Events archive

2019

Is there really a suicide crisis amongst young people?

Professor Louis Appleby

Hardly a week goes past without a media focus on the mental ill-health of young people with concerns over a “crisis” or even an “epidemic”. In particular the stories ask: is this a more suicidal generation?

From Windscale to Hinkley Point C: a look at the past, the present and the future of nuclear power in the UK

John Harris

John Harris, in conversation with Brian Tyler, will describe his experiences and involvement with the nuclear industry over the last 60 years.

George Bernard Shaw as music and opera critic

Anthony Ogus

Anthony Ogus will provide an account of George Bernard Shaw's life in the late 1880s and early 1890s, before he concentrated on his career as a dramatist. He was then a prominent and popular music critic, writing weekly and often outrageous articles under the pseudonym Cornetto di Basso.

Psychological Well-Being at Work: why it matters and how to improve it

Professor Ivan Robertson

Work-related positive and negative influences on psychological well-being are much less apparent than factors that affect physical health and even for well-intentioned managers it may be hard to grasp the key drivers of well-being at work.

Now You're Talking

Professor Trevor Cox

Join Trevor, as he explores the most exquisite acoustic source: the human voice. Your voice is integral to your personal identity. We judge others not just by their words, but also by the way they talk: their intonation, their pitch, their accent.

Place-names and the medieval landscape in the Manchester area

Dr Alan Crosby

Place-names are a key source of information about past landscapes, their settlement and their exploitation.Whether you come from ‘the lowlying ground with wild garlic’ or ‘the open land inhabited by ducks’, this lecture will explain much about words which are so familiar that we rarely think about.

George Eliot -- who's he?

Dr Creina Mansfield

Why did one of the greatest novelists of all time use a male pseudonym? Starting with this question, Dr Creina Mansfield will explore the life and works of George Eliot, who wrote at a time of great political change.

Coral reefs and the future of the world

Professor Callum Roberts

The expression ‘canary in the coalmine’ is overused but is apt for what reefs say about the dangers of our headlong planetary experiment. This talk tells the story of coral reefs, how they became one of the wonders of the ocean world, how we learned to love them and how they now struggle to survive.

Crime and Punishment - Why do we punish offenders?

HH Judge D.A. Stockdale

‘Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal’ – Elizabeth Fry

Greater Manchester Police Museum & Archives Tour - Members Only

As an introduction to the lecture later in the evening “Crime and Punishment - Why do we punish offenders?”, the Manchester Lit & Phil has organised a private tour of The Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archives.

Macbeth - Members Only

Theatre Group

We are pleased to announce that the next theatre group visit to the Royal Exchange Theatre will be to see Macbeth, directed by Christopher Haydon.

No Regrets - The Life and Music of Edith Piaf

Derek Blyth

In a century known for its record keeping and attention to detail, Edith Piaf’s life can read like a fairy tale or, perhaps, more accurately, a cheap paper-back. There are so many legends, half-truths and fabrications that it can be difficult to see the real woman behind the image.

The Beautiful Cure

Professor Dan Davis

Our immune system is one of the great marvels of nature – and it holds the key to human health. In this talk, Professor Daniel Davis charts the ground-breaking scientific quest to understand how the immune system fights disease and enables the body to heal itself.

Delivering the future: Greater Manchester's Transport Strategy

Ian Palmer

Since the industrial revolution and the world’s first passenger railway services transport has played a critical role in shaping Greater Manchester and the lives of people living in the conurbation.

An Unusual Announcement: Carlo Crivelli's 'An Annunciation with St Emidius' (1484)

Professor Des Winterbone

The multitude of Annunciations existing today epitomise Gregory the Great's words "Illiterate men can contemplate in the lines of a picture what they cannot learn by means of the written word".

Annual General Meeting 2019

Members are invited to attend the Lit & Phil 2019 Annual General Meeting.

Alan Turing's Manchester - Members Only

Jonathan Swinton

Manchester is proud of Alan Turing but does it deserve to be?

In this talk based on this book Alan Turing’s Manchester, Jonathan Swinton explores the complexity of the city that Alan Turing encountered in 1948 and the remarkable men and women who surrounded him.

RHS Bridgewater pre-opening tour - Members Only

We are pleased to offer our members the chance to explore and learn more about the work that is taking place at RHS Bridgewater. The RHS plan to create a stunning new 62 hectare (154 acre) garden in the heart of the North West in Salford is now well under way and it will open to the public in 2020.

Peterloo Commemoration: walk the walk - Members Only

Ed Glinert

This guided tour, visiting the site of St Peter’s Field in Manchester city centre where the Peterloo Massacre took place, has been devised by Ed Glinert who brings his unique touch to this chilling story.

Percival Lecture: University cultural engagement in the 21-st century- case studies from the Directors of the Whitworth and Manchester Museum

Alistair Hudson and Esme Ward

The 2019 Percival Lecture will ask: ‘what does University cultural engagement in 21st century look like?’ and will be jointly delivered by two of the University’s new Cultural Institution Directors.

Past events

2019