Speakers: Dr Magid Shihade, Faculty Member, Abu-Lughod Institute for International Studies, Birzeit University, Palestine; and Dr Sunaina Maira, Professor of Asian American Studies, University of California, Davis

Chair: Ms Seema Mustafa, Palestine Solidarity Committee, India

Elements of the Opera
Illustrated lecture by Shri Diganta Choudhury, voice teacher at the Delhi School of Music and Theme Music Institute

A personal response to the evolution of opera down the ages, with special reference to bel canto technique. The speaker will seek to understand the style and to see it in the light of an art form

GOLDEN JUBILEE LECTURES Origin of the Universe
Speaker: Prof Paul Davies, Regents' Professor and Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Co-Director, ASU Cosmology Initiative, and Principal Investigator, Center for the Convergence of Physical Science and Cancer Biology, Arizona State University

Chair: Prof M.G.K. Menon, Life Trustee, IIC

Cosmologists agree that the universe as we know it began with a big bang about 13.7 billion years ago, but many questions remain. What, if anything, came before the Big Bang? Can a universe appear from nothing? Was the Big Bang also the origin of time and space? Can such an event ever be fully explained scientifically? This lecture will tackle such deep and important topics. It will also review the history of the universe from the first split second to the present epoch, as well as predict the ultimate fate of the cosmos

(51 min; 2010; dvd; English & with subtitles)
Directors: Philipp Eyer & Jonas Scheu

Philipp Eyer will introduce the film and lead a discussion after the screening

A pilgrimage to the biggest religious gathering in the world. This adventurous outer journey through the colourful festival turns into an inner journey in search of knowledge, exploring the question of immortality, and becomes a meditation on the self, the soul