GLOBAL: 121 hours of uninterrupted lecturing

20 December 2009

Last Monday, Errol Tapiwa Muzawazi, a 25-year-old law student, established a new world record in the category of The Longest Lecture after lecturing for 121 hours. The previous record belonged to an Indian professor who lectured for 120 hours in 2007.

The event was organised by 50 young people from 16 countries. This multi-nationality was a contribution to the Millennium Development Goal #8: Develop a global partnership for development. The young people taking part wanted to help spread these ideas around the world and encourage others to support the Millennium Development Goals, hence the slogan of the project "Youth in action today, not tomorrow!"

The challenge to create a new world record was under the patronage of His Magnificence, the Rector of Jagiellonian University, Professor Karol Musiol, in Cracow in Poland. It was also broadcast live on the official website, www.thelongestlecture.com. There was a live chat during the marathon which allowed questions to be directed to the lecturer and discussions of the most important aspects of the wide topic.

To emphasise his solidarity with all cultures and a dream of a agreement across party lines, Muzawazi delivered an opening speech in six languages: Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Polish and Swahili. Then, during the lecture, he changed his attire six times, putting on clothing characteristic for different civilizations: European, Muslim, Chinese, Indian, African and Tibetan.

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