BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Living Freedom - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://livingfreedom.org.uk
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Living Freedom
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20210328T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20211031T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20220327T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20221030T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20230326T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20231029T010000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:20240331T010000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:20241027T010000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:UTC
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:UTC
DTSTART:20220101T000000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20230503T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20230503T190000
DTSTAMP:20260429T115921
CREATED:20230321T135047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230418T121024Z
UID:185-1683140400-1683140400@livingfreedom.org.uk
SUMMARY:What can we learn from...? Oriel College\, Oxford\, May 2023
DESCRIPTION:WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM…? John Milton/Liberty and John Locke/Toleration \nSpeakers: Andrew Doyle and Dr Tiffany Jenkins \nThe rise of cancel culture has made many nervous about free expression and open debate\, even though academic freedom is a core value – and legal duty of universities. Many students – and even academics – report they self-censor; student societies often encounter problems in terms of inviting diverse speakers. \nHowever\, if universities are to fulfil their purpose as spaces in which to freely explore ideas and develop knowledge\, then nothing should be beyond question or outwith the scope of debate. Today\, while values of tolerance and liberty are rhetorically espoused\, increasingly it is often argued that free expression has its limits. \nOne way to understand better the predicaments around freedom today is to turn to important figures of the past and to explore their thinking and how it might help us now. ‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from history. After short\, accessible talks\, there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion. \nREGISTER \nPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Submit  \nEVENT\nWednesday 3 May\, 7.00pm-9.00pm \nHistorically liberty and toleration have been staples of liberal society. Join us to explore the historic roots and contemporary realities of these important ideals. \n1: Milton and Liberty\nAndrew Doyle\, broadcaster; author\, The New Puritans\n‘Give me liberty to know\, to utter\, and to argue freely according to conscience’\, declared the poet John Milton in Areopagitica. Often associated with seventeenth-century non-conformist Puritans\, Milton rejected licensing of printed texts and rebuffed the notion that prohibitions\, bans or force could create virtuous men. Today\, amidst the rise of a new puritanism\, being offensive can be deemed a crime\, demands for ‘social justice’ brook no dissent and uttering uncomfortable truths can lead to public shaming. From the ages of the Puritans\, old and new\, what can we learn about the case for freedom of belief and expression? \n2: John Locke and Toleration\nDr Tiffany Jenkins\, writer and broadcaster\nIt was only in the seventeenth century that Western society started to seriously consider the philosophical foundations of toleration of competing religions and beliefs. Today\, values of tolerance and respect are regularly upheld. But some argue that tolerating free expression has its limits and society should not be placed at risk of intolerant ideas or even overly judgemental views. Should we tolerate free expression\, or retain a right to be intolerant of intolerance? \nVENUE \nOriel College\nHarris Lecture Theatre\nOriel Square\, Oxford\, OX1 4EW\nSee Google Maps for location. \nSPEAKERS \nANDREW DOYLE\npresenter\, Free Speech Nation\, GB News; author\, The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world\nAndrew Doyle is a writer\, comedian\, and a presenter on GB News. He is the author of Free Speech and Why It Matters (2021) and The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world (2022). He is the creator of the satirical character Titania McGrath\, who has published two books – Woke: a guide to social justice (2019) and My First Little Book of Intersectional Activism (2020). He began presenting his show Free Speech Nation on GB News in June 2021. Before then he was a columnist for spiked\, a panellist on the BBC’s Moral Maze and regularly reviewed the papers on Sky News. \nDR TIFFANY JENKINS\nwriter and broadcaster; author\, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life\nTiffany Jenkins is a writer\, author and broadcaster. Her last book\, Keeping Their Marbles: How Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums and Why They Should Stay There\, was published in 2016 to critical acclaim. Her next book\, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life\, will be published in 2023 by Picador. Tiffany is an honorary fellow Art History at the University of Edinburgh\, and is host of the podcast Behind the Scenes at the Museum\, in which she talks to key figures about the big ideas rocking the cultural world\, charting the trends and dissecting the controversies. She has written and presented several programmes for BBC Radio 4\, including the series A Narrative History of Secrecy. \nCONVENORS \nALASTAIR DONALD\, convenor\, Living Freedom\nDR MARIE KAWTHAR DAOUDA\, Oriel College\, University of Oxford\nDR ROGER P L TEICHMANN\, St Hilda’s College\nDR ALBERTO GIUBILINI\, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
