The 2010 lecture series
The 51st Boyer Lectures will be presented by Professor Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Melbourne, beginning on-air from 14 November 2010. Each of the six Lectures in the series will be broadcast on ABC Radio National and be available online.
Each year the ABC board invites a prominent Australian or group of Australians to present six radio lectures expressing their thoughts on major social, cultural, scientific or political issues. Professor Davis’s Boyer Lecture series, entitled The Republic of Learning: higher education transforms Australia, will include six lectures exploring Australia’s higher education landscape, revealing an experience sharply at odds with traditional images of sleepy cloisters and ivory towers.
ABC chairman Maurice Newman said, 'Professor Davis’s position as a leading academic at the centre of Australia’s tertiary education transformation will bring a depth of knowledge and analysis for which the Boyer Lectures are so well-respected. His insights will shed light on changes in the tertiary education sector that have occurred since many listeners were pursuing their degrees, and will provide a glimpse into the future for those who are on the path to higher education.'
Professor Davis said, 'I am honoured to deliver the first Boyer lectures devoted to the place of higher education in Australian life. TAFES, colleges and universities offer a vibrant set of choices for students across the nation. Australians have discovered a perhaps unsuspected talent for education, and our campuses are now among the most international spaces anywhere in the Australian community. The 2010 Boyer lectures provide a welcome opportunity to discuss this transformation and its implications for our national life.'
The annual Boyer lecture series began in 1959 and is named after the late Sir Richard Boyer, a former chairman of the ABC. More...
The
2009
Boyer Lectures
Sunday 08 November 2009
The 2009 lecture series, A Very Australian Conversation is presented by General Peter Cosgrove AC MC (ret'd). General Cosgrove's 40 years of military experience and service to the nation places him in a unique position to talk about the challenges and opportunities faced by society today and into the future. He will talk about things like national security, the wars we chose to be in and those we were asked to be in; our regional relationships and our leadership abilities both as a nation and as individuals; the political and sociological changes over his lifetime, and a future we might aspire to—one which will challenge our descendants.
Recent Lectures
Sunday 13 December 2009
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With climate change, the republic, national security, a bill of rights, and the economy, what kind of future are we creating for our children and their children? Every decision we make on the big issues will have a profound effect on their lives, so what can we do now to ensure that we give them the best possible Australia?
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Sunday 06 December 2009
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How did we get to where we are as a nation? How many mistakes did we make along the way and how many things did we get right? Over General Peter Cosgrove's lifetime we have grown from a population of 7.5 million to just over 22 million, and in that time our society -- and as a result our nation -- has changed.
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Sunday 29 November 2009
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Australia has had its fair share of pivotal political moments over the years, moments that have engaged the interest and opinions of its people. Yet, through them all, our democracy and our institutions have stayed strong and we have remained peaceful.
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Sunday 22 November 2009
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Peter Cosgrove has led the army and then the entire defence force, so he is eminently well placed to talk about leadership. So for him, what makes a good leader? Does it matter if that leader is running a business, a country, or the school tuckshop?
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Sunday 15 November 2009
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If Australia were for sale how would the real estate agent describe it? If a potential buyer asked the neighbours what they thought, what would they say? In reality, the USA may be our closest ally but it's not our nearest neighbour, and how we interact with the countries closest to us will determine our challenges and our opportunities for the future.
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Sunday 08 November 2009
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He's spent a lifetime puzzling over national security and in his first lecture, General Peter Cosgrove makes mention of all the wars we've been involved in since WW2 and talks about their place in the Australian psyche. They might have been considered other people's wars, but we knew intuitively they were ours as well.
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More Past Programs...
10.45am AEST