The Wonderful & Frightening World of W.B. Yeats - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | Irish poet W.B Yeats is considered one of the foremost poets of the 20th century.In this lecture, Dr Stephen Cheeke explores the magical and frightening dimension of Yeats’ life and thoughts that inspired his poetry, challenging the audience to test the limits of their imagination.
What is a sustainable future? | Prof Chris Willmore BoB Lectures 2019-03-28 | It’s easy to see sustainability as being about guilt, about stopping doing things. This lecture looks positively at sustainability and the future we want to inhabit. This is about what we want, not what we don’t want. How can we make it fun and achieve a real difference to our university, our city and the world. It will look at how we can change our curriculum, change the campus and learn to tread lightly on the planet. It will reveal why some of the habits you develop at university will stay with you for life- and why some will get ditched. And pose the question – what can you say?— Professor of Sustainability and Law, University of Bristol Law School, Chris Willmore qualified and practised as a barrister, before becoming an academic. Her work particularly focuses upon education for sustainability and the concept of a sustainable university. Her UK award winning work on student engagement in city transformation for sustainability won the International Green Gown for Student Engagement in 2017. She is a fellow of the EAUC and of the RSA.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Security Online: Defence Against the Dark Arts | Dr David Bernhard BoB Lectures 2019-03-28 | Barely a week goes by without another story in the news related to cybersecurity. Passwords are stolen, credit card details hacked, personal information leaked. Our own university is regularly a target for phishing attacks. Meanwhile the government has been making noises about ‘banning encryption’. In this talk we’ll have a look at some examples and try not to despair.—David is a Teaching Fellow in Computer Science.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Alexander Hamilton and the development of the American single market | Dr Gervas Huxley BoB Lectures 2019-03-28 | The Broadway musical “Hamilton” celebrates the life of Alexander Hamilton. More than any other founding father Hamilton understood the implications of creating the ‘United States of America”. One of his objectives was to promote trade between the 13 Colonies believing that “commercial enterprises will have much greater scope, from the diversity in the production of different states.” He then asks the following question: “Whether the states are united or disunited [would there not] be an intimate intercourse between them, which would answer the same ends? In other words do we need political union to promote trade? His answer what that if the states were disunited “intercourse would be fettered, interrupted, and narrowed, by a multiplicity of causes.” Hamilton’s ‘multiplicity of causes’ are the eighteenth century version of what today we call non-tariff barriers. Hamilton argued that “unity of commercial… interests, can only result from an unity of government.” This argument resulted in the Commerce Clause of the US constitution.The lecture will examine the history of the Commerce Clause its role in creating the American Single market and the opposition the Commerce Clause has attracted for more than two hundred years from supporters of states rights. The lecture will compare Euro-Scepticism from Enoch Powel to Jacob Reese Mogg with the Anit-Federalist and States Rights tradition in American history.— Gervas Huxley is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Economics.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Medieval Romance: Unexpected Journeys and Meetings | Dr Bex Lyons BoB Lectures 2019-03-28 | The experience of reading medieval – and indeed any – literature can open windows on to new worlds and novel encounters for the reader, with occasionally surprising consequences. This talk considers the ways in which reading medieval romance changed the life of a working class academic from a council estate, and presents some examples from medieval romance to show what this genre is capable of: fantasy, magic, love, chivalry – but most of all offering meetings with people from the past. It highlights the value in finding common ground with those from different contexts to our own, and how medieval literature can – perhaps unexpectedly – point us in the direction of shared human experience.—Dr Bex Lyons, Executive Assistant and Teaching Associate in English and Personal Development, Department of English. Bex is a late medievalist with research interests in book and reading history, particularly female owners and readers of Arthurian literature in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century England and their interactions with this corpus. Bex also has research interests in digital academic publishing – an area in which she has a professional background as an editor. She is especially interested in the production of modern editions and translations of medieval texts, and the effects of the digital on modern academic research and publishing. Between 2015-2017 Bex was the Research Associate at University College London on the two-year AHRC and British Library funded project, The Academic Book of the Future.