Being Human: Bath Spa University

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BSU chosen to host a national hub for festival of humanities

Bath Spa University has been named as one of five institutions set to host a hub for the UK’s national festival of the humanities, Being Human Festival 2024. 
 
The Being Human Festival, held across the UK each November, showcases the brilliant humanities research happening every day. It celebrates the ways in which humanities subjects and research inspire and enrich our everyday lives. From literature, philosophy and publishing to politics, history and heritage, they help us to understand ourselves, our relationships with others and the challenges we face in a changing world.

Being Human Festival celebrates these with a packed programme of events across the UK. The festival is led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. 

This year, the festival will celebrate its 10-year anniversary, focusing on the theme of ‘landmarks’. Every year, only a handful of organisations are awarded Hub status for the festival, permitting them to present a programme of free public events on a chosen theme. These events are aimed at people of all ages and with a variety of backgrounds and interests, designed to help address different challenges and spark inspiration.
 
Alongside Bath Spa University, this year’s festival Hubs are being led by the following universities: University of Birmingham, Cardiff University, University of Derby and Teesside University.
 
As part of the festival in November, Bath Spa University will present eight different events, with each one being hosted by researchers, tutors and academics from across the University. Audiences will be invited to take part in a city-wide readathon, munch their way to net zero, dance the pluriverse, haunt the heritage archives and more, all whilst finding out new things about themselves, their neighbours, and the landscapes and landmarks of Bath and the local area.

Speaking about this prestigious achievement, Rebecca Di Corpo, Centre Manager for the Centre of Applied Humanities at BSU said:

“Bath Spa University has such a dynamic approach to public engagement. My colleagues are always full of fabulous ideas and seem naturally dispositioned to engaging the wider community in their quest for new knowledge. We are really looking forward to bringing our research to life with the energy and imagination of people in Bath. The opportunity for us to promote and celebrate the humanities as part of this national festival cannot be underestimated.”

Having been awarded the prestigious Hub status, Being Human: Bath will be hosted by Bath Spa University alongside local partners Bathscape and Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.  

Reflecting on the upcoming celebration of humanities, Lucy Bartlett from Bathscape said: 

“Literature and landscape are classic Bathscape themes, so we’re delighted to be taking part in this year’s Being Human Festival, in partnership with Bath Spa University. Over the centuries art and literature have recorded changes in Bath’s landscape and how people interact with it, and we’re looking forward to shining a light on that during the festival and encouraging wider audiences to be inspired.” 

David Hall, chair of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution 200 committee also spoke of their excitement in the lead up to the event:

“Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution is delighted to be partnering with Bath Spa University to host some of the Being Human Festival. It will be an exciting contribution to our Bicentenary year and builds on our long-standing close relationship with the university."

Being Human Festival will take place between 7 and 16 November 2024. Full details of the programme of events will be available at beinghumanfestival.org from October.