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Our Events
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![The Fight For – Or Over – Education]()
The Fight For – Or Over – Education
The Fight For – Or Over – Education
In 1968, Fight for Education was published in reaction to the prospective abolition of grammar schools, the onset of new universities and continuous assessment in place of exams. Chris Bratcher and Chris Ormell will revisit this pivotal period in education to remind us, or reveal to a new generation, the extent of these opinions and concerns. Did these changes in education cause a collapse in the transmission of culture, or did they lead to the “better" education that is on offer today?Finally, do these considerations help inform us as to how we might develop education going forward?
In person | Virtual event
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![Modern Vintage]()
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![Science in the Media: Dodgy Science Reporting, Ghostbusting, and Doctor Who]()
Science in the Media: Dodgy Science Reporting, Ghostbusting, and Doctor Who
Science in the Media: Dodgy Science Reporting, Ghostbusting, and Doctor Who
Hear about the science of Doctor Who from a scientist who is also a consultant to Doctor Who’s scriptwriters, find out about the credibility (scientifically and otherwise) of ghost-hunting TV programmes from a former ghosthunter now turned ghostbuster, and discover just how much psuedoscience reporting there really is in our national press.
In person | Virtual event
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Festive Fundraiser: An Evening of Cabaret from Stephen Bailey
Festive Fundraiser: An Evening of Cabaret from Stephen Bailey
Our annual comedy fundraiser returns with an evening of cabaret from the fabulous performance artist Stephen Bailey. All proceeds will be donated to The Albert Kennedy Trust.
In person | Virtual event
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![Guilty Pleasures]()
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![The Testing Ground 2]()
The Testing Ground 2
The Testing Ground 2
Atlantis is a new dance theatre performance, taking the audience on a journey from ancient Atlantis, through Disneyland, the works of Donovan and the end of the NASA space shuttle programme. This event will involve lots of popcorn, projection, a paddling pool and Plato.
In person | Virtual event
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![Shaa Wasmund – Do Less, Get More: How to Work Smart and Live Life Your Way]()
Shaa Wasmund – Do Less, Get More: How to Work Smart and Live Life Your Way
Shaa Wasmund – Do Less, Get More: How to Work Smart and Live Life Your Way
It’s easy to find yourself doing more, more, more – and yet never really getting to where you want to be, says entrepreneur and bestselling author of Do Less, Get More, Shaa Wasmund.After the death of her partner, Wasmund fell into an ultra-busy, ultra-controlled life as a coping mechanism, but realised this was a trap of her own making. She knew something had to change, and so consciously started to focus only on what really mattered. She found that by doing less, she was actually able to accomplish much more and was far happier in the process.
In person | Virtual event
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![Identifying Unfinished Business: The UK Modern Slavery Act (2015)]()
Identifying Unfinished Business: The UK Modern Slavery Act (2015)
Identifying Unfinished Business: The UK Modern Slavery Act (2015)
Almost two hundred years after the anti-slavery legislation associated with William Wilberforce, the UK government passed the Modern Slavery Act, acknowledging the fact that slavery had never really gone away. What is different now is that "modern slavery", is present within the UK itself rather than in far-flung countries where Britons preferred to overlook working conditions. This talk will briefly trace the links between historical forms of slavery and its modern manifestations, and will critically examine claims by the government that the Act is world-leading.
In person | Virtual event
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![Introduction to Mini-Documentary Film Production]()
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![Trio Elegiaco]()
Trio Elegiaco
Trio Elegiaco
Fresh from their trio debut at the Sacconi Festival - where they received a standing ovation - John Paul Ekins (piano), Hannah Dawson (violin), and Pierre Doumenge (cello), will take to the Rhinegold LIVE stage to perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor.
In person | Virtual event
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![Democracy? What Britain Might Learn From Cuba]()
Democracy? What Britain Might Learn From Cuba
Democracy? What Britain Might Learn From Cuba
By comparing the democratic institutions that have been developed in Cuba since its 1959 Revolution with those that are claimed for Britain, speaker Graham Bell examines whether the quality of our democracy might be raised using Cuba’s experience.
In person | Virtual event
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A Day Called Wonder
A Day Called Wonder
Join A Day Called Wonder 2015 for a gathering dedicated to celebrating life, building communities and wondering deeply. Sunday Assembly are bringing together inspirational speakers, profound thinkers and great doers who will provide you with tools to improve your life, grow your community and lead change in the world.
In person | Virtual event
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![Slavery isn’t History: The Argument for Reparations]()
Slavery isn’t History: The Argument for Reparations
Slavery isn’t History: The Argument for Reparations
Should Britain pay reparations for slavery? Join Dr Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery International, in an interactive discussion that will look at the arguments for and against.
In person | Virtual event
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![A British-Owned Congo: Roger Casement’s Battle with Slavery in Peru (1910-1914)]()
A British-Owned Congo: Roger Casement’s Battle with Slavery in Peru (1910-1914)
A British-Owned Congo: Roger Casement’s Battle with Slavery in Peru (1910-1914)
Roger Casement was the twentieth century’s first outstanding humanitarian. Best known for his 1904 chilling report on conditions in King Leopold’s Congo, Casement continued his campaign for human rights in the Putumayo Valley bordering Peru and Colombia, where a rubber company with headquarters in London was abusing and murdering indigenous people on a massive scale - nearly thirty thousand workers had died for a few thousand tons of rubber. Casement’s 1912 Foreign Office published report made for disturbing reading. He was widely celebrated as a hero in his battle to expose widespread abusive labour regimes. In 1916, Casement was hanged on a charge of treason by the British Government.
In person | Virtual event
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![London is Drinking]()
London is Drinking
London is Drinking
Join beer experts Pete Brown and Melissa Cole, gin-historian Richard Barnett, and London brewers and distillers for a celebration and discussion of London and it’s drinking history and culture; from the taverns to the gin craze, to craft brewing and beyond. Londonist and Conway Hall Ethical Society are proud to present an evening of ale, gin, pubs, conversation and a tipsy toddle through our fantastic city’s history and life.
In person | Virtual event
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![Arcadia Quartet]()
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![Storm Clouds Over the Countryside: What Future for Rural England?]()
Storm Clouds Over the Countryside: What Future for Rural England?
Storm Clouds Over the Countryside: What Future for Rural England?
This talk will outline the ominous threats to the English countryside from unsustainable and unplanned development, and look for signs of hope. It will examine the growing pressures for housing development,food production, the changing character of the landscape and rural economy, the relationship between town and country, and how we can reconcile conflicting objectives for the use of land, one of our most important natural resources.
In person | Virtual event
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Hustings and Vote for CISTA’s London Mayoral Candidate
Hustings and Vote for CISTA’s London Mayoral Candidate
In May 2015 CISTA became the first pro-drug reform political party to contest a General Election across the United Kingdom. We are a brand new political party with the ambition of building a broad-based community of candidates and members.We want your help, not only to break stereotypes and show that everyday people are backing changes to cannabis laws, but to build a sustainable platform for real change.
In person | Virtual event
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![Hear Me Roar: A Feminist Fundraiser]()
Hear Me Roar: A Feminist Fundraiser
Hear Me Roar: A Feminist Fundraiser
Every week, two women in Britain are killed by their partners or ex-partners. And yet, funding to women’s shelters and services is under severe threat. Join Bridget Christie, Nimko Ali, Suzanne Moore, Jenny Landreth, Zoe Margolis, Martin Robbins, Isabel Adomakoh Young and the London Refugee Women’s Forum for an evening in aid of the Hackney-based women’s charity Nia.
In person | Virtual event
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![Slavery and the Shaping of British Culture]()
Slavery and the Shaping of British Culture
Slavery and the Shaping of British Culture
Speaker: James Walvin, Prof of History Emeritus, University of YorkToo often, slavery is seen as an exotic, discreet subject which belongs outside Western culture. This talk takes a different approach, arguing that slavery was pivotal to the way Western Europe emerged over a period of three centuries.
In person | Virtual event
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![John Higgs: The Strange Person Theory of History]()
John Higgs: The Strange Person Theory of History
John Higgs: The Strange Person Theory of History
John Higgs brings us an alternative history of the strangest of centuries. He shows us how the elegant, clockwork universe of the Victorians became increasingly woozy and uncertain; and how we discovered that our world is not just stranger than we imagine but, in the words of Sir Arthur Eddington, 'stranger than we can imagine'.
In person | Virtual event
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![How Medical Research Died]()
How Medical Research Died
How Medical Research Died
Speaker Malcolm Kendrick has been a trenchant critic of the 'cholesterol hypothesis' for many years and wrote the book The Great Cholesterol Con. He is concerned about the potential for bias and manipulation that seems to have become ubiquitous in medical research, and his most recent book Doctoring Data looks at the way that data are distorted and manipulated, often for commerical purposes.
In person | Virtual event
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Philosophy Now Festival 2015
Philosophy Now Festival 2015
The Third Philosophy Now Festival. Open to everyone, and will include talks, debates and philosophical workshops. Philosophy workshops for children and teenagers, run by the Philosophy Foundation The Great Balloon Debate, including your chance to vote on which historical philosopher should be thrown out of the balloon first! The 5th Annual Philosophy Now Award for Contributions in the Fight Against Stupidity: award ceremony and lecture The George Ross Memorial Lecture: to be given by Professor David Papineau (King’s College London).
In person | Virtual event
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![The Freedom Bird – A Family Storytelling Event]()
The Freedom Bird – A Family Storytelling Event
The Freedom Bird – A Family Storytelling Event
A free family storytelling event suitable for ages 4 - 10. As part of an initiative supporting the Explore Your Archives campaign organised by the National Archives, Conway Hall Library has teamed up with professional storyteller, Vanessa Woolf to use items from our collections to inspire a storytelling around the theme of freedom. Then get busy making a craft to take home.
In person | Virtual event
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![Sci-Fi Night]()
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Handbook of Humanism – A Dialogue with AC Grayling
Handbook of Humanism – A Dialogue with AC Grayling
Join us for the launch of the Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Humanism and a dialogue with AC Grayling. Free tickets are available at but there are only a limited few, so don't delay.
In person | Virtual event
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![New Scientist Live – The LHC: Solving the Mysteries of the Universe]()
New Scientist Live – The LHC: Solving the Mysteries of the Universe
New Scientist Live – The LHC: Solving the Mysteries of the Universe
New Scientist Live - The LHC: Solving the mysteries of the universe. This year, the world's biggest particle accelerator – the Large Hadron Collider – is focused squarely on solving some of the deepest mysteries of the universe. What happened to the antimatter created in the big bang? What is "dark matter", the invisible stuff that makes up much of our universe? Two researchers at the sharp end discuss what we've learned and where we're heading. Is our best theory of reality's roots about to be replaced by another, called supersymmetry?
In person | Virtual event
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![Find out What Researchers are Saying About Humanists]()
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Can Corbyn’s Labour Become a Mass Movement for Radical Change?
Can Corbyn’s Labour Become a Mass Movement for Radical Change?
Open participatory discussion on the subject: Can Corbyn’s Labour become a movement for radical change? A debate with Ken Livingstone, Kate Hudson, Kate Osamor MP, Kevin Ovenden, Neil Faulkner and Kevin Maguire.
In person | Virtual event
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![Money And The Soul]()
Money And The Soul
Money And The Soul
Money rarely gets the attention it deserves from us. What is the origin of the dread so many of us experience in money matters? Where does money get its power to provoke conflict and discord? Is it even possible to live a soulful, authentic life in the presence of money?This talk given by Stephen Jenkinson brings the quietly tortured relationship we have with money up into the light, where it belongs, the first mandatory step in redeeming the personal and cultural amnesia which accrues to money, the first step to a principled sanity and soulful skill where money is concerned.
In person | Virtual event
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![Martin Roscoe Solo Piano Recital]()
Martin Roscoe Solo Piano Recital
Martin Roscoe Solo Piano Recital
Martin Roscoe makes his Conway Hall debut with a programme highlighting the dramatic, lyrical and expressive qualities of the piano.Beethoven: Sonata in G Op.14/2 Schubert: Impromptus D.935 Nos. 2 & 3 Beethoven: Sonata in C minor Op.13 'Pathétique' Chopin: Impromptu No.2 in F sharp Op.36 & Fantaisie-Impromptu Op.66 Fauré: Impromptu No.1 Op.25 & No.2 Op.31 Beethoven: Sonata in A flat Op.110
In person | Virtual event
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![A Leftist Critique of Multiculturalism]()
A Leftist Critique of Multiculturalism
A Leftist Critique of Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is a conservative idea that is seen as progressive. It is about background, ethnicity, belonging, spokespersons and roots. Those who talk about roots talk about an idyll of the past, a historical El Dorado - in contrast to impartial institutions, technological achievements, gender equality, and modern society. A reactionary ideology does not become more radical just because ‘progressive’ journalists, politicians, and academics are cherishing it. The developed world has dragged a Trojan Horse into its midst.Dr Göran Adamson will present this, albeit highly controversial, perspective on living cheek-by-jowl with many different races and cultures. This should ensure a lively discussion.
In person | Virtual event
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![Conway Actants]()
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![From Granada to Buenos Aires]()
From Granada to Buenos Aires
From Granada to Buenos Aires
Duo Diez is an innovative and eclectic musical collaboration between guitarist Dimitris Dekavallas and violinist Violeta Barrena. Their repertoire encompasses a wide range of styles from Bach, Mozart and Schubert to Sarasate, Piazzolla and Villa Lobos. Watch thrilling tangos, Brazilian dances and traditional Spanish songs being performed by this outstanding duo.
In person | Virtual event
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![New Scientist – Live: Healthy eating – What science has to say]()
New Scientist – Live: Healthy eating – What science has to say
New Scientist – Live: Healthy eating – What science has to say
Confusion reigns about what foods we should eat to stay healthy. Meat, fat, sugar and salt have all been the subject of conflicting news stories. Preserved meats and "low fat" foods seem to have been added to the danger list. Two leading researchers will discuss what science has to say about our food and how best to stave off disorders such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
In person | Virtual event
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![Chris Connors – How to Improve Your Quality of Life]()
Chris Connors – How to Improve Your Quality of Life
Chris Connors – How to Improve Your Quality of Life
In this interactive workshop, creative mentor, business coach and meditation teacher Chris Connors talks about how living in stillness, between the yin of mindfulness and the yang of change, creativity and innovation, can enhance your life.
In person | Virtual event
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‘Intelligent Happiness’ with Nic Marks
‘Intelligent Happiness’ with Nic Marks
Does success lead to happiness? What makes for a happy work life? Can we create more happiness in our daily lives? And how can we contribute to a happier world? Nic Marks will explore these questions and more in a thought-provoking and interactive session.
In person | Virtual event
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![Slavery Now and in the Future]()
Slavery Now and in the Future
Slavery Now and in the Future
Today, 30 million people around the world are living as slaves, reflecting double standards between the rich and poor countries. In Thailand alone there are 472,000 in slavery prostitution, many having HIV. Slavery is illegal in every country in the modern world, but it still exists. Even within the narrowest definition of slavery, it is likely that there are far more slaves now than there were victims of the Atlantic slave trade. Gillian Kaile will reveal the shocking nature and the dire prospects for this dark inhuman activity which is still practised around the world.
In person | Virtual event
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![Peter Tatchell: What Should Schools Teach Pupils About Sex?]()
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Small Publishers’ Fair 2015
Small Publishers’ Fair 2015
The Small Publishers' Fair is an annual celebration of books by contemporary artists, poets, writers and book designers. It’s held in London’s Conway Hall. 2015 dates are Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November, 11am to 7pm daily.
In person | Virtual event
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![The Testing Ground 1]()
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![The Unfortunate Colonel Despard: “Governor of Belize”, Anti-racist, Democrat, Executed as a Traitor 1803]()
The Unfortunate Colonel Despard: “Governor of Belize”, Anti-racist, Democrat, Executed as a Traitor 1803
The Unfortunate Colonel Despard: “Governor of Belize”, Anti-racist, Democrat, Executed as a Traitor 1803
Colonel Edward Despard was executed in London in 1803 as a terrorist and traitor. However, the seeds of his radicalism were sown on the other side of the world, during his military service in the Caribbean. A patriotic war hero who fought alongside Nelson, he fell from favour with the British government after he was appointed governor of Belize and allocated equal shares of land to black and white settlers.
In person | Virtual event
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London is Wild: Wildlife and Landscape in the City
London is Wild: Wildlife and Landscape in the City
Join Londonist at Conway Hall for this discussion and celebration of our animal, bird and plant life with David Lindo, Helen Babbs, the London Wildlife Trust’s Mathew Frith and urban bat detective Kate Jones.
In person | Virtual event
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![Florin Ensemble]()
Florin Ensemble
Florin Ensemble
Pre-concert recital at 5.30pm: Adam Brown - guitarRecital at 6.30pm: Florin EnsembleDohnányi: Serenade for String Trio Op. 10 in C Seiber: Sonata da Camera for violin & cello Klein: String Trio Schubert: String Trio Satz in Bb D. 471 Martinů: Madrigal for violin & viola Beethoven: String Trio Op. 9 No. 3
In person | Virtual event
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![The Changing Face of the NHS: Markets and Morality]()
The Changing Face of the NHS: Markets and Morality
The Changing Face of the NHS: Markets and Morality
The increasing role of market mechanisms and the changing types of health care providers, together with the use of choice and competition to drive improvements in quality in the National Health Service (NHS), all have important ethical implications. Dr Lucy Frith will explore these developments and consider how the NHS can respond to the challenges of austerity, changing demographics and political agendas.
In person | Virtual event
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