Public lectures: clear view, retrospective view, lake view

24 January 2019. "In spring 2019, too, our public programme will be a cornucopia of lectures," writes Prof. Dr. Florian Wettstein, Head of the Public Programme, in the preface to the brochure about the University of St.Gallen's public lectures. "Some lectures will provide the audience with a clearer view, others with a retrospective view, and others still with a view of the lake."

Clear thinking, rationality and emotional intelligence

A clearer view will be provided by the lectures which deal with clear thinking, with rationality but also with emotional intelligence. Thus a philosophy lecture will home in on the question as to whether the ideals of rationality and reasonable discussion have outlived their usefulness in today’s turbulent times. An answer to this may also be provided by Hannah Arendt's philosophy, which is the focus of the second philosophy lecture. However, we can also escape into narration. The high-profile author and winner of the Swiss Book Prize, Jonas Lüscher, will take the audience of the Swiss Literature lecture along on such an escape trip. The mystery of narration and how it can be used to move heaven and hell is also the subject-matter of a psychology lecture.

Switzerland, scandal and murder

Some lectures will be looking back at the past. Inter alia, a culture lecture will examine the often-asked question as to how Switzerland became rich, while highly scandalous matters will be dealt with in a history lecture, which will retrace great scandals from Marie Antoinette to Harvey Weinstein and explain what they say about our society. The law lecture will even be about murder and manslaughter: an in-depth insight into the Swiss homicide database will tell the audience much about the development of murder in the course of the centuries.

Lake Constance area

A total of four lectures will be devoted to the region and the city of St.Gallen this semester. A view of the lake is the topic of the two lectures that will deal with the Lake Constance area: in one lecture series, Lake Constance will be explored as a reference area of cities and regions, while the other will look into the history of the Lake Constance area’s art and culture.