Check out some of these fantastic online lectures from historic Gresham College which could help broaden your subject knowledge, inspire your EPQ or even give you an edge in interviews!
2023 LECTURES:
ENGLISH / ART The Powers of the Novel by Professor John Mullan considers Adultery in the novel, historical fiction and endings (there are more to ‘watch now’); In Portraiture & Power experts like Philip Mould look at Louis XIV and Versailles, images of Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth II and portraits of Native American leaders from Pocahontas to Sitting Bull. gres.hm/novel-powers gres.hm/portrait-power
MATHEMATICS Maths and Money by Professor Sarah Hart will explore how you can find out if you’ve been cheated by a goldsmith or use game theory in buying, selling and competitions? What is the probability that you could win the lottery? And Unexpected Mathematical Lives looks at the mathematical achievements of Sir Christopher Wren, Florence Nightingale and Alan Turing. gres.hm/money-maths gres.hm/mathematical-lives
BIOLOGY All The World’s A Microbe by Professor Robin May, explains how microbes interact with us and our environment, making us human, helping bread rise, and building the Great Barrier Reef. gres.hm/microbes IT Humanising Cyberspace by Professor Victoria Baines will ask, Who owns the internet? What might life in the Metaverse be like? Can we expect our private communications to remain private? Baines is a fantastic lecturer and brings these topics to life. gres.hm/human-cyber
BUSINESS / ECONOMICS The Tech Revolution in Finance by Professor Raghavendra Rau explores the risks and benefits of the way that technology is changing the way markets and organizations work, connecting buyers and sellers directly; The Impact of Technology in Medicine, Education & AI will look at how technology could transform them. gres.hm/tech-finance gres.hm/technology-ai
GEOGRAPHY Why Net Zero? What is the science behind Net Zero, how are climate impacts emerging, and when and how do we need to act to turn things around, asks the Physicist behind Net Zero, Professor Myles Allen, in this fascinating series. gres.hm/net-zero
ASTRONOMY Cosmic Conclusions by Professor Katherine Blundell looks at the end of our sun, stars, & Universe in a surprisingly upbeat astrophysics series. gres.hm/cosmic-conclusions
ENGINEERING/ WREN Engineering the Modern World: how engineers are creating our modern world, from Telford to tall buildings today, Wren 300: Sir Christopher Wren is probably the most famous Gresham Professor in history: a polymath, architect, mathematician, astronomer, anatomist and courtier. gres.hm/engineering-world gres.hm/wren-300
HISTORY Ancient Landscapes of Britain: the latest research on Stonehenge, Roman Landscapes & the Medieval Agricultural Revolution; Britain’s Empire and the Economy by Professor Martin Daunton asks did Britain drain wealth from India and impoverish its economy? Did Atlantic slavery underpin the industrial revolution? Power, Politics and Nationhood by Professor Richard J Evans, Kavita Puri, Rory Stewart and Vernon Bogdanor examines the history of the ‘Irish problem’, Partition in India, Afghanistan and Ukraine today; Architecture & The Court by Simon Thurley looks at Tudor Court Progresses and Christopher Wren as a courtier. You can also catch up on our amazing Black History Month lectures; the one on Toussaint Louverture is our most-watched lecture this year. gres.hm/ancient-britain gres.hm/britains-empire gres.hm/power-politics gres.hm/architecture-court gres.hm/black-history-month
LAW/ POLITICS / CITIZENSHIP Reimagining the Law by Professor Leslie Thomas KC will ask, do we need Judges? do we need juries? do we need the police?, in a career-relevant series; Medical Law by Professor Imogen Goold will look at whether we should permit Voluntary Assisted Dying? Make vaccination mandatory? And what are the legal issues with Gene Editing? gres.hm/reimagining-law gres.hm/medical-law
MEDICINE Three lectures on Diseases of the Heart by Professor Chris Whitty; A Cultural History of Disease by acclaimed cultural historian Professor Joanna Bourke covering TB, Polio, Sickle Cell and more, Environmental Health by Dr Ian Mudway which will look at the changing ways we have understood the impact of the environment on us and on our health using the new idea of the ‘Exposome’; Living With Mental Health will look at how people can live well with mental health conditions, and whether anxiety is growing in children. gres.hm/diseases-heart gres.hm/cultural-disease gres.hm/environmental-health gres.hm/mental-health-series
MUSIC Why do certain chords make us feel a certain way? Why do some of them sound celestial and others invoke horror? Lecture-recitals on The Life of Chords by Professor Marina Frolova-Walker. gres.hm/life-chords
RELIGION Finding Britain’s Lost Gods by historian Professor Ronald Hutton looks at Gods from prehistoric times through the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and more; Women in World Religions covers: Reclaiming Women in the Hebrew Bible, Women Leaders in Early Christianity and Women, Islam and Prophecy. gres.hm/lost-gods gres.hm/women-religions