Discuss latest ideas in Arts, Sustainability and Climate Change as Public Lectures in the Arts returns

The School of the Arts is delighted to announce its fourth, annual series of free Public Lectures in the Arts.  This year speakers from a wide range of disciplines and perspectives will address the theme of Arts, Sustainability and Climate Change from a wide range of disciplines and perspectives.

Professor Peter Buse, Dean of the School of the Arts, said: “It is widely acknowledged that the climate emergency requires disciplines to work together to seek solutions.

“For this year’s lecture series we challenged colleagues in the School to enter into dialogue with disciplines outside their own.  The result of their proposals is the exciting programme we present to you here.”

Wednesday 2 March Music, Nature and Environmental ActionProfessor Michael Spitzer (University of Liverpool) and Professor Nicola Dibben (University of Sheffield) discuss how music might make us care more about the natural world and how musicians can promote environmental action.

Wednesday 16 March Does Beauty matter in a Climate Emergency? – an architectural historian Dr Barnabas Calder and a practising architect Professor Nicholas Ray (University of Liverpool) join philosopher Professor Julian Roberts (University of Munich) to debate the extent to which climate changes how we should design and judge our environment.

Wednesday 30 March Values in Climate Science CommunicationDr Katherine Furman, Lecturer in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and Dr Antal Wozniak, Lecturer in Communication and Media (University of Liverpool) uncover how climate scientists communicate with us, the public, and what social and political values are embedded in this communication.

Wednesday 4 May Sustainable Art for a Changing ClimateDr Sam Solnick and Dr Vid Simoniti from the Literature and Science Hub (University of Liverpool) are joined by Mariama Attah, Curator at Open Eye Gallery, to demonstrate some of the surprising ways in which literature and the visual arts respond to the challenges of environmental crises.

Wednesday 18 May Stories from Bangladesh and IndiaDr Junjie Xi (University of Liverpool), Professor Shahaduz Zaman (University of Sussex) and Dr Priti Parikh (UCL) tell the stories of how people’s lives in informal settlements in Bangladesh and India are being affected by the pandemic and climate emergency.

Wednesday 25 May A Lens on the WeatherProfessor Georgina Endfield and Professor Michelle Henning (University of Liverpool) bring together insights from environmental history and photographic history to explore how photography “senses” changes in the atmosphere to capture an emotional atmosphere or collective mood in extreme and unusual weather.

Each lecture begins at 17.30, lasts approximately one hour, followed by a Q&A session with the audience. All the lectures will take place at the Paul Brett Lecture Theatre in the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, the University’s new cultural centre on the corner of Oxford Street and Grove Street (SatNav L7 3NY).  Lectures will also be available to attend via Zoom.

To register your attendance in person or virtually, please visit: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/arts/events/public-lecture-series-2021-22/