2009 Programme: Festival weekend overview

The Festival weekend includes more than 70 debates which are listed below ordered by time slot and room. To see Saturday or Sunday sessions only, select the day you want from the menu on the left or select sessions by Theme.

Or view and print out the Timetable as a two-page PDF.


Saturday 31 October: 9.30am to 11.00am
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Rethinking education – the new crisis of adult authority in the classroom
Battle for Reproductive Choice Lecture Theatre 1
Frankenstein's Daughters: from science fiction to science fact?
Battle for the Global Economy Courtyard Gallery
The State and Recession: solution or part of the problem?
In Conversation Salons Lecture Theatre 2
It's not fair! The Battle for Equality
Café Controversies Café
Chav-bashing: demonising the ‘white working class’?
Frame Debates Henry Moore Gallery
Is there a global power shift from West to East?
Activism Zone Student Union
Parliament: reform or revolution?

Saturday 31 October: 11.15am to 12.15pm
Lunchtime Debates Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Post-recession Ideologies: it's the politics, stupid!
Lunchtime Debates Lecture Theatre 1
Genetics and genomics: medicine made to measure?
Lunchtime Debates Courtyard Gallery
Data Sharing or Database State?
Lunchtime Debates Lecture Theatre 2
Debating Development
Lunchtime Debates Henry Moore Gallery
Germany, 20 years united: growing together or falling apart?
Activism Zone Student Union
The Fight over Flight: what's the problem with air travel?

Saturday 31 October: 12.30pm to 2.00pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Rethinking Privacy in an age of Disclosure and Sharing
Battle for Reproductive Choice Lecture Theatre 1
Whose Right to Choose? Choice, ethics and regulation in 21st-century reproduction
Battle for the Global Economy Courtyard Gallery
You Produce, I Consume: Global Imbalances, Causes and Consequences
In Conversation Salons Lecture Theatre 2
Bookshop Barnie at the Battle: 'Why We Disagree about Climate Change'
Café Controversies Café
Welfare Dependency: who benefits?
Frame Debates Henry Moore Gallery
When is it right to go to war? Kosovo, Iraq and beyond
Activism Zone Student Union
Activist revival or aimless hyper-activism?

Saturday 31 October: 2.30pm to 4.00pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Rethinking Freedom in an Illiberal Age: securing rights or celebrating liberty?
Battle for Reproductive Choice Lecture Theatre 1
Three’s a crowd? The battle over population and reproduction
Battle for the Global Economy Courtyard Gallery
Unlimited Ltd: Economic growth and its discontents
In Conversation Salons Lecture Theatre 2
Who ate all the pies? Football, greed and the recession
Café Controversies Café
The Rise of the Philanthrocapitalists: can the rich save the world?
Frame Debates Henry Moore Gallery
A cultured ear: why does listening to music matter?
Activism Zone Student Union
The Rise of Populism in Europe: we the people or them the mob?

Saturday 31 October: 4.15pm to 5.30pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Rethinking Therapy Culture: changing the subject?
Thought for the day Lecture Theatre 1
Africa and Aid: the Effects of the Recession
Thought for the day Courtyard Gallery
School Science Education: an experiment gone wrong?
Thought for the day Café
Debating Matters Competition showcase debate: "Copyright Benefits the Arts"
Thought for the day Henry Moore Gallery
Rhyme, Rhythm and Blues: poets and lyricists in perfect harmony?
Balloon Debate Student Union
Revolutions Balloon Debate

Sunday 1 November: 9.45am to 10.30am
Breakfast Banter Lecture Theatre 1
Risky Business: does financial engineering add up?
Breakfast Banter Courtyard Gallery
The Battle over Video Games
Breakfast Banter Lecture Theatre 2
The Empty Staffroom: has teaching lost its magic?
Breakfast Banter Café
The Ugly Game? The Old Firm, football rivalry and the politics of behaviour
Breakfast Banter Henry Moore Gallery
The Jury's Out: juries and the future of justice

Sunday 1 November: 10.45am to 12.15pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Nudge Nudge, Nag Nag: the new politics of behaviour
Battle for Energy Lecture Theatre 1
Abundant, Cheap, Clean... Contentious? Why is energy a battlefield today?
Battle for Work Courtyard Gallery
The changing meaning of work – from work-life balance to unemployment
In Conversation Salons Lecture Theatre 2
Philosophy 4 Children: can kids do Kant?
Café Controversies Café
We don't need no Sex Education
Frame Debates Henry Moore Gallery
Lording It Over Us: the political rise of the judiciary
Creativity Zone Student Union
Can the arts save the economy?

Sunday 1 November: 12.30pm to 1.30pm
Head to Head Debates Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Should physician-assisted dying be legalised?
Lunchtime Debates Lecture Theatre 1
A Green New Deal: can environmentalism save the economy?
Lunchtime Debates Courtyard Gallery
India's Future: Slumdogs or Millionaires?
Lunchtime Debates Lecture Theatre 2
Setting an Example: should teachers be role models?
Lunchtime Debates Henry Moore Gallery
The Human Rights Act: litigation or emancipation?
Lunchtime Debates Student Union
From Macpherson to the rise of the BNP: Race Today?

Sunday 1 November: 1.45pm to 3.15pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
The Art of Criticism: judgement in crisis?
Battle for Energy Lecture Theatre 1
A New Nuclear Age?
Battle for Work Courtyard Gallery
Working for the State: public service or gravy train?
In Conversation Salons Lecture Theatre 2
A Space Age Future? Sci-fi film clips and discussion
Café Controversies Café
Policing the Playground: do anti-bullying campaigns do more harm than good?
Frame Debates Henry Moore Gallery
Mr Obama goes to Washington
Creativity Zone Student Union
Shaping Social Policy: Designers and Crime

Sunday 1 November: 3.45pm to 5.15pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
The Good Society: virtues for a post-recession world
Battle for Energy Lecture Theatre 1
Solving the Energy Crisis: all about lightbulbs and lifestyle?
Battle for Work Courtyard Gallery
Recession-proofing: from union militancy to reskilling
In Conversation Salons Lecture Theatre 2
Songs of Innocence and Experience: what should today's kids be reading?
Café Controversies Café
Standing up to Supernanny: why we need a Parents' Liberation Movement
Frame Debates Henry Moore Gallery
South Africa: 15 Years After Apartheid
Creativity Zone Student Union
Shaping Social Policy: Designers and Health

Sunday 1 November: 5.30pm to 6.30pm
Keynote Controversies Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
America, Obama and the Recession
Thought for the day Lecture Theatre 1
Shopping: are we all ethical now?
Thought for the day Courtyard Gallery
Is the NHS institutionally ageist?
Thought for the day Café
Sporty kids and pushy parents
Thought for the day Henry Moore Gallery
Head to head debate: Is it the duty of schools to promote community cohesion?
Thought for the day Student Union
Novel Pursuits: creative writing and the democratisation of literature?

Sunday 1 November: 6.40pm to 7.30pm
What next for...? Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Question Time: What Next?

Festival Buzz
Each to his iPod or Great Music For All

View: Each to his iPod or Great Music For All

"The Battle of Ideas is adrenaline for the mind. A chance for intellectual fisticuffs with some of the best-known and most stimulating thinkers in the world."
Colin Blakemore, professor of neuroscience, Oxford University