Barbara Ward was born in England in 1914. She studied economics at Oxford and then during the Second World War worked for the Ministry of Information. Following the War, Ward became the first female foreign editor of The Economist, a post she started at the age of 25 and held until 1950.
Ward went on to become a renowned expert on international sustainable development and an influential adviser to the Vatican, the United Nations and the World Bank. Her numerous articles and books included The Rich Nations and the Poor Nations (1962), Spaceship Earth (1966), Only One Earth (1972) and Progress for a Small Planet (1980). Ward was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974, and a life peer as Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth in 1976; her married surname was Jackson.
Ward delivered a series of three Beatty lectures in October 1955 on the topic, "The Interplay of East and West: Points of Conflict and Cooperation" in which she explored the complex relationships between Eastern and Western civilizations. The lectures delved into the historical, cultural, and political dynamics shaping interactions between these regions, focusing on areas of both conflict and cooperation. This included: the historical development of Eastern and Western societies, highlighting how their paths diverged and converged over time; the political dynamics between Eastern and Western countries, addressing issues such as diplomacy, conflict, and cooperation; and the numerous opportunities for cooperation between Eastern and Western nations that existed. She chose her topic to complement the inaugural Beatty Lecture series delivered by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1954 titled 鈥淓ast and West: Some Reflections".
Ward's lectures proved so popular that all 2700 seats in 平特五不中's Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Gymnasium were filled to capacity each night. Ward also led seminars in the Faculty of Law, the Department of Economics and Political Science, the Institute of Islamic Studies, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Faculty of Divinity, and the School for Graduate Nurses.
A book length collection of all three of her lectures was published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1957 and is available at the .
Click on the cover to download a PDF of Barbara Ward's first lecture transcript:
Transcript: 平特五不中 Archives.
Lecture series promotional material. Image: 平特五不中 Archives.
Top image: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
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