Enlightenment lectures (audio)

Julia Marton-Lefèvre, environmentalist and academic, delivers the final lecture in the 2015 Our Changing World series. This lecture is also part of our Enlightenment Lecture series. In this lecture Julia Marton-Lefèvre will compare the profound changes that took place in the 18th century European Enlightenment, emphasizing reason rather than tradition, with the need for a new enlightenment to face the stark challenges posed by an unprecedented loss of biodiversity, a rapidly changing climate and increasing inequality among nations and individuals. Recorded on 24 November 2015 at the University of Edinburgh's George Square Lecture Theatre.

Professor Lord Robert Winston delivers a lecture entitled Medicine, Ethics and Society.This lecture is part of the University's "Our Changing World" public lecture series, which examines the global challenges facing society, and the role of academia in meeting these challenges: http://www.ed.ac.uk/events/changing-world This lecture is also part of the University's Enlightenment Lecture series, which examines aspects of the Enlightenment's legacy in the context of our own fraught and hectic times: http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/video/lecture-series/enlightenment Recorded on Monday 21 October at the University of Edinburgh's McEwan Hall.

Professor Mary Robinson speaks on how human rights interact with the modern world. In office from 1990 to 1997, Professor Robinson was the seventh President of Ireland and the first woman to hold that role. She left to take on the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations from 1997 to 2002. Human rights remain an area of interest and expertise for Professor Robinson. Since 2004 she has taught on international human rights at Columbia University in New York. In 2010 she set up the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice to advocate for and educate the world about those most affected by the changing environment, namely the world's poorest and more marginalised communities. This lecture is part of the University's "Our Changing World" public lecture series, which examines the global challenges facing society, and the role of academia in meeting these challenges: http://www.ed.ac.uk/events/changing-world This lecture is also part of the University's Enlightenment Lecture series, which examines aspects of the Enlightenment's legacy in the context of our own fraught and hectic times: http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/video/lecture-series/enlightenment Recorded Tuesday 20 November 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's McEwan Hall.

Professor Stefan Collini re-examines the history of the activity of literary criticism and discipline of English Literature. In the 250 years since the founding of the Chair of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres at Edinburgh University, the activity of literary criticism and discipline of English Literature have had a tangled, complex and at times uneasy, even antagonistic, relationship. This lecture will re-examine this history, focussing particularly on the question of the various publics addresed by criticism, in its literary-journalistic as well as academic forms. Coming up to the present (and even the future), Stefan Collini will explore the plurality of contemporary audiences for criticism and will challenge pessimistic accounts of 'the disappearance of the reading public'. Stefan Collini is Professor of Intellectual History and English Literature at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is also a frequent contributor to The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, The Nation, and other publications, as well as an occasional broadcaster. In 2012, the University's English Literature department celebrates its 250th anniversary. We're marking the occasion with exhibitions, events, talks, readings and seminars throughout the year. Recorded on Thursday 24 May 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's George Square Lecture Theatre.

Broadcaster and journalist Jon Snow examines the impact of digital technology, social websites and citizen journalism on the second-oldest profession. Recorded on Friday 19 November 2010 at the University of Edinburgh's McEwan Hall. Listen to podcast

Lord Crisp discusses why health systems worldwide need to change and why the time for a new conversation is now. This lecture was recorded on 25 May 2010 in the University of Edinburgh's George Square Lecture Theatre.

Mr Hugh Cheape, Curator of the Museum of Scotland, presents a discussion seminar examining the neo-baroque strain in Scottish folk music

Dr Adam Fox presents a discussion seminar examining the 18th century street theatre.

Dr Stana Nenadic presents a discussion seminar examining the performance of sociability.