Distinguished Lecture Series
17 November 2011
The University is welcoming three world-leading scholars to Cardiff in December 2011 as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series.
Professor Robert Darnton, Harvard University; Professor Jon Crowcroft, University of Cambridge and Professor Robin Dunbar, University of Oxford will give lectures on 5, 6 and 7 December respectively. The lectures will also be streamed live on the University website to audiences around the globe.
Find out more about the subject of their lectures and how to reserve places below.
Professor Robert Darnton, Harvard University
Distinguished Lecture: Jefferson’s Taper and the Future of Books
Delivered by Professor Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Library
Date: Monday 5 December 2011
Location: School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
Commercial interests are exploiting digital technology in order to fence off large parts of our cultural commons, an eminent cultural historian will argue in a keynote lecture at Cardiff University.
Professor Robert Darnton of Harvard University is internationally recognised for his work and is a pioneer in the field of book history. He has written extensively on the information age and its effect on the printed word and is leading international debates on library issues, from preservation and access to publishing and technology.
In his Distinguished Lecture, entitled Jefferson’s Taper and the Future of Books, Professor Darnton will trace the journey of the exchange of ideas, from Jefferson’s Taper to the commercialisation of the internet.
Jefferson compared the exchange of ideas to the transfer of light from one candle to another - a process in which one person gained while the other did not lose. Professor Darnton will argue that although the internet seems to translate Jefferson’s ideal into a viable system of communication, commercial interests are exploiting digital technology and fencing off large parts of our cultural commons. As a result, these commercial interests may dominate the future of books. He will cite the campaign to create a Digital Public Library of America as an answer to that threat.
The lecture is part of Cardiff University’s Distinguished Lecture Series, which brings eminent and influential guest speakers to the University and a wider audience to showcase their work.
Jefferson’s Taper and the Future of Books takes place at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Maindy Road and starts at 6.30 pm. A reception will take place beforehand from 6.00 pm.
To reserve a place at the lecture please email publicbookings@cardiff.ac.uk or call 029 2087 6935.
Distinguished lectures in Social Computing
Date: Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 December 2011
Venue: School of Optometry and Vision Sciences (6 December) and School of Computer Science and Informatics (7 December)
The concept of friendship in the digital age and the use of wireless mobile networks to help measure human society will be discussed in keynote lectures at Cardiff University.
On Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 December 2011, Professor Jon Crowcroft of the University of Cambridge and Professor Robin Dunbar of the University of Oxford will deliver the University’s Distinguished Lectures in Social Computing.
Professor Jon Crowcroft, University of Cambridge
Opportunity is the Mother of Invention is the subject of Professor Crowcroft’s lecture (6 December) in which he will explain the new “data centric networking” paradigm that aims to allow mobile users to share information more easily. He will outline the development of Haggle, which offers a new way for smartphone users to exchange files in a ‘social’ way. He will argue that, although the system was originally designed to address networking problems experienced by mobile users, it turned out to be rather more general than expected. Recently, for example, it was used to track a flu epidemic.
Why the Internet Won’t Get You Any More Friends is the topic of Professor Robin Dunbar’s lecture (7 December). Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, Professor Dunbar is best known for the social brain hypothesis, the gossip theory of language evolution and Dunbar’s Number (the limit on the number of relationships that we can manage). In his lecture he will argue that although the internet offers us the implicit opportunity to make casual acquaintances with people all around the world, it does not, and cannot, cut through the glass ceiling that limits the number of relationships we can have.
The lectures are part of Cardiff University’s high-profile Distinguished Lecture Series which brings eminent and influential guest speakers to the University and a wider audience to showcase their work.
Professor Crowcroft’s lecture takes place at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Maindy Road on 6 December. A pre-lecture reception commences at 5.30 pm, with posters showcasing the work of Cardiff University students in Social Computing; the lecture starts at 6.30 pm.
Professor Dunbar’s lecture starts at 11.00 am on Wednesday 7th December and takes place at the School of Computer Science and Informatics. This lecture is part of a morning programme from 9:15 am-12:15 pm highlighting Cardiff University’s groundbreaking research in social computing. The lectures are free and places can be reserved by emailing publicbookings@cardiff.ac.uk or by calling 029 2087 6935. Bookings can be made for both lectures or for each lecture separately.
