It was the biggest Festival of Ideas yet, featuring over 250 events and 20,000 visitors and counting. From its launch on 20 October, it was an intellectual smorgasbord, addressing topics from privacy and security in an age of surveillance to mixed-race families and the future of British politics, from how to teach history to whether economics education has contributed to our current predicament and what role literature can play in conserving the environment. The events, for all ages, included talks, panel discussions, participatory workshops, exhibitions, music, theatre and film screenings.
Feedback from attendees has been positive. “An engaging subject brilliantly delivered” wrote one Festival-goer about Professor Jim Al-Khalili’s 21 October talk on quantum biology. Another, writing after the ‘The dyslexia debate’ on 23 October, wrote: “Great idea and events—oh the joy of living in Cambridge!” Many comments echoed this sentiment. “A wonderful programme; we are spoilt for choice” said one. “We went to a dozen talks”, wrote another, “the Festival of Ideas is now one of the glories of Cambridge.” Comments also praised the breadth of offerings and fact that most events were free of charge. “Fantastic. I look forward to this every year—the variety of speakers who attend is incredible.”
It was not only attendees who praised the Festival, but also speakers. “It was a real honour for me to be part of it,” said political campaigner Peter Tatchell. Several speakers noted that getting public reaction to their work helps them broaden and refine their messages. “Presenting at the Festival has not only given my research valuable publicity, it’s also opened it up to questions I might not have considered before,” said Beth Singler, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Divinity.
Edward Wickham, Director of Music at St Catharine’s College whose new piece, ‘Phantom Voices’ debuted on 31 October said: “What was most gratifying and intriguing about presenting on musical hallucinations was having people tell us of their own experiences. In particular, one gentleman phoning up BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and telling us all about how he heard choral singing out of thin air—and how pleasurable that was.”
Jaideep Prabhu, Nehru Professor of Business and Enterprise at the Judge School, said: “Speaking to such an intelligent general audience forces me to sharpen my own message, and the feedback through their questions and comments gives me new ideas. I also always learn something from the other speakers themselves.”
“The worlds of science and art don’t often get the chance to collide” wrote Hannah Critchlow about her event, ‘Mind full of memories’, which combined theatre, neuroscience and psychotherapies to explore ways of overcoming PTSD. “It was wonderful that the Festival provided a platform to bring these worlds together. The theatre group are now looking to collaborate with scientists on the wellbeing effects of theatre, which might in turn, help to inform our understanding of the brain in recovering after traumatic events.”
For the first time this year the Festival partnered with London’s Southbank Centre on the Women of the World Festival: Cambridge, a special day of events on gender politics, including a panel discussion on cyberbullying with feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez and one on the “pinkification” of girls’ lives. The WOW Festival, held on 26 October at Cambridge Junction, boasted workshops, speed-mentoring and a lively marketplace and welcomed hundreds of attendees.
The Festival also joined forces with Curating Cambridge: our city, our stories, our stuff, a five week festival of fun and creativity that continues until 23 November. Jointly organised by the eight University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, with cultural partners and community organisations, the city wide cultural celebration has an exciting mix of workshops, music, talks and performances. Major exhibition Silent Partners: Artist & Mannequin from Function to Fetish at the Fitzwilliam Museum also continues until 25 January.
The University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas is sponsored by Cambridge University Press and Anglia Ruskin University, which also organised events during the Festival. Event partners include RAND Europe, Heffers, University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden and Cambridge Junction. The Festival’s media partner is BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
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Contact Catherine Aman on 01223 332 420 or email [email protected] for more details.
For more information, please visit: http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/camideasfest #cfi2014
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cambridgefestivalofideas
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