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Running at UCL since 1942, Lunch Hour Lectures are an opportunity for anyone to sample the exceptional research work currently being undertaken at the university. Speakers are drawn from UCL's wide-ranging academic departments and lectures frequently showcase new research and recent academic publications.


Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Brian Butterworth, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Do animals possess the capacity to use numerical information? Is this capacity confined to primates, or indeed to mammals? It is thought that humans inherit a numerical capacity upon which more sophisticated mathematics is built. If this is the case, then we may find signs of this capacity in human infants, but we may also find that some humans are born without this capacity.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_LY4M8nBOY

Can fish count? UCL Lunch Hour Lecture (21 Jan 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Dame Anne Johnson, UCL Infection and Population Health

The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) surveys over 15,000 men and women aged 16-74 who are resident in Britain, and is the largest and most detailed study of sexual lifestyles undertaken anywhere in the world. This lecture discusses the latest findings from Natsal-3 in the context of the importance of sexual health and well-being.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtnS3Ar_GVM


Studying sex comes of age: results from NATSAL-3 (23 Jan 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Mary Fulbrook, UCL German

Holocaust remembrance has attained an ever-greater place in the consciousness of people across Europe and around the world. But memorialization inevitably entails a selective focus and is accompanied by a marginalization and even erasure of other traces of a disturbing past. This lecture explores some of the diverse and complex legacies of Nazi persecution.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xDJLSnqMps


Oblivion and memorialisation: The legacies of Nazi persecution in Europe (28 Jan 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Essi Viding, UCL Psychology and Language Sciences

Although childhood behavioural problems are relatively common, not all problems develop for the same reason, and only a few individuals will go on to develop psychopathy in adulthood. This lecture reviews behavioural problems in children, in terms of genetics, brain function and development, and considers why some children may be at an increased risk of developing psychopathy when they grow up.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yB_syUDbjs


Why do some people become psychopaths? (30 Jan 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Richard Moorhead, UCL Laws

Public trust in lawyers is on the decline. Some of this is inevitable: Hackgate, the financial scandal and Hillsborough have all involved lawyers at pivotal moments. But are lawyers just doing their jobs in these cases or crossing ethical boundaries? An analysis of professional rules, lawyer psychology and economics suggest lawyers need to do some work to rebuild trust and behave more professionally.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unpktCN5--o

Should we trust lawyers? (4 Feb 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Laura Vaughan, UCL Bartlett School of Graduate Studies

Is the death of the high street inevitable? Prof Vaughan describes her research using historical, geographical and spatial analysis of suburban centres. The results tell us how land use diversity and road connectivity have helped the high street adapt to significant social and economic change.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJEQ2Ta38_o


Butcher, baker, candlestick-maker (11 Feb 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Dr Chris Brierley, UCL Geography

In Spring last year, carbon dioxide concentrations passed 400 parts per million in the atmosphere -- a level not seen since the Pliocene era (3-5 million years ago), and perhaps not even then. We know that the Pliocene was a warm world without glacial cycles, and that the climate of the tropical Pacific was also structurally different. This lecture discussed the causes and implications of this discrepancy.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lft4OHt0-gE


A world with this much CO²: lessons from 4 million years ago (13 Feb 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Yvonne Kelly, UCL Epidemiology and Public Health

The more advantages a child has early in life, the better their health and development and their own socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood. This talk examines what factors during pregnancy and in the early years of life set children off on better life trajectories, and what can be done to ensure that every child has a good childhood.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPnZ4PW-xrU


A good start in life (25 Feb 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Dr Claire Dwyer, UCL Geography

Suburbs are conventionally imagined as monotonous, monocultural, materialist and secular, but recent research in West London contradicts this, suggesting that suburbs are shaped by dynamic multicultural connections. Dr Dwyer argues that creativity and modernity are important elements in the changing geographies of religious architecture in the suburbs.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg5t3wVLekY

Buddhas of Suburbia: faith, migration and suburban change in London (27 Feb 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Maxine Molyneux, UCL Institute of the Americas

Among the eight Millennium Development Goals were women's empowerment and gender equity. This lecture, marking International Women's Day, focuses on the Latin American region, assessing the progress that has been made, and the obstacles that women still face in achieving greater equality and justice, sexual and reproductive rights and measures to tackle violence against women.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2k8LFxb8nQ



Gender equality and women's rights in Latin America (6 Mar 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Dr Maryam Shahmanesh, UCL Infection and Population Health

What can female sex workers in India teach us about the structural drivers of the HIV epidemic? This talk explores how underlying social and political factors contribute to female sex workers vulnerability to HIV and poor sexual health outcomes.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F43ebh6Mbf8

A tale of two cities: sex work in India (4 Mar 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Dr Jack Stilgoe, UCL Science and Technology Studies

Policies to tackle climate change do not seem to be working. Some scientists have begun to look into tacking climate change directly, through 'geoengineering', but the risks, ethics and politics look worrying. Should we be testing technologies now or keeping research indoors until we know more?

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o2DqvjQKpc

Should we experiment with the climate? (11 Mar 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Dr Antonio Sennis, UCL History

Divine letters, supernatural visions and apocalyptic curses were often successfully employed by medieval clerics to persuade their counterparts to do what they wanted them to do. This lecture explores how these tools of persuasion responded to a Medieval cultural logic.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWZJ_z2aW8Q

Medieval languages of persuasion (13 March 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Lars Stixrude, UCL Earth Sciences

To the founders of geology, the question of how the Earth began could not be addressed by science; answers had to await recent advances in radioactive dating, planetary accretion, and materials physics. The Earth appears to have begun in a completely molten state, a magma ocean, the nature of which, while still sketchy, is remarkably rich in its implications for understanding our planet today.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VybMqy0qbbk


How did Earth begin? (18 Mar 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Christian Dustmann, UCL Economics

New research has shown the beneficial impact that immigration has on the UK economy. However, the beliefs people hold about immigration are not necessarily formed on the basis of economic considerations, but on other non-economic concerns and fears. Prof Dustmann reports on his research that quantifies the magnitude of these two channels.

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Ex4RV4gc4


The impact of immigration: fact or fiction? (20 Mar 2014)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2014

Professor Angela Sasse, UCL Computer Science

Passwords have been used for around 40 years to authenticate people to computer systems, and nowadays on phones and touchscreen devices. This lecture will explain why most people today struggle with them, and why, contrary to received security wisdom, strong passwords do not necessarily mean good security for stakeholders and organisations. What might be the likely replacement? 

You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xg7mqWF4M8


The end of passwords (25 Mar 2014)

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