Research for everyone when JU LIVE returns

At Jönköping University (JU), socially relevant research is conducted daily in many different areas. On Thursday, 29 January, the popular lecture series JU LIVE returns, giving the public an opportunity to learn about the research in a relaxed setting. Four interesting lectures are planned for the spring, where visitors can enjoy refreshments, listen to lectures and ask questions. All lectures will be given in Swedish.

This is the sixth semester that JU, together with Folkuniversitetet, is organizing JU LIVE. One of the tasks of researchers is to disseminate their research outside academia, and JU LIVE is one way of doing this. The lectures are popular science, meaning that they are understandable and accessible to the general public. The audience also has the opportunity to ask the researchers questions after the lecture.

“JU LIVE is a fantastic way to encounter new knowledge and exciting research – right in the middle of everyday life. We want to contribute something that is both socially relevent and inspiring, and our library is the perfect place for precisely those kinds of conversations,” says Jesper Boesen, head of collaboration and internationalization at the School of Education and Communication at JU, which is involved in organizing JU LIVE.

Wide variety of topics

JU consists of four schools: the School of Education and Communication, the School of Health and Welfare, the School of Engineering, and Jönköping International Business School. Each semester, four lectures are held, with each school contributing one lecture, which means that the topics covered are very diverse. The topics for the spring semester include among other things comic books as knowledge, sustainable preparedness, life after amputation in Ukraine.

Teaching with comics and graphic novels

The first lecture of the semester will be held on 29 January at 16:00. Radu Dinu, Associate Professor of History at the School of Education and Communication, will give a lecture entitled: “From speech bubbles to knowledge: teaching with comics and graphic novels”. Are comics just entertainment, or can they convey in-depth knowledge? Radu will talk about how comics and graphic novels can open up more creative, critical and inclusive learning, where images and text interact in new ways.

The lectures are held in the JMW Hall in JU's university library, are free of charge and include refreshments. The lectures always take place between 16:00-17:00. Please note that all lectures are held in Swedish.