Formula for Thrill

Professor Brendan Walker

Many people are passionate about theme parks, roller coasters, and thrill rides of all sorts. But did you know there's both an art and a science to creating these thrilling adventures in real life?

23rd January 2020, 7:00pm

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony: myth, music and message

Dr Michael Downes

*Lecure cancelled due to unexpected circumstances*

28th January 2020, 7:00pm

The Internet of Things

Nigel Linge

Imagine a world where everything is connected to everything else through the Internet. Your home senses, understands and adapts to your every need; shopping is fully automated with goods being delivered by drones...

4th February 2020, 7:00pm

Ruskin and the Polygon

Professor Sandra Kemp

For Ruskin the world was equally an object of science and of the human imagination.  His work bypassed orthodox thinking; it was not just a set of contents but a powerful set of imaginaries, reflecting complex processes of vision and embodiment, the verifiable and the imagined, the objective and the creative.

13th February 2020, 7:00pm

Our Mysterious Frontal Lobes: How they control behaviour in health and disease

Professor Trevor Robbins

Even as recently as 1950, little was understood about the functions of the frontal lobes, which occupy a large proportion of the grey matter of the human brain. Damage to these structures caused by traumatic accident and neurosurgery produced inconsistent effects...

18th February 2020, 7:00pm

What is the city? - The role of an international arts festival in the life and identity of a city

John McGrath

In June 2017, a few weeks after the Manchester Arena attack, Manchester International Festival opened with a very public event – What Is the City but the People?, created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and director Richard Gregory.

26th February 2020, 7:00pm