Great minds at your local

After a beverage or two, many people – well-informed or not – slip easily into the role of critic and expert.

But on Tuesday 27 August at bars around Auckland, the people holding the room’s attention will be truly qualified to do so. The third annual Raising the Bar will be brought to local pubs and restaurants by the University of Auckland.

At 10 central Auckland bars, 20 academics will give public talks on subjects ranging from workplace humour and medieval beauty regimes, to the legalisation of cannabis, digital propaganda, and New Zealand Government corruption. The lecture sessions, held at 6.30pm and 8pm, are free to attend but must be booked at Raising the Bar 2019.

Raising the Bar is an international initiative, established in the United States and aimed at making education part of a city’s popular culture. It’s supported by universities including Columbia in New York, and Sydney and Western Australia as well as Auckland in this part of the world.

Last year more than 1500 people attended the lectures, with many selling out quickly beforehand.

La Zeppa Kitchen & Bar

• You know my country’s corrupt, but what about yours? Associate Professor Tim Kuhner
• Becoming more Pacific by the hour. Pro Vice-Chancellor – Pacific Damon Salesa

Little Creatures Summer Pop-up

• Why we need a constitution accommodating Māori rights. Associate Professor Claire Charters
• Just a joke? The pleasure and pain of workplace humour and fun. Dr Barbara Plester

Mezze Bar

• Keeping up with the Tudors and Stuarts: A renaissance queen’s beauty guide. Associate Professor Erin Griffey
• The future of orthopaedics: From smart sensors to 3D printed joints. Associate Professor Thor Besier

The Birdcage 

• Gut bugs gone bad. Professor Wayne Cutfield
• How mindfulness can help in the bedroom – and beyond. Doctoral Candidate Holly Dixon

Shanghai Lil’s

• Cannabis legalisation: A potentially mind-altering discussion. Professor Benedikt Fischer
• I see you like memes? The business of digital surveillance and propaganda. Dr Ethan Plaut

Cameron Jones

• From rotten eggs to passionfruit – the pungent world of wine sulfur compounds. Dr Rebecca Deed
• Millennials and Gen Z: Who really needs fixing – us or them? Dr Pat Bullen

Everybody’s Bar and Restaurant

• Healthcare, education and the future – are people even needed? Dr Craig Sutherland
• Economics and happiness in a time of rapid climate change. Dr Ross McDonald

The Longroom

• Ten years of battling New Zealand earthquakes. Associate Professor Liam Wotherspoon
• Fairytales and war - and the breadcrumb trails between. Dr Sara Buttsworth

The Oak Room

• The tip of the iceberg: what we don’t know about plastic. Dr Julie Hope
• A house, your shoes, your dinner! 3D printing the future. Professor Olaf Diegel

Vodka Room

• Is technology terminating relationships at school? Dr Mohamed Alansari
• Alchemy, magic and predicting the future in modern design. Associate Professor Deb Polson

The Raising the Bar concept was started by a group of students in New York who wanted to bring the city’s brightest minds out of lecture halls and into neighbourhood bars, adding knowledge and better conversation to people’s nightlife.

Raising the Bar was introduced to Auckland three years ago and the concept remains the same. The event continues to attract fascinating speakers and capacity audiences in a friendly environment.