Public lectures in the autumn semester 2021: online, on-site or hybrid

3 September 2021. "A kind of community is also possible in virtual space. But the virtual cannot completely replace the personal," writes Prof. Dr. Florian Wettstein, Delegate of the President for the Public Programme, in the preface to the lectures in autumn 2021. "Non-verbal communication, conversations between door and door, spontaneous remarks to the person sitting next to you - all this only comes into its own in physical presence. And so we are looking forward to taking a first, partial step back onto the university campus in the new semester."

Three formats

The public lectures will be held in three formats in autumn 2021: Five lecture series will be held exclusively online. A large number of other events will take place in hybrid form, i.e. in presence on campus with simultaneous online transmission. And a third group of lectures will only take place on site.

It is still necessary to register for all lectures. This can be done on the platform hsg.events/oeffentlichevorlesungen/. The same link also provides a complete overview of all lectures in the autumn semester 2021. Anyone who needs assistance with registration can get it from Mondays to Thursdays, 9 to 11 a.m., on 071 224 33 39.

Wide range of topics

The programme is as rich as ever: topics range from the 50th anniversary of women's suffrage in Switzerland (Christa Binswanger and Claudia Brühwiler) to sustainable development in Africa (Roland Hodler), from Dürrenmatt (Ulrike Landfester) to Virginia Woolf (Alan Robinson) and from the historic Via Appia of ancient Rome (Paul Meinrad Strässle) to the future of freight transport in modern Switzerland (Wolfgang Stölzle).

The lectures of the Public Programme of the University of St.Gallen are aimed at all those whose intellectual hunger extends beyond the confines of their own professional and everyday lives.