Whether you're an eco warrior or an art enthusiast, if you want to expand your mind and learn a load of cool things in the process, Bristol can offer a talk for everyone.
So, if you want to discuss the consequences of overpopulation with world-renowned scientists Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly, or don on your favourite turtleneck with award winning conceptual artist Katie Paterson, we've put together a list of five upcoming talks – all open to the general public:
Jeremy Gavron: A Woman on the Edge of Time
A Woman on the Edge of Time
In 1965, a young mother gasses herself to death, only weeks before the publication of her manuscript, 'The Captive Wife'. To the public, Hannah Gavron was a woman surrounded by the success and comfort of a privileged life. With years of digging through letters, diaries and photographs, her son Jeremy Gavron reveals the woman behind the wife.
A part of Bristol’s incredibly successful Festival of Ideas, 'A Woman on the Edge of Time' delves into the suffocating constrictions in place on ambitious and prosperous women in the twentieth century.
'A Woman on the Edge of Time'. Wednesday November 25, 6.30pm. Watershed, 1 Canon's Road, Bristol, BS1 5TX. Booking required. More information here.
End Game: Tipping Point for Planet Earth?
End Game: Tipping Point for Planet Earth
Overpopulation is not a myth. By 2050, there will be over 10 billion people on Earth, and they will all need food, water and energy, like us. 'End Game' aims to discuss the perhaps undesirable consequences of overpopulation, and how we can avoid a global tipping point that would see us living in a very different world to the one we’re in today.
'End Game: Tipping Point for Planet Earth?' Wednesday November 25, 6.30-7:30pm, The Peel lecture theatre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol. Booking required. More information here.
The End of the Asylum: How Italy Closed Down its Psychiatric Hospitals
The End of the Asylum: How Italy Closed Down its Psychiatric Hospitals
A professor of Modern Italian History at the University of Bristol, John Foot will share his research into the 1960-70s anti-psychiatry movement in Italy, whereby people fought to replace the asylum system with different forms of care. Having won their case in 1978, Foot will discuss the aftermath of the asylum closure and the future of mental health in Italy.
'The End of the Asylum'. Tuesday December 1, 6pm. Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, BS8 1RJ. Booking required. More information here.
Katie Paterson, Hollow: an Artwork in the Making
Hollow
From broadcasting the sounds of a melting glacier live to a visitor on a mobile phone in an art gallery, simulating the experience of moonlight, Katie Paterson is acclaimed for her conceptual and innovative artwork. She was winner of the Independent’s Creative 30 award for Britain’s most creative young person and has won a 2014 South Bank Sky Arts Award.
The talk is an introduction into Paterson’s new project 'Hollow', a work that celebrates the opening of Bristol University’s Life Sciences building.
Hollow: An Artwork in the Making. Wednesday December 9, 6.30-8pm. Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA. Booking required. More information here.
Automate Now? Robots, Jobs and Universal Basic Income
Flickr: Spencer Cooper
Is technology making human labour redundant across the economy? Should we have a Universal Basic Income for us to enjoy the gains made possible by automation? Philosopher and co-author of 'Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work' Nick Srnicek, will be joined by a panel of roboticists, philosophers and politicians including Tony Dyer, Sabine Hauert and Matthew Studley, to discuss the implications of our ever-growing technological age.
The talk will be in the structure of an open debate where audience participation is encouraged.
Automate Now? Robots, Jobs and Universal Basic Income. Wednesday December 9, 6.30-8pm. Watershed, 1 Canon's Road, Bristol, BS1 5TX. Booking required. More information here.
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