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Prof Emma Robinson | Are drugs of abuse the solution to treating depression? BoB Lectures 2019-03-19 | Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in modern society and yet treatments are still poorly understood and many patients fail to respond to current therapies. The first antidepressant drugs were developed in the 1950s but their discovery arose from serendipitous observations of drugs developed for other conditions. Psychopharmacology has sought to use these drugs to better understand the causes of mood disorders but progress with developing better treatments has been challenging. This lecture will discuss the history of antidepressants and how we have used these early treatments to better understand mood disorders and develop new drugs including the SSRIs, some of the most widely prescribed drugs used today. However, many patients still fail to respond to treatment. The final part of the lecture will consider new avenues of research and why drugs of abuse, such as ketamine and the psychedelics, are providing a new strategy for treating mood disorders.—Emma Robinson Professor of Psychopharmacology, School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Folding the Future: How Origami is Transforming Engineering | Dr Mark Schenk BoB Lectures 2019-03-18 | Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, is finding surprising applications in science and engineering. No longer restricted to folding paper planes, engineers now use origami to create self-assembling robots, designer materials and large deployable structures in space. In this talk we will explore how origami is transforming science and engineering, and reveal some of the elegant underlying principles of origami.—Dr Mark Schenk, Lecturer in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Mark held a position as post-doctoral researcher in deployable structures with the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, and with the Advanced Structures Group at the Cambridge University Engineering Department. His PhD in Structural Mechanics was at the University of Cambridge, under supervision of Professor Simon Guest, and his BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering are from Delft University of Technology.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Café Cosmopolitanism in a Pre Starbucks Age: Paris Internationalism pre WW1 | Tricha Passes BoB Lectures 2019-03-18 | The lecture will consider the importance of Café life as a meeting place for the exchange of art and ideas in early twentieth century Paris. Focusing on photographs and paintings that depict the cafe La Rotonde in pre First World War Paris, the paper will argue that café life continued to be integral to the exchange of artistic ideas as well as the cultural development of Paris. La Rotonde was a cornerstone in the genesis of what later came to be known as L’Ecole de Paris. Alongside La Dome, Le Select, Le Cloiserie des Lilas, and later La Coupole these cafes provided an important function in the artistic and intellectual life of Paris and were signifiers of Paris as a cosmopolitan magnet during an era that witnessed a crescendo in nationalist tensions.—Tricha’s research interests include: avant-garde modernism in France, Britain and the U.S.A; class, race and gender in the visual culture of France, Britain and the U.S.A; art and environmental awareness and the transitional period from late modernism to postmodernism; and the history of the United States in the nineteenth century and the art and visual culture of nineteenth century U.S.A. She is a member of the Visual Culture Research Group at the Faculty of Creative Arts, UWE and has conducted research for The Cabot Project on the historical reception of Bristol's voyages of exploration.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Can Mathematics Improve Your Baking? | Dr Thomas Jordan BoB Lectures 2019-03-18 | Going way back, bakers have had to concoct various ways to efficiently mix dry fruit through dough so it is evenly distributed. How can we describe ‘even distribution’ mathematically and can we find a mathematical process which simulates the baker’s technique? And finally, how could these ideas connect to current research in dynamical systems? Come on down to find out more.—Dr Thomas Jordan Senior Lecturer in Pure Mathematics, School of Mathematics, Thomas’ research focuses on dimension theory in dynamical systems.Thomas’ interests include connections between multifractal analysis, large deviations and the thermodynamic formalism, self-similar and self-affine sets, non-conformal dynamical systems and Fourier transforms for invariant measures.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Over the rainbow: a brief (social) history of queer resistance | Dr Jamie Lawson BoB Lectures 2019-03-12 | Designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, The Rainbow Flag was intended to be a symbol of unity, hope and identity for the LGBTQ+ community, associated with the new wave of political activism that had followed the Stonewall Riots in 1969. It exists today alongside other symbols, and as a single component of a longer history of queer activism and resistance. This lecture will cover the history of the Rainbow Flag, and its relationship to other symbols of queer identity, before moving on to discuss the historical origins of the oppression of queer people, both here in the UK and around the world. Along the way we’ll discuss the birth of the gay leather scene, the sociohistory and impact of the HIV epidemic, and the long reach of Victorian attitudes towards sex.—Teaching Fellow, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Jamie’s major research interests are in sex and sexuality, with a particular focus on identity, embodiment and power. Jamie is an interdisciplinary, queer researcher with a background in quantitative and qualitative research. Jamie is currently running a project on the BDSM practice of puppy play, and was recently involved in the Art of Relationships project at the OU.—The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
