AHRC Science in Culture Theme to contribute to Being Human Festival

More than 100 free-to-attend events in over 60 venues nationwide

Forget the eponymous TV programme featuring fanciful adventures of vampires, ghosts and werewolves, Being Human is a powerful nine-day festival highlighting the richness and vitality of humanities research to actively engage members of the public. With less than three months to go – the festival runs 15-23 November – the full programme has been published online today (September 8th 2014).

More than 100 free-to-attend public events led by over 60 universities will take place across the UK – from Orkney to Truro, Belfast to Swansea, and Liverpool to Norwich. Events will be hosted in all sorts of places including museums, galleries and cultural and community centres – even caves.

Conceived earlier this year, Being Human is led by the University of London’s School of Advanced Study in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. Since its launch, over 100 universities have applied to take part in what is the first festival of its kind in the UK.

Festival director, Professor Barry Smith of the School of Advanced Study, said: ‘Being Human will get to the heart of what it means to be human in the digital age. It will show how our attempts to understand and interpret the human world can guide our thinking about science, society and culture, and shape our conception of ourselves.

‘There is a huge amount of exciting work happening in the humanities right now,’ Professor Smith continued, ‘and we have invited universities across the country to hold their own events to highlight the vitality and interdisciplinary nature of humanities today.’

The AHRC Science in Culture Theme will also contribute to the Festival programme. Planned events include:

                Chicken Nuggets: a history of the world in 100 e.gs, Vindolanda Trust, Hexham,

                Conversations on Nature: Science and the Public in the Victorian Age and Now, University of Leicester, Leicester

                People Power, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford

                The Hidden Senses- the secrets of taste and smell, Science Museum Dana Centre, London

                From the Dark Ages to Dark Matter, Durham Cathedral and Ushaw College, Durham University

Find out more about the festival on the Being Human Festival website and follow the latest news about the festival on Twitter at @BeingHumanFest  (hashtag #BeingHuman14).