Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Reith Lectures 2003: The Emerging Mind. In 1922, a young Scottish engineer called John Reith was appointed General Manager of a fledgling national broadcasting service, known at the time as the British Broadcasting Company. With little experience and without any established purpose to guide him, Reith shaped the growing institution according to his vision of what a public service broadcaster should be. Reith defined the BBC's role as "to bring the best of everything to the greatest number of homes". He maintained that it was the duty of a national broadcaster to make an intellectual contribution to public life. According to his principles and in honour of his work, the BBC inaugurated the Reith Lectures in 1948. Every year a leading figure is invited to deliver a series of public lectures informed by their particular field of expertise. The purpose of the lectures is "to advance public understanding and debate about significant issues of contemporary interest". The first Reith Lectures were given by Bertrand Russell and notable contributors have consented to participate ever since. Former Reith Lecturers include Robert Oppenheimer, JK Galbraith, John Searle, Steve Jones and Edward Said. This year's Reith Lecturer was Professor Vilayanur Ramachandran, Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition and professor with the Psychology Department and the Neurosciences Programme at the University of California, San Diego. [kuro5hin.org] 11:11:35 PM

© Copyright 2004 Ted Ritzer.