Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2015

This event has now passed. View current events at the Institute here

The Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) is taking part in the Cambridge Festival of Ideas in 2015 with a varied programme of free events, including an afternoon at Madingley Hall on Sunday 1 November.

Finding communities in the medieval landscape

30 October 2015, 10.00am, Great Eversden village, Dr Susan Oosthuizen

This short guided walk with Dr Susan Oosthuizen explores clues to the institutions and processes through which social status and consensus could be expressed in the medieval landscape. (Tour, ages 15+)

Writing without writing

1 November 2015, 2.30pm and 3.45pm, Madingley Hall, Dr Sarah Burton

Artists often use found objects in their work. Come and assemble your own piece of writing using ‘found’ pieces of text. Plunder the dustbin of your memory and imagination to fill in the gaps! (Workshop, all ages)

The unbelievable scientific truth

1 November 2015, 2.30pm, Madingley Hall, Dr Ed Turner, Dr Judith Croston et al.

Based on a popular radio show with a similar name, this event challenges Cambridge scientists to smuggle as many scientific truths past their colleagues as possible, by cunningly hiding them among falsehoods. (Talk, all ages)

Power and resistance in the Victorian workhouse

1 November 2015, 2.30pm, Madingley Hall, Dr Samantha Williams

Bad behaviour inside the Victorian workhouse resulted in punishment. This talk explores the ‘power’ held by officials and the ‘resistance’ employed by paupers inside these ‘Bastilles for the poor’. (Talk, ages 15+)

Psychedelic science fiction cinema: black holes and blown minds

1 November 2015, 3.45pm, Madingley Hall, Yvonne Salmon

What connects Han Solo to the 1960s counterculture? From Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey to Star Wars and beyond, we will consider the links between some of science fiction’s most iconic films. With Dr Justin Meggitt. (Talk, ages 15+)

Resistance and the power of symbols during the German occupation of the Channel Islands

1 November 2015, 3.45pm, Madingley Hall, Dr Gilly Carr

Military resistance was almost impossible during the German occupation of the Channel Islands. This talk examines the different kinds of resistance that emerged in its place, specifically symbolic resistance. (Talk, ages 12+)

Spank, scold or understand? Naughtiness in children's literature

1 November 2015, 5.00pm, Madingley Hall, Dr Jenny Bavidge

Dr Jenny Bavidge explores the treatment of naughtiness, punishment and rebellion in children's literature, and considers the role of the rebellious child protagonist in literary fiction for adults, including works by Dickens and the Brontës. (Talk, ages 12+)

About the Festival of Ideas

The University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas celebrates the arts, humanities and social sciences and has been running for six years. It is the only free festival of its kind in the UK, and attracted 18,000 visitors in 2013.