Thursday, 10 August 2023
Cheese tastings with a touch of cultural history and city tours that show the role bears played in popular culture and entertainment in Tudor England are coming to Nottingham later this year as part of a national humanities festival.
The University of Nottingham has been chosen as one of just five places to host a Being Human Festival Hub. The festival celebrates arts and humanities research and demonstrates how it is directly relevant to people’s lives and interests.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham are putting together an exciting programme of free events that will include food and drink tours with history experts, Viking poetry performances, craft activities, art therapy sessions to improve mental wellbeing, language learning and much more.
Dr Colette Davies and Dr Anna Walas, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Officers at the University of Nottingham, are curating the programme. They explain: ‘We are ecstatic to be a Hub in this year’s Festival. We have strived to make the programme relevant to people today and so we are also offering a range of events that explore the connections between mental health and art, philosophy and performance”.
We have chosen to celebrate local people and places, spotlighting quirky histories that local communities might not have heard of before. We are using the festival to bring to light the stories of once world-famous Nottingham medieval sculptors, pioneering Nottingham-based female science and science fiction writers, local Suffragettes, our lace-makers, 18th century protesters against the rising food prices, as well histories of local accents and the many languages spoken in Nottingham today.
The festival is led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and The British Academy. The theme this year is ‘Rhyme and Reason’, and it will be brought to life through theatre and poetry performances, walks and tours, craft activities, and history-themed food and drink events. Every event is free to attend and each session will consider how our understanding of reason and logic has changed throughout history, and how humans have used rhyme to express their experiences.
We’re proud to be able to showcase the world-class humanities research at the University of Nottingham. This festival will demonstrate how humanities subjects are vital to society, and the events will be a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge with local communities and celebrate local arts, culture and history.
Further details about the festival will be announced later this year. Information about previous festivals can be found here.
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Image credit: Being Human Festival - School of Advanced Study, University of London
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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