Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Corbynomics, the migration crisis and ‘lad’ culture to be debated at politics festival
The annual public event, which will take place across the University’s City Campus from Monday 16 - Friday 20 November, is a week-long programme of talks, debates, workshops and films providing opportunities for discussion of key political issues and policy challenges facing our world.
The Festival is organised by the Politics & Applied Global Ethics (PAGE) group within the School of Social, Psychological and Communication Sciences. The programme reflects the main areas of work within PAGE: politics, international relations, global development and peace studies.
High profile speakers at this year’s festival include Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, speaking about the Syrian crisis, asking ‘what should be done?’; and the award-winning documentary filmmaker, Rex Bloomstein, presenting his talk, ‘Human rights: does anyone care?’.
Bruce Gagnon, the Co-Founder and Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, will lead a debate on militarism and austerity, presenting an alternative approach; whilst Deputy Director of the British Institute of Human Rights, Sanchita Hosali, will trace the journey of universal human rights protections from Magna Carta to the modern world.
Further issues to be discussed at this year’s festival include: Climate change and the forthcoming Paris 2015 UN Conference; violence against women, sexual harassment in universities and ‘lad’ culture; the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals; the ‘migration crisis’; and ‘tackling our sugar habit and the obesity epidemic’.
Interactive workshops will also be available, focusing on subjects such as working with and influencing parliament (led by Lynn Hobson of the Parliament Outreach Service), volunteering, and non-violence and non-violent strategy.
Dr Paul Wetherly, Reader in Politics at Leeds Beckett, who has organised the festival, commented: “The festival is an opportunity to discuss and debate some of the big political issues and policy challenges that we face in the world today. It is an important aspect of developing our PAGE community of students and staff, providing different ways of learning, and engaging with the wider public. We are delighted to welcome a wide range of external speakers – politicians, academics and campaigners – to take part in the festival.”
Events in the Festival are free and open to members of the public who are interested in engaging with these issues along with students and staff within the university.
The full programme can be viewed, and places can be booked, at https://pagefestival2015.eventbrite.co.uk. For more information about the Festival and Politics and Global Ethics at Leeds Beckett University, please contact Dr Paul Wetherly at p.wetherly@leedsbeckett.ac.uk or visit: http://leedspage.wordpress.com/.