Spring 2010 | Public lectures and events | Video

Contributor(s): Lee Bollinger | Bollinger explores the meaning of freedom of the press in our globalised, internet-dominated era. Lee C. Bollinger became the nineteenth President of Columbia University on June 1, 2002. A prominent advocate of affirmative action, he played a leading role in the twin Supreme Court cases - Grutter v Bollinger and Gratz v Bollinger - that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. A leading First Amendment scholar, he is widely published on freedom of speech and press, and currently serves on the faculty of Columbia Law School.

Contributor(s): Dr Vincent Cable MP | Following the most devastating economic crisis since the Great Depression, electoral and institutional governance reform is high on the agenda of all political parties. Dr Cable identifies major targets for reform. Vince Cable is deputy leader and shadow chancellor of the Liberal Democrats. He is MP for Twickenham.

Contributor(s): Andrew Simms | Andrew Simms considers the development of a new sustainable economic model, looking at environmental, social and economic aspects. Andrew Simms is an author and a policy director at the New Economics Foundation. His most recent work is Ecological Debt: global warming and the wealth of nations

Contributor(s): Professor George Gaskell | In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.

Contributor(s): Dr Omar Nashabe | The lecture places the crime - the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri - in its socio-political context, considers the process of the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in 2007, focuses on the structural properties of the tribunal, and closes by posing the central unanswered questions facing the same.

Contributor(s): Dr Montek Ahluwalia, Mukesh Ambani, Shobhana Bhartia, Professor Lord Desai, Shekhar Gupta, Ed Luce, Lord Patten, Nand Kishore Singh, Professor Lord Stern | Not by Reason Alone, written by Nand Kishore Singh a member of parliament in the Upper House in India is a comment on the past and present politics of change. This insightful analysis of the political economy of reform is coupled with the understanding that we need to be compassionate, passionate, creative, hopeful, and more. This book and discussion will give the audience an unusual window into the Indian political economy.

Contributor(s): John Bercow, Tony Travers | John Bercow was elected to the post of speaker in June 2009. It followed the resignation of the previous speaker in the wake of the controversy over MP's expenses. Speaker Bercow will discuss his views on parliamentary reform with Tony Travers. Tony Travers is director of LSE London.

Contributor(s): Richard Allan, Kasey Chappelle, Alma Whitten, Usama M. Fayyad | Will the market and innovation decide the future of the internet, or will the future be led by law and policy? The Internet is rapidly evolving and has mutated in the space of a decade from a static information source to a dynamic organism. In the future its shape will be dramatically different, as the online space moves even further to the centre of almost every aspect of our lives.

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Cox | In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.

Contributor(s): Professor Mark Mazower | What forces have shaped Europe's place in the world over the past two centuries? And how do the challenges of the two 'post-European' epochs - after 1945 and 1989 - compare? Mark Mazower is Ira D Wallach Professor of History at Columbia University.