The role of the Knowledge Creator

Panel Discussion

We are told that people have had enough of experts. We are told that our learning institutions are ivory towers, heady realms divorced from the realities of daily life. We are told that facts are contingent, that knowledge is a flexible commodity, that the very notion of ‘truth’ belongs to a past age. But is any of this really true, and if it is, what can the creators of knowledge do to stem the rising tide of distrust and ignorance?

As research methodologies evolve and mutate, as greater and greater communication is made possible between institutions, and new methods emerge for communicating knowledge to the wider public, what can knowledge creators do to make up the lost ground of the much-vaunted ‘post-truth’ era? What does the future hold, not only for the creation of knowledge, but for the whole process of seeking, and learning, and giving the power of knowledge to society at large?

Speakers and Chair:

  • Chaired by Juliette Morgan, Head of Campus, British Land
  • Dr David Halpern, Chief Executive, Behavioural Insights Team
  • Claire Fox, Director, Institute of Ideas
  • Hartwig Fischer, Director, British Museum
  • Professor Philip Nelson, Chief Executive EPSRC and Chair of the RCUK Executive Group
  • Dame Nancy Rothwell, Vice-Chancellor, University of Manchester

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