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Art at the heart of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical studies

At a talk at the Intellectual Forum on 16 May, heart surgeon Francis Wells dissected Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical studies through a contemporary lens.

The Madman in the White House

Historian Patrick Weil gave a look into Sigmund Freud's lost psychobiography of American president Woodrow Wilson in a talk at the Intellectual Forum on 30 April.

Global sanctions and Russia: Lessons for international business

As part of the TMT Lecture Series with The Moscow Times, the Intellectual Forum hosted Nabi Abdullaev to consider how Russia's sanctions have impacted international businesses.

Rory Cellan-Jones in conversation

At the Intellectual Forum on 14 February, former BBC News technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones spoke with current MMLL students Aimee Jones and Asher Porter about how his undergraduate studies at Jesus served as a catalyst for a successful career in journalism.

Thrilling plots and chilling realities: Writing global thrillers

Thriller writer Mike Harrison discussed the art of creative writing and weaving real-world issues into his fiction at a talk on the Intellectual Forum on 25 January.

Ros Atkins on... The art of explanation

On 30 November at the Intellectual Forum, journalist and BBC presenter Ros Atkins shared his approach to communication and some of the personal and professional experiences which shaped it.

The afterlives of Caribbean slavery

On 22 November, historian Catherine Hall discussed her forthcoming book "Lucky Valley" in the third and final event of the Legacy of Slavery Working Party lecture series.

Displacement and memories of loss with Prof Sheila Fitzpatrick

On 17 November, distinguished historian Prof Sheila Fitzpatrick discussed the former Soviet Union and its sphere of influence, within and beyond its borders during a talk at the Intellectual Forum.

White Debt: The Demerara Uprising and Britain's Legacy of Slavery

On 14 November, author Thomas Harding discussed his book "White Debt" in the second event of the Legacy of Slavery Working Party lecture series.

John Bercow: Speaking for change

On 10 November, John Bercow spoke at the Intellectual Forum about his time as Speaker of the House of Commons and the challenges facing the current Conservative government.

Defending the History of Africa and the African Diaspora

On 1 November, historian Hakim Adi discussed his book "African and Caribbean People in Britain: a History" in the first event of the Legacy of Slavery Working Party lecture series.

Young women in policy in South Asia

At this panel event, four women from the policy worlds in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan shared their personal experiences and professional insight to shed light on women's negotiations with the state, politics, and law in male-dominated environments.

Time to Write: Emily Winslow's 49 lessons for writing a novel

Crime writer Emily Winslow visited the Intellectual Forum to give a packed audience a glimpse into a few of the 49 lessons on how to write a novel from her new book 'Time to Write'.

Britain and the world: From Chagos to Ukraine and beyond

Philippe Sands KC, renowned barrister, spoke at the Intellectual Forum on 16 October about his career in international law and his views on some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time.

Afropolitanism and Ada’s Realm: A conversation with Sharon Dodua Otoo

On 12 October, prizewinning author Sharon Dodua Otoo visited the Intellectual Forum to speakabout the recently published English-language edition of her debut novel, "Ada’s Realm".

Knock, knock! In pursuit of a grand unified theory of humour

Humour comes in many forms, from slapstick to sarcasm to knock knock jokes. Author and humourist William Hartston explained them all in this talk about what makes us laugh and why.

Textual Magic: charms and written amulets in medieval England

The medieval charm tradition was a continuous, deeply-rooted part of the English Middle Ages. On 7 July, Dr Katherine Hindley...

Closing Ranks: My Life as a Cop

How can we improve relationships between the police and Britain's minority ethnic communities? What can we change to create a...

Ai Weiwei on memorials, colonisation, and freedom in art at the Intellectual Forum

On 21 April, the legendary Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist Ai Weiwei came to speak at the Intellectual Forum...

Julian of Norwich: mother, mystic, radical

What can a 14th century woman writer's story teach us about our own lives? The 14th century visionary Julian of...

The universe in an atom: atoms as quantum sensors for fundamental physics

While practical quantum computers, with their fascinating future possibilities, remain quite a distance away in the future, quantum sensors are...

