ESRC Festival of Social Science

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual week long programme of events held across the UK designed to communicate information about the social sciences and how social science impacts on our lives. This year the Festival will run from 29 October to 5 November.

This year, centres from the ESRC Genomics Network will host five events.

On Tuesday 1 November, the Genomics Forum will be running a public discussion event at Rich Mix in East London on 'Vampires and Vegetarianism in the 21st Century'. This event is using popular vampire culture to consider how the development of synthetic blood and artificial meat is affecting our lives. What should we eat when flesh and blood can be grown in the lab? The event will include presentations from Cesagen's Dr Neil Stephens and Innogen's Emma King, with clips from popular vampire films and television.

From 31 October – 4 November Cesagen will stage an exhibition at Cardiff's BayArt Translation: From Bench to Brain.  Over the course of the week artists Julia Thomas and Rhys Bevan-Jones will display work which examines issues of mental health and science, and how the two interrelate with society. Speakers will also take part in the exhibition providing talks relating to some of the art displayed.

On 4 November Cesagen will run a special Philosophy Café at the: The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff starting at 8.00pm. The topic is 'The Ethics of Artificial Meat’, with Cesagen's Neil Stephens hosting the event following a visit to one of the leading in vitro meat research centres in the world.

The Egenis contribution to the Festival is also twofold. On Wednesday, 2 November, a one-day workshop, 'Transience and transformation', will continue the popular annual ‘Art in the stocks, science in the dock’ series. This year taking place at the Exeter Phoenix in Gandy Street, the workshop will bring together artists, scientists and social scientists to share practice and to discuss representations. The event starts at 1.30pm and continues until 8pm – come for one session, or stay for them all.

On Thursday, 3 November, also at Exeter Phoenix, there will be a free screening of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Kenneth Branagh-directed version of the classic tale. The screening will be followed by an audience debate led by Egenis Director John Dupré and Research Fellow Sabina Leonelli. What are the boundaries of science? How far should science interfere with ‘nature’?

To find out what else is happening as part of this year's Festival, visit the events page of the ESRC Festival of Scocial Science 2011 website.

The 2010 Festival of Social Science was more popular and exciting than ever with more than 130 events happening in seven regions and in more than 40 different cities in the UK. The fascinating events provided an insight into some of the country's leading social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives—both now and in the future. Events took a variety of formats; from traditional lectures and exhibitions to theatrical performances, film screenings and topical debates – browse the Festival archive for more information.

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2009, 2010 & 2011 EGN organised Festival of Social Science events:

16 March 2010 Non-invasive prenatal genetic testing - a moral maze?

16 March 2010 The Future of the Codex Alimentarius

12 March 2009 Is Embryo Research the Limit?

10 March 2009 Future of Medicine: Genetic Knowledge and Mental Illness

10 March 2009 The Future of Medicine: Innovation from bench to bedside