URL:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/event/what-can-we-learn-from-oriel-college-oxford-may-2023
LOCATION:Harris Lecture Theatre\, Oriel College\, Oriel Square\, Oxford\, OX1 4EW\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:University Salon
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Oxford-twitter-3-May-blue-v2-1-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20230426T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20230426T203000
DTSTAMP:20260429T115921
CREATED:20230411T152333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230421T101546Z
UID:424-1682535600-1682541000@livingfreedom.org.uk
SUMMARY:Why debating matters in an era of cancel culture
DESCRIPTION:This event is free\, but please register using the form below. \nThe rise of cancel culture has made many nervous about free expression and open debate. Even though academic freedom is a core value – and a legal duty – of universities\, many students – and even academics – report they self-censor; student societies often encounter problems in terms of inviting diverse speakers. \nIn one such example of the constraints on debate and free speech on campus\, last year\, Academy of Ideas director\, Claire Fox was invited to speak at Royal Holloway’s Debating Society. Yet an invite to talk about the importance of debate was then turned into a bureaucratic nightmare – with risk assessments\, safeguarding checks and other onerous procedures enforced by the students’ union. Eventually\, the students’ union successfully put the Society under pressure to cancel the event – ostensibly because Claire retweeted a clip of Ricky Gervais satirising the gender wars. \nIn this special Living Freedom University Salon at University of Cambridge\, Claire will give the talk on ‘why debating matters’ that was intended for Royal Holloway students. This is followed by a conversation with Omar Loubak\, a student and former organiser of the debating society at Royal Holloway. \nSPEAKERS\n\nClaire Fox\ndirector\, Academy of Ideas; independent peer\, House of Lords; author\, I STILL Find That Offensive! \nOmar Loubak\nDebating Society\, Royal Holloway University of London \nCHAIR\nJames Orr\nassociate professor of Philosophy of Religion\, University of Cambridge \nVENUE\nNewton Room\, The Pitt Building\, Trumpington Street\, Cambridge\, CB2 1RP\nREGISTER\nPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Submit
URL:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/event/why-debating-matters-in-an-era-of-cancel-culture-cambridge
LOCATION:Cambridge University – The Pitt Building\, Trumpington St\,\, Cambridge\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:University Salon
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CAMBRIDGE-LF-April-26-version1-copy-2-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20230316T191500
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20230316T201500
DTSTAMP:20260429T115921
CREATED:20230313T113725Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230322T180810Z
UID:100-1678994100-1678997700@livingfreedom.org.uk
SUMMARY:What can we learn from...? Cambridge\, March 2023
DESCRIPTION:INTRODUCTION \n‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from the past. They offer an opportunity to understand the emergence of key ideals related to freedom and to explore and debate if and how they remain important in the present. \n\nThis event is supported by Free Speech Champions\n\nEach salon starts with short\, accessible talks from thought-provoking experts and critics who will offer insights into key thinkers in history. Talks are followed by plenty of time for discussion\, with the chance to ask questions and put forward points. Together we will interrogate why these thinkers and the ideas they promoted can offer valuable insights that help us understand freedom then and now. \nREGISTER \n\n\nEVENT\n\n\nThursday 16 March\, 7.15pm-9.15pm \nHistorically freedom of conscience has been a staple of liberal society. Join us to explore the historic roots and contemporary realities of this important ideal. \n1: Roger Williams: Freedom’s Prophet\nDr James Orr\, assistant professor of philosophy of religion\, University of Cambridge\nAmidst the heady religious ferment of the seventeenth century in North America\, Roger Williams – a minister\, theologian\, and alumnus of Pembroke College\, Cambridge – soon emerged as a central figure in the brewing conflicts over freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. Expelled by Puritan leaders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony\, Williams founded the Colony of Rhode Island with the express purpose of providing a space for the free expression of contested religious and political perspectives. A fierce and early critic of chattel slavery and the callous treatment of Native Americans\, Williams sowed the seeds for the idea that the freedom to criticise authorities and majorities is an indispensable enabling condition for civic flourishing. A reappraisal of his legacy and work offers us an opportunity to assess and contest the many and various fetters on free expression that have emerged across our institutional landscape today. \n2: Richard Wagner: Can we separate art from the artist?