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Gas seepage in the fjords of western Spitzbergen
Online OnlyThis is a Bath Geological Society talk, via Zoom only (not at Queen Square). Please use the Book Tickets link for booking details. This talk presents the first systematic observations of active gas seepage from the seafloor in the main fjords of western Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. Two research cruises in August 2015 and June...
Little Film Club: Beau Travail
Online OnlyThe next BRLSI film club in conjunction with The Little Theatre is French director Claire Denis’s critically acclaimed 1996 Beau Travail (Good Work). Now regarded as a classic, the film is loosely based on Herman Melville’s novella Billy Budd with parts of the soundtrack taken from Benjamin Britten’s 1951 opera of the same name. Set...
The Ukrainian language in the context of the war
Online OnlyWhere do language & war intersect? Join BRLSI for our upcoming livestream from Ukraine exploring the roots of the Ukrainian language, and how best to protect at a time when it is at its most vulnerable. With all proceeds going to a Ukrainian charity, this is a talk we know you will want to support!...
T S Eliot & Antisemitism
Online OnlyT.S Eliot said ‘Poetry is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality', but what of his own personality and more specifically the charges levelled against him of Anti-Semitism? Join us this Wednesday and decide where you stand on both Eliot, and the linking of the art to the artist more generally. Eliot...
Seven Samurai with The Little Theatre – online film club
Online OnlySeven Samurai is seen by many as one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. This 1954 Japanese epic, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, takes place in 1586 and follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who seek to hire masterless samurai to combat bandits who will return after the...
Migraine: Bench to bedside
Online OnlyHeadache is the commonest symptom in neurology and migraine is by far the commonest cause of headache. The World Health Organisation considers migraine to be the seventh commonest cause of days lost from work. In recent years we have gained a greater understanding of the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of the disorder and how they...
BACAS: Geological Time & the Anthropocene
Online OnlyPlease note this is an external event; please contact BACAS with any enquiries. There is little doubt that mankind’s impact on the natural environment has increased dramatically in recent decades but… are we now living in a new epoch of geological time: the Anthropocene? Concepts from Earth System Science agree with stratigraphic markers that we...
Big Read: Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
Online OnlyThe January Big Read will be Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes. Ted Hughes was famously married to the American poetess and author Sylvia Plath and Birthday Letters is very much a poetic retelling of Hughes’ understanding of both the failure of his marriage and events that led to Plath’s suicide in 1963. Published only...
Cercle francais – Quand la Louisiane etait francaise
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. Quand la Louisiane était française, par Isabelle Schloesing Samedi le 10 decembre 2022 de 14h30 à 16h00 - seulement par Zoom Envoyez un mail à Cerclefrancaisbath@gmail.com pour nous rejoindre. £30 pour toutes les conférences jusqu’à mai 2023. Visitors...
The Normans: Power, Conquest & Culture in 11th Century Europe
Online Only1066 is a very familiar date, conjuring up William the Conqueror and his Normans defeating the English king and his foot soldiers. The story plays out on the Bayeux Tapestry, whose illustrations are regularly used in newspaper cartoons without explanatory comment. In England the country was brought under French-speaking conquerors, with Bath becoming a major...
The cup that cheers: tea before Victoria
Online OnlyFrom the fashionable drink of the elite to the drink of choice of the less well-off, this is the story of the changes in style, law and attitude which brought about the rise in tea drinking in the late eighteenth century. With a nod to Jane Austen of course. Joy Pibworth
A road to extinction: Can Paleolithic Africans Survive in the Andaman Islands?
Online OnlyThe Jarawa, perhaps the oldest tribe of human beings in the world, may go extinct because of a road that runs through pristine forests in the Indian- administered Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal. No one seems to care. Tourists take the road each day to try to get selfies with the tribespeople, who...
Cercle francais bath
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. Coluche: chanteur, acteur, comique... et homme sérieux par Vincent Raymond-Baker de l’Alliance française. Suivi de l’Assemblée Générale Samedi le 28 mai 2022 de 14h30 à 16h00 Le Cercle français se réunit à partir de 14h15 sur Zoom...
