Public lecture series
Follow our cutting-edge research and learn more about topical issues through the University's public lecture series.
Watch or listen to lecture recordings
Catch up on our public lecture series with the following selection of recordings.
The periodic table is my molecular lego
Professor Martyn Coles discusses the fundamental building blocks of matter and how we can use them to synthesise new chemical compounds.
Sticking to her knitting: Reflections on a historian’s craft
Professor Kate Hunter discusses the importance of apparently trivial snippets of historical evidence.
Racial dimensions of screen aesthetics
Raqi Syed and Missy Molloy challenge us on the racial and colonial aspects of the increasing use of digital representations of people in film.
New Zealand Sign Language Week 2022 mini webinars
Experts Sara Pivac Alexander, Micky Vale, and Rachel McKee take you through some basics of NZSL in a fun and interactive way.
Mātauranga Māori: Here to stay
Ocean Mercier and Spencer Lilley discuss mātauranga Māori from different angles and mahi, including science and the heritage sector.
How can we improve youth mental health in Aotearoa New Zealand?
Terry Fleming and Tania Wilson discuss the cohesive approach required to ensure we meet the mental health needs of our young people.
Is unemployment insurance a smart idea?
Max Rashbrooke and Simon Chapple discuss whether the Government's proposed Social Unemployment Insurance scheme is a smart idea or poor policy making.
Psychology bite sized for you
Watch the videos from for this series of online webinars, covering topics from conspiracy theories to childhood anxiety and gender discrimination.
Psychopathic blending abilities in the courtroom
Dr Corinne Seals and Dr Hedwig Eisenbarth discuss how forensic linguistics and forensic psychology are used to uncover deception in the courtroom.
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori mini webinars 2021
Watch the videos from our Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2021 mini webinars to improve your pronunciation and discover some easy ways to use te reo at work.
Cryptocurrency scams and criminology
Professor Simon Mackenzie discusses some of the scams currently flourishing in this new—and largely unpoliced—alternative financial system.
A distractible astronomer learns some statistics
Professor Richard Arnold explains how statisticians think about the world, and why their thinking seems so different to everyone else.
The importance of seaweed in our natural world
Professor Joe Zuccarello discusses his research on algal diversity, genetic variation, reproductive biology and evolution.
What has theatre contributed to New Zealand culture?
Professor David O'Donnell examines the contribution of the theatre to the cultural capital of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The rise of sponges in the Anthropocene
Professor James Bell describes how marine sponges are likely to be one of the ‘winners’ as organisms adapt to anthropogenic changes to the climate and oceans.
Facial recognition technology: great enabler or threat to liberty
What issues does facial recognition technology raise regarding our collective and individual rights and interests, and should we be concerned?
A flourishing future: ensuring intergenerational wellbeing for all
In this public lecture Sophie Handford and Prof Girol Karacaoglu discuss how to ensure that public policy improves and sustains intergenerational wellbeing.
The costs of climate change
Professor Ilan Noy and Belinda Storey discuss how extreme events show that existing economic models underestimate the costs of climate change.
Pale shelter, cold hands: making criminal justice better
Prof Yvette Tinsley examines the harm caused by the adversarial process in its attempt to be objective about deeply personal aspects of people’s life stories.
Conversations with the common law: Exposure, privacy, and societal values
Prof Moreham examines what the development of the tort of privacy tells us about the common law and the way it shapes and responds to changing societal values.
The price of being ‘Friends of Harvey’: men, power and sexual violence
Professor Jordan discusses the socially embedded nature of patriarchal legacies.
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori mini webinars 2020
Want some help with your te reo? Watch these informative mini webinars and be part of making Māori language moments.
Turning power into empowerment: Researching language in the workplace
Professor Marra illustrates how language research can contribute to empowerment.
What now? The short-term economic responses to COVID-19
Our panel discuss the short-term economic outlook, the effect lockdown had on families, what sectors have been worse hit, and what can the government afford?
In search of the New Zealand middle class
Professor Jim McAloon looks at the New Zealand middle class as it was around 1900.
Regulatory philosophy, theory, and practice: Ka mua, ka muri
Professor van der Heijden will reflect on the long, and often remarkable, history of regulatory reform.
Towards a New Public Ethics
Professor Michael Macaulay explores the tension between rhetoric and reality, drawing on almost seven years of New Zealand-based research.
Beyond horizons…and forward to the Moon
Dr Alexander Gerst, astronaut and distinguished alumni, shares his experience of space travel.
More lecture recordings
For more recordings of lectures on topical issues, see our previous events and spotlight events series.