How Just is the Global Response to Climate Change? | Dr Alix Dietzel BoB Lectures 2019-03-05 | Climate change is fundamentally an issue of justice. It will affect those who have done least to contribute to the problem – people living in the poorest regions of the world and people who are not yet born. These climate vulnerable people risk having their human rights (health, water, food, shelter, and even life) threatened by climate change. If we are to respond justly to the problem of climate change, we need to do as much as possible as soon as we can – in fact, according to the IPCC report released in October 2018, we have just 12 years to prevent global mean temperature from rising above 1.5C.In this lecture, Dr Alix Dietzel will explore what a just response to the climate change problem looks like and how close we are to meeting it. Focusing on the human right to health, Dr Dietzel will examine who is making political decisions on climate change and assesses to what extent these decisions are ‘fair’ and ‘just’ – and especially to what extent they protect human health. Investigating the role of states, cities, corporations, and non-governmental organisations, she will provide insight into the ‘big picture’ of climate change (mis)management and the injustices that come along with it. Finally, she will touch on what you can (and should!) do as an individual. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion, so please do come along.—Dr Alix Dietzel, Lecturer in Politics, takes a global justice focused approach in order to assess the current response to climate change. Alix teaches units concerning global problems, ethics and normative theory, global governance, and international relations. Alix actively pursues public engagement and outreach activities. As a climate justice scholar, Alix thinks that it is important to share her knowledge with the local community in Bristol and engage with the wider public on climate change. —The Best of Bristol lecture series (BoB) is an annual initiative showcasing the best of the University of Bristol's lecturers. BoB is student-led, the lecturers and lecture topics are nominated by students and the series of ten lectures are organised by students and supported by the University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union.
Don’t Kiss and Tell: the Secrets of Oral Disease BoB Lectures 2017-03-29 | Broadcasted by www.unique-media.tv
How Are We Still Alive? | Dr Tristan Cogan BoB Lectures 2017-03-28 | Ebola, swine flu, plague - infectious diseases are constantly making the jump from animals into humans.Every outbreak of a new disease prompts dire warnings of a coming pandemic of disease, but despite this humanity seems to ride out every crisis and eventually wins the battle. Why do bacteria and viruses that run rampant through the population when they first emerge seem to eventually settle down into a comfortable middle age, and how do bacterial evolution and human behaviour interact to stop the apocalypse coming? Have we just been lucky so far?
Design: The Universal Language of the World BoB Lectures 2017-03-23 | Dr Duncan Boa & Dr Chris Snider
Out of the Echo Chamber: Listening to the Voice of the Past BoB Lectures 2017-03-21 | Dr Gareth Griffith
How Does Ice Form? | Professor Walther Schwarzacher BoB Lectures 2017-03-20 | Ice can be beautiful, useful, or dangerous. It is also surprisingly complicated. In particular, getting ice from water isn't just a matter of cooling it below zero degrees Celsius. For example, cirrus clouds contain liquid water at temperatures down to -40 degrees.
BoB Lectures Live Stream - The Demise of the Lecture? BoB Lectures 2017-03-15 | Presented by Dr Steven Proud
Earthquakes: A Triggered Debate Between Engineering and Geology - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | Where, when and why will the next big earthquake happen? What damage could it cause and how can we mitigate it?Geophysicists analyse the seismic sources of earthquakes and then use them to image the Earth’s internal structure.Meanwhile, Civil Engineers investigate the response of the shallow, softer Earth, and phenomena like soil liquefaction, which they have to understand and design for.In a joint lecture, Professor of Seismology Michael Kendall and Dr Dimitris Karamitros of Civil Engineering compare the approaches of, and explore the synergies between, these not so disparate fields of study.
Who Gets All the Pies? (And Jobs, Houses etc.) - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | A forty-minute guide to political philosophy.Professor of Political Philosophy Jonathan Floyd sets out to answer two of the most pressing questions on everyone’s mind: who gets all the good stuff in life - degrees from Bristol, piles of money, beautiful houses, and exciting internships - and who decides who gets it?
Reforming Banking Culture - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | How is the banking industry being reformed to improve its resilience?Professor of Law Keith Stanton discusses the measures being taken by industry regulators, such as the Financial Conduct Authority, to reform banking culture.
