This course seeks to discover intimations of the numinous on a journey with five poets. From the search for a peace that passes understanding in a post-war ‘waste land’, through the rigours of purgatorial pilgrimage to the modern cityscapes of squandered desires, loneliness and spiritual failure, graced lives appear as rather distant afterthoughts and fractured memories. If faint echoes of the transcendent may still be heard, the question is posed as to where sacred presence could be found or reimagined in the unhallowed void and transience of secular human existence.

This course will share insights about carbon dioxide and its role in sustaining life on Earth. Carbon dioxide, which is invisible and odourless, is a key component in our atmosphere.
Based on fundamental scientific principles, these lectures will delve into the scientific foundations under­pinning the mechanisms by which greenhouse and other atmospheric gases contribute to the shaping of our planet’s climate. The lectures will offer valuable insights and foster a deeper understanding of this complex yet captivating subject matter.

The Baltic Rim spawned waves of colonisers, powerful empires, Crusading Orders and international trading consortiums. They altered the fate of places thousands of miles from the Baltic Rim. But in time these successes brought their own hazards. The attention of larger political units was attracted. The native populations were ultimately too small to sustain serious political power. The role of the Baltic Rim in the modern world has changed. Instead of political competition, the Baltic Rim has become an exemplar for good values, education, freedom of expression and working democracy.

This course will bring into focus some of the great paintings produced in five European cities hitherto regarded as only of secondary importance in the history of Western art. Participants will discover how Titian advanced Renaissance painting beyond that of Florence and Rome, whilst in a turbulent London we will meet William Hogarth. We also meet Egon Schiele in Vienna and in Moscow, Wassily Kandinsky. In Berlin we encounter George Grosz and Otto Dix. Finally we meet German artist Anselm Kiefer.

Everything around us, apart from hydrogen and helium, was made inside stars. The Earth and Sun contain elements made in the many generations of stars that were born and died during the nine thousand million years before our Sun and planets were born. The story of the birth and death of stars is the story of the battle of matter against the force of gravity. In this course we follow the story from when the Universe was a few seconds old to the present day.

These lectures will demonstrate how bones and teeth of animals record various aspects of their life history. This is particularly important for deciphering the biology of animals that have been dead for a few years up to millions of years, and of which we know virtually nothing. Anatomical studies and biological signals recorded within their bones allow us to extract information about how they grew, how old they were, whether they migrated or whether they endured disease. We will show how we garner this information.

It recognized that landscapes, gardens, plants and natural environments promote mental and physical health. Architects in Japan and Europe have been required to create areas for green spaces in all new building developments. They are creating green spaces on rooftops and balconies and in ‘living walls’ of plants that create their own eco-environments. This course will explore the meaning and importance of green zones, how we respond to certain combinations of natural elements, and how we can use these in our daily lives and living spaces.

J.S. Bach, has loomed large over the musical world for the last three hundred years. What is it about Bach that has this effect on composers? This course explores answers to this phenomenon. The first lecture discusses the enigma of Bach: where did this music come from, and why is it so universally loved? The next lecture looks at Bach’s influence in the nineteenth century where the music is unapproachable and immeasurable by ordinary standards. Finally, Bach is considered as a man for all genres in modern times.

These lectures investigate the crises around imperial power and the writing of novels from the genre of the ‘spy’ or ‘espionage’ thriller. It examines the national and imperial tensions at work around the time of the novels’ writing, and how these work through into the novels’ structures and narratives. We move from the period of nineteenth-century grand imperialism (Kipling) across the First World War and the aftermath of the Second World War (Buchan and Fleming) and into the beginnings of the contemporary period of neo-liberalism and globalisation (le Carré).

This course seeks to discover intimations of the numinous on a journey with five poets. From the search for a peace that passes understanding in a post-war ‘waste land’, through the rigours of purgatorial pilgrimage to the modern cityscapes of squandered desires, loneliness and spiritual failure, graced lives appear as rather distant afterthoughts and fractured memories. If faint echoes of the transcendent may still be heard, the question is posed as to where sacred presence could be found or reimagined in the unhallowed void and transience of secular human existence.

This course will share insights about carbon dioxide and its role in sustaining life on Earth. Carbon dioxide, which is invisible and odourless, is a key component in our atmosphere.
Based on fundamental scientific principles, these lectures will delve into the scientific foundations under­pinning the mechanisms by which greenhouse and other atmospheric gases contribute to the shaping of our planet’s climate. The lectures will offer valuable insights and foster a deeper understanding of this complex yet captivating subject matter.

