Being Human 2015

Knowledge Quarter partners, School of Advanced Study (SAS) at the University of London and Wellcome Trust join in making the Being Human festival possible. Being Human is the UK’s only national festival of the humanities showcasing diversity within the humanities with an injection of creativity and festival fun. It runs from 12–22 November and is led in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the British Academy.

The programme involves more than 250 free-to-attend public events that will be held in museums, galleries, and cultural and community centers at locations across the UK. They are designed to engage the public in humanities research and are being organised by more than 70 higher education institutions and cultural organisations. For the full program click here or visit the Being Human festival website.

As a national coordinating hub for the festival, SAS is holding a series of events at its Senate House headquarters organised under the theme ‘hidden and revealed’. From the mysteries of the occult, to the human side of lawyers, to the thrill of urban exploration, the programme promises to open up hidden spaces around Senate House and to underline the revelatory side of humanities research.

On the day of the festival launch (12 November), members of the public are invited to attend:

During the day: Being Human Lab

An interactive event where participants will come together to respond to the question: ‘What new issues must humanity face in the near future, and how can the humanities help’. The event will feature lightning talks, a series of ‘maker’ workshops, and a number of artistic micro-commissions developed during the day.

In the evening: what We need from the humanities

This event will bring together a panel of experts to discuss what those working in other fields need from the humanities. From religion to experimental physics, the arts to economics, we will hear from those who need the humanities to inform their work. Panellists include experimental physicist Dame Athene Donald and clergyman and journalist Reverend Giles Fraser. The discussion will be chaired by SAS’s first professor for the public understanding of the humanities Sarah Churchwell and will be followed by a reception.

For more information click here