Pub sessions raise the bar for varsity academics
Auckland academics are ditching the lecture theatre for the city’s bars.
Auckland University will send 20 academics to lecture at 10 Auckland bars as a part of a worldwide initiative next month.
The event, called ‘‘Raising the Bar’’, aims to make education a greater part of the city’s culture by giving the community the chance to engage with leading academics in a friendly, accessible and laidback atmosphere.
The initiative originated in New York in 2015 and is designed to break down the perception that higher education deepens socioeconomic inequality by pushing away prospective students.
Raising the Bar quickly spread to Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and now Auckland.
Auckland University director of alumni relations and development Mark Bentley said the lecture topics would reflect the younger ‘‘Ted Talk generation’’.
The sessions, being held on August 29, would be fascinating, quick and informative, he said.
Topics will range from life among robots, why terrorists want to kill us, imagining a world without prisons and the brain of sharks. Bentley said pubs had hosted great conversations for as long as they had existed.
‘‘Pubs are not about alcohol, they are about friendship and good conversations and we are glad we can continue and expand that worthy tradition,’’ he said.
It is expected more than 1500 Aucklanders will attend the event, with a few locations selling out 24 hours after tickets were released.
Thomas Gregory, who will talk about the human cost of drone strikes at Tom Tom Bar and Eatery, said lecturing in a pub was a dream gig but a little nerveracking too. ‘‘If students get bored with my lectures they usually just sneak out early or twiddle with their phones - but a room full of rowdy punters could be interesting,’’ he said.
Well-known academics such as microbiologist Siouxie Wiles and sociologist Tracey Mcintosh will also present.
The selected bars are in close proximity to one another so attendees may be able to visit up to two lectures on the night.
Golden Dawn bar manager Nicolas Harrison said events like Raising the Bar were a perfect way for bars to contribute more to the community than just supplying alcohol.