Would I Sci To You? Science comedy show

Relevant but irreverent: science, technology, engineering, and maths meets Would I Lie to You, Have I Got News for You...

Romanticism and the Black Atlantic

Romanticism is best known as a movement celebrating political and imaginative liberty - the human mind freeing itself from the...

The power of storytelling: care survivors and reparative justice

How can the powerless make their voices heard? On Monday 20 March, as part of the Cambridge Festival, Dr Véronique...

Hacktivism and Black creativity

"This lecture series will cultivate a global community of change-makers that want to build at the intersection of disruptive innovation...

The Curiosity Incubator at the Intellectual Forum: an 'Accelerator for Good'

On 24-25 January, Intellectual Forum Senior Research Associate Bridget Gildea held the pilot of her Curiosity Incubator, an 'Accelerator for...

The Falling of Dusk

Why should Christians embrace suspicious doubt? Can a suspicious Christianity challenge doubters? On 12 January, the Intellectual Forum hosted a...

Hostile Film Screening

On 29 November, the Intellectual Forum screened Hostile, an award-winning feature-length documentary written, produced, and directed by BAFTA-longlisted filmmaker Sonita...

Boy Actors in Early Modern England

What was life like for early modern boy actors, and what was it like to write for them? The Intellectual...

Abortion is still a crime in Britain: changing the law for women and girls

Many people assume that the right to an abortion is enshrined in law in most of the UK. But that's...

Bridges or walls: a competitive or cooperative planet?

On 1 October the Intellectual Forum was joined by Intellectual Forum Senior Research Associate and former diplomat Farukh Amil. Farukh...

An evening with Lemn Sissay

The Intellectual Forum was joined by renowned poet, playwright, memoirist, performer, and broadcaster Lemn Sissay OBE. Lemn read from his...

New leaders, new rules: an immersive workshop for aspiring leaders

We are in a leadership and motivational crisis today - as individuals, in our organisations, and as a society at...

Drawing without seeing at the Intellectual Forum

Is beauty in an object, or in a concept? Materials have the ability to seduce or distract us from the...

The Great Post Office Scandal

How do you expose one of the UK's biggest ever miscarriages of justice? The Great Post Office Scandal is the...

Joined Up Thinking

At a time of existential global challenges, we need our best brainpower. How do we create genius environments, help our...

An Intimate History of Evolution

�������� Honorary Fellow Alison Bashford FBA came to the Intellectual Forum on Wednesday 5 October to discuss her book...

Here We Are: film screening and Q&A

On the 27th August, we screened the animated short film Here We Are, based on the award-winning book by Oliver...

From ‘altruism’ to solidarity: funding feminist movements

On Thursday 16 June, we were joined by feminist activist Lori Adelman. Lori is Vice President at Global Fund for...

Communities in space: a one-day conference

On Friday 29th April, this one-day conference investigated the social, economic, cultural, legal, governmental, and other issues relating to future...

Imaging in four dimensions

On 8th April, as part of the Cambridge Festival 2022, Dr Tiffany Harte led a turn-based game to help build...

Productivity: does it really matter?

We spend a significant portion of our waking hours on our work, and “productivity” has become a ubiquitous term for...

Make your own medieval medical charms

On Sunday 3rd April 2022, as part of the Cambridge Festival 2022, Intellectual Forum Senior Research Associate Dr Kat Hindley...

Breaking the rules of protein synthesis in living systems

On Friday 1st April 2022, as part of the Cambridge Festival 2022, synthetic biologist Dr Kim Liu questioned whether we...

Being in connection: a conversation with Sharon Dodua Otoo

On Friday 18th March 2022, attendees had the chance to hear an exciting preview of Ada’s Realm, the remarkable new...

The Lisa Jardine Memorial Lecture 2022

The 2022 Lisa Jardine Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Bill Sherman on Tuesday 15th March 2022. This illustrated lecture...

The Voice of Sin

In conjunction with the Cambridge Film Trust and the Japan Foundation, �������� and the Intellectual Forum were delighted to...

Real lives in science

On International Women’s Day (Tuesday 8th March 2022) we were joined by a number of university members including undergraduates, postgraduates...

