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: 10.30am-12.00pm
Students' Union
From the sublime to the ridiculous: can we measure the value of the arts?
Saturday 29 October: 12.15pm-1.15pm
Lunchtime Debates Students' Union
Tomorrow never knows? Sci-fi and the future
Saturday 29 October: 1.30pm-3.00pm
Students' Union
What is the point of being an artist?
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Creativity and curiosity: do we make stuff up or find it out?
Saturday 29 October: 5.15pm-6.30pm
Students' Union
Performing politics: is all the world a stage?
Sunday 30 October: 9.45am-10.30am
Henry Moore Gallery
The Simpsons versus Shakespeare
Sunday 30 October: 12.30pm-1.30pm
Lunchtime Debates Henry Moore Gallery
Rebirth of the author?
Lunchtime Debates Students' Union
Burlesque: female empowerment or posh stripping?
Sunday 30 October: 1.45pm-3.15pm
Students' Union
Roads or ruins? The politics of cultural preservation
Sunday 30 October: 3.45pm-5.15pm
Students' Union
Dead cities: 'ruin porn' and the urban imagination
Sunday 30 October: 5.30pm-6.30pm
Lecture Theatre 2
Through a glass darkly: why do atheists love the King James Bible?
Henry Moore Gallery
Pax Romana: civilising the barbarians or evil empire?

MySpace Generation

"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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