The McDonald Faith and Global Engagement Distinguished Lecture
NATURE MATTERS:
WHY BELIEF COUNTS FOR TREE FROG
Peter Harris
Co-Founder, A Rocha International
Date: 5 March 2025 (Wed)
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU
Abstract
The question of why nature matters is now critical. Over recent decades, we have witnessed the thinning of life on earth and the collapse of eco-systems and habitats. At its heart, this crisis comes down to human decisions about what matters. It would appear from the actions and choices of most societies that people don’t believe nature matters. So why does nature matter? We will explore various explanations coming from different points of view, and suggest that Christian thinking may have a considerable contribution to make to this critical debate.
About the Speaker
Peter Harris co-founded the Christian conservation organisation A Rocha in 1983. For the last forty years, he has worked to mobilise financial investment and practical responses to the challenges of biodiversity decline and climate change. A Rocha organisations are now found in more than 20 countries on five continents each one committed to community based conservation.
Last Lecture
The McDonald Faith and Global Engagement Distinguished Lecture Series
GOD and AI: WHO’S IN CONTROL?
Professor Ruth Okediji
Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor, Harvard Law School
Date: 12 February 2025 (Wed)
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU
Reserve your spot: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2mMDG3fxDaFH1pI
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will increasingly outperform human beings in a growing number and variety of routine and complex tasks. And yet, intelligence alone may not be adequate for a just society, with laws and policies that promote a flourishing humanity. If AI can offer solutions to our most pressing global challenges, will humanity or AI reign and can AI become more human than us?
About the Speaker
Ruth L. Okediji is the Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, and Faculty Director of the Harvard Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies. Her scholarship examines innovation policy, the digital economy, and global knowledge governance and has authored an array of publications on the relationship between IP protection and human flourishing. Prof. Okediji has served as a policy advisor to inter-governmental organizations, regional economic communities, and national governments including the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines. She was named one of the 50 most influential figures in IP by Managing IP and received the 2019 Public Knowledge IP3 Award. In 2023, she was awarded the Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement from the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
