in the early twentieth century
Dr Richard McClary looks at the rise in fascination with Mina’i ware
-
Rule Britannia: Brexit and the end of Empire
Things fall apart when empires crumble. This time, we think, things will be different. They are not. This time, we are told, we will become great again. We will not.
-
Professor David Nutt: Liberalising drug laws to help our brains
The York Union warmly invites you to attend our first external speaker event of 2019
-
What is the UK doing to protect refugees?
Sir Hugh Bayley speaks about what can be done to alleviate the current humanitarian crisis
-
Motivation, wellbeing and academic achievement
The second seminar in this series looking at psychology in education
-
Yorkshire Historic Dictionary Launch
The Borthwick Institute welcomes Ian McMillan to the University to celebrate the launch of the Yorkshire Historic Dictionary with a talk about language, history, tradition and creativity
-
Buildings that fill my eye
This lecture will take stock of the ongoing damage in Yemen as well as current efforts to safeguard buildings and sustain conservation programmes
-
Schools matter, but they don’t make a difference: Genomics and education
How can children be taught genetics so that they can be empowered to live in a genomic world ?
-
Equality and democracy in local and city Government: Theory and practice
Join us in York for a one-day conference on the theory and practice of progressive local and city government.
-
Ground Improvement in Engineering
York Society of Engineers present a talk on ground improvement