Iwane: Sword of Serenity

Tales from a reformed establishment lackey

On Thursday 10th February, Andrew Mitchell returned to his alma mater ��������, Cambridge to talk about his life and...

What’s the worst that could happen?

Did you know that you’re more likely to die from a catastrophe than in a car crash? On Monday 17th...

Professor Mary Beard: in conversation

Screening of experimental film: Lady Blackshirt

On Friday 22nd October 2021, the Intellectual Forum hosted a screening of the new experimental film Impermanence: Lady Blackshirt, followed...

The #MeToo movement in the UK and Australia

On 16 July, the Intellectual Forum, the Australian National University, and the Centre for Social Impact at the University of...

�������� Perspectives: long-term thinking with Roman Krznaric

At the first �������� Perspectives: Long-term Thinking event on Tuesday 29th June 2021, public philosopher and author of The...

Digging up the past: nuns, the early College, and how they lived

On Wednesday 23rd June 2021, we heard from project leader Preston Boyles and �������� archivist Robert Athol about the...

Museums of the future

What are museums for? What will they be like in decades to come, and has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the...

How should a government be?

For over a century, the most pressing question in political thought has been about the size and capacity of the...

Business ecosystems of the future

Businesses are increasingly being challenged to solve problems and come up with new offerings that are way beyond the capabilities any company has in-house.

Ripples: a live interactive event

How do ripples form the fabric of our world, and how do we make sense of them? From social media...

Young scientists gather for a workshop on atoms

The world is made of atoms, but what does this mean? College Postdoctoral Associate Tiffany Harte delivered an interactive workshop to young scientists.

How can we fix the financial system?

How can university endowments, pension funds, and individual savers contribute to the mitigation of inequality and the climate crisis through their investments?

Watch the 2021 Lisa Jardine Memorial Lecture

How should historians study emotions to help them understand the past? The German Peasants' War of 1524-6 was the biggest...

The experience economy with James Wallman

Available to watch online: former British Deputy Ambassador to the US Patrick Davies OBE discusses US politics.

Transition in the USA: what just happened and what’s next?

Available to watch online: former British Deputy Ambassador to the US Patrick Davies OBE discusses US politics.

How The Simpsons predicts the future

Available to watch online: The Simpsons writer and Producer Al Jean talks about Humour, Politics and how The Simpsons predicts the future.

Dr Ulrich Schneider asks: is "detecting" the same as "seeing"?

You can now watch Dr Ulrich Schneider's talk on whether or not we can believe what we see.

Belinda Wilkes brings the high-energy universe to ��������

On 5 February 2020, Dr Belinda Wilkes showed enthralled audiences images taken from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. During her talk...

A night of poetry with Raymond Antrobus: a journey through the deaf and hearing world

Winner of the 2018 Ted Hughes Award, Raymond Antrobus, came to the Intellectual Forum to deliver his poems in spoken-word...

An Evening with Simon Reid-Henry on the Empire of Democracy from 1970-2017

On Wednesday 27 November, author, academic, and Jesus Alumnus, Simon Reid-Henry, came to the Intellectual Forum to talk about his...

Are British politics in turmoil?

On Tuesday 19 November, the Financial Times journalist and Jesus Alumna, Miranda Green, came to the Intellectual Forum to talk...

Prisoners? Artists? Or Both?

PhD student Ellie Brown came to the Intellectual Forum to talk about her work with prisoners.

Discovering the untold history of the Parthenon

Dr Elizabeth Key Fowden came to the Intellectual Forum to interrogate the diverse history of the Parthenon.

Watch Professor James Clackson's history of taboo words

Professor James Clackson joined us at the Intellectual Forum to talk about taboo language as part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2019.

Is the law just "common sense with knobs on"?

�������� Fellow Julius Grower came to the Intellectual Forum to put the public through their paces with a number of tricky legal conundrums.

Novelist returns to �������� for Cambridge Science Festival event

The Intellectual Forum welcomed Megan Hunter (2006) to the Cambridge Science Festival to discuss her debut novel The End We Start From.

The world of quantum computers: Jesus Fellow gives Science Festival lecture to packed audience

�������� Fellow Dr Ulrich Schnieder delivered a lecture on quantum computers for the Cambridge Science Festival.

