The dark side of sugar: a historical journey

Posted on: October 16th, 2024 by mlpEditor

Discover the complex history of sugar – from its ancient origins to its modern-day impact on global health and society. Dr Neil Buttery explores how this seemingly simple ingredient has shaped our world in profound and often troubling ways.

 

Key Topics

This fascinating talk will explore the evolution of human taste preferences and why we developed such a strong attraction to sweet foods. Dr Buttery will trace sugar’s journey from ancient honey-hunting practices through to early sugar production, examining its significant role in medieval European society.

The discussion will then move to the colonial sugar trade and its lasting impact, before addressing modern sugar industry practices and their implications for public health. The talk concludes with an examination of current challenges and governmental responses to sugar consumption.

 

What You’ll Learn

You’ll discover how our ancestors sought out sweet foods as an essential survival strategy and follow sugarcane’s remarkable 10,000-year journey from Papua New Guinea across the globe. Dr Buttery will explain sugar’s transformation from luxury item to everyday commodity, while addressing the environmental and social impact of its production. The talk concludes with an examination of current debates surrounding sugar consumption and public health initiatives.

 

Content Notice

This talk includes discussion of historical events including colonialism, slavery, and exploitation. While these topics are handled sensitively, some content may be challenging.

 

Practical Information

The talk includes a Q&A session and light refreshments can be purchased from the venue’s bar. Booking is essential.

 

About the Speaker

Dr Neil Buttery combines expertise in food history and evolutionary biology to offer unique insights into how our relationship with sugar has evolved over millennia.

 

Accessibility Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

Is Atheism a religion?

Posted on: October 14th, 2024 by mlpEditor

Atheists tend to advocate the belief that there are no deities. In Western society Atheism seems to have increased in popularity as measured by census reporting and development of groups advocating a Humanist approach. However, this does raise the question of where Atheism sits in relation to religion.

How successful are atheists in moving us on from religion?  Is Atheism developing into a religion of its own?

In this Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum we will investigate aspects such as ‘what is religion?’, the differences and similarities between Theism and Atheism, and what the moral questions are that are resulting from a shift to an Atheist-based society – if that is actually the case.

The session will be presented by David Leaver, a retired priest who wrote the focus paper and who also hosts the regular podcast, ‘Church Ahead’. David will utilise his life experiences from working within the Christian Church whilst also taking a broader perspective looking at other approaches to collective approaches to modern society.

David refers to A.C Grayling’s 2023 Manchester lecture on Atheism in his paper and this can be viewed on YouTube here.

Everyone will be encouraged to become actively involved and given an opportunity to discuss their views.

 

Good to know: We take pride in putting the fun back into serious philosophy through our friendly and respectful discussions involving different levels of experience of philosophy.  The Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is all about collectively exploring interesting and exciting ideas from different viewpoints … not winning arguments!

 The focus paper for reading in advance of the session, can be downloaded here.

 We are usually oversubscribed, so if you book but find out later that you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

What should Higher Education be for and how should it be funded?

Posted on: August 28th, 2024 by mlpEditor

As we ease into a new educational year, questions linger about how we should approach education in general and Higher Education in particular. Some universities are voicing concerns that they can’t make ends meet and the recent pressure to reduce foreign students is only adding to the financial challenges they face.

The Blair government set the objective for the UK to have at least 50% of its people attend university and obtain a degree, but the question remains on whether this political objective still holds true. Should education be a right for all? And at what level should the cost be transferred from the state to the individual? If you don’t enter Higher Education, why should you pay for those that do?

This Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum will investigate the current problems faced by all those involved with Higher Education, leading into philosophical discussions around topics such as how does the UK benefit from Higher Education; who should it be aimed at; is education a Human Right; and what are the general benefits of education in the first place?

The session will be presented by Manchester Lit and Phil member Richard Remelie, who wrote the focus paper. We will give everyone an opportunity to discuss their views.

 

Good to know: We take pride in putting the fun back into serious philosophy through our friendly and respectful discussions involving different levels of experience of philosophy.  The Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is all about collectively exploring interesting and exciting ideas from different viewpoints … not winning arguments!

