LSE: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Steven Erlanger, Professor Gary Gerstle, Bonnie Greer | The US election has seen a wave of authoritarian populism and xenophobia, the first real chance for a woman to win presidential office, and an earlier unprecedented surge in support for an American socialist. Following a campaign marked by intense hostility and polarised appeals, what does the outcome of the election tell us about the prospects for progressives in America and beyond? A panel of leading scholars and commentators will debate the meaning of the campaign and its result. Steven Erlanger (@StevenErlanger) is the London Bureau chief for the New York Times. Gary Gerstle (@glgerstle) is the Paul Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge University. He is the author of American Crucible and Liberty and Coercion. Bonnie Greer OBE (@Bonn1eGreer) is a playwright, novelist and critic. She is Chancellor of Kingston University. Her novels include Obama Music, a reflection on her formative years in Chicago, and a biography of the civil rights campaigner Langston Hughes. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Sherry Coutu, Irene Graham, Chris Haley, Rowena Burns, Rob Perks, James ‎Stuart, Elizabeth Vega | Two years on from the 2014 Scale-Up Report and Manifesto, co-founder and Chair of the Scale Up Institute Sherry Coutu, and its inaugural CEO, Irene Graham, address the impact of the Institute's work and their journey, with partners, on increasing the economic impact of high growth firms in the UK. At this public discussion, held during Global Entrepreneurship Week, we bring together experts and Institute partners, to discuss the latest findings of the Scale-Up Review carried out for 2016, actions taken since 2014 to progress the Report's original findings, and the scale-up momentum taking place across the country as entrepreneurs, corporates, universities and government 'lean in' and take action to ensure high growth firms are “scaling up” successfully. The approach is based on clear evidence that fostering the growth of scale up firms will realise significantly greater overall benefits for an economy in terms of jobs, wage growth and contribution to GDP. Speakers: Sherry Coutu (@scoutu) is co-founder and chair of the Scale-Up Institute, and author of its 2014 Scale-Up Report. She chairs the Financial Strategy Advisory Group for the University of Cambridge and Founders4Schools, and is a non-executive director for the London Stock Exchange Group and Zoopla. Sherry was awarded the CBE for services to entrepreneurship in 2013. She is an alumna of LSE. Irene Graham is the CEO of the Scale-Up Institute. She has held both European and global managing director roles at Standard Chartered Bank where she set up and scaled several businesses , and was subsequently a managing director of the British Bankers Association, where she also led the Business Finance Taskforce. She is a visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde University and sits on a number of advisory boards. Chris Haley is Head of Start-ups and New Technology Research at Nesta. He leads Nesta’s research on how startups and new technologies can drive economic growth, and what this means for businesses, intermediaries and for the government. Prior to joining Nesta, Chris worked at Imperial Innovations, Imperial College London. Panellists: Rowena Burns is CEO of Manchester Science Partnerships. Rob Perks is CEO of Inspire. James ‎Stuart is Managing Director of Entrepreneurial Scotland. Elizabeth Vega is CEO of Informed Solutions. Chair: Saul Estrin is Professor of Management and Founding Head of LSE’s Department of Management. He was formally Deputy Dean (Faculty and Research) at London Business School for six years, as well as briefly Acting Dean, and a School governor for eight years. Saul's main areas of research are emerging markets, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and international business issues.

Speaker(s): Bill Morneau | Canada’s Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, shares his views on the global economy and how Canada is investing to strengthen its middle class and grow the economy over the long term. Bill Morneau (@Bill_Morneau) is Canada’s Finance Minister. Previously, he led Morneau Shepell and was Pension Investment Advisor to Ontario’s Finance Minister. Morneau’s community service in Toronto is extensive, having supported the arts, helped street kids, and improved access to health care and education. Internationally, he founded a school for Somali and Sudanese youth in an African refugee camp. He holds a B.A. from Western University, an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBA from INSEAD. Wouter Den Haan is Professor of Economics at LSE and Co-Director of the Centre for Macroeconomics. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 88th year, making it one of the oldest, and largest, in the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Hatsue Shinohara | This lecture will examine the transformation of international law in interwar years, and why international norm change concerning the legal status of war was accomplished. Hatsue Shinohara is Professor of International Relations at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS), Waseda University. Her research focuses on the history of international law, the disciplinary history of IR, and the League of Nations. Christopher Hughes is Professor of International Relations at LSE. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 88th year making it one of the oldest and largest in the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Gareth Stedman Jones | Gareth Stedman Jones will discuss Marx, history and nature; challenge ideas of Marx's ‘materialist conception of history’; and explore his debt to Hegel and German idealism. Gareth Stedman Jones is Professor of the History of Ideas at Queen Mary, University of London. He is a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge and taught at the university for many years, becoming Professor of Political Science in 1997. He is the author of Outcast London, Languages of Class and An End to Poverty? and most recently Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion, as well as being the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of The Communist Manifesto. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Tim Marshall | There will be a short LSE100 Award Ceremony for outstanding achievements on the LSE100 course followed by a talk and Q&A session with Tim Marshall. For thousands of years, flags have been the visual representation of our hopes and our destinies. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colours..... and still in the 21st Century we die for them. They represent the politics of high power and the politics of the mob. In his lecture, based on his latest book Worth Dying For – the Power and Politics of Flags, he will give essential insight into the symbols which continue to unite and divide us. Tim Marshall (@Itwitius) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster, known for his highly experienced analysis of developments in foreign affairs. Marshall was formerly diplomatic editor for Sky News and is a guest commentator on world events for BBC, Sky News, and guest presenter on LBC. He has written four books, including New York Times best seller Prisoners of Geography. Tim is founder and editor of news web platform thewhatandthewhy.com, a site for journalists, politicians, foreign affairs analysts to share their views on world affairs. Jennifer Jackson Preece holds a DPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, and an MA and BA (Hons) in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She is the author of two books – National Minorities and the European Nation-States System (OUP, 1998) and Minority Rights: Between Diversity and Community (Polity, 2005) and various articles and edited book chapters. In addition to her academic research, Dr Jackson-Preece acts as a consultant for various international and non-governmental organisations in the area of human and minority rights protection and ethnic conflict regulation. LSE100 The LSE Course (@TheLSECourse) is LSE's flagship interdisciplinary course for undergraduate students.

Speaker(s): Professor Nicola Phillips | This talk will address the evolution of inequalities in the global economy – and how different powers are propelling new forms of unequal development across the world. Nicola Phillips (@phillipsnicola1) is Professor of Political Economy and the Head of the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield. She is the Chair of the British International Studies Association (BISA), a past Editor-in-Chief of the journal New Political Economy, and one of the current editors of the Review of International Political Economy. She works in the field of global political economy, with interests focusing on global economic governance, inequality, labour in global production, and migration and development. Between 2010 and 2013, she held a prestigious Major Research Fellowship from The Leverhulme Trust, for research on forced labour and human trafficking for labour exploitation in the global economy. Robert Falkner (@robert_falkner) is Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE. His research focuses on international political economy, global environmental politics, and the role of business in international relations. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 88th year making it one of the oldest and largest in the world.

Speaker(s): Bronwen Maddox, Professor Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Professor Peter Trubowitz | America goes to the polls on 8 November to decide who will succeed Barack Obama as the 45th President. With Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both vying for the job, whoever wins, the result will be an historic one. Join us for a lively evening of discussion with media and academic experts on US politics who will review the results of the 2016 US presidential election and give us their insights into what we can expect of the incoming administration. Bronwen Maddox is the Director of the Institute for Government. She is the former Editor and Chief Executive of Prospect Magazine and former Chief Foreign Commentator of The Times. Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey is Professor in Political Science in the Government Department of LSE. Sir Nigel Sheinwald is the former British Ambassador to the US and EU and Foreign Policy and Defence Adviser to the Prime Minister. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London and Chair of the UK-US Fulbright Education Commission. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Professor of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at LSE. Justin Webb (@JustinOnWeb) presents Today on Radio 4. He was the BBC's North America Editor for eight years. He has written several books about America including Notes on Them and Us about the relationship between the US and the UK. He was educated at the LSE. The United States Centre at LSE (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Its mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States.

Speaker(s): Julian Baggini, Professor Jesper Kallestrup, Professor Chris Norris, Dr Sarah Sawyer | Does perception give me any reason to believe in an external world, or could I be a ‘brain in a vat’ that is fed information by a malicious (or benevolent) scientist? And if I were such a brain, could I ever say or think this? This is just one puzzle raised by the Harvard philosopher Hilary Putnam, who died last year. Though its origins are in Augustine and Descartes, Putnam revolutionised its implications for our understanding of knowledge, language, and the mind. We bring together a distinguished panel to discuss his life and work. Julian Baggini (@microphilosophy) is a writer and Editor-in-Chief of The Philosophers’ Magazine. Jesper Kallestrup is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Chris Norris is Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy at Cardiff University. Sarah Sawyer is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Peter Dennis is Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Philippe Sands | Philippe Sands will discuss his new book East West Street that explores the creation of world-changing legal concepts following the unprecedented atrocities of Hitler’s Third Reich. Philippe Sands (@philippesands) is an international lawyer and Professor of Law at University College London. Gerry Simpson is a Professor and Chair in Public International Law at LSE. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world. The London Review of International Law (@OxfordJournals) is a peer-reviewed journal for critical, innovative and cutting-edge scholarship on international law.

Speaker(s): Sebastian Mallaby | No post-war figure has loomed over global finance as imposingly as Alan Greenspan, America’s Fed chairman from the booming 1980s until the eve of the 2008 financial crash. And no figure has been more paradoxical: a man who preached the virtue of the gold standard, yet came to embody paper money; a man who posed as a dry technocrat, yet was political to his core. From his debut as an acolyte of the cultish libertarian novelist, Ayn Rand, through his controversial relationship with Richard Nixon and successive presidents, Greenspan was the ultimate Washington wise man, the quiet God in the machine. But when global finance melted down, Greenspan’s reputation melted with it. Drawing on five years of untrammelled access to Greenspan, his papers, and his professional and personal intimates, Sebastian Mallaby has written the definitive study of the preeminent financial statesman of the post-war era. Reckoning both with Greenspan’s monetary decisions and with his approach to financial regulation, Mallaby grapples with the central mystery that Greenspan’s life presents to us. Why did a man so universally celebrated forge a financial system that proved so fatally unstable? And how will his successors protect us from a future crash? Sebastian Mallaby (@scmallaby) is Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE. He is the author of a newly published biography of Alan Greenspan The Man Who Knew: the life and times of Alan Greenspan. Charles Goodhart is Emeritus Professor of Banking and Finance with the Financial Markets Group at the London School of Economics, having previously, 1987-2005, been its Deputy Director. Until his retirement in 2002, he had been the Norman Sosnow Professor of Banking and Finance at LSE since 1985. The Systemic Risk Centre (@LSE_SRC) was set up to study the risks that may trigger the next financial crisis and to develop tools to help policymakers and financial institutions become better prepared.

Speaker(s): Baroness Greenfield | Consciousness is the ultimate miracle - and enigma. However most people take this subjective inner state for granted without ever reflecting on what could possibly be happening in their brain each day of their waking lives. This non-specialist talk will investigate this deeply fascinating question from the perspective of neuroscience, by exploring how objective events in the brain are realised as subjective experience. We follow a day in the life of a generic person (‘you’) as you wake up, walk the dog, have breakfast, work and return to a family with a variety of mental conditions. By the time we see ‘you’ ending your day in dreams, we will still not have solved how the water of objective brain mechanisms transform into the wine of subjective experience: but along the way we will have gained insights into cutting edge neuroscience, as well as contemplating the future of such research, for eventually really understanding consciousness. Susan Greenfield is a research scientist, author and broadcaster based in Oxford. She has held research fellowships in the Department of Physiology Oxford, the College de France Paris, and NYU Medical Center New York. She has since been awarded 32 Honorary Degrees from British and foreign universities and heads a multi-disciplinary research group exploring novel brain mechanisms linked to neurodegenerative diseases such Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. She is a Senior Research Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford and has currently co-founded a biotech company developing a novel approach to neurodegenerative disorders (Neuro-Bio Ltd). Her latest book is A Day in the Life of the Brain. Frédéric Basso is Assistant Professor in Economic Psychology at the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science of LSE, was a fellow of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (France) in Law, Economics and Management and took the Agrégation in Economics and Management. His work is rooted in the grounded cognition theoretical framework and how laboratory paradigms can transfer to real-world phenomena in order to design evidence-informed policy thanks to field research.

Speaker(s): Sarah Outen | Rowing solo across oceans, cycling through deserts and kayaking treacherous islands, British adventurer Sarah Outen has done it all. From the moment she started her first major expedition, which saw her row solo across the Indian Ocean when she was just 24 years old, Sarah was hooked and wanted more. Her latest challenge was an epic undertaking and saw her take 4.5 years to row, kayak and cycle around the Northern Hemisphere from London to London – a journey of some 25,000 miles. Dare to Do is more than an adventure story. It is a story of the kindness of strangers and the spirit of travel; a story of the raw power of nature, of finding love in unexpected places, and of discovering your inner strength. It is about trying and failing, and trying again, and about how, even when all seems lost, you can find yourself. Sarah Outen MBE (@SarahOuten) is an adventurer, motivational speaker and author. In November 2015 Sarah completed her London2London: Via the World expedition. Tina Fahm is the director of a leadership development consultancy. She is also a Governor of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Chair of Womankind Worldwide. In previous non-executive roles, Tina has served as Legal Services Commissioner, Member of the Parole Board for England and Wales as the Home Secretary’s Representative on the Hertfordshire Police Authority and on various boards in the UK’s National Health Service, housing and the voluntary sectors. She remains a Justice of the Peace (magistrate) on the Supplemental List. Just economics and politics? Think again. While LSE does not teach arts or music, there is a vibrant cultural side to the School - from weekly free music concerts in the Shaw Library, and an LSE orchestra and choir with their own professional conductors, various film, art and photographic student societies, the annual LSE photo prize competition, the LSE Literary Festival and artist-in-residence projects. For more information please view the LSE Arts website.

Speaker(s): Vince Cable, Lord Darling, Stephanie Flanders, George Osborne | In 2013 the LSE Growth Commission published a report - Investing for Prosperity, a Manifesto for Growth. Those recommendations were widely discussed and some, notably on infrastructure, turned into concrete action by UK policymakers. In 2016 the UK now faces new questions about its economic future including its relationship with the EU, the role of industrial policy, and new developments in labour markets. So the Commission is being re-formed and will publish a second chapter of their growth manifesto. Over the next three months they will be holding evidence sessions with academics, policy experts and business leaders. Come along to this event with an esteemed panel who have agreed to feed in to the Commission deliberations as part of this evening event at the LSE. Between them the panel have played a huge role in running and analysing the UK economy over the past decade. Their experience is unrivalled and their views on what the future might hold - and what should be done about it - promise to be fascinating. Vince Cable (@vincecable) was UK Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade (2010-2015). He was Member of Parliament for Twickenham 1997-2015; deputy leader of the Lib Dems 2007-2010 and shadow chancellor 2003-2010. Alistair Darling was UK Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010. Prior to this he served as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Scotland. He served as MP for Edinburgh South West from 1987 to 2015 and is now a member of the House of Lords. George Osborne (@George_Osborne) was elected to the House of Commons in June 2001. At the May 2010 General Election, George was appointed UK Chancellor of the Exchequer by the new Prime Minister, David Cameron. In May 2015 he was re-elected and was appointed First Secretary of State, a position he retained until he left Cabinet in July 2016. Stephanie Flanders (@MyStephanomics) is the Chief Market Strategist for the UK and Europe for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. She delivers insight into the economy and financial markets to thousands of professional investors across the UK, Europe and globally. Stephanie was previously the Economics Editor at the BBC. Nicholas Stern (@lordstern1) is the Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the LSE and Co-Chair of the LSE Growth Commission. The CEP (@CEP_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the LSE Research Laboratory. It was established by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 1990 and is now one of the leading economic research groups in Europe. Keep up to date with what Brexit means for the UK and the wider world at LSE Brexit blog (@lsebrexitvote).

Speaker(s): Juan Manuel Santos Calderón | Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón was awarded with the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his resolute efforts to bring his country’s half century old armed conflict to an end. This ongoing effort will leave an enduring legacy for generations of Colombians to come. President Santos, an LSE alumnus, will in this lecture share his experience in navigating the turning tides in the quest for peace and will offer his vision for post-conflict Colombia. Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (@JuanManSantos) was first elected President of the Republic of Colombia on 7 August 2010 and re-elected in 2014, for a four year term. Throughout his public sector career, President Santos has held important ministerial roles. He was Colombia’s first Foreign Trade Minister, has been Minister of Finance and before being elected President, was Minister for National Defence. Prior to entering politics, President Santos was deputy director of El Tiempo newspaper, and wrote a weekly opinion column. He was awarded with the King of Spain International Journalism Award and named president of the Freedom of Expression Commission for the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). Gareth Jones is Professor of Urban Geography, Director of the Latin America and Caribbean Centre, a part of the Institute for Global Affairs, and Associate Member of the International Inequalities Institute. The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (@LSE_LACC) serves as a hub for inter-disciplinary research, knowledge exchange and commentary about Latin America and the Caribbean. LSE IDEAS (@LSEIDEAS) is a foreign policy think-tank within LSE's Institute for Global Affairs.