Boyer Lectures

In this first lecture, delivered at Peking University in Beijing, Dr Michael Fullilove explains the crumbling of world order. As wealth and power shifts to the East,  Australia finds itself in a new and precarious position.

In the fourth and final lecture Professor Cory highlights the concerning scientific brain drain in this country: "We are losing women from all areas of science and the deficit at senior levels is particularly disturbing."

In the third lecture Professor Suzanne Cory reflects on her other great passion, the environment, and warns that 'humankind is fouling the nest' and that if action is not taken soon, by 2100 Earth will be hotter than any time in the last few million years making mass species extinctions and global human conflicts over energy and water inevitable.

In the second lecture Professor Cory shows how extraordinarily important scientific research and development is for our economy.

In this first lecture Professor Cory reflects on where medical science has come from and where it is heading, drawing out implications for health and the economy.

Looking to the future of Australian Citizenship

Courage, compassion and resilience in everyday life

The powerful role of Australian Women

A personal story of equal rights advocacy

In her final lecture, Professor Langton reflects on the economic transformation underway in the lives of Aboriginal people -- from increasing Indigenous enrolments in higher education, through rising employment in mining and other rural industries, to the explosion of cultural production by Aboriginal people into the Australian mainstream not only on canvas and on the stage, but also in music, lit...

In her fourth lecture, Professor Langton examines how some beliefs within the nature conservation movement in Australia have perpetuated the idea that Aboriginal people are the enemies of nature, and describes recent examples of Indigenous tractional land practices which combine western ecological knowledge to create sustainable and economically viable custodianship of country,

In her third lecture, Professor Langton illuminates the experiences of two Aboriginal communities who are levering economic advancement through agreements with mining companies, and examines why it is that the private sector is leading the way in forging new working models with Indigenous Australia while government policies lag far behind.

In her second lecture, Professor Langton examines the confluence of historical, political and social factors which have created entrenched barriers against the economic advancement of Aboriginal people in Australia.

In this first lecture Professor Langton explores the changing relationship between Aboriginal communities and mining companies since the 1993 Mabo agreement and native title legislation, and asks whether this could offer a model for the economic empowerment of all Indigenous people in Australia.

It is my great good luck that the words I use are English words, which means I live in a very old nation of open borders; a rich, deep, multi-layered, promiscuous universe, infused with Latin, German, French, Greek, Arabic and countless other tongues. I would not be able to swim so far, dive so deep, in a linguistically isolated language such as Hungarian, or even a protectively elitist one such a...

If one definition of the word 'home' is a goal or objective, then I have to be clear that becoming the kind of journalist who covered war was never my goal or intention.

The idea of home is bigger than the floorplan of any given four walls or the mass of any roof line. It cannot be compassed by rote recitations of suburb or postcode, nation or state. In last week's lecture, I mentioned the various definitions that dictionaries give for that small, heavily laden word, home. Tonight I would like to explore some of them: home as 'a place of origin, a native habitat',...

In dictionaries, definitions of home are various. It is both 'a place of origin, a starting position' and 'a goal or destination.' It may also be 'an environment offering security and happiness' or 'the place where something is discovered, founded, developed or promoted. A source.'

Universities may appear unchanged and enduring, yet the world of the mind is shifting quickly. This is a moment of unparalleled growth, but also of new challenges — the web, on-line learning, and international competition. Australian higher education must think about its role in the republic of learning, so there is a place for every citizen, for every community.

In the modern university, the new sits awkwardly alongside the ancient — medieval gowns and corporate branding, academic board and a chief financial officer. Yet despite its many contradictions, campus remains a place of vitality and imagination, as each new generation seeks its place in the world.

Who gets to university will set the pattern for the life to follow — not just in income and profession, but across almost every dimension of health and happiness. So access to higher learning is a profound matter of social justice. Ensuring equality of opportunity to higher learning must start at the very beginning of education.

Research is not an ancient feature of the university, yet has become central to their identity. To tackle the really big questions, such as containing malaria, requires networks of researchers across many institutions. It is the republic at its most inspirational as it discovers and communicates the excitement of new knowledge.

On Open Day across the nation, the republic of learning is on display. Amid the multitude of courses on offer, the classroom is changing — new technology, new ways of teaching, and an old debate about how best to share knowledge with the next generation.

During the Renaissance, a new generation, living for the first time in a world of printing, created a conversation across borders and languages.

With climate change, the republic, national security, a bill of rights, and the economy, what kind of future are we creating for our children and their children? Every decision we make on the big issues will have a profound effect on their lives, so what can we do now to ensure that we give them the best possible Australia?