23 August 2017. This year, the Canton of St.Gallen is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Prof. Dr. Florian Wettstein, the Director of the Public Programme, has taken this opportunity to make the Reformation a topic in public lectures. Five lecture series will deal with the topic.

History, Literature, Theology

In the lectures on the city and its culture, the audience will walk in the footsteps of Vadian and discover him as a humanist scholar, burgomaster of St.Gallen and reformer. A literature lecture, too, will deal with the anniversary, for the Reformation and its main protagonists have been chosen as material for German works of literature time and again.

The three theology lectures will be completely dedicated to the Reformation anniversary. One lecture will deal with religious reforms and revolutions in a more general way. A second lecture will place thoughts about the Reformation in a broader context and elucidate four ways of accessing the Bible: besides the Reformed interpretation, it will deal with the Jewish, Catholic and Free Church interpretations. Four marginal figures of the Reformation will constitute the topic of the third lecture series in theology.

Visit by Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf

Pro Senectute has supported elderly people as an independent social organisation ever since 1917. On the occasion of its 100th anniversary, Pro Senectute St.Gallen will offer a public lecture series at the HSG on the future scenarios of an ageing society. This series on old-age provision will be launched by former Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.

In addition, the audience of the public lecture courses will engage with the issue of international politics. Trump, Putin, Erdogan – both the series on "The economy and law explained in simple terms" and the political series on "Focal points and fundamental problems of international politics" will home in on trends in current politics that are sceptical of democracy, and will place them in a historical and political context. In a related context, the second political lecture will focus on "International support of democratisation processes".

The University's youngest audience, too, will be able to look forward to four lectures. In the Autumn Semester, the Children's University for third-to-sixth form primary school pupils will take place. The topics will be insurance, career choice, start-ups and cross-border shopping

Photo: Children and their dream job drawings adorn the Public Programme brochure.