THE ALFRED DEAKIN LECTURE SERIES 2008

Last week my colleague Gavin Jennings as Minister for Innovation, together with Robyn Archer AO, curator of the 2008 Alfred Deakin Lecture Series, launched the programme for this year's upcoming series of lectures and events.

Taking place from 4-15 June 2008, the Deakins will be held at BMW Edge at Federation Square, the Melbourne Town Hall, and in regional centres including Ballarat, Geelong and Albury/Wodonga.

All lectures are free and open to the public.

The theme for the 2008 Series is "From DNA to Deep Space", conceived by Robyn Archer as a 'fantastic voyage which takes us from the innermost fabric of the brain to the furthest reaches of outer space'.

A mix of renowned local and international speakers will include:
- Austin Williams (UK), Director of the Future Cities Project;
- Professor Roger Brownsword (UK), Director of the Centre for Technology, Law, Ethics and Society at King’s College, London;
- Professor Barbara J Sahakian (UK), Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge;
- Chris Turner (Canada), an award winning journalist and best selling author;
- Andreas Ruby (Germany), an architectural theorist and curator, and
- Dr Ajay Royyuru (USA), lead scientist for IBM’s Genographic Project, New York.

Australian speakers are to include: Associate Professor John Armstrong, philosopher in residence at the Melbourne Business School; Dr Brian Walker, research fellow with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems; Dr Jane Dixon, sociologist; Professor Paul James, Director of the Globalism Institute (RMIT); and the Hon Steve Bracks, former Premier of Victoria.

Click here for a detailed programme of events and lectures, including times, venues, topics and speakers.