Next year marks the 80th anniversary of the University's Saturday evening lecture series and to celebrate that milestone a stimulating programme of speakers has been organised for 2004. Lecture topics are wide ranging and talks will be given by a variety of speakers, who all operate at the top of their fields.
The series will be kicked off on 31 January by Cameron McNeish, one of Britain's leading voices on outdoor matters. Cameron will discuss the opportunities that are available for climbers, hill-walkers, Munro-baggers and backpackers, but his underlying theme is one of protection and conservation and why it is the responsibility of outdoor folk to care for wild places.
NASA Astronaut, Piers Sellers, will talk about the future of space exploration on 7 February. Sellers will explain how NASA is aiming to complete the exploration of the solar system and develop further manned expeditions to Mars and perhaps even further.
University of Dundee honorary graduate, Dr Vanessa Lawrence, Director General, Ordnance Survey will visit the University on 21 February. She will talk about how the development of new technologies, the integration of Geographic Information standards into the wider IT environment and the increasing acceptance of the relevance of geography for joining up government are all contributing to GI becoming more prevalent in everyday life.
The University's Professor Sue Black will explore the essence of what forensic anthropology is on 1 May. She will highlight the importance of forensic anthropology in UK police investigations and examine how it is a vital component in the analysis of mass disasters and war crimes investigations.
On 22 May, Professor Cheryll Tickle, a developmental biologist in the School of Life Sciences will talk on the subject of how the human body develops from a single cell into a complex collection of coordinated tissues, organs and structures. She will explore how individual cells are programmed to differentiate and how they are organised within a tissue or organ to ensure that they develop in the correct direction, and with the proper symmetry or asymmetry.
Niall Dickson, BBC Social Affairs Editor, will give the final lecture of the academic year - a date will be confirmed in the New Year. The lectures will take place in the Tower Extension Lecture Theatre, subject to change. For more information please contact events@dundee.ac.uk