Lecture

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In this episode, historian and theologian Jennifer Powell- McNutt delivers the 2026 ADM Public Lecture, Surprised by Jesus: Rediscovering the First Witness of the Resurrection.

Jennifer explores what the Gospels really tell us about Mary Magdalene and why her witness to the risen Jesus matters.

The lecture's followed by a conversation with Laurel Moffatt, Principal of Mary Andrews College.

So it's hard to get any validity or any respect with any of those areas.

And noting that you presented it in a panel in the recent Dean's Lecture series, and we'll pop that onto the show notes as well for our listeners.

But one of the things that intrigued me in listening to that on that evening was that you did say that it was about 80% that a paediatrician was spending about 80% of their time moving away from more of the medical space.

Good

In today's episode, we're talking about a very, very important and enigmatic in Plato.

Specifically, we're talking about Plato's Lecture on the Good.

I'm going to explain what it is and what are some of the issues around it, the important topics that come up in the scholarship.

Specifically, I'm going to focus on the argument that Conrad Geiser gave in his 1980 article, Plato's Enigmatic Lecture on the Good, which was published in the journal Phronesis.

Also, as the episode goes on, I'll get into some of the major critics of those who make a lot of the Lecture on the Good, so people like Guthrie, Chernus, Vlastos.

But really, I want to focus on Conrad Geiser's presentation of the Lecture on the Good, mostly because it's a very thorough presentation.

It will get a lot of important ideas out there.

Many of you, I'm sure, will have no idea what I'm talking about when I say the phrase Lecture on the Good.

[on-hold music] Good afternoon and welcome.

I'm Stephen Lowy, the deputy chair of the Lowy Institute, and I would like to thank the Foreign Minister, Senator Penny Wong, for honoring the Institute by delivering the 2026 Gingell Lecture.

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which the Institute stands, and pay my respects to their elders.

We are delighted to be here today in the honor of our dear friend and colleague, Alan Gingell.

Thank you for being with us.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to Jan Adams.

Secretary of DFAT, Rick Smith, who delivered the inaugural Gingell Lecture in 2024, Sandy Hollway, and Dennis Richardson.

Alan, Rick, Dennis, and Sandy all started their distinguished careers together.

To be honest, I was a little concerned about this training before we started.

I was worried that it would feel like one big lecture.

Yeah, I've attended some training sessions like that and they can be pretty boring.

Luckily, the lady training us is very engaging and gets us to respond to a presentation and talk about our ideas as a group.

I'll ask her.

Thanks, Becca.

你正在收听的是BBC英语教学制作的你问我答节目。 在本期节目中,我和Beca正在编辑三个在大学教育中常见的课程形式,lectures, seminars和tutorials。 正如听众在问题中提到的,在大学里,特别是在英国大学里选课的时候, 授课老师通常会在课程的介绍里写明授课的形式。 有时,这也是学生们选择自己心仪课程的考虑因素之一。 Becca, let's talk about lectures first.

Let's.

Use it when describing university-style teaching.

Lecture.

Wykład.

A guided lesson, often smaller group, focusing on specific skills or concepts, more interactive than a lecture.

Mention it when discussing hands-on learning sessions.

Valuable evidence, direct and indirect, is supplied in the next generation by Boccaccio, who, in his Vita di Dante, written probably between 1357 and 1362, says that the poet wrote many prose epistles in Latin, of which a number are still in existence, and who certainly had first-hand knowledge of at least six of the letters now extant.

These are the letters to the Emperor Henry VII, Epistola 7, and that to a friend in Florence, Epistola 9, of which use is made in chapters 5 and 12 of the Vita di Dante, the letter to Can Grande, Epistola 10, which is largely utilized in the first and fifth Lezioni of the Commento sopra la Commedia, the letter to Morello Malaspina, Epistola 4, 3, portions of which are incorporated in the letter Ignoto Militi, that beginning, Mavortis miles extranu, and the letter to the Pistogen exile, commonly identified with Cino da Pistogia, Epistola 3, 4, and to the Italian cardinals, Epistola 8, which, together with the letter to the Florentine friend already mentioned, have been preserved in a manuscript, the only known manuscript containing them, written by Boccaccio's own hand.

The letter to Can Grande, it may be observed, was known in one form or another to several of the 14th century commentators on the Commedia, besides Boccaccio, namely to Guido da Pisa, circa 1324, Jacopo della Lana, circa 1326, the author of the Ottimo Commento, circa 1334, Pietro di Dante, 1340-41, Francesco da Buti, 1385-95, and Filippo Villani, 1391.

But of these, Filippo Villani, who, in his inaugural lecture delivered in 1391, as occupant of the Dante chair at Florence, refers to the letter as quodam introductorum nostri poeta, super canto primo paradisi ad dominum canem de la scala destinatum, is the only one who mentions that it was addressed to Can Grande.

But this lecture is one of his incredible lectures that were a part of his incredible output.

August 21st, 1988, almost 40 years ago.

Of course, as Crystal Cassidy pointed out on the last Manly Lecture episode, the information is timeless.

And seemingly...

More relevant today, perhaps, than the time that it was given.

Thank you so much for joining us.

We will catch you next week on Fourth and Lecture.

As always, I'm Tom, and I've had Joe and Shiv with me, and we'll see you next time.

Bye-bye.