22 January 2014. The HSG does not only have an international orientation, it is also committed to the region. Besides public lectures, the Children’s University and the University of St.Gallen’s involvement in the Museum Night, the Monday Forum of Eastern Switzerland is a complementary educational opportunity in the region. At the start-up stage, the HSG is supporting the lecture series in cooperation with partners from trade and industry. The series is based on the model of the Monday Forum in Dornbirn in the Austrian Land of Vorarlberg.

Education and encounters in Eastern Switzerland
The series, which consists of two semesters with eight lectures each, begins in February and September. The lectures will deal with issues from religion, the economy, philosophy and history. The main focus will be on topics of societal policy that affect every individual’s life. The discussions will be complemented by classic “knowledge lectures”, for instance about the history of Europe.

The speakers are predominantly university teachers from the German-speaking area. The lectures are aimed at all those who would like to hear something new and extend their knowledge. There will be one speaker per lecture. After the lectures, there will be time for an exchange of thoughts and for a discussion, in keeping with the motto of the Monday Forum: “Encounters and Education”.

Life in changed societies
The theme of the first semester will be “Life in changed societies in a globalised world – in quest of meaning, orientation and a future path”. Discussions will focus on ideas about health, personal happiness and new aspects of the First World War. Speakers will include Detlev Ganten, the organiser of the World Health Summit, the philosophers Wilhelm Schmid and Hermann Lübbe, as well as Herfried Münkler, author of the new book Der grosse Krieg: Die Welt 1914 bis 1918.