Resistance: the underground war in Europe 1939-45
Online OnlyWhen anyone hears the word ‘resistance’ they inevitably think of ‘armed resistance’ and the romantic notion of brave, ill-equipped partisans fighting against the German army; of SOE agents parachuting into occupied countries to lead the resistance fighters, and of doomed uprisings. The talk will look at unarmed as well as armed resistance in the whole of...
Climate change: Risks, impacts and adaptation
Online OnlyTwo eminent authors who contributed to the latest IPCC Report on climate change share their insights into its very real and present risks and impacts, to which we will all need adapt. Climate change is not for the future, impacts are here now in all regions and becoming increasingly complex. Our current 1.1ºC warmer world...
Cercle francais bath
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. Ces remarquables Louis par Germaine Jones de l’Alliance française. Samedi le 7 mai 2022 de 14h30 à 16h00 Le Cercle français se réunit à partir de 14h15 sur Zoom et la conférence commence à 14h30 pour...
Democratising pandemic forecasting
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is ONLINE only. Every week modelling teams from around the world submit forecasts of COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalisations and death counts (in the US) to the COVID-19 Forecast Hub. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) uses these forecasts to build a single ensemble forecast which is communicated to public health officials and used to guide decision-making. The...
Father of the Bride: fathers of Jane Austen’s heroines
Online OnlyThe talk addresses four issues relating to the fathers of the Austen heroines: what they have in common; their individual characteristics; the importance of the part each one plays in the respective novel; and which of them would provide the most agreeable company. Speaker: David Richardson This talk is online only.
The rise of sustainable investing
Online OnlyThis talk is online only. Already over one third of professionally managed assets are aligned with environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Market observers predict that this share will continue to grow. The remarkable growth of sustainable investing can be seen as a response to changing framework conditions: the need to account for climate risks...
Cercle francais bath
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. Henri Tomasi, musicien engagé et humaniste par Emilie Capulet de l’Alliance française. Samedi le 9 avril 2022 de 14h30 à 16h00 Le Cercle français se réunit à partir de 14h15 sur Zoom et la conférence commence à 14h30...
Lessons from Covid-19 for mobilising climate action
Online OnlyIn this talk, Professor Whitmarsh will draw lessons from responding to COVID-19 for mobilising public action on climate change. Both risks require significant behavioural change and have certain features in common, but there are also important differences - and reasons to think responding to climate change will be more challenging. Nevertheless, she will show that...
The water cycle of a cold early Mars
Online OnlyThe water cycle of a cold early Mars - and its potential role in the persistence of a Northern Ocean Investigations by robotic spacecraft have provided persuasive evidence that early Mars was water-rich, hosting numerous lakes and possibly a northern ocean that covered as much as a third of the planet. This talk will review...
Art meets science: seeking sustainability in the built environment
Online OnlyArchitecture and science may sound worlds apart. However architecture reveals itself as a source of inspiration in the use of materials that are at the same time efficient and sustainable. Science, on the other hand, can deliver solutions to the many challenges faced today. Construction industry and buildings are responsible for around 30% of CO2...
Virtual reality – in assessment and rehabilitation
Online OnlyThis event is online only In the last few decades, virtual reality has been increasingly used in clinical psychology, including neuropsychology, because of its ability to create experiences that are very similar to those in real life and the possibility to maintain control over stimuli and therapeutic strategies that would otherwise not be possible in...
Background to the conflict in Ukraine
Online OnlyThis event is online only. Ukraine & Russia: from “civilised divorce” to uncivil war When Ukraine and Russia signed a new treaty disbanding the Soviet Union in 1991, some referred to it as a “Civilized Divorce.” However, Russia never fully accepted Ukraine’s independence, and has spent the time since 1991 trying to reverse or limit...
Cercle francais bath
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is organised by an external group - please use the contact details below for any enquiries. Les élections présidentielles de 2022: avant, pendant et après? par Dr Steve Wharton de l’Université de Bath Samedi le 12 mars Le Cercle français se réunit à partir de 14h00 sur Zoom et la conférence commence à...