\nDavid Cotter\, academic\, musician and writer\nThe work of Richard Wagner is captivating\, but also challenging and unsettling. He believed art could be a unifying force for society. But like his operatic characters\, Wagner often rejected social norms and his notoriously anti-Semitic views have promoted some critics and institutions to argue his music should no longer be played. Today\, from writer JK Rowling to the recent award-winning film Tár\, the beliefs\, moral character or personality traits of artists are regularly asserted as key to judging the value of their work. But whatever an artists’ controversial or deeply unpleasant views\, should we be more willing to focus on the work itself? Or can we never really separate art from the artist? \nVENUE \nSidney Sussex College\nKnox-Shaw Room\nSidney St\, Cambridge CB2 3HU\nSee Google Maps for location. \nSPEAKERS \nDR JAMES ORR\nassistant professor of philosophy of religion\, University of Cambridge\nJames Orr is assistant professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge. He is Chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation UK\, a trustee of the St Paul’s Theological Centre and the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation and a member of the Advisory Councils of the New Social Covenant Unit\, the Free Speech Union\, History Reclaimed\, and Briefings for Britain. \nDAVID COTTER\nacademic\, musician and writer\nDavid Cotter is an academic and musician who has performed and spoken in 22 countries around the world. David’s recent publications include ‘The Creative Musical Mediation of Order and Chaos’ in Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses and ‘The Guitar Reimagined’ (co-authored with Marc Estibeiro) in Rethinking the Musical Instrument. David has also written for The Critic. He is currently completing his doctorate on co-performer collaboration in musical performance. \nCONVENORS \nALASTAIR DONALD\, convenor\, Living Freedom\nDAVID COTTER\, academic\, musician and writer\nCHARLIE BENTLEY-ASTOR\, English undergraduate\, freelance writer
URL:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/event/what-can-we-learn-from-cambridge-march-2023
LOCATION:Knox-Shaw Room\, Sidney Sussex College\, Sidney Street\, Cambridge\, CB2 3HU\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:University Salon
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Cambridge-16-March-prophet-and-artist-768x384-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20221129T191500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20221129T211500
DTSTAMP:20260429T115921
CREATED:20230322T115021Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230322T180810Z
UID:294-1669749300-1669756500@livingfreedom.org.uk
SUMMARY:What can we learn from…? Cambridge\, 29 November 2023
DESCRIPTION: ‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from the past. They offer an opportunity to understand the emergence of key ideals related to freedom and to explore and debate if and how they remain important in the present. \n \nThis event is supported by Free Speech Champions \nEach salon starts with short\, accessible talks from thought-provoking experts and critics who will offer insights into key thinkers in history. Talks are followed by plenty of time for discussion\, with the chance to ask questions and put forward points. Together we will interrogate why these thinkers and the ideas they promoted can offer valuable insights that help us understand freedom then and now. \nTuesday 29 November\, 7.15pm-9.15pm \nTALKS \nShort\, accessible talks from experts and critics will offer insights into Hannah Arendt and CLR James. \n1: Hannah Arendt and Totalitarianism – Jacob Reynolds\, convenor\, Hannah Arendt Study Group\nWhether prompted by concerns over draconian lockdowns\, new authoritarian political leaders\, policing of speech or outlawing demonstrations\, there’s been a revival of interest in Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism. From views on the destruction of individuality to the desire for safety\, Arendt was never shy of challenging orthodoxies and addressing profound moral questions. What can Arendt tell us about the problems with freedom today? \n3: CLR James and Universalism – Ralph Leonard\, writer\nAs a Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist\, critic of European colonialism and respecter of Western civilisation\, classicist and lover of popular culture\, CLR James specialised in confounding expectations. Today\, when praise for ‘Western culture’ is often dismissed as ‘Eurocentrism’ and identity silos trump a sense of our shared humanity\, is a universalist outlook and an emphasis on what we have in common worth defending? What can we learn from a man once labelled ’the black Plato’? \nVENUE \nGonville and Caius College\nTrinity St\, Cambridge CB2 1TA\nSee Google Maps for location.\nLectures: Long Room\nSeminars: Long Room\, Senior Parlour Room \nSPEAKERS  \nJACOB REYNOLDS\nconvenor\, The Academy; external affairs manager\, boi charity\nJacob is partnerships manager at the Academy of Ideas. He read the BPhil in philosophy at St Cross College\, Oxford\, developing an interest in political and continental philosophy\, especially the work of Hannah Arendt. Before that\, Jacob read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield and co-ran the Sheffield Salon\, modelled on the salons of Enlightenment Europe. He spends his spare time drinking coffee\, writing and arguing about philosophy. \nRALPH LEONARD\nwriter; author\, Letter on Liberty:  Unshackling Intimacy contributor\, Areo Magazine\nRalph is a British-Nigerian writer and commentator on international politics\, culture and sex. He is the author of the Letters on Liberty pamphlet Unshackling Intimacy\, writes for UnHerd\, Areo and the Telegraph\, and is a regular guest on the Zer0 Books podcast. He also writes on religion\, human rights and international affairs. As an ardent secularist and leftist\, Ralph believes it is crucial to uphold the legacy of the Enlightenment\, and the project for the universal emancipation of humanity.
