Talking about Scotland’s future

Talking about Scotland’s future

Major Aberdeen public lecture series to examine the distinctiveness of Scottish life

Six of Scotland’s most distinguished thinkers will share their views on Scotland’s future in a major lecture series, which will take place at the University of Aberdeen over the coming months.

Talking Scots, one of the University’s high-profile events for the Millennium, will provide a platform for notable speakers to examine the distinctiveness of Scottish life and culture and its prospects for the 21st century.

A special website has been created with full details of the series and public can book free tickets online. The address is www.abdn.ac.uk/talkingscots .

The first lecture will take place on Tuesday, February 1, and will be given by Professor Tom Devine, Director of Aberdeen’s Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, who will look at Scotland’s national identity in Scotland the Brave: Interpreting Scotland’s Identity. He will examine the myths and beliefs that have influenced identity over the last century and a half, and explore the factors that have created a more confident Scotland on the threshold of the new millennium.

Professor Sir Stewart Sutherland, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, will follow Professor Devine’s lecture on Tuesday, February 15, when he will explore the state of education in Scotland in Democracies and Intellects: Education in the new Millennium.

The Very Rev Gilleasbuig Macmillan, Minister, St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, will tackle the big question of Scottish religion in A Matter of Faith: Scottish Religion and the Spiritual Quest on Tuesday, March 14. He will look at some of the widely held assumptions of the rise and fall of religious enthusiasm in Scotland.

The Rt Hon Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General of Scotland, will talk on The Law of Scotland in the United Kingdom, on Tuesday, March 21. Sir Ian Wood, Chairman of Scottish Enterprise, will discuss ways in which Scotland is meeting the challenge of new industries, new skills and completely new ways of doing business. In his lecture, An Enterprising Nation?: Scottish Business and the Challenge of Change, on Tuesday, April 25, Sir Ian will also look at what the emergence of a knowledge economy means for our universities and their relationship with Scottish and international industry.

Finally, Scottish Arts Council Chairman Magnus Linklater will talk on Culture: Crisis or Confidence, the Future of Arts in Scotland on Tuesday, May 9. He will look at such issues as how far does culture in Scotland echo the new political mood of the nation?, and is there a crisis of identity, a fundamental uncertainty about the arts. He will argue that, by contrast, there is a radical change in the way creative artists see their role and that they are making their presence felt in ways that could change the whole function of the arts in our society.

Each of the lectures will take place in King’s College Conference Centre at 7pm and will be followed by a wine reception. Admission is free, but tickets must be obtained from the Public Relations Office on (01224) 272014, or by e-mail on talkingscots@abdn.ac.uk.

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