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Elementary, my dear Watson, the clue is in the genes ... or is it? (BAR)
On 5 November 2001, Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith FBA FMedSci, Head of the Neurocognitive Development Unit at University College London, delivered a special lecture at the Academy to celebrate the Centenary of the British Psychological Society. In this edited extract, she outlines the theme of her lecture.
Why Humans aren't just Great Apes
Professor Robin Dunbar FBA gave the 2007 Joint British Academy/British Psychological Society Lecture. He argued that the real difference between humans and the great apes lies in our ability to live in the virtual world of the mind. Story-telling plays an important role in social bonding in all human cultures, …
'Ending the party': A practitioner's perspective of fiscal squeeze
At an event held at the British Academy on 9 July 2013, Rachel Lomax recalled past examples of fiscal squeeze and compared them with current circumstances – in conversation with Professor Tony Travers. This is an edited version of the conversation, which ranged from the IMF crisis of 1976 to …
'All the world's knowledge'
The text of Jane C Ginsburg’s British Academy Law Lecture – ‘From Hypatia to Victor Hugo to Larry and Sergey: “All the world’s knowledge” and universal authors’ rights’ – was one of the first articles posted to the new online open-access Journal of the British Academy, in July 2013. The …
Britain, Germany and Social Europe, 1973-2020
In the inaugural Anglo-German Foundation Lecture delivered at the British Academy on 25 January 2011, Sir Tony Atkinson FBA considered the evolution of social policy in Europe, and its impact on inequality, poverty, social exclusion and well-being. In this extract, he discusses the development of new means to assess well-being …
Psychology and Climate Change: Collective Solutions to a Global Problem
On 23 September 2010, in his Joint British Academy/British Psychological Society Lecture, Professor David Uzzell argued that behaviour-change approaches to climate change need to take account of the societal context that gives rise to the values and attitudes that drive our behaviours. As consumers, our preferences and actions – and …
Lessons from the Aberfan disaster and its aftermath
At the Annual General Meeting in July 2008, 49 distinguished scholars were elected to be Fellows of the British Academy; and on 22 September, a ceremony was held at the Academy to admit them to the Fellowship. Five of the new Fellows were invited to speak about their work and …
Coercion and Consent in Nazi Germany (BAR)
Professor Richard J. Evans FBA delivered the Raleigh Lecture on History in 2006. In it, he reviewed the evidence for the degree to which ordinary Germans exercised freedom of choice in backing Hitler’s regime. In this edited extract, he illustrates the extent and range of legal measures used to control …
Middle Eastern politics and oil
On a wintry 4 February 2009, Sir Mark Allen, one of the world’s leading Arabists and a special adviser for BP, gave the third in the series of ‘Politics and Energy’ lectures, at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
UK Civil Nuclear Energy: What Lessons?
In 2008–09, the British Academy, the Science Museum and the Mile End Group of Queen Mary, University of London have jointly sponsored a series of lectures on ‘Politics and energy’. On 6 May 2008 at the Science Museum, Professor Sir Roger Williams began the series – listing the lessons to …
How Green Politics Went Mainstream
On 6 November 2008 at the British Academy, Sir Crispin Tickell gave the second in the series of ‘Politics and Energy’ lectures, jointly sponsored by the British Academy, the Mile End Group of Queen Mary, University of London, and the Science Museum.
'The Nation Within': British India at War 1939-1947 (BAR)
Professor Christopher Bayly FBA delivered the Raleigh Lecture on History on 26 November 2003. In his analysis of India at war, Professor Bayly considered how and why it was possible for the British Raj to recover from defeats to the Japanese in Burma and the ‘Quit India’ movement of 1942. …
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