Previous Insight Talks

Below are previous Insight Talks which have taken place at The Hunterian. Our current programme of Insight Talks can be found here.


A rational taste for resemblance: 18th century portraits of the "great and the good" by Allan Ramsay
Date: 24 September 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Anne Dulau, Curator, The Hunterian
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


An Italian bagpipe for a Scottish artist: David Allan's Calabrian Shepherds
Date: 17 September 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Vivien Williams, Hunterian Associate
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Living on the Edge: The archaeology of Roman Scotland
Date: 3 September 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Dr Louisa Campbell (Dept of Archaeology)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Long Life in Birds 
Date: 10 September 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Professor Pat Monahan (School of Life Sciences)
Location: Hunterian Zoology Museum, Graham Kerr Building


Reaching the high notes: musical and biological aspects of singing like castrati
Date: 27 August 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Brianna Robertson, Hunterian Associate
Location: Hunterian Museum


Snakes on a Bedding Plane: fake and real fossil serpents
Date: 20 August 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Dr Neil Clark, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


The Popup Museum presents "A Graduate on the Edge"
Date: 13 August 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Scott Ross
Location:


A Story of Rats and Puffins - Ecology on Ailsa Craig
Date: 6 August 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Dr Bernie Zonfrillo, School of Life Sciences
Location: Hunterian Zoology Museum


Alexander Wilson - A Man of Culture, Science and Enlightenment
Date: 30 July 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Professor Gerry Carruthers, School of Critical Studies
Location: Zoology Museum


Faking It: The secret history of some museum objects
Date: 23 July 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Dr Sally-Anne Coupar, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


Insect fakes: jolly jokes or fanatical forgeries?
Date: 9 July 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Geoff Hancock, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Mapping the world for the emperor of China - the story of Glasgow's Kunyu Quantu
Date: 21 May 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Professor Nick Pearce, History of Art
Location: Hunterian Museum


Joan Eardley and her depictions of Glasgow children
Date: 14 May 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Anne Dulau Beveridge, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


The curious case of how Dr William Hunter acquired the foot of Owen Farrel, dwarf célèbre
Date: 23 April 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Sophie Kromholz, PhD student, History of Art
Location: Hunterian Museum


The richest woman on Mars: Alternative currencies
Date: 16 April 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Sally-Anne Coupar, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


The richest woman on Mars: Alternative currencies
Date: 16 April 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Sally-Anne Coupar, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


'Bills of Mortality': Plague, pestilence and public health in the 17th century
Date: 9 April 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Bob MacLean, University of Glasgow Library
Location: Hunterian Museum


Prawn Cocktail: new research on Scottish fossil shrimps in The Hunterian
Date: 2 April 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Neil Clark, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


Mackintosh's Circle: The Influence of Japanese Art in Glasgow
Date: 26 March 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Michael Shaw, Hunterian Associate
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


18th Century Forensic Science
Date: 19 March 2013
Time: 1.00pm (meet at 12.55pm)
Speaker: Stuart Macdonald, School of Life Sciences, University of Glasgow
Location: Anatomy Museum - meet at 12.55pm in Hunterian Museum


The Great and Good: Enlightenment portraits in The Hunterian collection
Date: 12 March 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Peter Black, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Back to the Future: Interpreting coin finds in ASDA's car park
Date: 5 March 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Sally-Anne Coupar, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


Summer Sails: The Poem Prints of Ian Hamilton Finlay
Date: 26 February 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Calum Rodger, Hunterian Associate
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


The blood-biting tyrant swimmer: a new crocodile species from The Hunterian collections
Date: 19 February 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Neil Clark, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


Power, pollution and princely ornaments: the many faces of coal
Date: 12 February 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: John Faithfull, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


Slice, dice, rasp and crunch: the teeth of fishes
Date: 5 February 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Maggie Reilly, Hunterian Curator
Location: Hunterian Museum