Watch Baroness Helena Kennedy QC discuss international law in the age of Brexit and Trump

A video of the 2019 Lisa Jardine Memorial Lecture, delivered by Baroness Helena Kennedy, is now available to watch.

Making better decisions with Steven Johnson at the Intellectual Forum

The Farsighted event with non-fiction writer and TV presenter Steven Johnson is now available to watch.

Book Launch of It Keeps Me Seeking with Andrew Briggs

Intellectual Forum hosted the Cambridge launch of It Keeps Me Seeking: The Invitation from Science, Philosophy and Religion, a new book by Andrew Briggs, Hans Halvorson & Andrew Steane.

Transforming the future? Anticipation in the 21st Century

The Intellectual Forum was pleased to host Riel Miller to discuss his recent book, Transforming the Future.

Ballet film premieres at Festival

The premiere of The Ballet of the Nations, a film by Bristol-based Impermanence Dance Theatre, has been screened as part of the �������� Intellectual Forum programme for the Cambridge Festival of Ideas 2018.

Watch Dr Clare Chambers argue against state-recognised marriage

You can now see College Fellow Dr Clare Chambers critiquing state-recognised marriage in this livestream of the Against Marriage event hosted by the Intellectual Forum.

Rustat Report on Reconfiguring Careers: Recruitment, Retention and Diversity

On the 21 of September 2018, experts came together to discuss recruitment, retention, and diversity.

Watch The Simpsons star Harry Shearer at Intellectual Forum event

Watch one of the stars of the internationally renowned TV series The Simpsons take questions from the public at an Intellectual Forum event.

Rustat Report on Generations

On 21 June 2018, this Rustat Conference explored 'is there such a thing as a generation gap?'.

How science really works: the secret life of science

Professor Jeremy Baumberg FRS explored "Is the scientific enterprise truly as healthy as we tend to think? How does the system itself shape what scientists do?”

Building a business within the creative industries: an evening with Flora Alexandra Ogilvy

Flora Alexandra Ogilvy, the founder of Arteviste, which helps companies to inspire their audiences by engaging with the contemporary art world, came to the Intellectual Forum to discuss building a business in the creative industries.

Creating the coolest objects in the Universe

Intellectual Forum was pleased to host �������� Fellow, Ulrich Schneider, to explore how you can make things colder than anything in outer space.

Using Materials to Think

Advances in science provide the means to probe matter on increasingly minute and vast scales, expanding human senses and calling into question what it means to know and perceive.

Hot topics in bioscience I wished I knew more about

Intellectual Forum hosted a panel of bioscientists from around the University of Cambridge to discuss the hot topics of the day for the Cambridge Science Festival.

Jimmy Choo 'In Conversation' in College

World-famous shoe designer, Professor Datuk Jimmy Choo OBE, kept an audience entertained for over an hour last night as he shared personal stories and sage advice.

China's Belt and Road from a European Perspective

China's economic Belt and Road Initiative was approached from a global and European perspective at a lecture given by Dr Danilo Türk.

Cambridge Railway lecture features College archive material

Nineteenth Century plans from the College archives are just some of the never before published images that formed part of an illustrated lecture about the history of Cambridge Railway Station.

Watch the inaugural Lisa Jardine lecture

Watch the inaugural Lisa Jardine Lecture - delivered by College alum and author of The Silk Roads, Professor Peter Frankopan.

Rustat Report on Global Mobility

On 30 November 2017, this Conference discussed human mobility, including Brexit, now and in the future.

My Year with Helen screening

A film following the Rt Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minster of New Zealand, was screened at an Intellectual Forum on 24 November.

The automation of consensus: Democracy and the dark arts

The Intellectual Forum co-hosted with Byline Cambridge a discussion on whether the utopian promises of the sharing digital economy have now turned into a dark dystopian present.

Rustat Report on the Future of Work

On 22 November 2016, the Rustat Conference on the Future of Work considered pressing questions about the destabilising effects of new technology, and what they means for individuals and workforces.

Director's Discussion on the Rise of Trump

At this Director's Discussion, Dr Julian Huppert, the newly appointed Director of the Intellectual Forum, chaired a panel comprising of...