Page content
The Convocation Annual Lecture 2025
The University’s Convocation Committee would like to invite all graduates of Ulster University and its predecessor institutions to the Annual Lecture of Convocation. This years lecture will be conducted by Shirley-Anne McMillan who is a Young Adult novelist from Co. Down. Having previously worked as a school-teacher and Online Writer in Residence for the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin, Shirley-Anne now teaches creative writing at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, and offers mentoring through the Irish Writers Centre.
The 2025 Convocation Annual Lecture will be held on the Belfast campus of Ulster University on Tuesday, 30 September.
Mary Campbell, Chair of the Convocation, said:
“I would like to invite all graduates of Ulster University and its previous institutions to attend the Convocation’s Annual Lecture on 30 September. This is an opportunity to meet with other graduates and listen to fascinating talk by Shirley-Anne McMillan.
Event details:
- Tuesday 30 September 2025
- Formal Proceedings – 6.30pm
- Belfast Campus
- Arrival and Registration followed by Light Refreshments – 5.30pm
Previous lecture topics
2024 - A.I
The 2024 Annual Lecture at the Derry~Londonderry campus, in association with 'Ulster Talks', honoured the memory of the late Professor Paul McKevitt, a dedicated member of the Convocation Executive Committee.
The evening celebrated the substantial contribution Paul made to Computer Science, with particular emphasis on Artificial Intelligence. Speakers included Professor Eunice Ma (Serious Games & Extended Reality for Mental Health and Wellbeing) and Professor Michael McTear (Conversational AI).
2023 - Dr David Glass - "From the Big Bang to Artificial Intelligence: Do Science and God Compete?
Dr David Glass is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Mathematics. As well as undertaking research in the areas of computational and mathematical modelling and philosophy of science, in a recent project he has used probability theory to help determine whether science can ‘explain away’ God. He has given many academic and popular lectures on the relationship between science and religion and is the author of Atheism’s New Clothes, which is a response to the writings of the New Atheists.
This lecture explored whether science and God are in competition or whether science might actually provide support for belief in God. The final part of the lecture briefly considered whether developments in artificial intelligence could undermine a religious view of human beings.
