Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

Presenter: Prof. Nikos Papastergiadis
Entry: Free

This final lecture in the series of Greek History and Culture Lectures for 2013 will be about the meaning of friendship. It will explore the contemporary phenomenon of 'liking' and 'making' friends in the age of social networking.

It will map out the complex history of the concept of friendship in philosophy, political theory and aesthetics, and then propose that the intuitive process by which we form trust and understanding with strangers in order to become friends, may also require some shared outlook.

The challenge is to see how we get a sense of this common outlook, and what is the breadth and width of its basis for a shared worldview.

Biography

Nikos Papastergiadis is a professor of Cultural Studies and Media & Communications at the University of Melbourne, he was educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Cambridge.

Prior to joining the School of Culture and Communication he was Deputy Director of the Australia Centre at the University of Melbourne; Head of the Centre for Ideas at the Victorian College of Arts; lecturer in Sociology and recipient of the Simon Fellowship at the University of Manchester.