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Global Cultures Institute

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Public Lectures

The Global Cultures Institute seeks to plot and understand the boundaries that shape the modern world, hosting public and community engagement events to facilitate talking beyond boundaries.

 

Our events programme draws attention to the myriad of cultures that make up our globalised world, encouraging debate and showcasing research from our projects and fellows. 

This programme includes our annual lecture series featuring distinguished speakers from across disciplines and geographies.

 

Professor Kevin K. Gaines on the music of Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder's 1979 album 'Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants' operates at the intersection of major issues at the time – civil rights movements, African liberation, and a growing interest in the environment – as well as Wonder’s own experiences as a Black, blind, international touring artist.

Professor Gaines suggests FESTAC '77 had a vital impact on the album, which incorporated music genres from the Global South at a time when decolonisation was influencing cultures.

gci annual lecture 2026 feature (david tetts)

Amitav Ghosh and the Indian Ocean world

In a wide-ranging talk, Amitav Ghosh highlighted the connection between climate change and militarisation, particularly in the Indian Ocean world where seismic geopolitical shifts are underway.

Ghosh explored how the enduring impacts of colonialism prevent agreement on actions to prevent climate change in the modern day, and the challenges of relying solely on scientific data to solve the world's problems.

amitav ghosh feature image (Richard Eaton)

Patience Agbabi and stories in stanza’d English

Agbabi delivered the inaugural institute lecture on Stories in Stanza’d English: a Cross-Cultural Canterbury Tales, which explored her 21st century retellings of Chaucer's text through a poetry slam set on a Routemaster bus travelling from London.

The talk examined how the stanza can transcend cultural boundaries through versions of The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Man of Law’s Tale and The Franklyn’s Tale.

She also performed a live reading in celebration of Nigerian English and Newcastle dialect, the corona and rime royale.

patience agbabi feature image