Why the Green New Deal is vital!
Online OnlyThis talk can be watched online. Ann Pettifor in The Case for the Green New Deal argues that economic change is wholly possible, based on the understanding that finance, the economy and the ecosystem are all tightly bound together. The GND demands total decarbonization and a commitment to an economy based on fairness and social...
Morality: What do we really know?
Online OnlyThis event is online only Philosophers have failed for millennia in their search for the moral truth. The reason is that no such thing exists. Despite this, our morality is of profound importance and there is much that we can understand about it. Don Cameron, Philosophy co-convenor, Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution
China 2049
Online OnlyThis talk is ONLINE only. David Dollar will present results from a collaborative effort among economists at Peking University and the Brookings Institution. Key questions addressed include: does China have enough talent and the right institutional setting to transition from an input-driven economy to an innovation-driven one? What does an aging population mean for the...
Cercle francais bath
Online OnlyLe tunnel sous la Manche par Bernard Sasso Samedi le 12 février £5
The Art of Compassionate Business
Online OnlyThis talk is ONLINE only. There are several well-ingrained assumptions regarding the dynamics of work and business activities, which can be refuted. Some examples of these widespread assumptions in the business and work environments are: employees being viewed as commodities, competitors perceived as threats, companies’ resources seen as limited, and customers perceived as scarce and...
Phenology: Climate Change and the Country Diary
Online OnlyThis event is online only. How are nature’s cycles being affected by climate change? In this talk, Grahame Madge, Senior Press Officer for the Met Office will examine how birds are adjusting their migrations, how insects are altering their behavior and how plants are modifying their yearly cycle.
Big Read Book club: The Fortnight in September by R C Sherriff
Online OnlyJoin us online to discuss R C Sherriff’s The Fortnight in September. Diana While will introduce the book and host the discussion. This event is FREE to members and tickets for non-members are £4. Please could all participants register on the tickets page - thank you. Discussion points will be forwarded at a later date....
Servus, Srecno, Ciao – Kultur und Geschichte im AlpeAdria-Raum
Online OnlyThe Alpe-Adria Region includes Slovenia, part of Austria and part of Italy. The speaker, Clemens Hofer, is from Villach in the Carinthian Region of Austria and has family connections in Slovenia. He will talk about the history of the region, co-operation and links within the area and its identity as a region within Central Europe....
Chess not Chequers – Constructing Meaningful Policy
Online OnlyThis event is online only Covid-19 has caused enormous death and suffering; chronic diseases are increasing; inequalities are widening; and environmental catastrophe is looming. Conceptualising these complex health, equity and environmental challenges in ways that truly take account of their complexity is essential for generating relevant evidence, constructing more meaningful practical and policy responses, and...
Professor Raymond Tallis – Freedom: The Impossible Reality
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is online only The question of free will has preoccupied philosophers for millennia. In recent years the debate has been reinvigorated by the findings of neuroscience and, for some, the notion that we have free will has finally been laid to rest. Not so, says Raymond Tallis. In his quest to...
New Year New You! Can marketing help to tackle the obesity crisis?
Online OnlyThis talk is online only. Over half of the UK population is considered overweight. In addition to having significant economic consequences, being overweight and obesity has been linked to a number of serious health problems. Even though the negative consequences are well understood, the rate of obesity only seems to be increasing. Could marketing be...
Lord Martin Rees – the UK’s Astronomer Royal on the world in 2050 and beyond
Online OnlyThe 2021 Victor Suchar Christmas Lecture Our Earth has existed for 45 million centuries, but this is the first time that just one species - ours - has the planet's future in its hands. And Covid 19 is a wake-up call, reminding us how vulnerable our interconnected global civilisation is. Advances in biotechnology, robotics, and...
