Contributor(s): Professor Mukulika Banerjee, Professor David Wengrow | A cultivar is a plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those when propagated. This inaugural lecture by Mukulika Banerjee draws on long-term fieldwork among paddy farmers in Bengal to explore the ways in which cultivation - of crops, neighbourly relations, and selves - can help democracy and truthful politics to flourish.

It also considers how the university, through its own cultivation of knowledge and debate, is another vital site for nurturing active citizens and a better future.

Contributor(s): Professor Tanya Aplin, Professor Martin Kretschmer, Dr Luke McDonagh, Professor Madhavi Sunder | This event will explore the challenge of artificial intelligence technologies in the creative industries (film, theatre, music, video games).

The panel will debate Intellectual Property Law issues related to the training and use of generative AI models that produce works of text, art and music, such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, and will discuss the use of AI in the context of image rights of performers. The panel will explore the legal rights of authors, performers, and users, considering whether AI use can constitute copyright or trade mark infringement, and whether regional or global IP licensing solutions are feasible.

Contributor(s): Professor Mark Thomson, Professor Riccardo Crescenzi, Professor Sarah Sharples | The lecture will explore the cutting-edge frontier of particle physics and astronomy and the pivotal role of major research infrastructures in advancing our fundamental understanding of the universe. It will delve into how groundbreaking scientific endeavours – ranging from understanding dark matter to exploring the early universe – not only push the boundaries of human knowledge but also necessarily catalyse technological innovation.

The discussion also will highlight the broader socio-economic impacts of Big Science, including skills development, and real-world applications. By fostering innovation, these large-scale scientific investments provide tangible benefits to the countries, regions, and communities that support them, particularly in the context of intensified global competition for technological leadership.

Contributor(s): Professor Xavier Jaravel | Innovation is increasingly monopolised by a small entrepreneurial elite that is not representative of the population at all.

To simultaneously increase our innovation potential and reduce inequality, it is urgent to involve everyone, especially women and people of underprivileged backgrounds, in the innovation process, from the creation of technologies to their widespread dissemination. What do we know and what should we do to find the “Lost Marie Curies” and “Lost Einsteins” and give them their chance? Join us for Xavier Jaravel's inaugural lecture to find out the answers to these questions.

Contributor(s): Suzanne Heywood | Join us for a fireside chat with Suzanne Heywood, Chair of CNH Industrial N V and Iveco Group, and Chief Operating Officer of Exor Group. In conversation with Grace Lordan, Suzanne will reflect on her extraordinary personal and professional journey, from her early years spent at sea—captured in her memoir Wavewalker—to leading some of the world’s largest companies.

Suzanne will also discuss her biography What Does Jeremy Think?, exploring the remarkable career of her late husband, Sir Jeremy Heywood, who served four Prime Ministers as Cabinet Secretary. Suzanne will be offering unique insights on leadership, resilience, and navigating complex global challenges, Suzanne’s decades of experience in both business and government will provide a fascinating perspective for today’s current and emerging leaders.

Contributor(s): Professor Danny Dorling, Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, Professor Kitty Stewart, Polly Toynbee. | Why has absolute deprivation continued to grow in the UK? What role does high inequality play in understanding how we have got to the point of peak injustice?

With child mortality rising in the UK and a majority of parents with three or more children going to bed hungry, Danny Dorling looks to the future, highlighting the challenges ahead and identifying solutions for change.

Contributor(s): Professor Shani Orgad, Dr Divya Srivastava, Dr Julia King, Dr Olivia Theocharides-Feldman | Research links:

“Listening in times of crisis: The value and limits of radio phone-in shows” by Shani Orgad, Divya Srivastava, and Diana Olaleye https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01634437241308729?af=R

Making Space for Girls project, with Dr Julia King and Olivia Theocharides-Feldman https://www.lse.ac.uk/Cities/research/cities-space-and-society/Making-Space-For-Girls

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Contributor(s): Professor Cormac Ó Gráda | In his latest book, which forms the basis of this lecture, Cormac O'Grada argues that previous estimates of civilian deaths in the two world wars are almost certainly too low.

By carefully evaluating the available evidence, he estimates that these wars cost not the 35 million lives commonly agreed on but, in reality, 65 million lives - nearly two thirds of the 100 million total killed. O'Grada's book is the first to attempt to measure and describe the full scale of civilian deaths from all causes including genocide, starvation, aerial bombardment and disease. As he shows, getting the numbers right is important as it enables us to argue with those who try to deny, minimise, or exaggerate wartime savagery.

Contributor(s): Professor Allison Pugh | Allison Pugh explains how we have ended up in a moment in which machines have time for people, while human workers rush by, bent to the dictates of the industrial clock, and maps out its implications for the future of our social health.

Critics commonly warn about three primary hazards of AI – job disruption, bias, and surveillance/privacy concerns. Yet the conventional story of AI’s dangers is missing a vital issue and blinding us to its role in a cresting “depersonalisation crisis.” If we are concerned about increasing loneliness and social fragmentation, then we need to reckon with how technologies enable or impede human connection.

Contributor(s): Dr Benjamin Braun, Professor Brett Christophers, Professor Daniela Gabor | As the climate emergency intensifies, the efficacy of market-based solutions is under growing scrutiny. Can capitalism solve a crisis of its own making?

Is "green growth" a path to transformative change, or will it solely legitimise and perpetuate systemic inequalities? Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the opportunities and challenges of market-based solutions in bringing about a livable and fair future for all.