̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Public Engagement

Cambridge Festival of Ideas Launches Today

mjg209 — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:27:29 +0000

Participants include Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor Gina Rippon, author and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, politicians David Lammy and Ed Miliband and Professor Mary Beard.

̽��ֱ��Festival runs from 14th to 27th October with over 270 events, most of them free. They cover subjects ranging from climate change, Brexit, hate speech and the impact of artificial intelligence on society to how to bring divided communities together after major trauma and who will look after us in our old age.

Change is the theme of this year's Festival and events cover everything from social and political change to cultural transformation, with new research challenging traditional views of the past.

Events on social change span how we care for the old in a rapidly ageing society, reproduction past and present and addiction.

In Who will look after us in our old age? on 21st October, we ask who will look after us in our old age and how it will be funded? Will the crisis in carer recruitment require greater immigration? Will women still be relied upon to take on the burden of unpaid care? Or will social robots take up the slack? Join affective computing expert Professor Peter Robinson, sociologist Elif Cetin, feminist economist Victoria Bateman and Dan Holden from the International Longevity Centre for a fascinating discussion about an issue that will affect us all. ̽��ֱ��event is chaired by Chris Mann from BBC Cambridgeshire.

Elif Cetin, a junior research fellow at the Von Hügel Institute in Cambridge, said: "It is very likely that the UK’s need for immigrants will increase as the population ages. Yet, due to the heavily politicised nature of immigration in the UK, I think it will be really difficult for politicians to openly discuss and make the case for an additional labour force that cannot be met through the domestic labour market due to reasons such as the lack of necessary qualifications, unwillingness to take care jobs due low salary and/or lack of prestige etc. ̽��ֱ��British public remains highly worried about migration and tends to express a preference for highly restricted immigration...

"Various types of migrants are now highly politicised and even the case of European mobility is approached within the frame of immigration controls. Surprisingly, older people are more likely to vote in favour of Brexit, which had immigration debates at its core, despite the fact that they are more likely to need care. This is because prejudice and fear about immigration and immigrants have become ossified to the extent that this group's sense of insecurity has reached the point that rejection of further immigration is likely to triumph over the necessity for having more immigrants. And fewer immigrants is also likely to affect women as it could lead to more women leaving their jobs for unpaid carer roles."

Reproduction is at the heart of many major debates around the world today. In When was reproduction invented? on 17th October Nick Hopwood, Professor of History of Science and Medicine in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, his fellow editors of Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present Day and Professor Susan Golombok, Director of the Centre for Family Research at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, will talk about the history of reproduction from ancient times to the present day, looking at continuity and change over the long term.

Professor Hopwood says: " ̽��ֱ��question ‘When was reproduction invented?’ is intended to highlight what we can learn from different periods of change. Some aspect of reproduction is in the news every day, and by the nature of news it can all seem new. But reporters, like scientists, clinicians and patients, typically frame what’s happening in terms of historic achievements or abuses, recent progress or worrying contrasts with how things used to be. We appeal to history all the time, because it allows us to compare in a long view. So we wanted to pool expertise to make that history robust and acknowledge that our interests shape the ways we use the past."

Give and Take: How Giving Has Changed ̽��ֱ��World And Why It Matters asks whether giving a gift must necessarily exclude hopes of a return to be considered a “good deed”. Based on a short film produced by Alexander Massmann and DragonLight Films, the event will include a discussion panel on the complex nature of gift giving for humans and their close relatives. [19th October]

Rethinking drug addiction will ask why current approaches to addiction are not working and question if this is a matter of economics, politics, ethics or education. Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalene College and former Archbishop of Canterbury, will chair a discussion on safer drug use and the research on drug consumption rooms. [22nd October]

Events focusing on political change include Is it possible to forgive and forget after major national traumas, a panel discussion on how we bring divided communities together after war or trauma. Drawing on the examples of East and West Germany, Korea, Japan and Burundi leading experts will discuss how we rebuild peace after traumatic division has riven communities on 22nd October, a subject of huge relevance in our increasingly divided world.

Other events relate to widespread cultural change, including the Yoko Ono: Looking For... exhibition at the Ruskin Gallery, which explores themes of violence and healing, and the screening of two films by Yoko Ono. It is the first time Ono's work has been exhibited in Cambridge and curator Gabriella Daris will give an illustrated talk about how Ono’s art resonates with the cultural and political specificities of our contemporary condition on 19th October.

̽��ֱ��impact of historic political and social revolutions can be seen in events such as:

Maroon Nation, where Dr Johnhenry Gonzalez, ̽��ֱ�� Lecturer in Caribbean and Atlantic History, will talk about his new book on the history of Haiti and how the country went from the most profitable slave colony to the site of the only successful slave revolt in modern times. He will argue that Haiti’s early independent history has been the subject of relatively little basic research despite its historical significance. His book is inspired in part by him getting access to a vital historical document on those early years which is held in Kings College London's library. His session will discuss discuss broader questions around the provenance and proper place of foreign historic treasures held in British and other national collections. [17th October]

Four events commemorate 50 years since the Stonewall uprising, a landmark event for gay rights activism. In addition to panel discussions about the history of the uprising and the LGBTQ+ movement today, there will be screenings of two important films linked to events in New York in 1969 - Screaming Queens: ̽��ֱ��Riot At Compton's Cafeteria and Marsha P Johnson On Film, celebrating trans activist and queer icon Marsha P. Johnson [22nd October].