Are You Being Exploited? Justice in the Gig Economy
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is online only In recent years, controversy has beset companies like Deliveroo and Uber over how to classify the service providers of these digital platforms, both legally and corporately. Although Uber and others have argued that their drivers are independent, third-party contractors, many observers in academica and the media have taken...
A test event (internal use only)
Online OnlyThis is a test event for internal use only Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It...
Are we psychologically unfit to live sustainably?
Online OnlyThis event is now online only. A transition to more sustainable societies requires substantial shifts in how people live. But are people ready for these shifts, or are these shifts incompatible with human nature? Dr Paul Bain will explore these questions from a psychological perspective, exploring what is known (or assumed to be known) about...
Test event – internal use only
Online OnlyThis is a test event for internal use only Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived...
INNOVATION: THE KEY TO UNLOCKING BETTER HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE?
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is online only. Discussing her work: ‘Innovation – the Word that would be King’, Professor Louise Brown introduces us to the concept of social innovation and the way in which innovation is used to improve health and social care services. Innovation has traditionally played a very important role in the private...
Test event – internal
Online Only
Mars: Ancient rivers, lakes and oceans – but where is the water now?
Online OnlyThis talk is online only. The history of water on Mars has huge implications for the possibility of life on Mars and the future of life on Earth. This is the first of two lectures on this subject, with the second lecture to be given by Steve Clifford in February Widespread fluvial dissection of the...
Sixth Form Philosophy Seminars
Online OnlyBath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution and The Royal Institute of Philosophy present: FREE 6th Form Seminars, Thursdays from 5.30pm – 7.00pm (First seminar Thursday 4 November, last seminar Thursday 9 December) A series of free seminars via Zoom, exploring the fundamental questions of philosophy, why it is important and its meaning in relation to...
Constructor Theory: the science of can and can’t
Online OnlyThis talk is online only The theory of the universal quantum computer has brought us rapid technological developments, together with remarkable improvements in how we understand quentum theory. But what lies ahead of quantum theory, and of the universal quantum computer? To shed some light into these questions we need a shift in the mode...
Städtische Entwicklung in Braunschweig, einer Partnerstadt von Bath
Online OnlyStädtische Entwicklung in Braunschweig, einer Partnerstadt von Bath – ein Vortrag auf Deutsch von Ulrich Markurth, Oberbürgermeister von Braunschweig Nach einer kurzen Einführung in die Geschichte der Partnerschaft zwischen den beiden Städten wird Oberbürgermeister Markurth einen Überblick über städtische Entwicklung in Braunschweig geben. Q&A in English or German Please note this talk is ONLINE only...
Scientific Philosophy
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is online only For many decades science has been contributing more to advances in philosophical understanding than the humanities. The talk this evening makes the case that philosophy needs to rely more on the sciences and less on ancient authority. New understanding has come from evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience, operational research,...
Adelard & the Platonic Solids
Online OnlyPlease note: this event is online only and starts at 7pm Adelard is Bath's great mediaeval polymath. Natural philosopher, mathematician, geometer, astronomer, astrologer, alchemist, medic, musician, sportsman and senior government official at the Court of Norman Kings (the Exchequer). At the time, the Islamic Empire was 800 years ahead of the West in terms of...
Re-imagining Bath: a public forum chaired by Wera Hobhouse- Free event
Online OnlyPlease note that this event is FREE of charge and is ONLINE only. The pandemic has impacted so many aspects of our lives, from schools and education, our economy and the high street, to the way we interact with each other and with elements of our city. How can we build on Bath’s potential to...
The Lunar South Pole Environment
Online OnlyThis event is ONLINE only Humanity is preparing to return to the moon; this time not simply as tourists. Lunar regolith (dust) presents a risk when landing and operating anywhere on the lunar surface, but at the south pole this same material may also become a resource. However, the lunar south pole presents other interesting...
Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need
Online OnlyThis event is online only Join Professor Bruce Hood as he explores the themes raised in his latest book "Possessed". The talk will cover man’s need to own possessions, the background to those needs and in view of the current climate emergency, what should we be doing? Bruce Hood has been the Professor of Developmental...