The series kicks off on Monday 12 October 2026 at 7 pm with economist Heinz-Dieter Kurz. In a talk entitled ‘How punitive tariffs and sanctions can endanger one’s own country and the world’, he will examine the relevance today of Adam Smith’s ‘The Wealth of Nations’, published in 1776. On 9 November, East Asian studies scholar Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik will turn her attention to China and its vision of a future world order. On 23 November, chemist Jörg Feldmann will demonstrate how so-called ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS) can be made visible in the environment and what can be done to tackle them.
The lecture series runs until the end of May 2027 and covers the following topics, amongst others: Religion between resilience and risk (30 November 2026), promoting language and literacy (11 January 2027), conflicts in the post-Soviet space (8 March 2027), Urban development (15 March 2027), the link between fat molecules and disease (19 April 2027), and migration and the world of work (31 May 2027).
The Montagsakademie is aimed at the general public. The lectures, which are presented in accessible language, are open to all and free of charge; no registration is required. They take place every Monday at 7.00 pm in the auditorium of the University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 3, 1st floor. In addition, the lectures will be broadcast to regional partner institutions in Feldbach, Gaishorn am See (joining via video link for the first time this year), Wagna, Braunau and Lienz, as well as live online.
All dates and topics: https://montagsakademie.uni-graz.at/de/unser-programm/
Further educational programmes:
- Vita activa
- UNItogether
