2012 Programme: Festival Saturday overview

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

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

Saturday 20 October: 10.30am-12.00pm
Keynote Controversies Cinema 1
What's wrong with equality?
Pit Theatre
Is Europe... boring?
Frobisher Auditorium 2
One year on: assessing the state of the nation
Frobisher 4-6
Forced marriage to faith schools: the politics of multiculturalism
Fountain Room
Who needs art anyway?
Conservatory
Religious or Spiritual or Neither?
Garden Room
Manufacturing: the great comeback?
Saturday 20 October: 12.15pm-1.15pm
Lunchtime Debates Cinema 1
High and low culture: separated at birth?
Pit Theatre
UK RIP?
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Blaming troubled families: licence to parent?
Frobisher 4-6
Whatever happened to the Arab Spring?
Fountain Room
Bored of the Booker: prizes, prizes, everywhere
Conservatory
Social media: good? Or bad?
Garden Room
Gas galore? Fracking and the future of energy
Hammerson Room
Battle book launch and discussion: There Is No Such Thing As a Free Press
Saturday 20 October: 1.30pm-3.00pm
Keynote Controversies Cinema 1
Lessons from America: the new culture wars
Pit Theatre
Euro and the economy: the final countdown?
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Youth today: unemployed or unemployable?
Frobisher 4-6
A crisis of compassion: who cares?
Fountain Room
All together now: the rise of the choir
Conservatory
Lobbyists: the new hidden persuaders?
Garden Room
Engineering design or design engineering?
Saturday 20 October: 3.30pm-5.00pm
Keynote Controversies Cinema 1
Capitalism: kill or cure?
Pit Theatre
European Spring?
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Telling off the grown-ups
Frobisher 4-6
Racism today: alive and kicking?
Fountain Room
In search of originality: navigating the artistic canon
Conservatory
Right to know: opening Pandora's box?
Garden Room
Water, water, everywhere: not allowed to use it
Hammerson Room
Campaigning for freedom
Saturday 20 October: 5.15pm-6.30pm
Cinema 1
Can the law make us equal?
Pit Theatre
Europe's new far right, fear or fantasy?
Frobisher Auditorium 2
Pop-up communities: here to stay?
Frobisher 4-6
Genocide denial: should we defend the right to speak evil?
Fountain Room
Who is the greatest artist? Balloon debate
Frobisher Auditorium 1
Debating Matters Competition International Final
Garden Room
Commons people: music in a digital age
Saturday 20 October: 6.45pm-9.00pm
Conservatory
Battle of Ideas 2012 festival drinks reception

What makes life sacred?

"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