Contributor(s): Professor Sonia Livingstone, John Carr, Professor Robin Mansell | Are children’s rights enhanced or undermined by access to the internet? Charters and manifestos for the digital age are proliferating, but where do children fit in? Sonia Livingstone (@Livingstone_S) OBE is a Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE and Project Director of EU Kids Online. John Carr (@johnc1912) is a member of the Executive Board of the UK Council on Child Internet Safety, the British Government's principal advisory body for online safety and security for children and young people. Robin Mansell (@REMVAN) is Professor of New Media and the Internet at LSE. Nick Couldry (@couldrynick) is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory and Head of the Department of Media and communications at LSE. Update Wednesday 11 February 2015, 5.08pm: Due to unforeseen circumstances Jasmina Byrne is no speaking at this event. LSE apologises for any inconvenience this may cause. The Department of Media and Communications at LSE (@MediaLSE) has recently been ranked 2nd in the 2014 QS World University Rankings by subject. A blog post by Professor Sonia Livingstone entitled 'Sonia Livingstone: Digital Media and Children’s Rights' can be viewed at the LSE Media Policy Project blog.

Contributor(s): Will Hutton | A compelling and sharply insightful lecture that will examine the state of Britain today and look forward to the Britain of tomorrow, from the bestselling author of The State We’re In. Will Hutton (@williamnhutton) is Principal of Hertford College, Oxford and columnist for the Observer. His latest book is How Good We Can Be. John Hills is Professor of Social Policy at LSE. The Department of Social Policy at LSE (@LSESocialPolicy) is the longest established in the UK and offers outstanding teaching based on the highest quality empirical research in the field.

Contributor(s): Steven Heydemann | As the Syrian conflict nears its fourth anniversary, it poses a growing threat to the stability of the state order in the Levant and Arab East. Violence has spilled across all of Syria’s borders, fuelled by regional and international involvement on all sides of the conflict. Massive refugee flows and population displacements strain the capacity of every neighbouring state. The rise of ISIS poses a direct challenge to the integrity and legitimacy of existing states: its forces have already erased large areas of the Syrian-Iraqi border. Kurdish aspirations for nationhood now appear more attainable than at any time since the rise of Kurdish national movements. The region has not experienced turmoil on this scale for almost a century. In this lecture, Steven Heydemann argues that the widespread violence now gripping the Levant and Arab East has a logic and structure that can shed light on its underlying dynamics, its drivers, and its possible effects. Steven Heydemann serves as the vice president of Applied Research on Conflict at USIP. Heydemann is a political scientist who specializes in the comparative politics and the political economy of the Middle East, with a particular focus on Syria. His interests include authoritarian governance, economic development, social policy, political and economic reform and civil society.

Contributor(s): Professor Nicholas Barr, Martin Lewis | Nicholas Barr has been described as one of the architects of student loans and tuition fees, and in particular of the reforms in 2006. Martin Lewis is the UK’s most googled man and former head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information. Nick and Martin argued about these things when Martin was General Secretary of the LSE Students Union and have a continuing lively argument now. This evening they will have their discussion in public. Nicholas Barr is Professor of Public Economics at LSE. Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) is the Money Saving Expert and former head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information. He is an LSE alumnus. Nona Buckley-Irvine (@nonajasmine) is General Secretary of the LSE Students' Union.

Contributor(s): Professor Conor Gearty, Raymond Li, Professor Danny Quah, Isabella Steger | The Umbrella Revolution has re-ignited a global debate on democracy. Why have the dynamics in this small ex British Colony captured the imagination of the world? Conor Gearty (@conorgearty) is Director of the Institute of Public Affairs and Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE. Raymond Li is BBC Chinese Editor since 2009. Danny Quah (@DannyQuah) is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and Professor of Economics and International Development at LSE. Isabella Steger (@stegersaurus) reports for the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong. Dr Mukulika Banerjee is Associate Professor in LSE’s Department of Anthropology and Director Designate for LSE’s South Asia Centre. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives. Established in 2014, the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (@LSESEAC) is an inter-disciplinary, regionally-focused academic centre within the LSE. Building on the School's deep academic and historical connections with Southeast Asia, the Centre serves as a hub at LSE for public debate and engagement, and research dissemination on issues relevant to the region.