Other events focus on new research which changes our perspective on past eras:

In Animals In ̽��ֱ��City, historian Tom Almeroth-Williams, author of City of Beasts, will talk about the fascinating facts his research has uncovered about the interaction between humans and animals in Georgian London when people and animals lived in close proximity. He will compare the experience of living with cows in 21st century Cambridge with the experience of living in the shadow of Smithfield Market in Georgian London, painting a picture of life then and now. Focusing on evidence of tangible, dung-bespattered interactions between real people and animals, drawn from legal, parish, commercial, newspaper and private records, Almeroth-Williams will open up new perspectives on unfamiliar or misunderstood metropolitan spaces, activities, social types, relationships and cultural developments and challenge traditional assumptions about the industrial, agricultural and consumer revolutions. As one reviewer says: "It will change how you see the pre-industrial world and every mutt you meet on the street." [23rd October]

Bring Out Your Dead!: Destiny And Health In ̽��ֱ��Middle Ages members of the After the Plague: Health and History in Medieval Cambridge project will use the actual life stories of people from medieval Cambridge, as revealed by multidisciplinary studies of their skeletons, to show the kind of health lottery faced by our ancestors. ̽��ֱ��session also includes an interactive game which allows you to play out the lives of typical people from the Middle Ages. Was the Plague the biggest health challenge facing them or were things like influenza and even toothache more deadly? [24th October]

* ̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas programme is available in hard copy around Cambridge and online here. Bookings open at 11am on 23rd September 2019. Follow the Festival on Twitter at https://twitter.com/camideasfest and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CambridgeFestival

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas launches today [14th October] with a huge array of events and cutting edge thinkers, tackling social, cultural and political change in a rapidly transforming world.

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Elderly hands

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Bookings open for 12th Cambridge Festival of Ideas

mjg209 — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Politics takes centre stage at the Festival with sessions on everything from the future of democracy, the US elections, Brexit, the rise of populism, power politics in the Far East and growing schisms in the Balkans.

̽��ֱ��Festival, which runs from 14th to 27th October, celebrates the enormous impact of arts, humanities and social sciences on our daily lives and encourages lively discussion about many of today's most challenging global issues. With 273 events spanning two weeks, most of them free, the Festival - now in its 12th year - attracts thousands of people to Cambridge.

This year’s event includes political experts such as Professor David Runciman, author of How Democracy Ends, a live edition of the chart-topping podcast Talking Politics and leading politicians David Lammy and Ed Miliband.

David Lammy will be in conversation with journalist Gillian Joseph for the Annual Race Equality Lecture [14th October] about his personal journey and how race and racism has shaped his life as well as a variety of topics including: how racism manifests itself in organisations’ today; the barriers to career opportunities faced by BAME staff and how to overcome them; the lack of BAME role models in senior positions; and how to increase BAME access and representation in leading professions.

Ed Miliband will be speaking with Emily Shuckburgh, Director of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Carbon Neutral Futures Initiative, about Environmental Justice and how strong action in the UK can be translated into global action through visionary leadership? [17th October]

One of the biggest political issues of current times is surely the future of democracy in a world of constant upheaval, rising populism and a return to ‘strong man’ leadership.

In How do democracies change? [23rd October] Professor Runciman** highlights how Brexit has shown how easy it is for contemporary democracies to get stuck. He will ask how easy is it to reinvent the way they work once we can see that they are no longer working and will explore the challenge of turning around failing democratic institutions without undermining the idea of democracy itself. Runciman is Professor of Politics and will be launching the Centre for the Future of Democracy at the Bennett Institute in Cambridge in the near future.

He says: “On the one hand Brexit has shown us that our democratic institutions are pretty robust. I don’t think we are at risk of seeing democracy collapse. On the other, it has shown that they aren’t working well at all. They depend heavily on their adaptability and they haven’t adapted successfully to this challenge – if anything, they have frozen our divisions in place. What’s most striking is how little thought seems to have been given by politicians to whether the institutions are capable of doing the things they ask of them. It’s possible to blame individual politicians for particular mistakes: maybe Cameron shouldn’t have called the referendum because he lost it; maybe May shouldn’t have called the election in 2017 because she lost her majority. But it’s also true that the bigger mistake was to believe the British system could accommodate a referendum or that an election could be used to force the issue of Brexit after it had got stuck in parliament. Some of what’s gone wrong is political misjudgement but some of it is simply institutional inertia. Rather than taking a gamble and then hoping the institutions can deliver, maybe we should reform the institutions first.”

Professor Runciman will also be co-hosting, with fellow politics expert Professor Helen Thompson, a live edition of Talking Politics [16th October]. Supported by the London Review of Books, the hosts will be joined by a panel of political experts to explore a wider view on current events at a particularly momentous point in time as we head towards 31st October.

Other events relate to changing trends in British politics, including one linked to a new book reappraising the New Labour years.

In Why Tony Blair was right: the New Labour revolution 25 years on [26th October] Dr Richard Carr, Senior Lecturer in History and Politics at Anglia Ruskin ̽��ֱ�� and author of the new book March of the Moderates, will take a new look at New Labour’s achievements. Using newly unearthed archives and interviews with key players, his book investigates the relationship between the administrations and sheds new light on big set pieces such as the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, the handover to George W. Bush and the controversial Iraq War. He says: “Those seeking new perspectives on Blair’s partnership with George W. Bush and the Iraq War will find much of interest, as will those seeking a more positive take on the New Labour years.”

Meanwhile, in ̽��ֱ��changing British voter: taking back control? [19th October] communications expert Justin Jackson from the Department of History at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Francesca Granelli from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London will look at how voter patterns have changed over the last 70 years in the light of the sudden rise of new parties, such as the Brexit party, and splits in traditional parties. They will offer three perspectives – behavioural, socio-economic and political – that provide a compelling picture of how the British voter has changed in a few generations.

Several events will cover world politics and conflict:

In ̽��ֱ��2020 presidential election: ideological and institutional change in American politics an expert panel will discuss whether President Trump is the cause or a symptom of the upheaval going on in US politics. Taking on topics foreign and domestic, the panelists will cover a sweeping set of issues including the breakdown of the neoliberal consensus, rising polarisation and ideological divisions in both parties and the future of foreign policy in a period of relative decline and great power competition. [19th October]

In Reordering the Balkans [19th October] Timothy Less, director of the Nova Europa consultancy on Eastern Europe, will discuss recent events in the region, such as open discussions between Serbia and Kosovo’s leaders about an exchange of territory along ethnic lines, with the apparent approval of the United States and the European Union, proposals to unify Albania and Kosovo over the next decade and ongoing conflict between Serbs and Croats in Bosnia. Less will ask how long the region’s current borders can hold, what the map will look like in the future, whether the region make a transition to nation statehood without another conflict and what the response of the outside powers should be.

What does the future hold for China in a world of global trade wars, rising concerns about human rights and regional expansion in the form of the Belt and Road Initiative? China: power politics in the Asian age [23rd October] is a panel discussion with historian Professor Hans van der Ven, human rights expert Professor Eva Pils, Agnes Chong, visiting lecturer at POLIS, and Bhavna Dave from the School of Oriental and African Studies, chaired by Professor Rana Mitter from the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford.

Other events will seek to look at the ongoing imprint of past conflicts.

Is it possible to forgive and forget after major national traumas? [22nd October] will discuss how to build lasting peace after devastating division, from the civil war in Burundi and apartheid in South Africa to Cold War politics in Germany and the Sino-Japanese war. With Gates Cambridge Scholar Alice Musabende, Hanno Balz, DAAD Lecturer in Modern German and European History, and John Nilsson-Wright, Fuji Bank ̽��ֱ�� Senior Lecturer in Modern Japanese Politics and International Relations at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Catherine Jenkins, Chair of the Centre for Law & Conflict at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Chaired by Devon Curtis, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

In the film Teatro de Guerra/Theatre of war six veterans [three British and three Argentinian] from the Malvinas/Falklands War of 1982 share their memories and re-enact their experiences together. One of the protagonists of the film, Lou Armour, will be joining after the screening for a Q&A session, in conversation with Erika Teichert from the Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS), ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.[16th October]

In Maroon Nation: the history of revolutionary Haiti, Johnhenry Gonzalez discusses his new book on the history of Haiti, how the country went from the most profitable slave colony to the site of the only successful slave revolt in modern times and ongoing claims for the repatriation of national treasures. [17th October]

* ̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas programme is available in hard copy around Cambridge and online here. Booking lines are open from 11am-3pm from 23rd September.

Follow the Festival on Twitter at https://twitter.com/camideasfest and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cambridgefestivalofideas?fref=ts

**Read Professor Runciman’s Q & A about his event here.

For more information, contact Mandy Garner on 07789 106435 or email mandy.garner@admin.cam.ac.uk. Picture credit: ̽��ֱ��British Parliament and Big Ben by Maurice from Zoetermeer, Netherlands ℅ Wikimedia Commons.

Bookings open today for this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas which takes place at a time of political upheaval across the world.

Maurice from Zoetermeer, Netherlands

̽��ֱ��British Parliament and Big Ben

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Cambridge Festival of Ideas programme launches

mjg209 — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 11:09:03 +0000

̽��ֱ��2019 Cambridge Festival of Ideas programme launches today with 273 - mostly free - events on topics ranging from the US presidential elections, the paintings of Yoko Ono, Stonewall at 50, climate justice, the future of China and Brexit.

̽��ֱ��Festival, now in its 12th year, celebrates the enormous impact of arts, humanities and social sciences on our daily lives and encourages lively discussion about many of today's most challenging global issues. It takes place from 14 – 27 October 2019.

There are events - from exhibitions, film screenings, talks and more - for all the family, including hands-on workshops for children, such as an Arctic Family Day and artist-led workshops on life in Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��theme this year is change and many of the events focus on transformation, the implications of the technology revolution and wide-ranging social and political changes, from elder care and homeworking to house sharing.

Political change is represented in events such as a special live edition of the popular podcast Talking Politics as the clock ticks down on Brexit, a panel debate on the 2020 US presidential elections, a talk by Professor David Runciman on how democracies change, MP David Lammy in conversation with journalist Gillian Joseph, and a panel discussion on the broader issues of belonging and identity which Brexit has stirred.

Events related to technological transformation include:

- Artificial intelligence and social change - an event organised by Giving Voices to Digital Democracies project on the implications of rapid changes driven by AI for digital democracies

- What makes us human in an age of artificial intelligence - a discussion about whether automation will make us redundant or make human qualities more sought after

- Hate speech, xenophobia and trolls - philosopher Rae Langton and classicist Mary Beard join journalists to discuss online hate speech

- Caroline Criado-Perez is interviewed by Professor Ann Copestake on data bias in a world designed for men

Events related to social transformation include:

- Ed Miliband and Dr Emily Shuckburgh in conversation about environmental justice

- a series of events celebrating Stonewall at 50, including film screenings and panel discussions with international experts on the riots and LGBTQ+ rights today

- Rethinking drug addiction - the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams hosts a debate on safer drug use and drug consumption rooms

- Professor Simon Baron-Cohen's Sir Hermann Bondi Memorial Lecture on neurodiversity and how the world can become more autism friendly

- These four walls: a secret history of women home workers - an exhibition exploring themes such as precarity and domesticity, from the past to the present. This event is part of the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library's Rise: Women at Cambridge programme. ̽��ֱ��programme includes an exhibition of women at Cambridge's fight for educational equality and a focus on the careers of women who shaped the university and the world.

- Households of the future: will sharing our home be the new norm? - Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research hosts a panel on subjects ranging from multigenerational living to co-housing and life as a digital nomad

Events relating to cultural change include:

- Charles Saumarez-Smith on the transformation of the museum, drawing on his experience at the V & A, National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery and as Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts

- ̽��ֱ��first Cambridge exhibition of Yoko Ono's paintings on the themes of violence and healing, a screening of the 1969 film RAPE, directed by Yoko Ono and John Lennon and a talk by curator Gabriella Daris on the way Ono's work resonates with the increasing complexity of today's world.

David Cain, the Cambridge Festival of Ideas manager, said: " ̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas highlights the latest thinking about the important topics shaping our lives. Change is everywhere. As we change too, so do you. And sometimes the smallest change makes the biggest difference. I'm looking forward to welcoming you to the ̽��ֱ�� or a series of thought-provoking events this October as we explore change in all its forms, identifying its challenges and embracing its opportunities."

̽��ֱ��Festival sponsors and partners are St John’s College, Anglia Ruskin ̽��ֱ��, Heffers, RAND Europe, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, Cambridge Junction and Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press. ̽��ֱ��Festival media partners are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Independent.

* ̽��ֱ��programme is available in hard copy around Cambridge and online at www.cam.ac.uk/festivalofideas. Bookings open at 11am on 23rd September 2019. Follow the Festival on Twitter at https://twitter.com/camideasfest and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CambridgeFestival

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas programme launches today, with over 250 public events, most of them free, celebrating the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

I'm looking forward to welcoming you to the ̽��ֱ�� or a series of thought-provoking events this October as we explore change in all its forms, identifying its challenges and embracing its opportunities.

David Cain

Yoko Ono performing Cut Piece [1964] at Carnegie Recital Hall

YOKO ONO LOOKING FOR...CURATOR TALK Yoko Ono performing Cut Piece [1964] at Carnegie Recital Hall, NYC. March 25, 1965. Copyright Minoru Niizuma C Yoko Ono

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Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2019 explores our rapidly changing world

mjg209 — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:07:43 +0000

How do we make a broad case for radical action on climate change? Can we forgive and forget after major national traumas? Who will look after us in our old age? What makes us human in an age of Artificial Intelligence?

These questions and many more will be debated and discussed at this year's Cambridge Festival of Ideas.

̽��ֱ��Festival will be held from 14th to 27th October and will celebrate the rich history of work in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the ̽��ֱ��, engage the public in new dialogues and areas of interest and promote the ̽��ֱ��'s museums, collections and cutting-edge research.

̽��ֱ��annual event, which began in 2008, will include over 250 different activities, from evening lectures and panel discussions to music, theatre and art sessions, department open days and school visits.

̽��ֱ��general theme of the Festival this year is change and events embrace everything from identity and belonging in post-Brexit Britain to the future of China.

Caroline Criado-Perez, Ed Miliband, Emily Shuckburgh, Rowan Williams, Professor David Runciman, Professor Mary Beard, Professor Gina Rippon and Professor Simon Baron-Cohen are among the line-up of leading thinkers taking part. Other speakers include:

● Journalist Chris Stokel-Walker, author of Youtubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars in conversation with Ella McPherson, Lecturer in the Sociology of New Media and Digital Technology, on the social impact of the Youtube phenomenon

● Risk expert Professor David Spiegelhalter and social psychologist Dr Sander van der Linden explore how we can discuss risk sensibly without causing conspiracy theories and mass panic

● Leading economist Professor Diane Coyle and happiness expert Professor Richard Layard explore whether New Zealand is right to prioritise wellbeing over GDP as a marker of national success and whether others should follow its example

● Johnhenry Gonzalez on his new book on the history of Haiti and how the country went from the most profitable slave colony to the site of the only successful slave revolt in modern times

● Tyler Shores on whether social media has changed how we read.

̽��ֱ��Festival includes a range of hands on events for children, exhibitions, film screenings, theatrical events, a live Brexit edition of the Talking Politics podcast and much, much more. Most events are free, but may require prebooking. ̽��ֱ��programme will be available in hard copy and online in August and booking opens in September.

Ariel Retik, manager of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, said: “From a changing climate to political realignments, from the challenges of artificial intelligence to lasting effects of the Cold War and the Stonewall riots, this year’s theme of change aims to get to grips with some of the biggest issues of our time. We are delighted to invite everyone for the 12th year to hear, share and discuss some the cutting age research happening throughout Cambridge.”

̽��ֱ��Festival sponsors and partners are St John’s College, Anglia Ruskin ̽��ֱ��, RAND Europe, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden, Cambridge Junction and Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press. ̽��ֱ��Festival media partners are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Independent.

This year's Cambridge Festival of Ideas explores the theme of change, from radical action on global heating to what makes us human in an age of Artificial Intelligence.

From a changing climate to political realignments, from the challenges of artificial intelligence to lasting effects of the Cold War and the Stonewall riots, this year’s theme of change aims to get to grips with some of the biggest issues of our time.

Ariel Retik, Festival manager

Climate emergency by Takver

Climate emergency, Melbourne, Earth Day 2019. Author: Takver.

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Vaccinating against fake news

mjg209 — Fri, 17 May 2019 10:19:42 +0000

A game which aims to ‘vaccinate’ people against fake news by teaching them how information can be manipulated for certain ends can be used in a range of different contexts, from countering conspiracy theories and radicalisation to teaching students about bad science.

̽��ֱ��Bad News game was developed by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge in collaboration with the Dutch media collective DROG and is based on inoculation theory which views fake news as similar to a virus to which herd immunity needs to be developed.

Many hundreds of thousands of people have played it since it was launched online last year. “People love playing and learning through games,” says lead researcher Sander van der Linden, Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab in the Department of Psychology.

Since the launch of the game, which has won several design awards, its potential uses have been multiplying. There is, for instance, an application for funding to do a version on bad science to inoculate students against questionable research practices.

Moreover, through a collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, coordinated by doctoral researcher Jon Roozenbeek, the game has been translated into 15 languages which makes it possible to do large scale cross-cultural comparisons.

̽��ֱ��game will feature in van der Linden's talk, Vaccinating fake news, at this year’s Hay Festival on 25th May where it forms part of the Cambridge Series.

One of the game's big advantages has been its reach. To get the game out to a wide section of the public, the researchers have worked with different social media platforms. There is a Twitter version of the game and a WhatsApp version is being worked on. ̽��ֱ��researchers have been working with Whatsapp to counter fake news in the Indian elections, partnering with India’s Digital Empowerment Foundation.

They have also brought out a children’s version (Bad News Junior) with more child-friendly content and have created a board game version for schools.

“It’s a new way to do social science research and, in addition to countering fake news, it has the potential to help inoculate people against radicalism and extremism,” says van der Linden. “It involves boiling down content to the main techniques used to persuade people so they can recognise the different stages of indoctrination, from targeting to grooming to activation, if they come up against them.”

In addition, van der Linden and Roozenbeek are working with partners in the Middle East, for instance, to think about how to inoculate young people who might be targets for extremists.

̽��ֱ��game is also a good way of engaging with the public and explaining scientific research in an accessible way.

Feedback shows a positive effect for all who play it, but a slightly more marked one in younger people who tend to get the highest scores. “There are small differences with regard to age, ideology and educational background, but everyone seems to be learning,” says van der Linden. “However, the inoculation is more effective the less you have been exposed to the virus.”

A booster shot?

Questions that the researchers are grappling with as they develop the game further include whether there needs to be a ‘booster’ to the original vaccine; whether the game works better in an interactive environment such as social media; whether it needs to draw on people’s real life experiences to be more effective; whether the lessons learned can be applied in a variety of different situations; and whether it can be adapted as technology advances, for instance, so that people can detect deep fake images or video.

Asked about how it can counter specific conspiracy theories or types of fake news, van der Linden says: “We are focusing on the underlying techniques rather than specific contexts. Policymakers’ approaches to fake news, such as fact checking, tend to be more reactive. We want to be proactive and pre-bunk fake news.”

He adds that it is important that the game is ideologically neutral with players able to pick a side. “It’s not about liberal academics attempting to manipulate people about specific issues. It’s about helping people gain resistance against the techniques of manipulation,” he states. For instance, there is a Brexit version of the game in the London Design Museum where players can choose to be pro-Leave or pro-Remain.

Risk and uncertainty

̽��ֱ��dangers of the move towards a ‘post-truth’ world also figure in van der Linden’s new book, Risk and Uncertainty in a Post-Truth Society, out in June. ̽��ֱ��book is co-edited with Ragnar E. Löfstedt, Professor of Risk Management at King’s College London, and aims to rethink the concepts of risk and uncertainty in areas where truth is contested.

For the book van der Linden has worked with David Spiegelhalter, Cambridge’s Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, and the two academics will talk about the issues it raises at this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas in the autumn.

A key finding is that people can handle uncertainty if it is at least measurable. “If you are very vague about the uncertainty of something that is where you see the big psychological impact,” says van der Linden.

That applies to everything from the risks and side effects of taking medications to immigration statistics. “People do not like it if you say “there will be much more or much less” immigration because it is a very vague statement, but if you give them some relatively precise parameters within which it will increase or decrease they are more thoughtful and trusting about what that could mean. Making figures more concrete and transparent adds value,” says van der Linden.

̽��ֱ��book is aimed at academics and policymakers and should provide food for thought on how to present findings to the press in a responsible way. Van der Linden describes it as optimistic in that it sets out to find ways of presenting uncertainty that don’t lead to the kind of mass panic and conspiracy theories that have become prevalent in recent years.

Sander van der Linden will speak at this year's Hay Festival about how a game developed by ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge researchers can help to 'inoculate' players against fake news.

̽��ֱ��game involves boiling down content to the main techniques used to persuade people so they can recognise the different stages of indoctrination, from targeting to grooming to activation, if they come up against them.

Sander van der Linden

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Norsk bokmal

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Reading in an age of digital distraction

mjg209 — Fri, 03 May 2019 10:10:10 +0000

While you’re reading this, are you breaking off to check your social media or perhaps Whatsapping or texting a friend? ̽��ֱ��temptation to have several tabs open in your browser and to focus for only short bursts of time is high in today’s fast-moving world, but what does it do to our ability to really take in information or to enjoy getting lost in a good book?

Tyler Shores is a researcher in the Faculty of Education at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge who will be speaking about digital distraction as part of the Cambridge Series at this year’s Hay Festival.

Like many who are interested in the social impact of the digital revolution, he has first hand experience at a technology company. At the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California he was part of Authors@Google, a leading online lecture series, and has also worked as a director of digital textbooks, as well as working at a fully online school with Stanford ̽��ֱ��. He was also a lecturer at the ̽��ֱ�� of California, Berkeley where he created and taught a course on ̽��ֱ��Simpsons and Philosophy.

For his talk at Hay he will cover whether distractions have increased in the digital age and whether this is always necessarily a bad thing. “We have a tendency to pathologise our attention spans,” he says. “There is a difference between bad distractions and good ones.” He cites, for example, staying in touch with friends or colleagues as opposed to news alerts engineered to appear precisely when you are most likely to check your phone or device. He adds that it is difficult to generalise about what a normal amount of distraction might be since it depends on the circumstances and individual needs, for instance, it might be normal for a journalist to check their phone hundreds of times in a day.

In his talk, Shores will also explore how online publications both shape and are shaped by our online attention spans. On design, he says the infinite scroll design used on sites such as Instagram or Twitter, can be addictive and pernicious in forming our habits without our always realising it. “It’s very easy to move from meaningful engagement to losing 20 or 30 minutes of time scrolling down. There are no clear boundaries of beginning and end, as with a book,” he says.

He adds that tech companies are very good at making their apps and devices addictive. “They have an excellent understanding of how the human brain works. After all, a number of their employees have PhDs in Psychology,” he says.

They are also adapting to the idea that our attention spans are getting shorter.

Technology is being used to address shorter attention, for instance, telling people how long it might take to read an article (such as medium.com), putting bullet points at the top so you can get the main points quickly (such as ̽��ֱ��Telegraph) and putting the important information in the areas of the page where people are most likely to first look (such as the top left-hand corner of websites, for most users) .

Conversely, apps have also been developed to help users counter the temptations of digital distraction and so increase their ability to focus. ̽��ֱ��idea draws from neuroscience - research showing the brain’s ability for neuroplasticity and therefore how our behaviours are to some degree mouldable.

Shores cites, for instance, Forest - a timer app which encourages users to work in 25-minute intervals and not using their mobile phones, with the added real world incentive to earn credits and plant real trees around the world. Other apps block sources of distraction in the form of specific websites or all online access, such as the Freedom app.

He is also keen to set concerns about the potentially deleterious effect of online reading in a more historical context. He says many of the issues raised about how the digital revolution is shaping how we read are not necessarily unique to the present moment, for example, the first reactions to paperback novels were fairly critical. “People worried that illustrations were ruining people’s attention spans in the old days. Cliff-hanger endings were looked down upon as an unliterary means of manipulating people’s attention,” says Shores.

His research focuses on different forms of reading. He asks people about their different experiences of reading in print and on digital devices. He says the sensory experience of reading ranks high with people who prefer reading in print - for instance, the touch and smell of a book, the feeling that they are making physical progress through the book and the ability to mark pages or annotate in the margins. “People like the idea of the book as a physical artefact. Sometimes they talk of print nostalgia - but can it be nostalgia for something that never truly left?” says Shores.

He is also interested in how online media literacy is taught in schools and in the wider issue of how apps are changing the dynamics of friendships and the way we communicate. He is optimistic that young people can be taught ways around the disadvantages presented by the move to digital. “It’s like we have rushed into a relationship, but we need to set some boundaries. That is where we are now. We have let technology into our lives, we are in a relationship with technology and we need to rethink the boundaries for a more healthy balance,” he says.

Tyler Shores will be speaking about how digital distraction affects our reading at this year's Hay Festival as part of the Cambridge Series.

We have let technology into our lives, we are in a relationship with technology and we need to rethink the boundaries for a more healthy balance.

Tyler Shores

Rawpixel Ltd via Wikimedia Commons

Crowd of people with phones by Rawpixel Ltd

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Cambridge Festival of Ideas launches today

mjg209 — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 09:14:03 +0000

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas begins today with a host of free events and debates on everything from the future of capitalism to the high point of the Hollywood musical.

̽��ֱ��Festival runs from 15th to 28th October and is packed with over 200 debates, talks, exhibitions, film screenings and performances at venues around Cambridge.

Speakers include Baroness Valerie Amos, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Professor David Runciman, best-selling author Tara Westover, film director Tim Slade, author James Bloodworth, psychologist Terri Apter, Professor David Reynolds, economist Victoria Bateman and postcolonial literature expert Priyamvada Gopal.

Top picks for the first week of the Festival include:

Rethinking religious fundamentalism - Professor Kim Knott, Lancaster ̽��ֱ��, Ed Kessler MBE, Woolf Institute, Cambridge, and Tobias Müller, Woolf Institute and POLIS, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, discuss why fundamentalist beliefs and practices are so attractive to some, how fundamentalism relates to mainstream interpretations of the same religion and how we should distinguish between fundamentalism, extremism, radicalism and orthodoxy. 15th October.

Dance in hospital will present the findings from the UK's first in-patient dance programme. Researchers, dancers and nurses will be on hand to discuss the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Hospitals programme which has run since 2016. It offers seven sessions each week on six different wards: elderly care, diabetes and endocrinology, neuro-rehabilitation, stroke rehabilitation and renal. Bedside sessions can also be offered to patients who are unable to attend the group sessions for clinical reasons. Each session lasts up to one hour and is entirely shaped around and in response to the patients who attend. 15th October.

In this year’s Hermann Bondi Lecture, ̽��ֱ��future of capitalism: facing the new anxieties, Sir Paul Collier will outline how rigorous social science can both explain and address new anxieties raised by the economic divergences - spatial, educational and international - that have arisen since the 1980s. Drawing on his new book, published in October, he will suggest how capitalism can be saved from itself and how we can free ourselves from the baggage of the 20th century. 17th October.

In ̽��ֱ��destruction of memory film maker Tim Slade will discuss his award-winning film on the cultural destruction wrought by wars around the world, from Syria to Iraq, why culture has become an increasing target of combattants and why this matters. 16th October

Tim Slade says: "Destroying cultural artefacts erases history and the record of human achievement, it disorientates the people who draw meaning from the artefact, and as noted above it attacks the identity of the group of people for whom the artefact is a record of presence in the past, present and future. I think what is crucial is that all of us recognise that we can have a voice if we feel governments and international organisations aren’t doing enough to protect cultural heritage. We can act as individuals or in small groups to lobby, to write letters, to contribute to groups working in the area. Individuals and small groups can be more agile in responding to the issue than governments and courts can be."

In T he high point of the Hollywood musical historian and screenwriter Colin Shindler explores the highs and lows of the Hollywood Musical in a lavishly illustrated lecture in glorious Metrocolor. 20th October

Regulation, inspection and extreme risk: the history behind the Grenfell Tower tragedy will discuss the historical precursors to the Grenfell tragedy. In Victorian Britain a number of disasters similar to the Grenfell Tower fire struck in various sectors of industry and society as the rapidly changing and largely unregulated profit-oriented economy threw up all manner of hazards. This event examines how statutory regulatory bodies were set up to counter these dangers, how they evolved into today’s publicly funded inspectorates and how cost-cutting has affected their ability to function. 17th October.

Synaesthesia and art: dance of light is a two-part lecture about the neuroscience of synaesthesia - the phenomenon that describes linkages in the brain, which give rise to multi-sensory experiences such as seeing sounds as shapes. It is followed by an illustrated talk by the artist Rhea Quien who will talk about her experiences of synaesthesia and its consequences in her creativity: stillness and movement – emptiness and form. 16th October.

̽��ֱ��mystery of mythical seizures reflects on mystical experiences during epileptic seizures and what they can teach us about empathy, personal reflection and how different traditions of faith or non-faith can intersect in big questions about the nature of personal experience. It includes experts on the psychology of religion and people who have had mystical seizures. 18th October

An end to inequality? - Professor Nava Ashraf will talk about recent research in economics questioning the assumption that human beings are primarily self-interested, and will discuss what many religious and philosophical thinkers have understood about human nature, drawing on Bahai perspectives on economics. 19th October.

What have the angels ever done for us? Angels are a nearly ubiquitous aspect of many world religions. They continue to be widely represented in popular literature, theatre, cinema, radio, television and music. Yet many doubt the intelligibility of the angels, although they are among the most exciting and least known topics in theology. This discussion panel will address who and what angels represent in religion and culture and whether they exist. 19th October.

Many of the Festival's events take place in the first weekend which is full of lively discussion on topical and historical issues and experimental performances, including:

In Black power, in Britain and on film historian Robin Bunce chairs a discussion of film makers and screenwriters who are bringing the hidden history of the Black Power Movement to the screen. Speakers include writer and producer Misan Sagay, screen writer and script editor Anna Ssemuyaba, director and producer Cathy Hassan, Helen Bart, legal producer of Stephen: the murder that changed a nation and Farrukh Dhondy, leading member of the British Black Panthers, author, screenwriter and producer for Channel 4. 20th October.

In Trade wars: deal or no deal an expert panel will discuss what the likely impact of trade wars is and how the tension between protectionism and free trade has played out in history. With historian Dr Marc-William Palen, Dr Meredith Crowley, trade consultant Dr Minako Morita-Jaeger and international law expert Dr Lorand Bartels. 20th October.

̽��ֱ��future of work is a discussion of leading thinkers who will address whether the future of work is be one in which jobs become ever more precarious and robots take over or whether we can regulate to make the gig economy and artificial intelligence work in our favour. With James Bloodworth, sociologist Dr Alex Wood, robotics expert Dr Hatice Gunes and HR specialist Laetitia Vitaud. 20th October.

Ensembles and embryos will explore the extraordinary parallels between making music and making an embryo in an interactive performance, featuring live music and stories of the beginning of life. 20th October

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Festival of Ideas begins today with over 200 talks, discussions, exhibitions and performances taking place over the next two weeks.

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Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2018 explores extremes

mjg209 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:40:51 +0000

This year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas will host over 200 events, exhibitions and performances as it explores the theme of extremes, from political and social radicalism to life at high altitudes and the extreme high street.

̽��ֱ��Festival, now in its 11th year, runs from 15th to 28th October. Speakers include Baroness Valerie Amos, musician Evelyn Glennie, Rowan Williams, Professor David Runciman, best-selling author Tara Westover, film director Tim Slade, author James Bloodworth, psychologist Terri Apter, Professor David Reynolds, economist Victoria Bateman, postcolonial literature expert Priyamvada Gopal and international trade economist Meredith Crowley.

̽��ֱ��programme launches online today and is packed with events ranging from debates, talks, exhibitions, films and performances held in lecture theatres, museums and galleries around Cambridge. There are events for all ages and most are free.

Debates include:

- Wars in the Middle East: living through extremes. What happens to those who choose not to flee during war situations in the Middle East? With BBC journalist Nawal El Maghafi, anthropologist Dr Lori Allen, Sophie Roborgh and Mona Jebril. [16th October]

- Europe in an age of extremes. With huge internal and external pressures facing the European Union, including the rise of nationalist and populist movements of all types across Europe - both inside the EU and outside, as well as the power struggle going on for control of Europe, can it survive? With Ian Kearns, Dr Julie Smith, Professor John Breuilly and Timothy Less. [18th October]

- ̽��ֱ��future of work. Will the future of work be one in which jobs become ever more precarious and robots take over or can we regulate to make the gig economy and artificial intelligence work in our favour? With author James Bloodworth, Dr Alex Wood, Dr Hatice Gunes and Ben Dellot from the Royal Society for the Arts. [20th October]

- What does a global Britain mean post-Brexit? Has Brexit highlighted a need for a broader discussion about immigration and Britain's place in the world today? With historian Shruti Kapila, Richard Johnson from Lancaster ̽��ֱ��, Sundeep Lidher and Professor Philip Murphy. [23rd October]

- Bridging the gender gap. What does gender equality mean in practice? Is feminism a threat to men or a collective liberation from social stereotypes? Can there be equality at work without equality at home? With Dr Victoria Bateman, Dr Manali Desai, film, tv and theatre director Topher Campbell and Duncan Fisher from the Family Initiative. [24th October]

- Trade wars: deal or no deal?: What is the likely impact of trade war and how has the tension between protectionism and free trade played out in history? A panel discussion with Dr Marc-William Palen, Dr Meredith Crowley, Dr Lorand Bartels and economist Rebecca Harding. [20th October]

Other sessions include:

- Praise and blame. Psychologist Dr Terri Apter on how being judgmental shapes our relationships and why it may not be such a bad thing. [22nd October]

- Educated: a journey towards independence. Author Tara Westover in conversation with Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman about her best-selling memoir, Educated. [20th October]

- Anticolonialism and the making of British dissent. Dr Priyamvada Gopal on the ways in which colonial subjects took up British ideas and turned them against empire when making claims to freedom and self-determination. [25th October]

There will also be a range of hands-on sessions for adults such as a range of events in the Law Faculty covering everything from ethical dilemmas in medical imaging and what we can do with plastic wastes as well as many events for children, including an interactive Arctic Day, Mini Movers in the Museum, a making giants workshop, a pre-history day and interactive languages events on everything from translation to dying languages.

̽��ֱ��Festival is a multi-media cultural event. There will be cinema screenings of films such as Tim Slade’s ̽��ֱ��Destruction of Memory on cultural destruction over the past century; exhibitions on subjects ranging from the NHS, refugees on Europe’s borders, the extreme high street and the first women computer programmers; and a range of events and performances at the Cambridge Junction.

̽��ֱ��Festival will also see the launch of Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement with events including a discussion on rethinking humanitarianism with Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ariel Retik, manager of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, said: " ̽��ֱ��Festival of Ideas aims to challenge people’s received ideas and to question the status quo. ̽��ֱ��theme of this year's Festival is extremes. We’re living in an age where everything seems to be growing more extreme – whether politics, income inequality, the climate or technology – and we want to explore this in its broadest sense.

"A core aim of the Festival is to share with the public some of the incredible research and thinking that is happening in Cambridge and beyond across disciplines and institutions and to encourage an exchange of ideas between audience and researchers. Every year, we welcome thousands of people to hundreds of events, including talks, debates, performances, films and exhibitions. This year, we look forward to doing the same.”

*Bookings for the Festival of Ideas open in September.

Find out more on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cambridgefestivalofideas and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/camideasfest #cfi2018

̽��ֱ��11th Cambridge Festival of Ideas runs from 15th to 28th October with over 200 mainly free events, from debates, discussions and talks to exhibitions, theatre and world cinema.

̽��ֱ��theme of this year's Festival is extremes. We’re living in an age where everything seems to be growing more extreme – whether politics, income inequality, the climate or technology – and we want to explore this in its broadest sense.

Ariel Retik

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