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Open lectures: Spring term 2021

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 24 March 2021 4pm

Join Ian Kirkpatrick in this Masterclass presentation as he explores the issues around consultancy including asking if it brings improvements such as increased efficiency and if not, how can we explain its huge growth?

Thursday 18 March 2021 1.30pm

Fatima Gailani (Afghanistan Government negotiator) and Mina Al-Oraibi (The National) discuss the importance of women’s role in the peace negotiations in Afghanistan.

Wednesday 17 March 2021 4pm

An advocate of allyship, in this masterclass, Reetu will talk about the tangible ways forward for identifying actionable, bite-sized, doable actions she helped CMI identify to move the dial on race.

Wednesday 17 March 2021 9am

This event is part of the West Yorkshire Innovation Festival and will showcase how The University of York can assist business in building more secure and sustainable futures in a changing world.

Tuesday 16 March 2021 6.30pm

The ocean belongs to all of us, so we all have a role to play in helping to ensure it has a sustainable future.

Tuesday 16 March 2021 5.30pm

In this presentation Judith Herrin will explore the role of Ravenna, imperial capital from AD 402, until its fall to the Lombards in 751, as a catalyst in the development of what we can now identify as European features.

Friday 12 March 2021 12pm

Amnesty International Moscow Office Director Natalia Zviagina discusses how the recent civil protests in Russia are affecting human rights, civil society, and human rights defenders acting in those spaces. What is the outlook going forward?

Thursday 11 March 2021 6.30pm

Linda Scott discusses the Double X Economy - a new vision of women’s rights, based on economic liberty

Wednesday 10 March 2021 6.30pm

Amelia Gentleman, Guardian journalist and author of The Windrush Betrayal, Exposing the Hostile Environment, asks why justice remains elusive for so many of those affected by the Windrush scandal

Tuesday 9 March 2021 7.30pm

CAHR present screenings of a selection of filmed interviews from a range of women about the impact of Covid on their lives

Tuesday 9 March 2021 6.30pm

Join Joe Walker, celebrated film-editor and Academy Award, Bafta and ACE Eddie Award nominee, to discover his extraordinary career and experience in the world of film-making

Tuesday 9 March 2021 4.30pm

This film follows an Italian family as they leave their hometown and move to Germany in the sixties in search of a better life, and open the first pizza restaurant in their area

Friday 5 March 2021 6.30pm

Sara Laschever discusses the groundbreaking classic that explores how women can and should negotiate for parity in their workplaces, homes, and beyond.

Friday 5 March 2021 12pm

Ugandan youth leader and human rights defender Johncation Muhindo discusses the January 2021 Ugandan election

Thursday 4 March 2021 2.30pm

Jody Day shares what she has learned about how to understand, support and advocate for those grieving this ‘living loss’ of childlessness

Wednesday 3 March 2021 5pm

A talk from one of the most influential essayists and thinkers writing today

Wednesday 3 March 2021 4pm

Learn how Ireland’s first circular economy innovation network dedicated to transforming manufacturers and their supply-chains is seeking to close Ireland’s so-called “circular innovation gap”.

Friday 26 February 2021 6pm

Join YUSU LGBTQ+ on Friday 26th February for a special guest talk and Q&A from best-selling author Matthew Todd!

Friday 26 February 2021 12pm

Hear from three of the Centre for Applied Human Rights' former visiting human rights defender fellows to reflect on what defending LGBT+ rights looks like in the time of a global pandemic.

Thursday 25 February 2021 6.30pm

Join Joanna Norman, Director of the V&A Research Institute, to delve into the fascinating world of museum research

Wednesday 24 February 2021 4pm

Cynthia Davis interrogates the impact of the pandemic on our workforce now and into the future, post-Covid world.

Tuesday 23 February 2021 6pm

What links a new approach to transistor design, Schubert's celebrated C major quintet and the poetry of Emily Dickinson?

Friday 19 February 2021 7pm

It is now 29 years since the Rio Earth Summit and 33 years since the start of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which called for immediate action. This talk will take us back more than 200 years...

Friday 19 February 2021 5pm

Join YUSU LGBTQ+ on Friday 19th February for a special guest talk and Q&A from Jonathan Blake!

Thursday 18 February 2021 7pm

Join Dr Sara De Jong and Isabella Hughes to learn about the unexpected role of reforestation events in Kenya

Thursday 18 February 2021 6.30pm

How can resilience can play a role in dealing with the stress of a pandemic?

Thursday 18 February 2021 12.30pm

Join Dr Thomas Davies for a talk on the psychology behind meat consumption and other environmental concerns

Wednesday 17 February 2021 7pm

Join J. A. Mensah as she launches her debut novel, 'Castles and Cobwebs' - in conversation with Sara Hunt

Wednesday 17 February 2021 4pm

In this masterclass Peter Lunt will present his reflections on how this can be done effectively using the example of his time leading the Industrial Energy Efficiency Network in Airbus over the past eight years.

Tuesday 16 February 2021 7pm

Dr David Luke from the University of Greenwich discusses both the scientific and the mystical understanding of people's experiences of visionary encounters with discarnate beings

Tuesday 16 February 2021 6.30pm

Join Sue Mendus for a discussion about the practicalities and the politics of fire at York Minster

Friday 12 February 2021 3pm

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and the protests that followed, academics across the social sciences have been forced to scrutinise their own biases and racism with their own disciplines and institutions

Thursday 11 February 2021 7.30pm

Treating Water from one of the most complex water sources in the world to provide water to the mega city of Metro Manila, Philippines

Thursday 11 February 2021 6.30pm

Join Will Dixon, Head of Future Networks and Technology at the World Economic Forum, to delve into the fascinating world of cybersecurity. Explore how Will is fighting cybercriminals and hear about his career path to this exciting and crucial role.

Wednesday 10 February 2021 4pm

Discover how a life-changing adventure to Australia led an architect and a scientist into the world of distillation, culminating in the self-building of a sustainable distillery near York with a strong belief in the circular economy.

Tuesday 9 February 2021 7pm

Join the York Psychedelics Society for a talk and Q&A on the rise of psychedelic medical treatments

Wednesday 3 February 2021 4pm

Matt Lynch explores the world of growing a business as part of our masterclass series.

Wednesday 27 January 2021 7pm

Join us for York’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day Civic Event, a free online event, reflecting on the national theme for 2021, Be the Light in the Darkness.

Wednesday 27 January 2021 4pm

Siemens Congleton discuss changing the way they think about manufacturing processes and their underlying technologies

Thursday 21 January 2021 6pm

Baroness Hale has had a distinguished career in courts, starting in the family division of the High Court of Justice and then working her way up. Hear her fascinating story.

Wednesday 20 January 2021 4pm

In theory, refugees have a wide range of rights. In practice, these rights are routinely violated. Emily E. Arnold-Fernández discusses how we change this.

Thursday 14 January 2021 7.30pm

What is a supercomputer? What is it used for?