The Baltic Rim spawned waves of colonisers, powerful empires, Crusading Orders and international trading consortiums. They altered the fate of places thousands of miles from the Baltic Rim. But in time these successes brought their own hazards. The attention of larger political units was attracted. The native populations were ultimately too small to sustain serious political power. The role of the Baltic Rim in the modern world has changed. Instead of political competition, the Baltic Rim has become an exemplar for good values, education, freedom of expression and working democracy.

This course will bring into focus some of the great paintings produced in five European cities hitherto regarded as only of secondary importance in the history of Western art. Participants will discover how Titian advanced Renaissance painting beyond that of Florence and Rome, whilst in a turbulent London we will meet William Hogarth. We also meet Egon Schiele in Vienna and in Moscow, Wassily Kandinsky. In Berlin we encounter George Grosz and Otto Dix. Finally we meet German artist Anselm Kiefer.

Everything around us, apart from hydrogen and helium, was made inside stars. The Earth and Sun contain elements made in the many generations of stars that were born and died during the nine thousand million years before our Sun and planets were born. The story of the birth and death of stars is the story of the battle of matter against the force of gravity. In this course we follow the story from when the Universe was a few seconds old to the present day.

It recognized that landscapes, gardens, plants and natural environments promote mental and physical health. Architects in Japan and Europe have been required to create areas for green spaces in all new building developments. They are creating green spaces on rooftops and balconies and in ‘living walls’ of plants that create their own eco-environments. This course will explore the meaning and importance of green zones, how we respond to certain combinations of natural elements, and how we can use these in our daily lives and living spaces.

J.S. Bach, has loomed large over the musical world for the last three hundred years. What is it about Bach that has this effect on composers? This course explores answers to this phenomenon. The first lecture discusses the enigma of Bach: where did this music come from, and why is it so universally loved? The next lecture looks at Bach’s influence in the nineteenth century where the music is unapproachable and immeasurable by ordinary standards. Finally, Bach is considered as a man for all genres in modern times.

Are we endowed with the capacity to make our own choices? Do we have free will? This is a the big questions challenging biologists today. How can there be free will in a determined Universe? This is based on a contradictory notion of ‘compatibilism’: The world is deterministic and there is free will. The current literature provides much evidence of the integration of biology and psychology. This course will focus mainly (but not entirely) on the ideas of two major thinkers representing diametrically opposing views for and against free will.

These lectures investigate the crises around imperial power and the writing of novels from the genre of the ‘spy’ or ‘espionage’ thriller. It examines the national and imperial tensions at work around the time of the novels’ writing, and how these work through into the novels’ structures and narratives. We move from the period of nineteenth-century grand imperialism (Kipling) across the First World War and the aftermath of the Second World War (Buchan and Fleming) and into the beginnings of the contemporary period of neo-liberalism and globalisation (le Carré).

This course seeks to discover intimations of the numinous on a journey with five poets. From the search for a peace that passes understanding in a post-war ‘waste land’, through the rigours of purgatorial pilgrimage to the modern cityscapes of squandered desires, loneliness and spiritual failure, graced lives appear as rather distant afterthoughts and fractured memories. If faint echoes of the transcendent may still be heard, the question is posed as to where sacred presence could be found or reimagined in the unhallowed void and transience of secular human existence.

This course will share insights about carbon dioxide and its role in sustaining life on Earth. Carbon dioxide, which is invisible and odourless, is a key component in our atmosphere.
Based on fundamental scientific principles, these lectures will delve into the scientific foundations under­pinning the mechanisms by which greenhouse and other atmospheric gases contribute to the shaping of our planet’s climate. The lectures will offer valuable insights and foster a deeper understanding of this complex yet captivating subject matter.

The Baltic Rim spawned waves of colonisers, powerful empires, Crusading Orders and international trading consortiums. They altered the fate of places thousands of miles from the Baltic Rim. But in time these successes brought their own hazards. The attention of larger political units was attracted. The native populations were ultimately too small to sustain serious political power. The role of the Baltic Rim in the modern world has changed. Instead of political competition, the Baltic Rim has become an exemplar for good values, education, freedom of expression and working democracy.

