The OpenARC Research Centre at The Open University is delighted to announce that it will be hosting a free online interdisciplinary conference, ‘The Public Humanities in the 21st Century’.
This conference will address the core question: what is the role of the public humanities in the 21st century? We face the challenge of the increasing instrumentalization of university study, the narrowing and hollowing out of curriculum in schools, and the relentless prioritisation of STEM subjects by governments and funding councils. At the same time, the critical and creative thinking fostered by the Arts and Humanities is increasingly important in helping people make sense of the world and their place in it. Given the increasing pressures faced by the Arts & Humanities in the current environment, how might we, as researchers, teachers, and learners, rethink the role of the public humanities in the 21st century?
If you would like to receive the Teams link to join or have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. There will be morning, afternoon and evening sessions, so we hope you will be able to attend for at least part of the conference. The conference will be free to attend.
09:30-10:00am
Introductions | welcome
10:00-10:30am
Talk: Julia Bell (Birkbeck, University of London), 'Reinventing the Human: Radical Attention and the Public Humanities'
10:30-11:00am
Conversation: Katie Moss (Cambridge) and John Slight (The Open University), 'Living in the age of AI and what that might mean for humanities scholars and students'
11:00-11:30am
Break
11:30-12:00pm
Talk: Grace Halden (Birkbeck, University of London), 'Whose Knowledge Counts? (A Case Study of Maternal Experience in Neonatal Intensive Care)'
12:00-14:00
Break
2:00-2:20pm
Lightning talk: Christine Plastow (The Open University), 'Why co creation matters'
2:20-2:40pm
Lightning talk: Veronica Davies (The Open University), 'Art History in the community'
2:40-3:00pm
Break
3:00-3:30pm
Talk: David Grummitt (The Open University), 'The Wars of the Roses: Negotiating the Battlefield of History and Heritage'
3:30-5:00pm
Break
5:00-5:45pm
Conversation: Prof Marion Thain (Edinburgh) in conversation with Dr Shafquat Towheed (The Open University)
5:45-6:00pm
Closing remarks | end of event
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