How do we make a broad case for radical action on climate change? Can we forgive and forget after major national traumas? Who will look after us in our old age? What makes us human in an age of Artificial Intelligence?
These questions and many more will be debated and discussed at this year's Cambridge Festival of Ideas.
The Festival will be held from 14th to 27th October and will celebrate the rich history of work in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University, engage the public in new dialogues and areas of interest and promote the University's museums, collections and cutting-edge research.
The annual event, which began in 2008, will include over 250 different activities, from evening lectures and panel discussions to music, theatre and art sessions, department open days and school visits.
The general theme of the Festival this year is change and events embrace everything from identity and belonging in post-Brexit Britain to the future of China.
Caroline Criado-Perez, Ed Miliband, Emily Shuckburgh, Rowan Williams, Professor David Runciman, Professor Mary Beard, Professor Gina Rippon and Professor Simon Baron-Cohen are among the line-up of leading thinkers taking part. Other speakers include:
● Journalist Chris Stokel-Walker, author of Youtubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars in conversation with Ella McPherson, Lecturer in the Sociology of New Media and Digital Technology, on the social impact of the Youtube phenomenon
● Risk expert Professor David Spiegelhalter and social psychologist Dr Sander van der Linden explore how we can discuss risk sensibly without causing conspiracy theories and mass panic
● Leading economist Professor Diane Coyle and happiness expert Professor Richard Layard explore whether New Zealand is right to prioritise wellbeing over GDP as a marker of national success and whether others should follow its example
● Johnhenry Gonzalez on his new book on the history of Haiti and how the country went from the most profitable slave colony to the site of the only successful slave revolt in modern times
● Tyler Shores on whether social media has changed how we read.
The Festival includes a range of hands on events for children, exhibitions, film screenings, theatrical events, a live Brexit edition of the Talking Politics podcast and much, much more. Most events are free, but may require prebooking. The programme will be available in hard copy and online in August and booking opens in September.
Ariel Retik, manager of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, said: “From a changing climate to political realignments, from the challenges of artificial intelligence to lasting effects of the Cold War and the Stonewall riots, this year’s theme of change aims to get to grips with some of the biggest issues of our time. We are delighted to invite everyone for the 12th year to hear, share and discuss some the cutting age research happening throughout Cambridge.”
The Festival sponsors and partners are St John’s College, Anglia Ruskin University, RAND Europe, University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, Cambridge Junction and Cambridge University Press. The Festival media partners are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Independent.
This year's Cambridge Festival of Ideas explores the theme of change, from radical action on global heating to what makes us human in an age of Artificial Intelligence.
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