Lecture to explore whether there is a Gaelic way of seeing

A leading Gaelic academic will present a free talk in Skye next month as part of the University of the Highlands and Islands’ public lecture series. Professor Meg Bateman, a senior lecturer at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI, will consider whether there is a Gaelic way of seeing the world.

Exploring questions around the value of sight in Gaelic culture, the representation of colour and the way ideologies are embedded in grammar and idioms, Professor Bateman will propose that Gaels had a particular way of perceiving the world.

She explains: “It may well be that Gaelic aesthetics shaped and in turn were shaped by the culture’s understanding of fundamentals such as man’s position in the environment, the shape of time and the relationship between the spirit and the material.”

Professor Bateman is delivering her lecture after being awarded a Professorship by the University of the Highlands and Islands in December 2015. As well as being a leading authority on Gaelic literature, she is an internationally published writer and poet. She studied and taught at Aberdeen University, achieving a doctorate in classical Gaelic religious poetry, before joining Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI in 1998.

Professor Bateman’s inaugural professorial lecture will be based on elements of the forthcoming book, Window to the West, which she co-wrote with the writer, broadcaster and composer, John Purser. It will be delivered in Gaelic and English translation will be available. The lecture will take place from 5.15pm to 7.15pm on Thursday 21 September at Talla Dhonaidh Chaimbeul, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI and attendees will also be able to watch via YouTube. To book or find out more, visit www.uhi.ac.uk/events