Little Lectures

Little Lectures

Little Lectures - A Mini Lecture Series

We will hold a number of Little Lectures as part of our 525th anniversary events.

The lectures are a great opportunity for you to get to know the experts from the University of Aberdeen and cover a range of topics. 

Keep an eye on the webpage for new lectures being announced.

You can also view lectures from the previous Little Lectures series. 

View Previous Little Lectures

Archaeology

Previous Little Lectures


Exploring Prehistory with Ancient DNA

Presenter: Dr Linus Girdland

Biological Sciences

Previous Little Lectures


Decadal Changes in Attitudes to Scottish Marine Mammal Populations

Presenter: Professor Paul Thompson

 


Changing fish distributions challenge the effective management of European fisheries

Presenter: Professor Paul Fernandes


Understanding how soil microbiomes can help sequester carbon to mitigate climate change

Presenter: Dr Ashish Malik


Using computer models for predicting and managing species’ responses to environmental changes

Presenter: Dr Greta Bocedi

Business

Previous Little Lectures

Economics at Aberdeen: The Legacy of Sir Thomas Jaffrey

Presenter: Professor Keith Bender

Divinity, History and Philosophy

Previous Little Lectures
 



'Viking' Humour

Presenter: Dr Hannah Burrows

Do we share a sense of humour with Vikings? Explore what puns, jokes, insults, and satire can tell us about early Scandinavian culture and social concerns in this mini-lecture with Dr Hannah Burrows.

 



The Scottish Diaspora: A Brief Introduction

Presenter: Dr Marjory Harper

This mini-lecture will highlight key themes in the history of Scottish emigration since medieval times, but with a particular focus on the centuries after 1700. Professor Marjory Harper will be addressing the emigrants’ motives, the mechanisms by which they implemented their relocation, the attitudes of donor and host countries and communities, the impact of permanent settlement and temporary sojourning, and the long-term legacies of emigration.


Knowledge in Society

Presenter: Professor Jesper Kallestrup

This mini-lecture offers an overview of key themes in social epistemology, with a particular focus on how knowledge is transmitted in modern society. Professor Jesper Kallestrup will address how we all depend on experts or other epistemic agents, as well as technological devices, for the acquisition and preservation of knowledge.

Education

Previous Little Lecture:

 

Mindfulness in the time of Coronavirus

Presenter - Dr Graeme Nixon

In this Little Lecture, Dr Graeme Nixon will provide a chance to talk about what mindfulness is and how it has grown in popularity, as well as a chance to experience a mindfulness practice. This will be contextualised in terms of the pandemic where mindfulness has been deployed to deal with the anxiety and stress of lockdown, but also as a means to enhance dispositions such as gratitude and appreciation.

Engineering

Previous Little Lectures


Towards 100% Renewable Energy & Opportunities and Challenges in the Hydrogen Economy: Power to Molecules

Presenter: Dr Davide Dionisi/Dr Alfonso Martinez-Felipe


Advances in Prosthetics for Upper Limb Amputees

Presenter: Dr Ed Chadwick

Geoscience

Previous Little Lectures


UAVs to Visualise the Coast - A Scottish Example 

Presenter: Dr David Green


Energy Transition

Presenter: Dr Tavis Potts

Law

Previous Little Lectures


Climate Change and the Law

Presenter: Dr Daria Shapovalova


Power, rights and benefit: intellectual property rights

Presenter: Professor Abbe Brown


Presenting to Persuade: How should it be done?

Presenter: Professor Derek Auchie

Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Previous Little Lectures


How can we achieve a sustainable and healthy diet

Presenter: Professor Alex Johnstone


Introducing new imaging equipment and technologies into healthcare settings - what is required?

Presenter: Professor Andy Welch


The forgotten, the ignored and the under-served

Presenter: Professor Shaun Treweek


Making Medicines

Presenter: Professor Heather Wallace

Natural and Computing Science

Previous Little Lectures


Team Collaboration in Software Development

Presenter: Dr Bruce Scharlau


From Data to Knowledge 

Presenter: Professor Marco Thiel


Deep Learning, from Theory to Practice

Presenter: Dr Georgios Leontidis


Infrared Spectroscopy – adding analytical value by using it as a quantitative technique

Presenter: Dr Alan McCue

Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture

Previous Little Lectures


Writing the Self (English Literary Studies)

Presenter: Dr Elizabeth Elliott

This mini-lecture offers an overview of key issues in thinking about life writing, inviting you to consider what might distinguish life writing and autobiography, and what the variety of methods we use to represent our life experiences might have to tell us about the way we think about ourselves.


What are ‘materials’ in language teaching and why do we need them? (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

Presenter: Dr Vincent Greenier

Dr Vincent Greenier will be talking about language learning materials and will explore various examples of materials that can be used in the classroom. He will explain both the benefits and challenges of using existing EFL/ESL materials and designing your own and will highlight some basic principles of materials development. 


The Sound of the 70s (Music)

Presenter: Dr Jonathan Hicks

What do you think of when you think of the 1970s? Which musical artists spring to mind? What sound technologies or production effects seem to belong to that decade? Just as importantly, where do you think of when you think of the 1970s?  Dr Jonathan Hicks will address these questions and will explore how we might acknowledge and analyse diverse forms of sonic and musical practice using the example of a single decade.

Psychology

Previous Little Lectures


Ambiguity in communication and how to avoid it

Presenter: Dr Sandie Cleland


Is politeness a universal concept?

Presenter: Dr Amy Irwin


Why is it so hard to find my keys?

Presenter: Dr Amelia Hunt

We explore the world around us by moving our eyes around to pick up information. Eye movements determine what we see: two people in the same environment can have completely different experiences if they focus on different aspects of it. Being able to predict where people will look (or not look) can help inform the design of better interfaces and applications. In this Little Lecture Dr Amelia Hunt will talk about how psychologists measure eye movements and use this data to understand our perception, our habits and our priorities. She will describe her ongoing research project exploring how we search for objects, what kinds of errors we make and what we can do to be better at it.

Social Science

Previous Little Lectures


Who’s Afraid of Digital? (Anthropology)

Presenter: Dr Jennifer Walklate


Strategic Studies - Strategy and national security

Presenter: Professor James Wylie