Boyer Lectures
Encyclopedia
The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Lectures. They were renamed in 1961 after Richard Boyer (later Sir Richard), the ABC board chairman who had first suggested the lectures. The series is broadcast every year in November/December on ABC Radio National
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The lectures have been delivered by prominent Australians, selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Board. They have stimulated thought, discussion and debate in Australia on a wide range of subjects. The lectures showcase great minds examining key issues and values. Some topics covered include Society In the Space Age, delivered in the first year of the lectures; Living With Technology, in 1982; and A Truly Civil Society, 1995.
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
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The lectures have been delivered by prominent Australians, selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Board. They have stimulated thought, discussion and debate in Australia on a wide range of subjects. The lectures showcase great minds examining key issues and values. Some topics covered include Society In the Space Age, delivered in the first year of the lectures; Living With Technology, in 1982; and A Truly Civil Society, 1995.
Lecturers
- 2010 - Professor Glyn DavisGlyn DavisGlyn Conrad Davis, AC is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.- Early life :Professor Davis was educated at Marist Brothers College, Kogarah...
- "The Republic of Learning: higher education transforms Australia" - 2009 - General Peter CosgrovePeter CosgroveGeneral Peter John Cosgrove AC, MC is a retired Australian Army officer. He was the Chief of the Defence Force from 3 July 2002 to 3 July 2005, when he retired from active service...
- "A Very Australian Conversation" - 2008 - Rupert MurdochRupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
- "A Golden Age of Freedom" - 2007 - Graeme Clark - "Restoring The Senses"
- 2006 - Ian MacfarlaneIan Macfarlane (economist)Ian John Macfarlane, AC , Australian economist, and Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia , Australia's central bank, from 1996 to 17 September 2006...
- "The Search For Stability" - 2005 - Archbishop Peter Jensen - "The Future of Jesus"
- 2004 - Peter ConradPeter Conrad (academic)Peter Conrad is an Australian-born academic specializing in English literature, currently teaching at Christ Church at Oxford University....
"Tales of Two Hemispheres" - 2003 - Owen Harries "Benign or Imperial? Reflections on American Hegemony"
- 2001 - Prof Geoffrey BlaineyGeoffrey BlaineyGeoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
"This Land is all Horizons: Australian Fears and Visions" - 2000 - Chief Justice Murray GleesonMurray GleesonAnthony Murray Gleeson AC QC is a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.-Biography:Gleeson was born in Wingham, New South Wales, the eldest of four children...
"The Rule of Law and the Constitution" - 1999 - Dr Inga Clendinnen "True Stories"
- 1998 - David MaloufDavid MaloufDavid George Joseph Malouf is an acclaimed Australian writer. He was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2000, his 1993 novel Remembering Babylon won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, he won the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award in 2008, and he was...
"A Spirit of Play: The Making of Australian Consciousness" - 1997 - Martin Krygier "Between Fear and Hope: Hybrid Thoughts on Public Views"
- 1996 - Prof Pierre RyckmansPierre RyckmansPierre Ryckmans , who also uses the pen-name Simon Leys, is a writer, sinologist, essayist and literary critic....
"Aspects of Culture" - 1995 - Eva CoxEva CoxEva Cox AO is an Austrian-born Australian writer, feminist, sociologist, social commentator, stirrer and activist. She has been an active advocate for creating more civil societies. She is a long-term member of Women's Electoral Lobby...
"A Truly Civil Society" - 1994 - Kerry StokesKerry StokesKerry Matthew Stokes AC is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in a diverse range of industries including electronic and print media, property, mining, and construction equipment. He is most widely known as the chairman of the Seven Network, one of the largest broadcasting...
"Advance Australia Where?" - 1993 - Presented by six Indigenous Australians in the International Year of the World's Indigenous People (IYWIP)International observanceInternational observance denotes a period of time to observe some issue of international interest or concern. This is used to commemorate, promote and mobilize for action. Many of these periods have been established by the United Nations General Assembly, Economic and Social Council or by UNESCO...
: Getano Lui, Dr Ian Anderson, Jeannie Bell, Mandawuy YunupinguMandawuy YunupinguMandawuy Yunupingu , born 17 September 1956, is an Aboriginal Australian musician, most notable for being the front man of the band Yothu Yindi.-Early life:...
, Dot West and Noel PearsonNoel PearsonNoel Pearson is an Aboriginal Australian lawyer, academic, land rights activist and founder of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, an organisation promoting the economic and social development of Cape York....
"Voices of the Land" - 1992 - Geoffrey BoltonGeoffrey BoltonGeoffrey Curgenven Bolton AO is an Australian historian born on 5 November 1931 in North Perth , Western Australia. He attended Wesley College, Perth from 1943 to 1947. He has been publishing works on Australian history since 1952, and has authored 13 books, most recently Land of Vision and Mirage:...
"A View From the Edge: An Australian Stocktaking (history)" - 1991 - Fay GaleFay GaleFay Gale AO was an Australian cultural geographer and an emeritus professor. She was a passionate advocate of equal opportunity for women and Aboriginal people.-Background:...
and Ian LoweIan LoweIan Lowe is President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor of Science, Technology and Society and former Head of the School of Science at Griffith University, as well as an adjunct professor at Sunshine Coast University and Flinders University. In 1996 he was chair-person of the...
"Changing Australia (changes through technology)" - 1990 - Tom FitzgeraldTom FitzgeraldTom Fitzgerald or Thomas Fitzgerald, Thomas FitzGerald may refer to:* Tom Fitzgerald , American soccer coach from Florida* Tom Fitzgerald , retired ice hockey player for the Boston Bruins and other teams...