Contributor(s): Professor Simon Glendinning | 50 years ago Professor Glendinning gave an inaugural lecture arguing for the abolition of inaugural lectures. His failure allows his son to return to this theme. Simon Glendinning (@lonanglo) is Professor of European Philosophy at LSE. The Forum for European Philosophy (@LSEPhilosophy) is an educational charity which organises and runs a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Contributor(s): William Hague MP, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Professor Christine Chinkin | LSE today hosted First Secretary of State William Hague and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt to launch the UK’s first academic Centre on Women, Peace and Security, to be based at the School. Mr Hague and Ms Jolie Pitt announced the establishment of the ground-breaking initiative to students and academic colleagues with LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun and Professor Christine Chinkin, who will lead the new centre. It will focus on the participation of women in conflict-related processes and on enhancing accountability and ending impunity for rape and sexual violence in war. The Centre marks a collaboration between LSE, Mr Hague, Ms Jolie Pitt and the UK Government. It will support the aims of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), co-founded in 2012 by Mr Hague and Ms Jolie Pitt, by bringing academic expertise to bear on preventing crimes of sexual violence, holding perpetrators to account and protecting the rights of survivors. From 2016 the Centre will provide a post-graduate teaching programme in Women, Peace and Security, leading to an MSc degree. LSE has recently announced the creation of a new Institute of Global Affairs which will host the Centre on Women, Peace and Security. The choice of LSE as host university for the Centre reflects both its international reach and its focus on issues of global concern.

Contributor(s): Professor Baroness O’Neill, Professor Jonathan Wolff | Informed consent is not the most fundamental ethical standard, but a means of securing respect for other, more basic standards or aims. It is neither possible nor required when public goods – such as sound currency or clean air – are to be provided. Where it is possible and can be required, as in transactions with individuals, it must be tailored to their cognitive capacities. Genuine, legitimating consent is demanding, and is not achieved by the ‘tick and click’ approaches used in many commercial transactions. Onora O’Neill is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, a crossbench member of the House of Lords and the current chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Jonathan Wolff is Professor of Philosophy at University College London. Peter Dennis is an LSE Fellow in the department of Philosophy at LSE. The Forum for European Philosophy (@LSEPhilosophy) is an educational charity which organises and runs a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Lord Adair Turner, Mr. John Hughes, Professor Göran Malmqvist, Professor Athar Hussain, Professor Yu Dan, Professor Zhou Hanmin, Professor Danny Quah and others. | The LSE SU China Development Forum (CDF) is the flagship annual conference of the LSE SU China Development Society (CDS). Co-organised with the LSE Asia Research Centre, the CDF provides a platform for students, academics and professionals to exchange ideas and hold in-depth discussions on key issues surrounding China and its development. The 2015 Forum, held at LSE on 7th February 2015 and attended by over 400 delegates, hosted 27 speakers from mainland China, Europe and the United States. Under the theme of Paths to Modernisation, nine panel sessions considered and discussed a range of topics. Keynote speakers spoke on topics such as China's current anti-corruption campaigns, prospects for the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the potential impacts of a burgeoning Chinese social media. A further five discussion panels focused on topics which included International Relations, China's Economy, Soft Power, New Urbanisation, and China's Social Policy.

Contributor(s): Lord Adair Turner, Mr. John Hughes, Professor Göran Malmqvist, Professor Athar Hussain, Professor Yu Dan, Professor Zhou Hanmin, Professor Danny Quah and others. | The LSE SU China Development Forum (CDF) is the flagship annual conference of the LSE SU China Development Society (CDS). Co-organised with the LSE Asia Research Centre, the CDF provides a platform for students, academics and professionals to exchange ideas and hold in-depth discussions on key issues surrounding China and its development. The 2015 Forum, held at LSE on 7th February 2015 and attended by over 400 delegates, hosted 27 speakers from mainland China, Europe and the United States. Under the theme of Paths to Modernisation, nine panel sessions considered and discussed a range of topics. Keynote speakers spoke on topics such as China's current anti-corruption campaigns, prospects for the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the potential impacts of a burgeoning Chinese social media. A further five discussion panels focused on topics which included International Relations, China's Economy, Soft Power, New Urbanisation, and China's Social Policy.