The focus paper for reading in advance of the session, can be downloaded here.

 We are usually oversubscribed, so if you book but find out later that you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

A magical evening of festive music and words

Posted on: August 22nd, 2024 by mlpEditor

The Figgy Pudding four are back with Manchester Lit and Phil for another helping of Christmas music, poetry, readings and other festive finery.

Prepare to be transported into the mystery and magic of Christmas with an all-new programme including ancient and modern, the familiar and the obscure.

The evening will feature original writings from wordsmith and actress Kate Millward; solos and duets with singers Julia Morley and Jill Taylor; and the effervescent sparkle of the very talented pianist Claire Dunham.

 

The artists

Claire Dunham (pianist) – Claire is an accompanist, chamber musician, piano teacher and adjudicator. She enjoys performing and recording with intriplicate (flute/oboe/piano trio), Voci Dolci (with Jill Taylor and Julia Morley) and the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain. Claire has appeared on BBC Radio 3 and ITV and performs nationally in venues from St Martin-in-the-Fields to the Bridgewater Hall.

Kate Millward (actor/narrator) – Kate has narrated her original stories and poetry in a variety of stately homes and theatre venues, including presenting The Northern Chamber Orchestra’s Christmas concerts at Tatton Hall in Cheshire. Kate has also worked as an actor in TV and corporate training. She is currently lecturing at Salford University (Theatre and Performance courses).

Julia Morley (soprano) – Julia’s opera roles include Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and solo oratorio performances include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Rutter’s Requiem and Haydn’s Nelson Mass with Holmfirth Choral Society, Huddersfield Choral Society and Harrogate Choral Society.

Jill Taylor (mezzo soprano) – Jill’s solo recitals have included performances of John Taverner’s Russian song cycle Akhmatova’s Songs for voice and cello, Mahler’s song cycle Leider Eines Fahrenden Gessellen and Ravel’s Chanson Madecasses.  Jill is also a regular guest soloist with northern choirs and operatic societies. She enjoys performances with Derek Blyth in lecture/recitals including Kurt Weill – I’m a Stranger Here Myself, No Regrets – the Life and Music of Edith Piaf and Degenerate Music, at RNCM, The Settlement Letchworth, Didsbury Arts Festival and for Manchester Lit and Phil.

 

**Update 4 December 2024: Tickets that include refreshments are no longer available**

Not just for the boys: why we need more women in science

Posted on: August 20th, 2024 by mlpEditor

Pioneering physicist Professor Dame Athene Donald wrote her book Not just for the boys: why we need more women in science not simply for those practicing science, male or female, but for the wider public, educationalists and policy-makers.

Despite it being many years since the formal barriers to women pursuing the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) being removed, and there being many more women entering universities around the world to study them, still there are fewer and fewer women working in these areas as they move up the career ladder.

In Biology, for instance, the numbers starting a university course in the discipline may well be dominated by women, but by later career stages the numbers are barely better than in Athene’s own subject of Physics, where (in England) still less than 25% of the A Level cohort are girls.

Some of the reasons for the dearth of women are subtle, but many are not. Somehow society is still stuck in a time warp, where women are generally expected not to get their hands dirty on a construction site or in labouring at a lab bench. This is despite many recent examples – something particularly noticeable during the Covid pandemic, where the role of women in developing vaccines and contributing to public health was so prominent – indicating just how old-fashioned these views are. The problems start early in life, when school, parents and the wider world of media all too often stereotype what are girls’ and boy’s subjects and correspondingly suitable career aspirations.

It is arguably too easy to say the problems lie simply in the fact that women want families, although too often that excuse is rolled out. The reality is, almost from birth, children receive messages steering them in particular directions. This can be as bad for boys (too often deterred from subjects such as Psychology and Languages) as for girls, who feel computing or engineering are not for them. Policymakers do not seem to worry about this in the context of school inspections or teacher training.