"Between Life and Economics" - 1989 - Max Charlesworth "Life, Death, Genes and Ethics: Biotechnology and Bioethics"
- 1988 - "Postscripts: eight previous Boyer lecturers revisit their lectures"
- 1987 - Davis McCaugheyDavis McCaugheyJohn Davis McCaughey, AC was a bible scholar, church and university administrator, and was Governor of Victoria from 1986–1992.-Working life:...
"Piecing Together a Shared Vision" (multicultural Australia) - 1986 - Eric Wilmot "Australia The Last Experiment"
- 1985 - Helen HughesHelen hughesHelen Hughes AO is Professor Emerita at the Australian National University and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies......
"Australia In a Developing World" - 1984 - Shirley HazzardShirley HazzardShirley Hazzard is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction. She was born in Australia, but holds citizenship in Great Britain and the United States...
"Coming of Age in Australia" - 1983 - Justice Michael Kirby "The Judges"
- 1982 - Sir Bruce Williams "Living With Technology"
- 1981 - Prof John PassmoreJohn PassmoreJohn Passmore AC was an Australian philosopher.Passmore was born in Manly, Sydney. He graduated from the University of Sydney with first-class honours in English literature and philosophy, and went on to study to become a secondary-school teacher...
"The Limits Of Government" - 1980 - Bernard SmithBernard William SmithBernard William Smith was an Australian art historian, art critic and academic.-Biography:Smith was born in Balmain, Sydney to Charles Smith and Rose Anne Tierney on 3 October 1916. In 1941, he married his first wife, Kate Challis, who died in 1989. Smith married his second wife, Margaret Forster,...
"The Spectre Of Truganini" - 1979 - Bob HawkeBob HawkeRobert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
"The Resolution Of Conflict" - 1978 - Sir Gustav NossalGustav NossalSir Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal, AC, CBE, FRS, FAA is an Australian research biologist.-Life and career:Gustav Nossal's family was from Vienna, Austria. He was born four weeks prematurely in Bad Ischl while his mother was on holiday...
"Nature's Defence" - 1977 - Douglas Stewart "Writers of The Bulletin"
- 1976 - Manning ClarkManning ClarkCharles Manning Hope Clark, AC , an Australian historian, was the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987...
"A Discovery Of Australia" - 1975 - Dame Roma MitchellRoma MitchellDame Roma Flinders Mitchell, AC, DBE, CVO, QC was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. Mitchell was the first Australian woman to be a judge, a Queen's Counsel, a chancellor of an Australian university and the Governor of an Australian state.Roma Mitchell was born in Adelaide in 1913,...
"The Web Of Criminal Law" - 1974 - Hugh StrettonHugh StrettonHugh Stretton AC is an Australian historian and professor. He was educated at the Scotch College, Melbourne, the University of Melbourne, the University of Oxford and Princeton University...
"Housing & Government" - 1973 - Prof Sir Keith HancockKeith HancockSir Keith Hancock KBE was an Australian historian.He was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of Archdeacon William Hancock. At the age of nine, he won the Royal Humane Society's medal for rescuing another child from drowning in the Mitchell River. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School...
"Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow" - 1972 - Prof Dexter Dunphy "The Challenge of Change"
- 1971 - Prof Basil HetzelBasil HetzelBasil Stuart Hetzel, AC is an Australian medical researcher who has made a major contribution to combating iodine deficiency, a major cause of goitre and cretinism world wide.-Academic career:...
"Life and Health in Australia" - 1970 - Dr H.C. Coombs "Role of Institutions In Our Lives"
- 1969 - Sir Zelman CowenZelman CowenSir Zelman Cowen, was the 19th Governor-General of Australia. He is currently the oldest living former Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...
"The Private Man" - 1968 - Prof WEH StannerBill StannerW.E.H. Stanner was an Australian anthropologist who worked extensively with Indigenous Australians. Stanner had a varied career that also included journalism in the 1930s, military service in World War II, and political advice on colonial policy in Africa and the South Pacific in the post-war...
"After the Dreaming" - 1967 - Robin BoydRobin BoydRobin Gerard Penleigh Boyd CBE was an influential Australian architect, writer, teacher and social commentator...
"Artificial Australia" - 1966 - Sir MacFarlane BurnetFrank Macfarlane BurnetSir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist best known for his contributions to immunology....
"Biology and the Appreciation Of Life" - 1965 - Prof Sir John EcclesJohn Carew EcclesJohn Carew Eccles, AC FRS FRACP FRSNZ FAAS was an Australian neurophysiologist who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse. He shared the prize with Andrew Huxley and Alan Lloyd Hodgkin....
"The Brain and the Person" - 1964 - George Ivan SmithGeorge Ivan SmithGeorge Ivan Smith AO career spanned radio, war correspondent, movie director, diplomat, poet and author. He was born 11 July 1915 George Charles Ivan Smith in Sydney, New South Wales , Australia...
"Along the Edge Of Peace" - 1963 - Prof J.D.B. Miller "Australian and Foreign Policy"
- 1962 - Prof W.G.K. Duncan "In Defence Of the Common Man"
- 1961 - Prof W.D. Borrie "The Crowding World"
- 1960 - Prof Julius StoneJulius StoneJulius Stone was Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney from 1942 to 1972, and thereafter a visiting Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and concurrently Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the Hastings...
"Law and Policy In the Quest For Survival" - 1959 - Dr David Forbes MartynDavid Forbes MartynDavid Forbes Martyn was a Scottish-born Australian physicist and radiographer.Martyn was born in Cambuslang, Scotland , the son of a local doctor. He was educated at Alan Glen's School then the Royal College of Science at Imperial College London....
"Society In the Space Age"
External links
- Boyer Lectures on the Australian Govt. Culture and Recreation Portal
- Boyer Lectures home page
- ABC Radio National home page