Speeches, presentations and lectures

On this page are transcripts of some significant speeches delivered at, or on behalf of, the University of Melbourne.

"A university should always be a forum for the debate of ideas. That’s why each year, the University of Melbourne hosts around 200 public lectures and every day of each semester, faculties and departments offer seminars, symposiums, colloquiums and forums which are open to the public."
--Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor

Miegunyah Public Lecture - Online Campaigning in the US Presidential Election

21 April 2009

A lecture delivered by Mr Tom Mann, Congressional Scholar and Media Commentator

International Public Lecture - Beyond Straight and Gay Marriage

2nd April 2009

A lecture delivered by Professor Nancy Polikoff, American University, Washington College of Law

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Public Lecture - “Online Campaigning in the US Presidential Election”

2nd March 2009

A lecture delivered by Mr Joe Trippi, "The Man Who Invented Internet Politics".

You can view a video of this public lecture.

The 2008-09 Menzies Lecture

20 January 2009

Delivered by Professor Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Melbourne
at Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, King's College London

Transcript of speech " The English Empire? Global Higher Education" by Professor Davis

University of Melbourne Graduation Address

6 December 2008

Delivered by Professor Fiona Stanley AC

Transcript of speech by Professor Stanley

Chancellor's Human Rights lecture - Criminal Defence Lawyers: Unwitting Human Rights Defenders

24 November 2008

A lecture delivered by the Honourable Justice Lex Lasry, QC, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Transcript of speech by Justice Lasry

Professor Glyn Davis - Garran Oration

19 June 2008

Transcript of speech by Professor Davis: (Word 116 kb) : (PDF 64 kb)

International Public Lecture - “Obama v McCain - Who Will Win, Does it Matter"

18 September 2008

A lecture delivered by Ambassador Derek Shearer, Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs and Director of Global Affairs at Occidental College in Los Angeles, U.S.A.

You can view a video of this public lecture

AN Smith Lecture in Journalism - Do newspapers have a future? And now long is that future?

7 October 2008

A lecture delivered by Mr Michael Gawenda, Leading Australian editor, journalist and commentator

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Transcript of speech by Michael Gawenda

International Public Lecture - The Future of Cities

29th July 2008

A lecture delivered by Cassio Taniguchi, Secretary for the Department of Urban and Environmental Development, Brasilia and former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil

You can view a video of this public lecture.

International Public Lecture - The Civic Responsibility of Historians

29 April 2008

A lecture delivered by Professor Jean-Noël Jeanneney, Institut d'études politiques (Sciences Po), Paris

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Transcript of speech by Professor Jeanneney

Professor Glyn Davis - AFR Higher Education Conference. 'The Search for a Stable Centre'

13 March 2008

Transcript of speech by Professor Davis (Word 60 kb)

Chancellor's Human Rights Lecture - The Protection of Women and Children During Armed Conflict. Whose Responsibility?

13 November 2007

A lecture delivered by Radhika Coomaraswamy, Under-Secretary-General and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Transcript of speech by Radhika Coomaraswamy (PDF 192 kb)

International Public Lecture - Unravelling Einstein's Secrets

13 November 2007

A lecture delivered by Professor Roy Kerr, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

The Emerging Dominance of the West in America's Economy, Culture and Politics

26 November 2007

A lecture delivered by Leadership Dialogue Scholar David M Kennedy, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History & Co-Director, Bill Lane Center for the Study of the North American West, Stanford University. Presented by the University of Melbourne in partnership with the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

The Age Australians All series of 'Essays on the Nation'.

31 October 2007

Essay by Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis (Microsoft Word 56 kb) "The end of the gatekeeper".

Will the Town Vote for the Gown? Universities in the 2007 Election

19 September 2007

Speech by Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis (Microsoft Word 68 kb) at Alumni Event held at the University of Melbourne

Where to, Zimbabwe?

27 August, 2007

A lecture delivered by Morgan Tsvangirai, President of the Zimbabwe Opposition Party.

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Climate Change and Nuclear Power in Australia

12 June, 2007

A lecture delivered by Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Chair of the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Presented by the University of Melbourne in association with the Australian Institute of Physics.

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Transcript of speech by Dr Switkowski (Microsoft Word 92 kb)

International Public Lecture - Does Pre-School Matter?

7 June, 2007

A Conversation with Professor David Kirp, University of California, Berkeley, USA and Mr Tom Bentley, Director of Applied Learning from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)

You can listen to a recording of this public lecture.

Seizing the Opportunities: A policy framework of balanced incentives for Higher Education and University Research

6 June, 2007

Transcript of Speech by Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis (PDF 100 kb) National Press Club on behalf of the Group of Eight

Fairness, Fees and Equity in Higher Education

3 April, 2007

Speech by Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis (Microsoft Word 136 kb) AFR Higher Education Summit

A Different Kind of Hero

26 January, 2007

Speech by Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis (Microsoft Word 76 kb) Australia Day, Parliament House, Melbourne

Earlier years

2006 : 2005