Distinguished lectures archive
Earlier President's distinguished lectures
Tanya Miller
Tanya Miller
Music Director
Victoria Symphony
"The Quirks and Quarks of Conducting an Orchestra"
Thursday, 17 November 2005, 8pm
Tania Miller gave an insider's view of what it is to be a conductor, both from the past and in the present. She showed that conductors really are useful! The mystique behind what conductors, musicians and orchestras do together in the rehearsals and concerts of the Victoria Symphony were unveiled as she discussed the magic of making live orchestral performances.
Donna Haraway
Donna Haraway
Professor, History of Consciousness, University of California at Santa Cruz
"We Have Never Been Human: Companion Species and other Mess Mates"
17 March 2004, 8PM
Murray and Anne Fraser Building, Room 159, University of Victoria
Dr. Donna Haraway is a much-published historian of science and feminist theorist. Her work focuses on the cultural, historical, and technological relationships humans have with animals and machines. The author of such books as Primate Visions, a widely-read study of how biologists have studied the non-human primates, she continues to raise profound questions about gender, racial categories, species boundaries, class issues, age and ability, and what counts as knowledge and who has it. Her presentation will examine society's relationships with "mess mates" - those who eat together or eat each other, and will discuss the emergence of "companion species", animals that have become centres of scholarly and popular attention.
Wade Davis
Wade Davis
Explorer-in-Residence
National Geographic Society
Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures
Wednesday, October 29, 2003, 8pm
Ethnobotanist Wade Davis has traveled the world in his passionate quest to ensure survival of "humanity's greatest legacy" - its cultural diversity. BC-born and Harvard-educated, Davis has studied native plants and human cultures from the Canadian high Arctic to Haiti, where he investigated the folk preparations used in zombie ceremonies. He spent more than three years in the Amazon and Andes as a plant explorer, living among 15 indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations. Davis' books about his travels and research have won awards, been bestsellers and inspired TV series. This presentation, based on his latest book of the same name, will look at the wealth of human diversity and what traditional cultures have to teach us about different ways of living and thinking.
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited.
This President's Distinguished Lecture was presented as part of the 2003 Campus and Community Celebration
Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Former President of Ireland (1990 - 1997) and
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 - 2002)
No Sustainable Development Without Human Rights
Friday, 5 September 2003
Mary Robinson has spent most of her life as a human rights advocate. As an academic, a legislator and a barrister, she has always sought to use law as an instrument for social change, arguing landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights as well as in the Irish courts and the European Court in Luxemburg. The recipient of numerous honours and awards throughout the world, Mrs. Robinson is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the American Philosophical Society. Now based in New York, she is currently leading a new project, the Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI), whose goal is to bring the norms and standards of human rights into the globalization process.
Free and open to the public. Mrs. Robinson's presentation was preceded by a Special Convocation Ceremony where she received an honorary degree.
This President's Distinguished Lecture was presented as part of the 2003 Campus and Community Celebration
Patricia Baird
Patricia Baird
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Medical Genetics
University of British Columbia
Opening Pandora's Box:
Human Cloning and Stem Cell Research
Thursday, April 10, 2003
The possibility of using cloning to produce human beings, or to produce tissues to treat people suffering from devastating diseases like Parkinson's or juvenile diabetes, has attracted a lot of media attention. Dr. Patricia Baird is an internationally renowned medical geneticist, a former vice-president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and Chair of the 1993 ground-breaking Royal Commission on New and Reproductive Technologies. Her work focuses on the population distribution of genetic diseases, and on the social, ethical and health implications of using new genetic knowledge in human reproductive biology and genetics. In this presentation, she will discuss the relationship between cloning and stem cell research, and the ethical issues it raises.
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited.
This President's Distinguished Lecture is presented as part of the UVic Community Week 2003 Celebrations.
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller
Movies are A-Changing...Movies are the Same
Monday, 8 April at 8:00 pm in the University Centre Farquhar Auditorium
Hollywood legend shares his movie secrets
Distinguished film and television director Arthur Hiller will look back on his career and discuss how much has changed since his early days in film--and how much remains the same--in an upcoming President's Distinguished Lecture. Hiller, presented with the 2002 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at this year's Oscars, began his career with the CBC. After moving to the United States, he went on to direct such movies as Love Story, The Americanization of Emily, The Hospital, Silver Streak and The In-Laws. Hiller is appearing as part of UVic's Community Festival. His presentation is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.
Akbar Ahmed
Akbar Ahmed
Chair of Islamic Studies
American University, Washington DC
Islam: Clash or Dialogue of Civilizations?
Friday, 15 March 2002
Prof. Ahmed is a distinguished anthropologist, writer and filmmaker who is actively involved in interfaith dialogue and the study of Global Islam and its impact on contemporary society. He is the author of several books, including Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society which was the basis of the BBC six-part TV series, Living Islam.
In this presentation, Prof. Ahmed spoke on Islam and its relations with the West, challenged some global theories and offered an alternative way of examining our world.
R. Paul Butler
R. Paul Butler
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Extrasolar planets: first reconnaissance
Friday, 12 October 2001
This President's Distinguished Lecture is presented in conjunction with the American Astronomical Society Second Century Lecture Series.
Merely a decade ago, finding planets orbiting other stars was the stuff of science fiction. But that is now changing. In what is sure to rate as one of the most exciting breakthroughs of the century, astronomers are discovering planets beyond our solar system. More than 53 are now known. In this public lecture, Dr. Butler, one of the world's most successful extra-solar "planet hunters" and a recent co-recipient of the
prestigious Draper Medal by the American National Academy of Sciences will describe how these discoveries are impacting our definition of the term "planet", challenging our understanding of how planetary systems, like our own solar system, form and of course, re-energizing the discussions and studies focusing on the possibility of extra- terrastrial life.
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff
Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
The Rights Revolution and Beyond
Wednesday, 9 May 2001
Are group rights - to land and language - jeopardizing individual rights? Has the Charter of Rights empowered ordinary Canadians or just enriched constitutional lawyers? When everyone asserts their rights, what happens to responsibilities? Michael Ignatieff is director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. A scholar of ethnic war, he has travelled to Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Afghanistan to consider the mixture of moral solidarity and hubris that led Western nations to embark on the campaign of "putting the world to rights."
Michael Ignatieff is winner of the Governor General's Award and of Britain's Royal Society of Literature Award. He is currently completing a 10-part history of the 20th century for both BBC and CBC radio.
Lloyd Axworthy
Lloyd Axworthy
Director and CEO
Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues
University of British Columbia
Canada's Role on the World Stage
Wednesday, 4 April, 2001
Dr. Axworthy is a 28-year veteran of federal politics. He was first elected to Parliament in 1979, and was minister of several portfolios, most recently of Foreign Affairs. Believing that foreign policy isn’t just for diplomats, Axworthy feels that universities, through facilities such as the Lui Centre and UVic’s Centre for Global Studies, should be an active nexus of thought and action on global issues. Axworthy received a Bachelor’s degree at United College (now University of Winnipeg), and Masters and PhD degrees in political science at Princeton University and has taught in Canada and the U.S.