The 2008 Alfred Deakin Lecture series brings the finest thinkers and innovators to Melbourne from throughout Australia and around the world.

Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said at the launch of the 2008 lectures last week that “The 18 lectures run from Wednesday, 4 June, to Sunday, 15 June, in Melbourne and across regional Victoria covering legal, political, scientific and ethical issues."

“In 2008, the lecture series will take the public on a journey from the brain to body, through cities, nations and into space. The topics have been chosen because of their relevance to the issues we are facing here in Australia and elsewhere in the world.”

International speakers include Austin Williams, Director of the Future Cities Project; Professor Roger Brownsword, Director of the Centre for Technology, Law, Ethics and Society at King’s College London; Professor Barbara J Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, UK; and Ajay Royyuru, the lead scientist for IBM’s Genographic Project based in New York.

They will be joined by Australian speakers including Associate Professor John Armstrong, Philosopher in Residence at the Melbourne Business School; Dr Brian Walker, Research Fellow with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems; Dr Jane Dixon, sociologist; Professor Paul James, Director of the Globalism Institute (RMIT); and Steve Bracks, former Premier of Victoria.

For more information visit www.deakinlectures.net

Readings is the official bookseller for the 2008 Alfred Deakin Lectures.