Paisley shawls at The Hunterian
Date: 29 January 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Suchitra Choudhury, Hunterian Associate
Location: Hunterian Museum


Allan Ramsay's portrait of Frances Hutcheson: new discoveries
Date: 22 January 2013
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Anne Dulau Beveridge (Hunterian Curator)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Medicine and Ministry: portraits of the John Burnses (father and son)
Date: 15 January 2013
Time: 1.00pm (meet at 12.55pm)
Speaker: Roy Miller (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow)
Location: Meet at Hunterian Museum for a very short walk to the Randolf Hall


Heiroglyphic texts on the Hunterian sarcophagus and ushabti figures
Date: 11 December 2012 
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Jennifer Turner (Postgraduate student, Classics)
Location: Hunterian Museum


William Hunter’s Dictionaries: The man and his time
Speaker: Francesca Mackay (MPhil in English Language; PhD student in English Language, University of Glasgow)
Date: 4 December 2012
Location: Hunterian Museum


The Adventures of Baron Munchausen: An 18th century geologist in Argyll 
Date: 27 November 2012
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: John Faithfull
Location: Hunterian Museum


Rembrandt as Theologian: Art and the Narrative of Salvation
Date: 20 November 2012
Speaker: Professor David Jasper (Theology and Religious Studies, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


William Hunter and the American fossil mastodon molar: "... if this animal was carnivorous, we cannot but thank Heaven that its whole generation is probably extinct."
Date: 13 November 2012
Speaker: Stuart McDonald (Laboratory of Human Anatomy, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Painted with passion: the making of Rembrandt's Entombment sketch
Date: 6 November 2012
Speaker: Erma Hermens (History of Art, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Black History Month Talk: David Livingstone
Date: 30 October 2012
Speaker: Justin Livingstone
Location: Hunterian Museum


Putting the Rembrandt exhibition together
Date: 23 Ocotber 2012
Speaker: Peter Black
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Black History Month Talk: African Adventures with Monica and Sally-Anne
Date: 16 October 2012
Speaker: Sally-Anne Coupar and Monica Callaghan (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


International Students: Educational outreach and collecting by Glasgow graduates in the 19th century  
Date: 9 October 2012
Speaker: Kerry McDonald (University of Glasgow Archive Services)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Black History Month Talk: Fräulein Engelhardt by artist Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (1906-1996)
Date: 2 October 2012
Speaker: Peter Black (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


Do some people grow three sets of teeth? Evidence from the anatomical collections of William Hunter
Date: 25 September 2012
Speaker: Stuart McDonald (Laboratory of Human Anatomy, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Dressed for success: 19th and 20th century student gowns from the Hunterian collections
Date: 18 September 2012
Speaker: Neil Dickson (formerly Mathematics Department, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Jade: what is it, and why is it such a good material for carving?
Date: 11 September 2012
Speaker: John Faithfull  (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


"Three hundred guineas would not procure such another copy": A medieval treasure from William Hunter's library
Date: 4 September 2012
Speaker: Siobhan Buchanan (University Library Special Collections)
Location: Hunterian Museum


"Three hundred guineas would not procure such another copy": A medieval treasure from William Hunter's library
Date: 4 September 2012
Speaker: Siobhan Buchanan (University Library Special Collections)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Tuesday 28 August
Please note there will be no Insight talk for this week only


Martian meteorites and the search for water on the red planet: New research at Glasgow
Date: 21 August 
Speaker: Tim Tomkinson (Research Associate, Geographic and Earth Sciences)
Location: Hunterian Museum


We are the champions, no time for losers: A history of celebration, commemoration and medallic art
Date: 14 August
Speaker: Sophie Kromholz (PhD student, School of Culture and Creative Arts)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Pearl mussel peril: A species on the brink of extinction
Date: 7 August
Speaker: Rhian Thomas (Geographic and Earth Sciences)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The New Lanark Mills Archives at the University of Glasgow: The records of a unique business
Date: 31 July
Speaker: Emma Anthony (GU Archive Services)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Wunderkammer: Cabinets of curiosities and e-portfolios
Date: 24 July
Speaker: Sally-Anne Coupar (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Olympic Gold: The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Medals at The Hunterian
Date: 17 July
Speaker: Donal Bateson (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The notorious Spanish Fly and some other Iberian Insects 
Date: 10 July
Speaker: Geoff Hancock (Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The Soddy Box – Nobel prize-winning science at Glasgow 100 years ago
Date: 3 July 
Speaker: John Faithfull (Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Bob the Roman: Robert Adam and The Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian
Date: Tuesday 26 June
Time: 1.00pm
Speaker: Bob MacLean (GU Library)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Not Rare and Not Earths: The geology, uses and politics of the Rare Earth Elements
Date: Tuesday 19 June
Speaker: Dr John Faithfull (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Marvellous Medals: A taster of some highlights from the forthcoming FIDEM exhibition
Date: Tuesday 12 June
Speaker: Dr Sally-Anne Coupar (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The Smell of the Sea: Not ozone but seaweed
Date: Tuesday 5 June
Speaker: Heidi Burdett (PhD student, Geography and Earth Sciences)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Celtic Coin Connections 
Date: Tuesday 29 May
Speaker: Scott Ross (PhD student, Classics)
Location: Hunterian Museum


A Strange Doo: The Dodo and its relatives
Date: Tuesday 22 May
Speaker: Maggie Reilly (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Mackintosh in France: Two recent acquisitions
Date: Tuesday 15 May
Speaker: Professor Pamela Robertson (The Hunterian)
Location: The Mackintosh House


You Took The Part That Once Was My Heart: Trees in the life and death of David Livingstone
Date: Tuesday 8 May
Speaker: Sybren Renema
Location: Hunterian Museum


A Fossil Bat from Germany
Date: Tuesday 1 May  
Speaker: Dr Neil Clark (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Zoology, Art and War: Hugh Cott and the development of modern military camouflage
Date: Tuesday 24 April 
Speaker: Isla Forsyth (PhD student; Geographic and Earth Sciences)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Magic Carpets: The Stoddard-Templeton Archive at the University of Glasgow
Date: Tuesday 17 April  
Speaker: Clare Paterson (Archive Services)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Dried and Varnished Preparations in the Anatomical Collection
Date: Tuesday 10 April  
Speaker: Professor Stuart McDonald (IBLS)
Location: Anatomy Museum (Meet in main Museum at 12.50pm


The Great Hunterian Gem Heist of 1962
Date: Tuesday 3 April 
Speaker: Dr John Faithfull (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The White Rose and The Red Rose: Margaret Macdonald’s gesso panel in the Mackintosh House
Date: Tuesday 27 March 
Speaker: Professor Pamela Robertson (The Hunterian)
Location: The Mackintosh House


A Biblical Epic: Benjamin West’s drawing of The drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea
Date: Tuesday 20 March
Speaker: Lizzie Jacklin (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Hard as Nails: 2000 years of metal fasteners in the University of Glasgow (re-scheduled from Tuesday 21 February)
Date: Tuesday 13 March
Speaker: Professor Paul Bishop (Geographic and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Wired Spider: How to preserve a giant tarantula in the eighteenth century
Date: Tuesday 6 March
Speaker: Geoff Hancock (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The natural history of dragons
Date: Tuesday 28 February 
Speaker: Professor David Houston (IBLS, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Hard as Nails: 2000 years of metal fasteners in the University of Glasgow
Date: Tuesday 21 February  
Speaker: Professor Paul Bishop (Geographic and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The Joy of Frogs: Amorous amphibian activities from around the world
Date: Tuesday 14 February 
Speaker: Maggie Reilly (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Covenant and Coinage: A seventeenth century civil war coin hoard from Glasgow
Date: Tuesday 7 February 
Speaker: Dr Donal Bateson (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


New dinosaur bones from Kem Kem in Algeria
Date: Tuesday 31 January 
Speaker: Rachel Mitchell (Level 4 Earth Sciences student, University of Glasgow)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Leather Jack: William Hunter’s painting of a colourful London character
Date: Tuesday 24 January  
Speaker: Peter Black (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Scottish Gemstones: The search for sapphires and diamonds
Date: Tuesday 17 January 
Speaker: Dr John Faithfull (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


George Gilbert Scott and the New University Buildings at Gilmorehill
Date: 13 December 2011 
Speaker: Professor David Gaimster (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


The Anatomy of the Gravid Uterus Exhibited in Figures (1774): Are any of WIlliam Hunter's anatomical specimens illustrated in his book?
Date: 6 December 2011
Speaker: Stuart McDonald (Anatomy Museum)
Location: Anatomy Museum


Romans in Scotland: Friend or Foe? The Roman and Provincial Interface at Leckie Broch
Date: 29 November 2011 
Speaker: Louisa Campbell (Archaeology)
Location: Hunterian Museum


A Composer’s response to Colour, Rhythm and Form: J. D. Fergusson and France  
Date: 22 November 2011 
Speaker: Professor Bill Sweeney (School of Culture and Creative Arts)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery

*Please note that admission is included in the exhibition ticket price: £5.00 (£3.00 concession). Admission is free for University of Glasgow staff and students on the production of a valid staff/matriculation card. Please show your card at reception.


Animals of the Frozen World
Date: 15 November 2011
Speaker: Maggie Reilly (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Carved Stone Balls: Scotland's special mystery objects
Date: 8 November 2011
Speaker: Sally-Anne Coupar (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Romans in Scotland: Carved in tablets of stone - evidence from the Antonine Wall
Date: 1 November 2011 
Speaker: Louisa Campbell (Archaeology)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Teaching Africa: An Insight through Artefacts
Date: 25 October 2011
Speaker: Rachael Egan and Dave Jones (students - Classics)
Location: Hunterian Museum


J. D. Fergusson and Dance 
Date: 18 October 2011 
Speaker: Lucy Weir (Student – History of Art)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery

*Please note that admission is included in the exhibition ticket price: £5.00 (£3.00 concession). Admission is free for University of Glasgow staff and students on the production of a valid staff/matriculation card. Please show your card at reception.


Alexander the Great: The coinage of an empire
Date: 11 October 2011 
Speaker: Scott Ross (student - Classics)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Tantalum Mining in Africa: Minerals, mobile phones, conflict and a better future
Date: 4 October 2011 
Speaker: Dr John Faithfull (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Museum


Breaking the Renaissance Code: The European Emblem 
Date: 27 September 2011 
Speaker: Professor Alison Adams (School of Modern Languages and Cultures)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery


J. D. Fergusson in Paris: Absorbing the influences of a new century
Date: 20 September 2011
Speaker: Sarah Skinner (The Hunterian)
Location: Hunterian Art Gallery

*Please note that admission is included in the exhibition ticket price: £5.00 (£3.00 concession). Admission is free for University of Glasgow staff and students on the production of a valid staff/matriculation card. Please show your card at reception.


The World's Smallest Dinosaur Footprints: Footsteps in sand from the Jurassic rocks of Skye
13 September 2011 - Please note this talk has now been postposed until a later date
Speaker: Neil Clark (Hunterian Museum)
Hunterian Museum


This Unrivalled Collection1829view2

Unrivalled Collection Exhibition Talks

Discover more about our latest exhibition This Unrivalled Collection: The Hunterian's first catalogue in this series of FREE lunchtime talks at 1pm every Wednesday from 22 May in The Hunterian Art Gallery. Attendance includes free entrance into the exhibition, normally priced £5 per person.

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