Events archive | The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society

2018

Christmas Drop-ins

Thursday 13 December and Tuesday 18 December

Members Only festive event to catch up with members, meet staff and officers, and fill up on festive food!

Predictability Beyond the Weather Forecast?

Professor Adam Scaife

Weather forecasts are one of the great unsung triumphs of science. These predictions can even warn of impending extreme weather and this aids many areas of society, but can we go further?

Women Artists – their emergence into the light

Christine Musgrove

In 1992, art critic David Sylvester said “I always thought women couldn't be painters….That's just the way it has always been”. This lecture will chart the place of women in art from medieval times to the present day, considering the means by which women have emerged into the light, as artists, curators, art historians and policy makers.

Air Pollution and Public Health: emerging hazards and improved understanding of risk

Professor Frank Kelly

Despite past improvements in air quality, very large parts of the population in urban areas breathe air that does not meet European standards let alone the health-based World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines...

A Social History of Women between the Wars as seen through the Archives of Universal Aunts

Angela Bebb

Established in 1921, Universal Aunts is much the same now as it was – the calls have hardly changed through the decades; Universal Aunts still endeavours to rise to any challenge, however unusual, and the remarkable history of the company is added to every day...

Osteoarthritis: how new ‘precision medicine’ will cause a revolution in the management of an old disease

Professor Tony Freemont

Despite being the most common non-infective disease in the world, we really know remarkably little about osteoarthritis. This talk will discuss the history, cause and features of the disease and how revolutionary new medical technology will change how we diagnose, investigate and treat it.

Art on Death Row

Mary Vaughan

The link between prison and artistic endeavour has a long history. There are currently over 3,000 people facing many years on Death Row in the US, a large proportion of whom have experienced trauma, mental health issues, and poor legal representation. This lecture will talk about their art, their inspiration and their difficulties in obtaining suitable materials & outlets.

The Elimination of Cervical Cancer by 2050 – reality or blissful thinking?

Professor Margaret Stanley

Every two minutes somewhere in the world a woman dies of cervical cancer – a preventable disease. There are some big challenges ahead, but can cervical cancer ultimately be eliminated in our lifetime?

Solid, liquid, vapour - Where do you draw the line? [day-time seminar]

Dr John Proctor M.Inst.P.

The first day-time seminar to be organised by the Science and Technology Section will be presented and lead by Dr John Proctor. His talk will describe his current and recent work on the nature of liquids and solids under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure.
Members Only

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking – the mass exploitation of misery

Sir Peter Fahy

We are seeing the greatest mass migration ever, driven by conflict, population growth & economic inequality. This lecture will highlight the impact of global forces on communities & vulnerable individuals, and how this misery is exploited by gangs & the indifference of the developed world.

Arts Section Theatre Group – Death of a Salesman

"Willy Loman is an ordinary man, he’s the New England man, he’s well-liked. For thirty-six years he’s been on the road, paying his way and one day he’s going to come good. When his son Biff returns home, suddenly things are looking up. Because you reap what you sow, right?"

Our next Theatre Group trip is to see Death of a Salesman on 25 October.

The Margaret Pilkington Memorial Lecture: The Alderley Edge Project

Professor John Prag

Alderley Edge has a rich, complex history of geology, archaeology, early mining and social history. For many people it remains a special place, and its legend of a sleeping king, a wizard and a hoard of treasure is still very much alive...

Climate's Holy Trinity: how cogency, tenacity and courage could yet deliver on our Paris 2°C commitment

Professor Kevin Anderson FIMechE

It is 28 years since the IPCC's first report and a quarter of a century since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit – such heady days of international hope and optimism. Now, in 2018 and with the benefit of hindsight, we can look back and trace our voyage of abject failure...

The NHS at 70

Sir David Dalton

This the NHS turns 70 and has been described as “the closest thing the English have to a religion”. However, the organisation still receives criticsm as it does praise and there are still significant discrepencies in health care outcomes. This lecture will try to answer how we can understand the reality and complexities of one of the largest organisations in the world.

Men of Warrington: influence and deeds in North West England [AGM]

Dr Diana Leitch

Lit & Phil AGM 2018 followed by lecture by Immediate Past President, Dr Diana Leitch.

AGM is at 6.30 p.m. and the lecture will start at 7.30 p.m.

Arts Section Theatre Group – Queen Margaret

Members Only event

Following two successful events during spring 2018, the Arts Section will again be running a theatre-going group in 2018/19. We can announce that the first visit will be to see Queen Margaret, a new play loosely based around Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays, dramatising the Wars of the Roses and seen through the eyes of Margaret of Anjou.

The Future isn't What it Used to Be

James Burke

Innovation and technological progess are propelling us towards a future that is unlike anything that has happened before, triggering the most fundamental social change since we left the caves. When that happens, about 40 years from now, how will we handle it?

In the Beginning was the Word – singing the poet's song in a foreign land [rescheduled date]

Dr Derek McCulloch & Café Mozart

In our last lecture of the 2017/18 season, Derek McCulloch, translator, professional singer and music historian, investigates what is actually meant by a ‘song’ and its complex relationship with words, and the issues of poetic translation in the crossing of linguistic and cultural borders

Bringing up Baby: establishing and promoting computers in Manchester

Dame Mary Archer & Dr James Sumner

This year's Manchester Lecture will be on the 70th anniversary of the 'Baby' computer, featuring demonstrations of the 'Baby' replica at the Museum of Science & Industry...

Happy Days – Theatre Group

Following the very positive response to the idea of organising a theatre group for Lit & Phil members, and the plan to see The Cherry Orchard in April, our next venture will be to see Samuel Beckett’s modern classic: Happy Days, starring Maxine Peake, again at the Royal Exchange.

Past events

2018