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Events - 08.09.2022 - 00:00 

Public lectures in Autumn Semester 2022: reflection and creative exchange

In Autumn Semester 2022, visitors will be able to look forward to 35 public lecture courses at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). This semester’s topics will invite them to engage in critical reflection and creative exchange.

8 September 2022. In several lectures, professors and extramural teachers will share their knowledge and a feel for the dominant issues of our time – thus the war in Ukraine has also found its way into the lecture programme of Autumn Semester 2022. Various lectures will directly or indirectly deal with the events in the heart of Europe: among other issues, light will be shed on international politics, peoples’ right to self-determination and the time of transformation of the 1990s in Eastern Europe, as well as their relevance to today’s events. Besides this focal point, the public lecture programme extends to its customary range of topics. The programme will start on 19 September 2022.

Neutrality, energy turnaround and algorithms
“The Ukraine has called into question the entire peace and security order in Europe and the world,” writes Prof. Dr. Florian Wettstein, Head of the Public Programme, in the preface to the public lecture directory of Autumn Semester 2022. “There are no easy answers.” The fact that scepticism, critical reflection and the need to understand events better are  becoming more important also manifests itself in the compilation of this semester’s lecture spectrum. Thus Swiss neutrality will be discussed as a focal point and fundamental problem of international politics (lecture by Christoph Frei), insights will be given into peoples’ right to self-determination as a possible building block of an international order (lecture by Bardo Fassbender), and the challenges of the energy turnaround will be discussed (lecture by Petyo Bonev). Not least, Yves B. Partschefeld will deal with the “wild East”, and Isabel Ebert will focus on the impact of algorithms on human rights.

Urban-rural divide, forming opinions, and body images
Reflections on opposites and interdependencies will also predominate in Mathias Schneider’s and Susanne Täschler’s geography lectures – the issue of the urban-rural divide keeps recurring in the context of federal ballots, in particular. Borders also constitute the topic of graphologist Urs Imoberdorf: “Can our handwriting help us to better recognise the course of our lives, our own strengths and limitations and to integrate them better into our view of ourselves?” Deceleration as a consequence of reflection is also the focus of a lecture series organised by the non-tenured faculty with a look behind the scenes of research and teaching: “If science wants to continue to be creative and create new things, this will need more time again. Research has to be decelerated in order to allow for slower reflection on interdependencies”. Dominique Künzle’s lecture will deal with the construct of “critical thinking” in detail: “critical thinking is like driving, we can always do it better than everyone else and are annoyed by those who are less proficient.” Finally, Monika Kritzmöller focuses on the human body – the “sole certainty of our existence”, she writes.

New signage on the HSG campus
As from summer 2022, all the lettering will be adjusted in order to facilitate orientation on the University campus. The present rooms will be supplemented by a letter prefix that indicates the respective area of the University campus. Green signposts and orientation boards on the campus indicate the way to the lecture rooms. In addition, the boards provide the relevant QR code for digital navigation, which will lead you to the required building or room:
https://www.unisg.ch/de/universitaet/besucher/anfahrtundcampusplan/mymapwww.unisg.ch/en/universitaet/besucher/anfahrtundcampusplan/mymap

Registration is only necessary for online lectures
Registration is only still required for individual online lectures and can be completed through: www.unisg.ch/de/universitaet/besucher/oeffentlichevorlesungen

Programme brochures can be ordered through kommunikation(at)unisg.ch or through 071 224 22 25.

Image: Brochure of the public lectures / Hannes Thalmann

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