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.
Dr Anna Walas and Dr Colette Davies, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Officers & Festival organisers
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.
Professor Jeremy Gregory, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Arts
Posted on 25 October 2023
