Current global challenges in the public programme

24 August 2018. "The public programme of the University of St.Gallen is not only, but also always a mirror of what is happening around us and of what currently concerns us and society," writes Prof. Dr. Florian Wettstein, Director of the Public Programme in the current public lecture directory. Thus a wealth of lectures in the Autumn Semester will deal with today’s great global challenges.

The world and its challenges

One political lecture will examine the question as to the impact that new technologies and digitalisation are having on our democracy. The way in which digital change affects various industries and Eastern Swiss politics will be explained in a business IT lecture.

It appears that the world is turning faster and faster, and government is facing the threat of being increasingly left behind by such developments. Further political lectures will explore the focal points and fundamental problems. What role is government able to play in the production of solutions at all? And where can approaches to alternative solutions be glimpsed? An interdisciplinary lecture about social innovations and new forms of cooperation between the social actors will reveal an approach to such a solution, while the business ethics lecture will offer another such solution concerning sustainable consumption. And unfortunately, the topic of "War and Peace" is again – or still – highly topical. This year's series on "Business and Law" will approach this topic from five different perspectives.

Region and art

People who would like to deal less with the overall global weather situation and more with the treasures and advantages of the St.Gallen region will not be short-changed, either: the history lectures will all be about the art and its history in the Abbey of St.Gallen. The audience will also be given artistic insights in the two regional art history lectures: the lecture on the Sitterwerk will deal with the many-faceted and creative work done in the Sitter Valley. Finally, the lecture of the Kunstmuseum St.Gallen will focus on icon painting and the art of the Old Masters.