Royal Anthropological Institute 2026 John Blacking Lecture and Inaugural Professorial Lecture

Join the Royal Anthropological Institute for its annual lecture in honour of John Blacking, the esteemed ethnomusicologist and anthropologist. The event takes place at City St George’s, University of London and includes an inaugural professorial lecture by Professor Laudan Nooshin, followed by a reception.

Professor Nooshin’s lecture, Building Bridges, Making a Difference: Reflections on Music Scholar as Cultural Mediator, explores how academic research can reach beyond the university and help bridge cultural divides. Drawing on almost 20 years of applied work, she reflects on projects connected to Iran, including an educational trip, collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a children’s book project, work using sound in a historic house, and her current research on Polish refugees in Iran during the Second World War.