This course will bring into focus some of the great paintings produced in five European cities hitherto regarded as only of secondary importance in the history of Western art. Participants will discover how Titian advanced Renaissance painting beyond that of Florence and Rome, whilst in a turbulent London we will meet William Hogarth. We also meet Egon Schiele in Vienna and in Moscow, Wassily Kandinsky. In Berlin we encounter George Grosz and Otto Dix. Finally we meet German artist Anselm Kiefer.

Everything around us, apart from hydrogen and helium, was made inside stars. The Earth and Sun contain elements made in the many generations of stars that were born and died during the nine thousand million years before our Sun and planets were born. The story of the birth and death of stars is the story of the battle of matter against the force of gravity. In this course we follow the story from when the Universe was a few seconds old to the present day.

These lectures will demonstrate how bones and teeth of animals record various aspects of their life history. This is particularly important for deciphering the biology of animals that have been dead for a few years up to millions of years, and of which we know virtually nothing. Anatomical studies and biological signals recorded within their bones allow us to extract information about how they grew, how old they were, whether they migrated or whether they endured disease. We will show how we garner this information.

It recognized that landscapes, gardens, plants and natural environments promote mental and physical health. Architects in Japan and Europe have been required to create areas for green spaces in all new building developments. They are creating green spaces on rooftops and balconies and in ‘living walls’ of plants that create their own eco-environments. This course will explore the meaning and importance of green zones, how we respond to certain combinations of natural elements, and how we can use these in our daily lives and living spaces.

J.S. Bach, has loomed large over the musical world for the last three hundred years. What is it about Bach that has this effect on composers? This course explores answers to this phenomenon. The first lecture discusses the enigma of Bach: where did this music come from, and why is it so universally loved? The next lecture looks at Bach’s influence in the nineteenth century where the music is unapproachable and immeasurable by ordinary standards. Finally, Bach is considered as a man for all genres in modern times.

Are we endowed with the capacity to make our own choices? Do we have free will? This is a the big questions challenging biologists today. How can there be free will in a determined Universe? This is based on a contradictory notion of ‘compatibilism’: The world is deterministic and there is free will. The current literature provides much evidence of the integration of biology and psychology. This course will focus mainly (but not entirely) on the ideas of two major thinkers representing diametrically opposing views for and against free will.

These lectures investigate the crises around imperial power and the writing of novels from the genre of the ‘spy’ or ‘espionage’ thriller. It examines the national and imperial tensions at work around the time of the novels’ writing, and how these work through into the novels’ structures and narratives. We move from the period of nineteenth-century grand imperialism (Kipling) across the First World War and the aftermath of the Second World War (Buchan and Fleming) and into the beginnings of the contemporary period of neo-liberalism and globalisation (le Carré).

This course seeks to discover intimations of the numinous on a journey with five poets. From the search for a peace that passes understanding in a post-war ‘waste land’, through the rigours of purgatorial pilgrimage to the modern cityscapes of squandered desires, loneliness and spiritual failure, graced lives appear as rather distant afterthoughts and fractured memories. If faint echoes of the transcendent may still be heard, the question is posed as to where sacred presence could be found or reimagined in the unhallowed void and transience of secular human existence.

This course will share insights about carbon dioxide and its role in sustaining life on Earth. Carbon dioxide, which is invisible and odourless, is a key component in our atmosphere.
Based on fundamental scientific principles, these lectures will delve into the scientific foundations under­pinning the mechanisms by which greenhouse and other atmospheric gases contribute to the shaping of our planet’s climate. The lectures will offer valuable insights and foster a deeper understanding of this complex yet captivating subject matter.

The Baltic Rim spawned waves of colonisers, powerful empires, Crusading Orders and international trading consortiums. They altered the fate of places thousands of miles from the Baltic Rim. But in time these successes brought their own hazards. The attention of larger political units was attracted. The native populations were ultimately too small to sustain serious political power. The role of the Baltic Rim in the modern world has changed. Instead of political competition, the Baltic Rim has become an exemplar for good values, education, freedom of expression and working democracy.

Long Covid remains mysterious. This is in part due to the difficulty in identifying an overt pathological cause, but also the complexity of understanding how organic changes result in psychological symptoms such as mental fatigue, memory problems, emotional issues, and difficulty in focusing. The first lecture will discuss Long Covid, its controversial history and prevailing ideas regarding the brain changes that result in its symptoms. The second lecture will focus on the results and implications of a recent neuropsychological study of Long Covid.

