8 November 2007

New annual lecture announced

This event is now sold out

A new annual lecture series has been announced, hosted jointly by the University of Dundee and Dundee City Council to commemorate the University’s 40th anniversary year.

The first Dundee Christmas Lecture will take place on 1st December and will feature the distinguished Professor of Genetics at University College, London, Professor Steve Jones.

Professor Jones will explore why all biologists support the theory of evolution, why "intelligent design" is wrong and what evolution can, and cannot, tell us about what it means to be human.

The lecture, which takes place at 6pm, 1st December 2007, in the New Teaching Block Main Lecture Theatre is free and open to all and will be followed by a drinks reception at which all are welcome.

The lecture provides a perfect ending to a year of high profile events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the University as well as a tangible outcome of the year of celebration. In February honorary degrees were conferred on a number of prominent Dundonians who have made important contributions to the life of the city and the University. Those honoured included singer Michael Marra, journalist, Russell Reid, distance runner, Liz McColgan, Lord Provost John Letford. solicitor, Norman Robertson, Rt Rev Vincent Loan, Bishop of Dunkeld, Lynda Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton and Professor Sir Philip Cohen. The ceremony celebrated the long and close relationship between the city and the University and the new lecture will be seen as a lasting reminder of that relationship.

An exhibition of Michael Peto photographs of the Beatles, never before seen in Scotland, attracted thousands of Dundonians to the University while more than 500 alumni flocked back to the University for the University's first ever homecoming weekend, which culminated in a gala dinner hosted by the Lord Provost.

The graduation ceremonies in June, for more than 2,500 students, also welcomed some distinguished honorary degree recipients including writers Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. The University also launched its first literary festival which featured a range of exciting writers and welcomed hundreds of Dundonians including children from most of the schools in Dundee. The literary festival has now been short-listed for a major community award at the forthcoming Times Higher Education awards in London. In September the Medical School celebrated their own reunion with more than 300 delegates attending a series of keynote lectures and a gala dinner held in the Marryat Hall.

In July the University was honoured by a visit from HRH The Queen who participated in a 40th anniversary thanksgiving service in the University chapel as well as officially opening the new teaching block on Hunter Street.

Lord Provost John Letford said, "We are delighted to join forces with the University to launch this new lecture series. The series will be a permanent symbol of the close and enduring relationship between the city and the University."

Sir Alan Langlands, Principal of the University of Dundee said, "The University of Dundee was granted its Royal Charter in 1967, in part due to the persistent campaign by Dundee's citizens to have their own fully independent university. Therefore it is highly fitting that the Dundee Christmas Lecture will serve to celebrate the close links between the University and the people of Dundee".

The Dundee Christmas Lecture , 6pm, 1st December 2007, New Teaching Block Main Lecture Theatre, Professor Steve Jones, "Why evolution is right and creationism is wrong..."

Christmas lecture poster (PDF).

For media enquiries contact:
Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk