Being Human Festival

University hosts successful national hub of the Being Human Festival of the Humanities

People from Derby and Derbyshire have had the opportunity to participate in a series of free events hosted by the University of Derby in partnership with Derby Museums, the National Trust at Kedleston Hall and the National Sikh Museum.

National Hub for Humanities Research

The University was selected as one of five hubs nationwide to host events for Being Human, the annual, multi-city humanities festival led by the University of London in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. This is the second time that the University of Derby has achieved the prestige of being chosen as a national hub, having run a series of very successful online events as a hub in 2020, when the pandemic led to the closure of physical venues.

Led by Dr Cath Feely, Derby's programme for 2024 built on the legacies and work of our 2020 Festival Hub, including our key partnerships with Derby Museums, this time exploring Derby as a centre of engineering in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Taking the centenary of the city's display of its trade, history and culture at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 as a starting point, five events explored the making of modern Derby through inclusive performance, pottery and participatory art.

Inclusive Events

The well-attended events included a takeover of the Old Central Library space in the Wardwick to explore the legacies of Derby's participation in the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 with artists Anisha Parmar and Alison Solomon, an opportunity to design a symbol of Derby for children and families, a handling session of sacred Sikh arms in the museum at Kedleston Hall in partnership with the National Sikh Museum, and ceramics workshops exploring the links between modern and Ancient Egyptian craft at the Museum of Making.

Showcasing the Civic Value of the Humanities 

Dr Cath Feely, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Derby, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been selected as one of the Being Human Hubs from higher education institutions across the country for this year's festival."

"That we have been so successful in this shows how the strength of our Humanities research at Derby is recognised nationally and also engages with our civic role as a University in the city and country."

Being Human Festival

Launched ten years ago, the Being Human Festival aims to demonstrate the value of humanities research to society, create opportunities for researchers and engage the public with humanities across the higher education sector.

You can find out more about the national programme at www.beinghumanfestival.org