IX Events and Commemorations

IX EVENTS AND COMMEMORATIONS

THE IMPACT OF IDEALISM CONFERENCE, the culminating event of a three-year research network (with Professor Boyle as Principal Investigator) into the legacy of post-Kantian German thought across the humanities and beyond, was held at Magdalene, 6–8 September 2012. Forty speakers, and well over a hundred delegates, presented and discussed aspects of the impact of the late 18th and early 19th-century German thought on areas as diverse as music, Christology, Jewish philosophy, American literature and Darwinism. As well as speakers and network members from within Cambridge including Professor Onora O’Neill and Professor David Midgley, speakers and delegates travelled from several countries to participate in, and enjoy, a rich three days of discussion. Particular highlights of the programme included keynote talks by Karl Ameriks, Roger Scruton and Dr Williams, and a concluding panel discussion in a packed Cripps Auditorium. The discussions, in English and German, continued between sessions in the sun-filled courtyard, and well into the evenings, where those attending were also treated to a recital of music from the time of Kant, Hegel and their contemporaries, live jazz music in the bar, and an excellent conference dinner in Hall. Expanded versions of the papers presented at the conference, as well as from other network members, can be found in the four-volume set, The Impact of German Idealism: the legacy of post-Kantian German, Nicholas Boyle & Liz Disley, eds (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

PARNELL LECTURE. This year’s well-attended and skilfully presented Parnell lecture was given by Professor David Fitzpatrick in the Cripps Auditorium on 11 February 2013. His title was The Spectre of Ethnic Cleansing in Revolutionary Ireland.

THE INVESTEC LECTURE ON BUSINESS. The fourth Investec lecture took place on 20 February 2013. Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi and Saatchi, delivered a thought-provoking, topical and humorous lecture on ‘Winning in the Age of Now’. Not only did he share his experience and knowledge of business during the lecture and in the subsequent reception, he also imparted several important life lessons to the 200+ audience present in the Cripps Auditorium and in two overflow rooms, all of this in his unique, informal and generous style.

Kevin Roberts

POVERTY AND CLIMATE: A CONVERSATION. During a round-table discussion organised by the Centre for History and Economics at Magdalene, on 13 May 2013, presentations were made by Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland (former DirectorGeneral of the World Health Organisation, and a former prime minister of Norway), Professor Amartya Sen of Harvard (Nobel Laureate in Economics) and Dr Williams (Master); Professor Rothschild was in the Chair.