Welcome to the Institute of Ideas September newsletter.
You can browse the archive of IoI newsletters here.
BATTLE OF IDEAS 2006
JOIN THE INSTITUTE OF IDEAS
IoI FORUMS
DEBATING MATTERS
MEDIA
PUBLIC APPEARANCES
BATTLE OF IDEAS PARTNERS' NEWS
BATTLE OF IDEAS 28th-29th OCTOBER 2006 - TICKETS NOW ON SALE
Book your ticket now on 020 7269 9220 or on the website here - the word is already spreading about the Battle of Ideas 2006 and we are receiving daily enquiries at the Institute of Ideas office. We are keen to let as many people as possible know about the festival and make sure it is once again a sell-out, landmark event in the intellectual and political calendar. You can help us in this.
Please pass on information about the Battle of Ideas to friends, colleagues and organisations you think might be interested, providing a link to the Battle of Ideas website. Postcards and posters are also available: call 020 7269 9220 or 020 2769 9224.
This year’s festival includes a discussion with the director and co-producer of WORLDwrite’s film, ‘Damned by Debt Relief’, currently featured on Channel 4’s Four Docs website here.
The film’s co-producer, DeRoy-Kwesi Andrew, is flying in for the festival screening.
Kevin Toolis’ two-part documentary, ‘The Cult of the Suicide Bomber II’, which he will be discussing at the festival, is on Channel 4 on 11 and 18 September.
There will be a series of pre-Battle of Ideas ‘Port Talks’ at Goodenough College in October, beginning with Tessa Mayes on investigative journalism, 8-9pm, Tuesday 10 October, in the Churchill Room, London House, Goodenough College, London. More details will appear on the Battle of Ideas website soon, until then you can find more details here.
JOIN THE INSTITUTE OF IDEAS
Join the IoI as an associate to show your support for our efforts to create a public space where ideas can be contested without restraint. We need your support to continue expanding our work. To join the IoI fill in the Associate Form or contact Geoff Kidder on 020 7269 9220 or at geoff.kidder@instituteofideas.com
IoI FORUMS
All forums meet in London. There are limited places and attendance is by invitation only. If you have an interest in the field and would like to take part, please email the contact given.
CULTURE WARS FORUM
Wednesday 13 September
The topic of September's forum is verbatim theatre, where companies use transcripts from actual events or interviews instead of conventional scripts, raising questions about the relationship between fact and fiction, as well as the political role of theatre.
Contact Patrick Hayes at patrick.hayes@tsleducation.com
There are now a number of reviews of Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows and current London theatre on Culture Wars.
A special offer is available to Culture Wars readers for tickets to the part-verbatim show ‘(I am) Nobody’s Lunch’ at Soho Theatre in London. £10 tickets (normally £15) are available for 11, 12, and 13 September (all 9pm).
To book discounted tickets, call 0870 429 6883 and quote 'Culture Wars'.
See also Tiffany Jenkins' review on spiked,30 August.
EDUCATION FORUM
Monday 25 September
The next meeting will be on the subject of inclusion, led by John Cornwall, author of many books including (with Craig Walter)
Therapeutic Education: Working alongside troubled and troublesome children (Routledge, 2006).
Contact Dennis Hayes at education@instituteofideas.com
HEALTH AND SCIENCE FORUM
Wednesday 13 September
David Oliver, a geriatrician and senior lecturer in elderly care medicine at the University of Reading will introduce a discussion on the Department of Health paper, ‘A New Ambition for Old Age’, and will consider how well the complexities of disease and disability in old age are currently being addressed through it.
Contact Brid Hehir at SHF@instituteofideas.com
IoI BOOK CLUB
Tuesday 5 September
Patrick Hayes will introduce 'The Seymour Tapes' by Tim Lott. This is a gripping story of suspense that mirrors modern preoccupations with surveillance, tabloid voyeurism, and morality.
On October 3 Claire Fox will introduce 'On Beauty' by Zadie Smith.
The IoI Book Club is open to IoI associates. If you do not regularly attend
the BookClub and would like to come along please reply to this email.
If you have any queries, please contact Geoff Kidder at geoffkidder@instituteofideas.com
POLICY WATCH
A new Policy Watch paper is now available on the IoI website here. The paper, commissioned from Austin Williams, director of the Future Cities Project, is a response to a Department of Education and Skills consultation on ‘sustainable schools’.
DEBATING MATTERS 2006/07
The Debating Matters team is now gearing up for the start of the 2006/07 competition this coming autumn term. 128 schools will be taking part in this, the third year of the Institute of Ideas & Pfizer Debating Matters Competition. We’ve some new, topical debate motions for the Qualifying Rounds, and the full list of motions is:
Science and Society
- Animal Experimentation: ‘Animal experimentation cannot be justified’
- Nuclear Power: ‘Nuclear power is the best alternative to fossil fuels’
- Stem Cells: ‘Scientific research on embryonic stem cells is a good thing’
Politics and Policy
- Britain, Europe and the USA: ‘Britain's future lies more with the US than with Europe’
- Migration: ‘We should have an open borders policy for migrants’
- Terrorism and Civil Liberties: ‘Protecting the public from terrorism should come before civil liberties’
Arts and Culture
- Media Violence: ‘People need protecting from violent lyrics, films and video games’
- Potter-mania: ‘Adults reading Harry Potter is simply infantile escapism’
- Tourism: ‘Tourism benefits the world’
INTERNS WANTED
An internship with Debating Matters provides an excellent opportunity to gain experience in a busy office environment and to enjoy the excitement of making the competition happen. We currently have positions available from October onwards to assist with this year's Qualifying Rounds for the 2006/07 competition. If you are in your gap year or at university and would like to intern with Debating Matters, email justinebrian@instituteofideas.com
JUDGES WANTED
With 32 Qualifying Round to be held from October to December 2006, we are keen to hear from you if you would like to volunteer to be a panel judge at one of the rounds this autumn. For further information about being a Debating Matters judge contact Helen Birtwistle, our new Judges Coordinator, on helenbirtwistle@instituteofideas.com
MEDIA
Claire Fox had an article arguing against a cultural boycott of Israel in the Sunday Herald (Scotland), 6 August.
Claire Fox has contributed to the spiked/Orange survey ‘enlightening the future’
Tiffany Jenkins has an article, ‘We get too hung up about the risks of daily life’, in the Scotsman, 26 August
Tiffany Jenkins has an article on the Edinburgh Fringe show ‘I Am Nobody’s Lunch’ on spiked, 30 August
Dolan Cummings has an article on shows about religion at the Edinburgh Fringe on spiked, 21 August
And a different article on the same theme in the New Statesman, 4 September
Dolan Cummings also has an article on community involvement in the criminal justice system in the summer issue of Criminal Justice Matters
Shirley Dent has an article about anti-consumerism on spiked, 1 August and a different article on the same theme on 22 August
PUBLIC APPEARANCES
Claire Fox will debate Professor David Hunter, chair of the UK Public Health Forum at a cafeculture event, ‘Nanny state or individual freedom’, hosted by IPPR North. 7pm, World Headquarters, Curtis Mayfield House, Carliol Square, Newcastle on Monday 4 September.
Claire Fox will be speaking on free speech to the Barnet Group of the League for Jewish Women in London, 8pm Monday 11 September. For more information, please contact the secretary Mrs Nita Bharier on nbharier@supanet.com
Claire Fox will be speaking on ‘The Politics of Prejudice’ at a fringe meeting of the Liberal Democrats conference in Brighton, organised by the Liberal Democrat Forum for the Countryside on Tuesday 19 September. Other speakers include MPs Lembit Opik, Alan Beith and Vincent Cable.
Dolan Cummings will be chairing a discussion on human rights, the law, politics and art, to complement artist Sarah Strang’s exhibition ‘About Jean’s Death’, at Tooks Chambers, London, 7pm on Tuesday 19 September.
Tiffany Jenkins will be chairing an event on Repatriation, Restitution, and Reparations at the British Academy on Friday 8 December.
BATTLE OF IDEAS PARTNERS' NEWS
RCA INNOVATION PROGRAMME
Battle of Ideas partner and host the Royal College of Art has a programme of exhibitions and events on innovation, one of the Battle of Ideas keynote topics, as part of the London Design Festival, 23-28 September.
SPIKED SURVEY
Battle of Ideas online sponsor spiked, in collaboration with Pfizer, has conducted a major survey of more than 100 key thinkers in science, technology and medicine, asking them the simple question: 'What inspired you to take up science?'
The respondents hail from all corners of the globe, ranging in age from 19 to 93 and ranging in experience from new talents to Nobel laureates.
POETRY SOCIETY EVENT: ‘PERHAPS WE ARE ALL STRANGER TO OURSELVES’
Battle of Ideas session sponsor the Poetry Society presents a pre-National Poetry Day reading on the theme of ‘Identity’ by four leading poets: Moniza Alvi, Simon Armitage, Jackie Kay and Nick Laird, at the Poets’ Church in central London. Hosted by Joan Bakewell.
The reading takes place in St Giles-in-the-Fields Church, 60 St Giles High Street, London WC2H 8LG at 7.30pm, Thursday 28 September
PANIC ATTACK! - FALL 2006/WINTER 2007
Battle of Ideas session sponsor the New York Salon presents a series of events in association with the New School Unversity, exploring why it is that, at a time when people are safer and live longer than ever before, every day new media-driven fears fuel our sense that the sky is falling in.
GRANGE HOTELS OFFER
Leisure Break with Massage at Grange City and Grange Holborn Hotel
Grange City Hotel 5* £65.00 per person per night
Grange Holborn Hotel 5* £75.00 per person per night
Terms and conditions apply. Call 0845 450 9900 mentioning the Institute of Ideas. Christmas Packages are also available to book now in Central London. Please find more information on Grange Hotels website here.