This course will bring into focus some of the great paintings produced in five European cities hitherto regarded as only of secondary importance in the history of Western art. Participants will discover how Titian advanced Renaissance painting beyond that of Florence and Rome, whilst in a turbulent London we will meet William Hogarth. We also meet Egon Schiele in Vienna and in Moscow, Wassily Kandinsky. In Berlin we encounter George Grosz and Otto Dix. Finally we meet German artist Anselm Kiefer.

These lectures will demonstrate how bones and teeth of animals record various aspects of their life history. This is particularly important for deciphering the biology of animals that have been dead for a few years up to millions of years, and of which we know virtually nothing. Anatomical studies and biological signals recorded within their bones allow us to extract information about how they grew, how old they were, whether they migrated or whether they endured disease. We will show how we garner this information.

It recognized that landscapes, gardens, plants and natural environments promote mental and physical health. Architects in Japan and Europe have been required to create areas for green spaces in all new building developments. They are creating green spaces on rooftops and balconies and in ‘living walls’ of plants that create their own eco-environments. This course will explore the meaning and importance of green zones, how we respond to certain combinations of natural elements, and how we can use these in our daily lives and living spaces.

These lectures investigate the crises around imperial power and the writing of novels from the genre of the ‘spy’ or ‘espionage’ thriller. It examines the national and imperial tensions at work around the time of the novels’ writing, and how these work through into the novels’ structures and narratives. We move from the period of nineteenth-century grand imperialism (Kipling) across the First World War and the aftermath of the Second World War (Buchan and Fleming) and into the beginnings of the contemporary period of neo-liberalism and globalisation (le Carré).

This course seeks to discover intimations of the numinous on a journey with five poets. From the search for a peace that passes understanding in a post-war ‘waste land’, through the rigours of purgatorial pilgrimage to the modern cityscapes of squandered desires, loneliness and spiritual failure, graced lives appear as rather distant afterthoughts and fractured memories. If faint echoes of the transcendent may still be heard, the question is posed as to where sacred presence could be found or reimagined in the unhallowed void and transience of secular human existence.

The Baltic Rim spawned waves of colonisers, powerful empires, Crusading Orders and international trading consortiums. They altered the fate of places thousands of miles from the Baltic Rim. But in time these successes brought their own hazards. The attention of larger political units was attracted. The native populations were ultimately too small to sustain serious political power. The role of the Baltic Rim in the modern world has changed. Instead of political competition, the Baltic Rim has become an exemplar for good values, education, freedom of expression and working democracy.

Long Covid remains mysterious. This is in part due to the difficulty in identifying an overt pathological cause, but also the complexity of understanding how organic changes result in psychological symptoms such as mental fatigue, memory problems, emotional issues, and difficulty in focusing. The first lecture will discuss Long Covid, its controversial history and prevailing ideas regarding the brain changes that result in its symptoms. The second lecture will focus on the results and implications of a recent neuropsychological study of Long Covid.

This course will bring into focus some of the great paintings produced in five European cities hitherto regarded as only of secondary importance in the history of Western art. Participants will discover how Titian advanced Renaissance painting beyond that of Florence and Rome, whilst in a turbulent London we will meet William Hogarth. We also meet Egon Schiele in Vienna and in Moscow, Wassily Kandinsky. In Berlin we encounter George Grosz and Otto Dix. Finally we meet German artist Anselm Kiefer.

These lectures will demonstrate how bones and teeth of animals record various aspects of their life history. This is particularly important for deciphering the biology of animals that have been dead for a few years up to millions of years, and of which we know virtually nothing. Anatomical studies and biological signals recorded within their bones allow us to extract information about how they grew, how old they were, whether they migrated or whether they endured disease. We will show how we garner this information.

These lectures investigate the crises around imperial power and the writing of novels from the genre of the ‘spy’ or ‘espionage’ thriller. It examines the national and imperial tensions at work around the time of the novels’ writing, and how these work through into the novels’ structures and narratives. We move from the period of nineteenth-century grand imperialism (Kipling) across the First World War and the aftermath of the Second World War (Buchan and Fleming) and into the beginnings of the contemporary period of neo-liberalism and globalisation (le Carré).

