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Inaugural lectures

All new professors are given the opportunity to give an inaugural lecture.

The series provides an opportunity to celebrate these achievements with each lecture representing a significant milestone in an academic's career.

Lectures are open to all University staff and students as well as to members of the public. Please see below for upcoming lectures. All lectures will be livestreamed and links will be added closer to each event.

Forthcoming lectures

Nov 21

Rethinking collective decision-making in the age of social media

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In her inaugural lecture, Anna De Liddo, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Director of Research at the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University, will point out that the biggest problems of our time call for collective action. But how do we make sense of complex problems and collectively decide and act as a diverse group or community?

Previous lectures

Cinzia Priola, with blonde hair, wearing a black and white dress, standing in a field

Including whom? Practices and consequences of inclusion and diversity

In her inaugural lecture, on 24 October 2024, Cinzia Priola, Professor of Work and Organisation Studies in The Open University's Faculty of Business & Law, explored her research on inclusion, diversity and inequalities in the workplace and social lives.

24th October 2024
Naomi Miller, with blonde hair in a plait, wearing a green top, standing in front of bushes and yellow and pink flowers

Researching relationships: Attachment, affairs, and sex and intimacy over 65

In her inaugural lecture, on 26 September 2024, Naomi Moller, Professor in Psychology and Psychotherapy in the School of Psychology and Counselling in The Open University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, talked about her research into relationships.

25th September 2024
Clara Mancini, with long grey hair, wearing a dark top and a grey cardigan, standing in a field with daffodils and trees  in the background

Why we need to design technology for and with animals

In her inaugural lecture on 20 June 2024, Clara Mancini, Professor of Animal-Computer Interaction in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, presented her research journey in the field of Animal-Computer Interaction, shared with colleagues from across the world, to develop the art and science of designing technology for and with animals.

21st June 2024
Olga Jurasz, wearing a yellow sweater, standing in front of background of trees

Violence, women and the law: an unfinished story

In her inaugural lecture on 9 May 2024, Olga Jurasz, Professor of Law in the OU’s Faculty of Business and Law, explored the uneasy relationship between violence, law and women’s lives.

9th May 2024
Rose Capdevilla, with shoulder-length, dark hair, wearing a dark top, looking at the camera

“It sounds like a whisper”: feminist psychology and the gendering of power

In her inaugural lecture on 21 March 2024, Rose Capdevila, Professor of Psychology at the OU, discussed research around the gendering of power in three contexts: activism, the history of psychology and social media.

22nd March 2024
Advaith Siddharthan, with long, dark hair, wearing glasses and a light blue shirt

How society ought to engage with nature, science and technology

In his inaugural lecture on 13 February 2024, Advaith Siddharthan, Professor of Computer Science and Society in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, discussed the impacts of modern culture's disassociation with nature and the potential for citizen science methodologies to redress these.

12th February 2024
Mary Larkin

Family Carers: beyond visibility

In her inaugural lecture on 6 December 2023, Mary Larkin, Professor of Care, Carers and Caring, explored what ‘visibility’ means for family carers through the lens of her own contributions to the care discourse and the promotion of carers’ rights and explored her own vision of family carer visibility in the future.

11th December 2023
Rachel Hilliam, wearing a blue scarf and smiling and looking at the camera

Data (Science) is everywhere and for everyone – but only if we are professional

In her inaugural lecture, Rachel Hilliam, Professor of Statistics in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, explored the role played by Data Science in ensuring that data is being used ethically, stored safely and analysed robustly.

13th July 2023
Anne Adams, wearing glasses and a coloured, patterned shirt, smiling and looking at the camera

Why learners, politicians, practitioners and users are not the enemy and how to listen to them!

Professor Anne Adams, Professor of Engaged Practice and Research at the OU’s Institute of Education Technology, delivered her inaugural lecture on: Why learners, politicians, practitioners and users are not the enemy and how to listen to them! on 13 June 2023.

13th June 2023
Byron Dueck and Elaine Moohan, smiling and looking at the camera

Music, politics and the importance of understanding the text

Music, politics and the importance of understanding the text is a joint inaugural lecture delivered by Elaine Moohan, Professor of Musicology and Byron Dueck, Professor of Music in The Open University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, who presented their research into religious music from Scotland, England and Cameroon on Tuesday 16 May 2023.

15th May 2023

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