Dame Athene wants the next generation of would-be female scientists not to continue to face the same obstacles. She firmly believes that society will be the stronger for it if we welcome these women into the scientific world; diversity improves outcomes, as business has begun to recognize. It is time for our laboratories and industries to do the same.

Don’t miss this inspiring and important talk by this multi-award-winning female scientist.

Generative AI: If you can’t beat ‘em…

Posted on: July 30th, 2024 by mlpEditor

In November 2022, OpenAI made the now famous ChatGPT tool available for public use and the company has since enjoyed a swift and pervasive rise in popularity.

The use of this tool and others like it is unnervingly ubiquitous. ChatGPT’s extremely helpful tendrils have been welcomed with open arms, into all areas of life – whether we are active users or unknowing consumers of its generated content. ChatGPT can claim authorship of everything from glowing end-of-year school reports to disgruntled letters of resignation. And now it can add a Manchester Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum Focus Paper to that list (!).

The paper contains a discussion with ChatGPT in which the tool is used to explain ChatGPT itself, its pitfalls, strengths and the philosophical questions surrounding it (please see download link below). We’ll be using this to guide our conversations in the session, which will be presented by Manchester Lit and Phil member Robert Mears.

 

Good to know: We take pride in putting the fun back into serious philosophy through our friendly and respectful discussions involving different levels of experience of philosophy.  The Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is all about collectively exploring interesting and exciting ideas from different viewpoints … not winning arguments!

The focus paper for reading in advance of the session, can be downloaded here.

We are usually oversubscribed, so if you book but find out later that you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

Manchester’s Cancer Research Innovations: Embracing Patient Complexity and Team Science approaches

Posted on: July 30th, 2024 by mlpEditor

The Manchester Cancer Research centre is a hub of scientific innovation in research, driving decades of practice-influencing cancer care. One of the mainstays of the innovative approaches employed is Team Science, where scientists, clinicians and patients come together in joint sessions. These sessions lead to new research ideas within scientific “Town Halls”.

But despite the increasingly sophisticated technologies available for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, a crucial factor is still being ignored: patient complexity. This omission is leading to unrepresentative research in the lab and inappropriate design of clinical trials. What can be done to fix this?

Led by Robert Bristow, Cancer Research UK’s unique mission in Manchester is to provide “Precision Cancer Medicine for All”. This approach contrasts to studies that are highly selective of patients from Eurocentric backgrounds and/or may be relatively healthy.

The Manchester research centre also recognises the importance of addressing the needs of medically and socially complex patients, many of whom are currently excluded from UK and global precision oncology trials. Manchester has numerous underserved populations secondary to socioeconomic hardship who have multiple health problems.

As patients age, other non-cancer health conditions invariably develop with new medications used for their diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis. These factors can affect therapy side effects and treatment success, including a patient’s response to immunotherapy.

Manchester’s approach is to recognise and work within the diverse populations in Greater Manchester and in so doing, ensure the research is equitable, diverse, and inclusive (EDI). With an EDI lens, specific exemplars will be presented that use scientific and public engagement across these populations for the design of new clinical trials. This will exploit opportunities to drive innovative care changes that will impact our patients in the UK and worldwide.

Join us to find out more about the innovative methods employed by Manchester Cancer Research from Robert Bristow, a multi-award-winning Research Scientist and Scientific Advisor.

Poles Apart? Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty

Posted on: July 30th, 2024 by mlpEditor

Individuals should enjoy the liberty to pursue their own preferences.

This has been a generally accepted principle of western democracy for several years, but where should the line be drawn between what an individual has the right to do and how much the state should intervene to limit an individual’s actions?

In a famous essay first published in 1958, Isaiah Berlin identified two concepts of liberty:  negative and positive. Berlin gave us two contrasting ways of thinking of liberty that built upon approaches identified by previous philosophers and is still the subject of much discussion today.

This Manchester Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum focuses on Berlin’s approach as outlined in the Focus Paper (see link below). Together we will compare Berlin’s proposals with thoughts on Liberty from two famous Philosophers: Rousseau and John Stuart Mill. We will give everyone an opportunity to discuss their views.

 

The session will be presented by Manchester Lit and Phil member Andrew Bailey.

Good to know: We take pride in putting the fun back into serious philosophy through our friendly and respectful discussions involving different levels of experience of philosophy.  The Lit & Phil Philosophy Forum is all about collectively exploring interesting and exciting ideas from different viewpoints … not winning arguments!

The focus paper for reading in advance of the session, can be viewed and downloaded here.

We are usually oversubscribed, so if you book but find out later that you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

Covid-19: the importance of history in a global pandemic

Posted on: June 25th, 2024 by mlpEditor

What is the role of a historian in a health crisis? As Covid-19 became a full-blown pandemic in the spring of 2020, historians across the world produced rapid and imaginative responses, bringing historical perspectives to bear on how people and societies in the past responded to cholera, Spanish Flu, and more recently ebola. They paid much less attention to capturing and preserving the unfolding of Covid-19.

This talk draws on Stephanie Snow’s experience of leading a national oral history project on the UK’s National Health Service that metamorphosed into the creation of a national collection of Covid-19 testimonies in partnership with the British Library between 2020-2023.

History shows that individual and collective memory can fade rapidly after health crises. Recording testimonies in the moment plays a vital role in supporting individuals and communities to find meaning from their lived experiences in the face of complexity and uncertainty. It creates a permanent historical record of a crisis that captures societal responses that were not prominent in public narratives at the time. It also counters retrospective attempts to establish new public narratives of crisis for socio-political purposes.

Critiques of capturing experiences during crisis focus on the potential harm to participants. Stephanie’s talk will use evaluation data to show how such risks can be minimised if the work is undertaken in a supportive, responsive framework.

Should historians be as concerned with preserving the present as they are about exploring the past? Stephanie certainly thinks so. Join us to find out why.

Cognitive Robotics: From Babies to Robots and AI

Posted on: June 12th, 2024 by mlpEditor

Cognitive Robotics combines insights and methods from Artificial Intelligence (AI), cognitive and biological sciences, and robotics. It’s a highly interdisciplinary approach that sees AI computer scientists and roboticists collaborating closely with psychologists and neuroscientists.

Angelo Cangelosi, Professor of Machine Learning and Robotics, will use the case study of language learning to demonstrate this highly interdisciplinary field, presenting developmental psychology studies on children’s language acquisition and robots’ experiments on language learning.

Growing theoretical and experimental psychology research on action and language processing, and on number learning and gestures in children and adults, clearly demonstrates the role of embodiment in cognition and language processing. In psychology and neuroscience, this evidence constitutes the basis of ‘embodied cognition’, also known as ‘grounded cognition’.

In robotics and AI, these studies have important implications for the design of linguistic capabilities – in particular, language understanding in robots and machines for human-robot collaboration. This focus on language acquisition and development uses Developmental Robotics methods, as part of the wider Cognitive Robotics approach.

During the talk, Angelo will present examples of developmental robotics models and experimental results with the baby robot iCub and with the Pepper robot. One study focuses on the embodiment biases in early word acquisition and grammar learning. The same developmental robotics method is used for experiments on pointing gestures and finger counting to allow robots to learn abstract concepts such as numbers.

Angelo will then present a novel developmental robotics model, and human-robot interaction experiments, on Theory of Mind and its relationship to trust. This section of the presentation will consider both our Theory of Mind of robots’ capabilities, and robots’ own ‘Artificial Theory of Mind’ of our intentions. This will demonstrate that trust and collaboration is enhanced when we can understand the intention of the other agents and when robots can explain to us their decision-making strategies.

The implications for the use of such cognitive robotics approaches for embodied cognition in AI and cognitive sciences, and for robot companion applications, will also be discussed. Angelo’s talk will also consider philosophy of science issues on embodiment and on machine’s understanding of language, the ethical issues of trustworthy AI and robots, and the limits of current big-data large language models.

We hope you’ll join us, Angelo, iCub and Pepper for a really absorbing talk and practical presentation that will really get you thinking.

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