God Doesnt Play Dice with the Digital World - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | How can we use randomness and chaos to compute beautiful digital worlds?In a world so diverse and detailed that we can’t even begin to model its every complexity, it is possible to explore not just a world, but an entire universe within a single laptop. Using procedural generation, a single seed of random data can be grown into a universe of almost infinite complexity.In this lecture, Dr. Nicolas Wu, selected through student vote, will be exploring how we can use randomness and chaos to compute beautiful digital worlds.
Should I Fear My Death? - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | "Where death is, I am no longer, where I am death is not." If life and death are mutually exclusive, then we have no reason to fear death; but could it have a role to play in life?In this thought-provoking talk, Professor Havi Carel explores the question of whether we should fear our own death through contrasting the views of Epicurus and Heidegger.
The Art and Beauty of Pure Mathematics - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | Maths is all around us, ever present in art and nature, determining what we find aesthetically appealing.Dr Lynne Walling sets out to explain these influences through evidence from classic and new research.
How Liaison Psychiatry Can Change the World - BoB 2016 BoB Lectures 2016-05-18 | Dr Nicola Taylor, a liaison psychiatrist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, gives a lecture on how Liaison Psychiatry teams can help patients recover, make accountants happier and one day - with a bit of luck - save the world.
How to Change the World in Three Simple Steps: a Guide to Extreme(ly Creative) Sustainability BoB Lectures 2015-08-02 | Dr James Norman - Best of Bristol Lectures
The best-selling show: Is there life on Mars? - Dr Lucy Berthoud - BoB Lectures 2015 BoB Lectures 2015-05-14 | Dr Lucy Berthoud's 2015 BoB Lecture - The best-selling show: Is there life on Mars?The Best of Bristol Lectures (BoB for short) are a series of exciting and inspirational events showcasing the University of Bristol’s best lecturers and their teaching and research.Driven by the student community, the series’ goals are to celebrate great teaching as an integral part of academia, to celebrate Bristol as an academic community and to inspire students and the wider public to take an interest in new subjects.bristol.ac.uk/bob-lecturestwitter.com/BoB_Lecturesfacebook.com/boblecturesitunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/id974068730## Thanks ##Editing: Alexis OsbornFilming: John Fardoulis, Ali Safari
Dr Lucy Berthoud - rocket demo BoB Lectures 2015-03-17 | Dr Berthoud's lecture "The Greatest Show on Earth: Is there Life on Mars?" featured a jaw dropping demonstration of Newton's Third Law.More inspirational and informative lectures from the Best of Bristol at www.bristol.ac.uk/bob-lectures
BoB 2012 - Prof Graeme Henderson - Drugs of abuse: what do they do to the brain BoB Lectures 2015-01-16 | Professor Graeme Henderson's lecture from the 2012 Best of Bristol lecture series.The Best of Bristol Lectures (BoB Lectures for short) is a series of exciting and inspirational events to showcase the University of Bristol’s best lecturers to its own students and the public. Driven by the student community, its goals are to celebrate great teaching as an integral part of academia, to celebrate Bristol as an academic community and to inspire students and the wider public to take an interest in new subjects.
BoB 2012 - Prof Andy Levy - Medical Innovation and the Philosophers Stone BoB Lectures 2015-01-16 | Professor Andy Levy's lecture from the 2012 Best of Bristol lecture series.The Best of Bristol Lectures (BoB Lectures for short) is a series of exciting and inspirational events to showcase the University of Bristol’s best lecturers to its own students and the public. Driven by the student community, its goals are to celebrate great teaching as an integral part of academia, to celebrate Bristol as an academic community and to inspire students and the wider public to take an interest in new subjects.
BoB 2012 - Gervas Huxley - The Balance Between Teaching and Research BoB Lectures 2015-01-16 | Gervas Huxley's lecture from the 2012 Best of Bristol lecture series.The Best of Bristol Lectures (BoB Lectures for short) is a series of exciting and inspirational events to showcase the University of Bristol’s best lecturers to its own students and the public. Driven by the student community, its goals are to celebrate great teaching as an integral part of academia, to celebrate Bristol as an academic community and to inspire students and the wider public to take an interest in new subjects.
