2011 Programme: Festival weekend overview

The Festival weekend includes more than 70 debates which are listed below ordered by time slot and room. To see Saturday or Sunday sessions only, select the day you want from the menu on the left or select sessions by Theme.

Or view and print out the Timetable as a two-page PDF.

Saturday 29 October: 1.30pm-3.00pm
Courtyard Gallery
Your mind, your high: is recreational drug use morally wrong?
Saturday 29 October: 5.15pm-6.30pm
Courtyard Gallery
Crime and punishment: what are prisons for?
Sunday 30 October: 9.45am-10.30am
Courtyard Gallery
Civil disobedience or violent criminality?
Breakfast Banter Lecture Theatre 2
Haters gonna hate: should we hate hate?
Sunday 30 October: 10.45am-12.15pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Has tolerance gone too far?
Students' Union
Abortion: how late is 'too late'?
Sunday 30 October: 12.30pm-1.30pm
Lunchtime Debates Lecture Theatre 2
Silencing sectarianism: football's free speech wars
Sunday 30 October: 5.30pm-6.30pm
Students' Union
Interns or slave labour?

The Science and Politics of Climate Change

"I travel far to participate in the BOI; it’s a unique festival of free speech and debate that consistently combines energy, fearlessness and provocation with thoughtful, informed consideration of contemporary politics and culture."
Wendy Kaminer, US-based writer on law, liberty, feminism, religion, and popular culture

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