Get Involved! Being Human Festival 2019 - 'Discoveries and Secrets'

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Does your research or study link to discoveries and secrets

We would love to hear from you about taking part in our public late night event as part of the national Being Human Festival 2019

On the evening of Friday 15 November 2019, we will be hosting a big event in the forecourt of the Radcliffe Humanities, and in the Andrew Wiles Maths building. 

We hosted a similar event last year - Victorian Light Night - and welcomed over 2,500 people to the event, which included a spectacular projection on the the 3-storey humanities building. Over 30 researchers shared with and learned from members of the public. 

This year, in addition to researchers we are also looking for undergraduates and postgraduates who are researching or studying the areas of 'discoveries and secrets'.


If you are interested in being part of this late night event, get in touch with justine.shaw@humanities.ox.ac.uk with the following information:

  • Name and position
  • Department/Faculty
  • What is your idea?
  • What format would you need (table top interactive game or music or singing or flash talk etc)

Please get in touch by midday on Wednesday 2 October 2019 if you are interested in taking part.


Here are some suggestions of what works well for activities:

1. FLASHTALKS (Typically 10-15 minute talks)
Sharp and to the point, so that it ‘grabs’ the audience – here are some great examples: 

2. MAKE AND TAKES 
Is there an aspect of your research or study that the audience can get stuck into and make something? Perhaps something they can take home with them, or could the audience collectively contribute to a bigger piece on the night?

In the past make and takes have included:

  • ‘Make your own Weird Victorian Christmas Card’
  • ‘Make your own Ancient Greek theatre mask’
  • ‘Make your own telegraph and morse code messages’.

3. PERFORMANCES (Typically 10-20 minutes)
Can you share your research or study through short pieces of spoken word, poetry, song, theatre, dance etc? It could also involve the audience learning a task, e.g. dance, drumming, knitting, games etc. 

Examples have included readings, singing and performing related to the area of research – ancient dance and music etc. 

4. GAMES
Could your research or study be turned into a game? Card games, guessing games – all games welcome! 

Great examples include: