London School of Economics: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Professor Kees Christiaanse | The idea of the open city as a place of social integration, cultural diversity and collective identity is perceived as an irreversible achievement of modernity, and fuels our visions for a sustainable urban future. Nevertheless, we are witnessing increasing fragmentation and seclusion, which threatens the existence of the open city. Suburban compounds, gated communities, university campuses, covered shopping malls, urban entertainment areas, airport security zones, holiday resorts, all tend to develop into privatized and controlled zones, which are connected with the city at large by a limited number of corridors and access points. Public space ' traditionally understood as the ultimate space of social encounter and equality - is being eroded by commerce, changing lifestyles and functionality. This lecture will address whether these conditions are destroying the sensible tissue of the open city, which are intended to encourage social interaction and balance. Are cities degenerating into secluded islands that denying a balanced urban totality? And how might the open city react to these developments?

Speaker(s): Professor David Laibson | Over three lectures, David Laibson will challenge many standard assumptions in economics and show how a combination of psychology and economics can better predict behaviour. David Laibson is professor of economics at Harvard University.

Speaker(s): Professor David Laibson | Over three lectures, David Laibson will challenge many standard assumptions in economics and show how a combination of psychology and economics can better predict behaviour.David Laibson is professor of economics at Harvard University.

Speaker(s): Geoffrey Dennis, James Kliffen, Bernard Pécoul, Dr Edward Simpson | Editor's note: The audio recording started shortly after the beginning of the event, some of the introductions are missing from the audio podcast. Humanitarian NGOs find themselves increasingly providing aid in conflict situations alongside military actors and private companies. Is this compromising their principles of neutrality and independence? Geoffrey Dennis is executive director of Care International UK. James Kliffen is head of fundraising at Midecins Sans Frontihres, UK.

Speaker(s): Lord Mark Malloch-Brown | Mark Malloch-Brown was appointed the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN attending Cabinet in June 2007. His responsibilities include Africa, Asia (Afghanistan, Sub-Continent and Far East), the UN, the Commonwealth, human rights, global and economic issues, and FCO Services, as well as FCO business in the House of Lords.

Speaker(s): Professor Stephen Castles | Growing interest in migration research reflects the politicisation of international migration but this could lead to policy-driven research, cut off from critical analysis. Stephen Castles is professor of migration and refugee studies, and director of the international migration institute at the University of Oxford.

Speaker(s): Rabinder Singh QC | Rabinder Singh QC, a barrister at Matrix Chambers and Visiting Professor of Law at the LSE, has been involved in some of the leading cases of the last five years raising legal issues arising out of the war against Iraq. In this lecture he will for the first time in a public forum give an account of that work, which includes: the legality of the UK's participation in the invasion in 2003; attempts to get a public inquiry into the circumstances leading to the invasion; the applicability of the Human Rights Act to British forces in Iraq; and the alleged torture and killing of Iraqi civilians (including Baha Mousa) by British forces. Singh will explore whether the concept of law can withstand the intense pressures which have been put upon it by these issues. He will ask whether we should not just give up on law and accept that force and realpolitik will prevail, or whether despite everything law still has a role to play.

Speaker(s): Professor Danny Quah | As China takes its place among the world's richest economies, economic growth in the long run will endure only if innovation and technology capabilities ramp up dramatically. How will this happen? Professor Danny Quah is head of the Department of Economics at LSE.

Speaker(s): Professor James Curran | Much of the world is moving towards the entertainment-centred, market-based media model of the United States. If this continues, we will enter a new era of political ignorance. James Curran is director of the Media Research Programme at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Speaker(s): Lord Browne | Based on his experience as former chief executive of BP, Lord Browne will share his thoughts about the future of oil, as it relates to its past and its present. Lord Browne is a crossbench member of the House of Lords.

Speaker(s): Ferenc Gyurcsány | The lecture will focus on Hungary's economic development, reform process and energy security. The Prime Minister will also touch on Hungary's unique opportunity to be a leader in the knowledge base economy.

Speaker(s): Don McKinnon | On the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala at end-November 2007, Secretary-General Don McKinnon will set the 53-nation family of nations in the context of the challenges facing a fast-changing, interdependent world - above all in entrenching a genuine culture of democracy and in bringing the benefits of economic and social development to the world's poor, with 800 million Commonwealth citizens living in official poverty.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Baum | Is it possible to regulate for impartiality in a post 2012 world or is the public service ethos doomed? Emily Bell is a journalist for The Guardian. Evan Davies is BBC Economics Editor. Richard North is a journalist and commentator for the BBC. Elinor Goodman is former political editor for Channel 4 news.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Baum | Why exactly is a scientific approach to medicine preferable to so-called 'alternative' approaches? Michael Baum is professor emeritus of surgery and visiting professor of medical humanities at University College London.

Speaker(s): Howard Davies | Howard Davies is chair of the judges for the 2007 Man Booker prize. Following the award of the prize on 16 October he reflects on the judging process and what it reveals about the state of the English novel.