Drawings, prints and sculpture by indigenous artists from the Circumpolar North have captured international attention at contemporary art events. This course offers a cultural perspective on the resurgence of contemporary art from the Far North. It explores its rich history and disentangles some of the complicated encounters between circumpolar communities and settlers that gave rise to beautiful visual and material expression of indigenous identity. The Inuit of the northern regions of Canada will be at the centre of this course, but examples from other Arctic communities will also be discussed.

Manet’s work represents a crucial turning point between the realism of Gustave Courbet and the ‘new painters’. His extremely expressive and accurate painting technique influenced the young Impressionists. Two works led to him to become the undisputed leader of the avant-garde, and a pariah at the École des Beaux Arts. Both works, ‘Déjeuner sur l’herbe’ and ‘Olympia’, reference the great Renaissance works of Giorgione and Titian. A deeper side of him is revealed in his moving works of 1864 and 1865 on the theme of death.

Alongside written scripture, there is a long tradition of depictions of Christ in painting. This course, jointly presented by a cleric and a historian, considers the varying purposes of Christian art: devotional, didactic and doctrinal. It examines how the human and divine natures of Christ are depicted in widely differing styles and schools of art. How did these images change over time, and why?

Drawings, prints and sculpture by indigenous artists from the Circumpolar North have captured international attention at contemporary art events. This course offers a cultural perspective on the resurgence of contemporary art from the Far North. It explores its rich history and disentangles some of the complicated encounters between circumpolar communities and settlers that gave rise to beautiful visual and material expression of indigenous identity. The Inuit of the northern regions of Canada will be at the centre of this course, but examples from other Arctic communities will also be discussed.

Manet’s work represents a crucial turning point between the realism of Gustave Courbet and the ‘new painters’. His extremely expressive and accurate painting technique influenced the young Impressionists. Two works led to him to become the undisputed leader of the avant-garde, and a pariah at the École des Beaux Arts. Both works, ‘Déjeuner sur l’herbe’ and ‘Olympia’, reference the great Renaissance works of Giorgione and Titian. A deeper side of him is revealed in his moving works of 1864 and 1865 on the theme of death.

Alongside written scripture, there is a long tradition of depictions of Christ in painting. This course, jointly presented by a cleric and a historian, considers the varying purposes of Christian art: devotional, didactic and doctrinal. It examines how the human and divine natures of Christ are depicted in widely differing styles and schools of art. How did these images change over time, and why?

Drawings, prints and sculpture by indigenous artists from the Circumpolar North have captured international attention at contemporary art events. This course offers a cultural perspective on the resurgence of contemporary art from the Far North. It explores its rich history and disentangles some of the complicated encounters between circumpolar communities and settlers that gave rise to beautiful visual and material expression of indigenous identity. The Inuit of the northern regions of Canada will be at the centre of this course, but examples from other Arctic communities will also be discussed.

Manet’s work represents a crucial turning point between the realism of Gustave Courbet and the ‘new painters’. His extremely expressive and accurate painting technique influenced the young Impressionists. Two works led to him to become the undisputed leader of the avant-garde, and a pariah at the École des Beaux Arts. Both works, ‘Déjeuner sur l’herbe’ and ‘Olympia’, reference the great Renaissance works of Giorgione and Titian. A deeper side of him is revealed in his moving works of 1864 and 1865 on the theme of death.

Alongside written scripture, there is a long tradition of depictions of Christ in painting. This course, jointly presented by a cleric and a historian, considers the varying purposes of Christian art: devotional, didactic and doctrinal. It examines how the human and divine natures of Christ are depicted in widely differing styles and schools of art. How did these images change over time, and why?

Drawings, prints and sculpture by indigenous artists from the Circumpolar North have captured international attention at contemporary art events. This course offers a cultural perspective on the resurgence of contemporary art from the Far North. It explores its rich history and disentangles some of the complicated encounters between circumpolar communities and settlers that gave rise to beautiful visual and material expression of indigenous identity. The Inuit of the northern regions of Canada will be at the centre of this course, but examples from other Arctic communities will also be discussed.

Drawings, prints and sculpture by indigenous artists from the Circumpolar North have captured international attention at contemporary art events. This course offers a cultural perspective on the resurgence of contemporary art from the Far North. It explores its rich history and disentangles some of the complicated encounters between circumpolar communities and settlers that gave rise to beautiful visual and material expression of indigenous identity. The Inuit of the northern regions of Canada will be at the centre of this course, but examples from other Arctic communities will also be discussed.