URL:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/event/what-can-we-learn-from-cambridge-29-november-2023
LOCATION:Gonville and Caius College\, Trinity Street\, Cambridge\, CB2 1TA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:University Salon
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cambridge-29-november-2022.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20221101T191500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20221101T211500
DTSTAMP:20260429T115921
CREATED:20230322T111957Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230322T180810Z
UID:288-1667330100-1667337300@livingfreedom.org.uk
SUMMARY:What can we learn from…? Cambridge\, 1 November 2023
DESCRIPTION: ‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from the past. They offer an opportunity to understand the emergence of key ideals related to freedom and to explore and debate if and how they remain important in the present. \n \nThis event is supported by Free Speech Champions \nEach salon starts with short\, accessible talks from thought-provoking experts and critics who will offer insights into key thinkers in history. Talks are followed by plenty of time for discussion\, with the chance to ask questions and put forward points. Together we will interrogate why these thinkers and the ideas they promoted can offer valuable insights that help us understand freedom then and now. \nTuesday 1 November\, 7.15pm-9.15pm \nTALKS \nShort\, accessible talks from experts and critics will offer insights into key John Locke and John Milton  \n1: John Locke and Toleration – Piers Benn\, philosopher\, author and lecturer\nIt was only in the 17th century that society started to tolerate competing religions and beliefs. Today\, values of tolerance and respect are regularly upheld. But some argue that tolerating free expression has its limits and society should not be placed at risk of intolerant ideas or even overly judgemental views. Should we tolerate free expression\, or retain a right to be intolerant of intolerance? \n \n2: Milton and Liberty – Andrew Doyle\, author\, The New Puritans\n“Give me liberty to know\, to utter\, and to argue freely according to conscience”\, declared the poet John Milton in Areopagitica. Often associated with 17th-century non-conformist Puritans\, Milton rejected licensing of printed texts and rebuffed the notion that prohibitions\, bans or force could create virtuous men. Today\, amidst the rise of a new puritanism\, being offensive can be deemed an offence\, demands for ‘social justice’ brook no dissent while uttering uncomfortable truths can lead to public shaming. From the ages of the Puritans\, old and new\, what can we learn about the case for freedom of belief and expression? \n \nVENUE \nGonville and Caius College\nTrinity St\, Cambridge CB2 1TA\nSee Google Maps for location.\nLectures: Long Room\nSeminars: Long Room\, Senior Parlour Room \nSPEAKERS  \nANDREW DOYLE\npresenter\, Free Speech Nation\, GB News; author\, The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world\nAndrew Doyle is a writer\, comedian\, and a presenter on GB News. He is the author of Free Speech and Why It Matters (2021) and The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world (2022). He is the creator of the satirical character Titania McGrath\, who has published two books – Woke: a guide to social justice (2019) and My First Little Book of Intersectional Activism (2020).  He began presenting his show Free Speech Nation on GB News in June 2021. Before then he was a columnist for spiked\, a panellist on the BBC’s Moral Maze and regularly reviewed the papers on Sky News. \nDR PIERS BENN\nphilosopher and lecturer; author\, Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars\nPiers teaches philosophical ethics at Fordham University London Centre and his latest book is Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars.  His interests include ethics\, philosophy of religion and philosophy of psychiatry and he has taught at numerous universities including St Andrews\, Imperial College London and King’s College London. During the 1990s\, he organised seminars for students in Poland and the Czech Republic\, in collaboration with host institutions struggling to rebuild education after the communist period. He is a regular media commentator.
URL:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/event/what-can-we-learn-from-cambridge-1-november-2023
LOCATION:Gonville and Caius College\, Trinity Street\, Cambridge\, CB2 1TA\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:University Salon
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://livingfreedom.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cambridge-1-november-2022.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR