The Arthur and Jean Humphreys Lecture Professor Katherine Newey, PhD. Professor of Theatre History University of Exeter.

Lecture outline

Although the nineteenth century is widely regarded as the ‘Golden Age’ of pantomime, the pantomime form was in a process of constant evolution throughout the century. Historically, pantomime is distinguished by change and its knowing self-referentiality. But there’s one constant – that Pantomime is not what it used to be. Indeed, pantomime is never what it used to be. The constant in pantomime is nostalgia, which is paradoxically paired with sensation and novelty. Victorian pantomime was the vehicle for the representation of the latest, the new, the fads, the fashions of the times.

In my lecture I’ll explore the ways in which the pantomimes we see today have their roots in the Victorian pantomime, and its melding of the Harlequinade of the classic commedia dell’arte with the robust, rude and knockabout humour of the Clown and the Dame.

Biographical note

Kate Newey is Professor of Theatre History at the University of Exeter. Her work focuses on women’s writing and nineteenth century British popular theatre. She has published academic books and essays on John Ruskin, Victorian women playwrights, and the politics of the pantomime. She has held research Fellowships at Harvard University, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC, and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas (Austin). She is currently leading a large-scale project funded by the European Research Council, ‘Women’s Transnational Theatre Networks, 1789-1914.’

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

(Photo: University of Leicester)

Lecture sponsored by the University of Leicester Dame Maggie Aderin Pocock DBE Space Scientist and Chancellor of the University of Leicester

     

Lecture outline

Maggie will share her remarkable path, from early curiosity about the natural world to becoming a prominent figure in astrophysics. Learn about her many space enterprises, the challenges she has overcome, and the passion that drives her quest for knowledge. 

Biographical note

Born in London to Nigerian parents, she attended 13 different schools before she turned 18 and had undiagnosed dyslexia.

Maggie has always had the desire to go to space. However, when she told a teacher that she wanted to be an astronaut, they suggested that she go into the caring professions as that was a more realistic aim.

She persevered with her love of science and obtained a physics degree and PhD in mechanical engineering at Imperial College London in 1994.

Maggie has worked for the UK Ministry of Defence helping to develop aircraft missile warning systems and hand-held instruments to detect landmines.

She worked at University College London from 1999 to 2005 develop a high-resolution spectrograph for the Gemini Observatory in Chile.

Maggie worked on the Aeolus satellite, which measures wind speeds in the Earth’s atmosphere to help with our understanding of climate change. She also worked on instrumentation for the James Webb Space Telescope.

She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Leicester in 2018.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

(Photo: University of Loughborough)

Lecture sponsored by the Loughborough University Professor David Deacon BA (Hons) MA PhD Professor of Communication and Media Analysis, Centre for Research in Communication and Culture, Loughborough University

Lecture outline

In 1992, The Guardian newspaper invited Loughborough to conduct the first ever ‘real time’ analysis of news reporting of the pending General Election campaign, publishing the results weekly in the lead up to the vote. This study has been replicated for every General Election (and one Referendum) since. As one of the founders of this research, David Deacon’s lecture will consider how the news reporting of UK General Elections has, and hasn’t, changed over the last thirty years. 

Biographical note

David Deacon started as a research assistant at Loughborough University in January 1990. He has changed offices many times since, but not institutions and is now Professor of Communication and Media Analysis in the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture, Loughborough University. Aside from election analysis, he has written widely on media history, journalism, and research methodology. He is currently writing a book on the video games industry.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

Image courtesy of the Univeresity of Leicester

Sponsored by The Royal Society of Chemistry Dr Josh Smalley MChem PhD Research Associate and Science Communication Champion University of Leicester Great British Bake Off finalist 2023

This lecture is sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry

Lecture outline

Join Josh and unlock the molecular mysteries of baking and see how chemistry plays an all-important role in their success or failure. Josh will also share his personal journey, how he combines a successful research career with his passion for food, and how he navigated the competitive landscape of the Great British Bake Off.

Biographical note

Josh is a chemistry research associate and science communication champion at the University of Leicester. In 2023, he was a finalist in the 2023 Great British Bake-Off and captivated audiences with his skilful techniques and mastery of flavours. Being equally accomplished in the laboratory and the kitchen has allowed Josh to infuse his culinary creations with a unique understanding of the molecular make-up of the bakes he showcases.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

(Photo:  De Montfort University)

Lecture sponsored by De Montfort University Professor Kelly Wilder DPhil Professor of Photographic History, Director, Photographic History Research Centre and Director, Institute of Art and Design, De Montfort University

Lecture outline

Photography and Science grew professional together in the second half of the Nineteenth century, exerting a profound influence on one another. From Astronomy to Geology, photography was not just a method of envisioning science, it was wrapped up in all aspects of experimentation, observation and recording of scientific phenomena. This lecture demonstrates how photography was embedded deeply into new ways of working, recording, transmitting and archiving science, at a time when science was forming an understanding about what it meant to do science.

Biographical note

Professor Kelley Wilder is a photographic historian, with interests in the cultures of science and knowledge generated by photography and photographic practice. In her work Kelley  considers the photographic practices of nineteenth century scientists and artists like William Henry Fox Talbot, Sir John Herschel, Henri Becquerel and others. New projects include work on Photographic catalogues and archives, and nineteenth and twentieth century material cultures of photographic industry.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

Natural History Section Joint Lecture Dr Oli Pescott PhD Research Scientist

   

Lecture outline

Plant Atlas 2020 is the most comprehensive survey of plants (flowering plants, ferns and charophytes) ever undertaken in Britain and Ireland. It is based on over 30 million records, collected mainly by volunteer recorders of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) between 2000 and 2019, as well as previous nationwide surveys undertaken in the 1950s and 1990s. Dr Pescott will describe the long path to Britain and Ireland’s third plant distribution atlas, overviewing its innovations and findings in the context of understanding environmental change and conservation.

Biographical note

Oli is a plant ecologist who specialises in the design, management and analysis of volunteer-collected botanical datasets ("citizen science"). His botanical experience covers both the field- and desk-based ends of plant ecology: he contributed to the recent Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland's (BSBI) Plant Atlas 2020 as a surveyor, lead analyst and editor. He is also the referee for alien grasses for the BSBI, the Recording Secretary for the British Bryological Society, and the local bryophyte recorder for Oxfordshire. His other interests include invasive non-native species, the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity, and the communication and presentation of uncertainty in biodiversity trend analyses.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

The 2024 Peach Lecture Jonathan ‘Jo’ Deeming BArch DipArch MArch RIBA SCA AABC RIBA Chartered Architect, Partner Purcell, Surveyor to the Fabric of Canterbury Cathedral (Note: 6:30 PM start at the University of Leicester)

The lecture will be followed by a reception

Registration for this event will be through the University of Leicester. 

Lecture outline

Following the most intensive period of investment in the Cathedral and its precinct since the start of the last century, Jo will look back at some of the highlights, exploring the ‘sweet spot’ of design for conserving living heritage, where the balance of engineering necessity with aesthetic beauty and conservation of the spirit of place is constantly in flux.

In this lecture, Jo will explore some of the surprising discoveries made during the last ten years, and even more surprising technologies employed to solve design challenges, including for a deteriorating 12th century iron space frame, failing flying buttresses, overloaded monastic drainage network and the contemporary debate concerning ‘repair of repairs’.

Jo will finish by looking forward to the next period, as the Cathedral needs to ever better align with the realities of climate change and the Church of England’s commitment to reaching carbon net zero by 2030.

Biographical note

A conservation accredited architect, Jo commenced his role as Surveyor to the Fabric of Canterbury Cathedral in January 2014. The Surveyor’s responsibilities encompass all matters pertaining to the care and development of the fabric and collections. Following the award-winning restoration of the Cathedral’s Great South Window in 2017, he led the conservation of the Nave and West Towers and Christ Church Gate, and oversaw the introduction of a new Quire Organ, Visitor Welcome Centre and new precinct landscaping.

Jo is Regional Partner for the North at Purcell Architecture Ltd, a practice he has worked with since his undergraduate degree at the University of Nottingham.  He now works principally as a conservation architect, with retained advisory roles for several organisations including the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple and the Drapers Livery Company.

Jo is a Commissioner for the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, and has previously acted as assessor for the RIBA’s Conservation Register and Regional Awards.  He is visiting lecturer for the University of Kent’s architecture and conservation programmes and runs Purcell’s in-house Conservation School.  He lives in the Yorkshire Dales with his wife Louise (also a Cathedral Architect), daughter Elspeth and dog Toby.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

Geology Section Joint Lecture Dr Steve Etches MBE

Registation for this event will open by August. 

Details to follow shortly

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take places in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

(Photo: Olivier Hess)

The F.L. Attenborough Lecture Isabella Tree Writer and Conservationist

     

Lecture outline

Isabella will talk about the huge potential of rewilding to restore biodiversity and store carbon, based on the latest science coming out of the Knepp rewilding project. Using Knepp’s work with the pioneering Weald to Waves nature corridor project, she’ll show how rewilding can connect isolated nature areas together, creating living landscapes and providing the life support systems for sustainable farming. We can all play our part, from large landholdings to urban parks, from private gardens to window boxes.

Biographical note

Isabella lives with her husband, Charlie Burrell, in the middle of a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex. Her award-winning book Wilding – the return of nature to a British farm was voted in the top ten science books for 2018 by The Smithsonian and has been made into a major documentary film. Her book, co-authored with Charlie, The Book of Wilding – a practical guide to rewilding big and small (Bloomsbury, 2023) has been described as ‘a handbook of hope’.

In 2020 Isabella was awarded a CIEEM Medal for her contribution to ecology and environmental management, and in 2021 received the Royal Geographical Society’s Ness Award. Isabella and Charlie were jointly awarded the Zoological Society of London’s Silver Medal ‘for outstanding contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology’ in 2023.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.

Leicester Museum and Art Gallery Joint Lecture Professor David Mattingly FBA MEA Professor of Roman Archaeology, University of Leicester

Lecture outline

In advance of my retirement in summer 2025, this lecture will offer some reflections on how my view of the Roman empire has changed over the course of a career spent, drawing in particular on my work on Britain and North Africa. The lecture will explore how perceptions of the Roman empire still remain profoundly influenced by modern colonial experiences. I shall argue for the need to reassess the impacts of empire and to examine the very varied experiences of Roman colonialism that occurred across its provinces. The city of Leicester, both ancient and modern, provides an interesting backdrop for challenging our assumptions about Roman imperialism

Biographical note

David Mattingly has published extensively on Roman imperialism and on different parts of the Roman empire (Italy, Britain, Jordan, North Africa) as well as its Saharan neighbours. He has been at the University of Leicester since 1992 and Professor there since 1998.

Attending the lecture

The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

The lecture will take place in Hansom Hall - how to find Hansom Hall.

The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.