ÃÛÌÒTV

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, formerly called Human Worlds Festival (2014 - 2020), is the ÃÛÌÒTV's annual arts- and humanities-based festival organised by the Public Engagement with Research unit. It is a free series of public events, in-person and online, open to all.

Human Worlds Festival was first launched in 2014, it was renamed in September 2021 and runs every year in November to coincide with , the UK’s national celebration of humanities research led by the at the University of London, in partnership with the and the .

The ten-day celebration usually includes our Arts and Humanities Day (formerly known as Hands-on-Humanities Day), a free family-friendly eventÌýwith interactive hands-on activities, workshops, exhibitions, talks and performances from across our Faculties.

Over the last few years, we haveÌýinvited participation fromÌýexternal exhibitors including local bookstores, radios, schools, community groups, cultural venues, trusts and other research institutions

Southampton Arts and Humanities FestivalÌý2023

In 2023, Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival took place fromÌýThursday 9th to Saturday 18th November .

This year's expanded programme included contributions from Exhibitors towards related special events including (October), (16th November - 16th December) and (February 2024).

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival 2021

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival ran from Thursday 11th to Sunday 20th November 2021.

The Festival was preceded by a month-long series of celebratory events in October for Black History Month and for the first time was followed by a month of celebration for UK Disability History Month (18th Nov - 18th Dec), and then by LGBT+ History Month in February 2022.ÌýThe series wereÌýcurated in collaboration with few other teams across the University, including the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, the BAME Network , the and the (SUSU).

Other events that were hosted under the Festival umbrella included a strand of digital events for (run by English at the ÃÛÌÒTV and led by Carol Burns , Head of Creative Writing) and a special night on Thursday 7th October for 'Enduring Freedom? The 20-year mission in Afghanistan' (run by History at the ÃÛÌÒTV and chaired by Dr Christopher Fuller ). Watch the following video to re-discover the exclusive event that took place on the night of theÌýtwenty-year anniversary of the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The main events ofÌýSouthampton Arts and Humanities FestivalÌý2021 included:

• Wider Festival ,Ìýa selection of online activities and events taking place across ten days, with the return of some in-person events too. E.g.:
  • Human minds, animal minds, and alien minds: exploring the outer limits of thought, an online discussion that explored the philosophy of neurodiversity, and the possible limits of human thought and communication;
  • Monarch Butterflies, the Mexican Day of the Dead in Covid Times and Renewal, a family-friendly workshop thatÌýfocused on the Mexican Day of the Dead to raise awareness of this globally practiced cultural phenomenon;
  • , an online discussion with ÃÛÌÒTV researchers and delegates (live from COP26 in Glasgow).
• Hands-on Humanities Day on Saturday 20th November, at the ÃÛÌÒTV Avenue Campus (Highfield). The day included a rich programme ofÌýinteractive activities, exhibits and workshops, from archaeology to light, from history and wellbeing to bones and storytelling. The day was part of the Being Human festival 2021 programme.

Watch the following video from Hands-on Humanities Day to find out what this eventÌýis all about from senior leaders and researchers at the ÃÛÌÒTV. Hear about how taking part helped changing perspectives from festival exhibitors and our visitors too.

For queries, please contact festival@southampton.ac.uk

Follow #UoSArtsHumFest and the UoS Engagement accounts on , and .

Watch videos and recordings of previous events on the UoS Festival .