The School of Education and the Arts invites you in person or virtually to the Inaugural Celeste Lawson Lecture. This annual lecture honours Emeritus Professor Celeste Lawson, our valued colleague who passed in 2023. She is remembered for her inclusion, leadership, and a teaching philosophy that encouraged student engagement and deep learning.
Celeste was a bright light at CQUniversity with a passion for students, their successes, and their achievements. She taught, mentored, and inspired many students and colleagues in her work in the School of Education and the Arts. She is also remembered as a highly valued president of CQU’s Academic Board, where she skilfully led attendees to consider and recommend on important University matters.
Celeste believed in the transformative power of education and the importance of studying the Arts and Humanities in order to better understand our changing world. The annual lecture in her honour will draw on these themes.
The 2024 Lecture will be delivered by Dr Jan Cattoni and the MC for the event will be Dr Amy Johnson.
Jan is deeply honoured to present the Inaugural Celeste Lawson Annual Lecture titled, Why the Arts Matter in the 21st Century. Jan’s lecture will firstly honour Celeste through a creative exploration of the special place she held in the lives of those at CQUniversity before addressing the place of the Arts in the current social, cultural and historical climate. Jan will conclude with a presentation of the research she and her team have been undertaking, co-creating virtual worlds with young people who are navigating life-limiting health conditions as a showcase of the importance of the arts in the 21st century and beyond.