2012 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 20 October: 10.30am-12.00pm
Garden Room
Manufacturing: the great comeback?
Saturday 20 October: 12.15pm-1.15pm
Garden Room
Gas galore? Fracking and the future of energy
Saturday 20 October: 3.30pm-5.00pm
Garden Room
Water, water, everywhere: not allowed to use it
Sunday 21 October: 9.30am-10.15am
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Born this way?
Sunday 21 October: 10.30am-12.00pm
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Organ donation: dead or alive?
Sunday 21 October: 12.15pm-1.15pm
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Epigenetics: are you what your parents ate?
Sunday 21 October: 3.15pm-4.45pm
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Abortion: a medical or a moral choice?
Garden Room
Character: skill or virtue?
Sunday 21 October: 5.00pm-6.15pm
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Trust me: I'm a scientist
Sunday 21 October: 6.30pm-7.30pm
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Banning the Brave New World? The ethics of science

Is the Big Society the good society?

"The Battle of Ideas is a weekend like no other. I found the 2011 festival immensely stimulating. It gave me a great deal to think about, and a whole new list of books to read - from Virgil to Vygotsky. On to greater battles in 2012!"
Ken Macleod, award-winning science fiction writer; author, The Restoration Game and Intrusion

follow the Academy of Ideas