Humanities Lectures

Professor Philip Pettit (Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values, Princeton University) speaks on the topic of ‘Doing Good and Doing Evil’. Are doing good and doing evil on a par? It may at first seem so: doing good to others means conferring a benefit, doing evil means imposing a harm. But first impressions are misleading this case, as in many others. For it turns out that while we expect goodwill in those who do us good, we do not often expect malice in those who do us evil. The difference proves to be significant since it helps to explain some of our most ingrained habits of moral thought. 11 March 2014

Professor Philip Pettit (Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values, Princeton University) speaks on the topic of ‘Doing Good and Doing Evil’. Are doing good and doing evil on a par? It may at first seem so: doing good to others means conferring a benefit, doing evil means imposing a harm. But first impressions are misleading this case, as in many others. For it turns out that while we expect goodwill in those who do us good, we do not often expect malice in those who do us evil. The difference proves to be significant since it helps to explain some of our most ingrained habits of moral thought. 11 March 2014

Professor Geremie Barmé, Director, Australian Centre on China in the World, Australian National University presents his lecture “Thirty Years of Spiritual Pollution” as part of an all day workshop held at the University of Otago on ‘Chinese soft power and culture: between complicity and independence’. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the NZCCRC (New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre), the CIW (Australian Centre on China in the World), the Chinese Programme of the Department of Languages and Cultures, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, and the Confucius Institute in Auckland, Otago Office. 20 November 2013

Professor Geremie Barmé, Director, Australian Centre on China in the World, Australian National University presents his lecture “Thirty Years of Spiritual Pollution” as part of an all day workshop held at the University of Otago on ‘Chinese soft power and culture: between complicity and independence’. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the NZCCRC (New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre), the CIW (Australian Centre on China in the World), the Chinese Programme of the Department of Languages and Cultures, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, and the Confucius Institute in Auckland, Otago Office. 20 November 2013

Dr Ian Chapman, Executant Lecturer in Contemporary Music at the University of Otago talks about teaching performers and practising as a performer. He has first-hand experience of how it is possible to use a performance persona to overcome nervousness and stage fright because of ongoing practise with his own performative alter-egos, including the 1970's inspired "Dr Glam".

One of the primary areas of research for Dr Ian Chapman, Executant Lecturer in Contemporary Music at the University of Otago, is early 1970’s glam rock, featuring performers like David Bowie. Ian talks about his research in music iconography and how musical performance is conveyed visually. January 2014

One of the primary areas of research for Dr Ian Chapman, Executant Lecturer in Contemporary Music at the University of Otago, is early 1970’s glam rock, featuring performers like David Bowie. Ian talks about his research in music iconography and how musical performance is conveyed visually. January 2014

Dr Ian Chapman, Executant Lecturer in Contemporary Music at the University of Otago talks about teaching performers and practising as a performer. He has first-hand experience of how it is possible to use a performance persona to overcome nervousness and stage fright because of ongoing practise with his own performative alter-egos, including the 1970's inspired "Dr Glam".

These readings feature poems by David Howard and Lisa Samuels. David Howard is a poet, the 2013 University of Otago Robert Burns Fellow, and a winner of the Gordon & Gotch Poetry Award, the NZ Poetry Society Competition, the NZSA Mid‐Career Writers Award, and the University of South Pacific Press Poetry Prize. Lisa Samuels is a poet, a critic and an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland. She released her first poetry collection 'The Seven Voices' in 1998 and has authored a number of books in the USA, UK and New Zealand. Loveday Why, poet and postgraduate student at the University of Otago, accompanies David on some readings. 31 July 2013

This open forum, jointly hosted by the Centre for Theology & Public Issues and the Howard League for Penal Reform, is chaired by Dunedin Barrister Anne Stevens. The panellists include Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Major Campbell Roberts, Director of Social Policy, Salvation Army and Professor Jennie Connor, Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago. The link between alcohol consumption and criminal offending in New Zealand is well established. Police estimate that about one third of all offending involves alcohol and that about half of all violent crimes are alcohol-related. The link between alcohol and crime is but one indicator of the serious problems caused by alcohol consumption in our society. The panel considers the nature and extent of the problem and the legal, behavioural and cultural changes that are needed to make a difference. 31 October 2013