Lecture Series
Join us for the Darwin College Lecture Series 2026, which will explore the idea of Song from eight very different angles.
The lectures are open to all and free to attend, on a first come first served basis. We do not take bookings or issue tickets.
Lectures are held on Fridays at 5.30pm throughout Lent Term, in the Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick site.
Notes and Noises in Nature: Not a Swan Song?
Professor Hans Slabbekoorn
University of Leiden
5.30pm, Friday 23rd January 2026
Throat-Singing: Body, Spirit, Pathways, Place
Dr Carole Pegg
University of Cambridge
5.30pm, Friday 30th January 2026
Song in the Ancient World: Echoes of Religion and Resistance
Dr Matthew Gordley
Carlow University
5.30pm, Friday 13th February 2026
Hearing Her Voice: Women Musicians in Vienna 1900
Dr Carola Darwin
Royal College of Music
5.30pm, Friday 20th February 2026
Songs of the Stars: Unravelling Stellar Music with Asteroseismology
Professor Conny Aerts
KU Leuven
5.30pm, Friday 27th February 2026
Palestinian Song in Transition: The Interplay of Tradition and Innovation, 1936-1948
Professor Issa Boulos
Harper College
5.30pm, Friday 6th March 2026
How Song Shapes Society, and Society Shapes Song
Richard Morrison
The Times
5.30pm, Friday 13th March 2026
Explore our collection of past lectures
Since 1986, the Darwin College Lecture Series has provided an important annual contribution to Cambridge's intellectual conversation. Watch previous lectures on our YouTube channel.
