Prestigious National Public Lectures

Kingston University Synthetic Senses International Academic Conference on Media Studies - "Sex, Crimes and Videotape".

30 June 2006.
A 20 minute lecture to an inter-disciplinary audience focused on media studies.
Contact: Dr Niran Bahjat-Abbas.

The Cheltenham Festival of Science - "Sex, Crimes and Videotape".

11 June 2006.
50 minute lecture.
Contact: Cathy Sykes.

The Cheltenham Festival of Science - "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll".

9 June 2006.
50 minute performance on the science underpinning sex, drugs and rock and roll. Collaborators: Mark Lewney and Graeme Jones.
Contact: Cathy Sykes.

The Wellcome Trust Engaging Science Conference - "Scientists doing it for themselves".

3 April 2006. Manchester.
Invited speaker on a panel discussing strengths and weaknesses in the current climate of engaging science.
Contact: Lesley Paterson (Wellcome Trust)

The Institute of Cultural Research - "Music, Pleasure and the Brain2.

9 October 2005.
60 minute lecture/demonstration to ~ 250 paying members of the general public. Accompanied by members of the New London Orchestra: Karl Dürr-Sørensen (clarinets) & Dom Nunns (French Horn).
Contact: David Wade or Saira Shah.

The Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition - "The Chemicals of Pleasure".

4-7 July 2005 (a series of ten 60 minute lecture/demonstration to ~ 1000 members of the general public).
This lecture showed how pleasure is learned and that the brain is changeable, plus the practical consequences of this, including both clinical and everyday examples.

The Cheltenham Science Festival - "Music and Film with David Puttnam".

8 June 2005.
60 minute discussion/demonstration to ~ 200 paying members of the general public. This discussion about the science of music in film had three panel members: Oscar award-winner David Puttnam (Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, the Mission, etc.), composer Howard Blake (the Snowman), and myself. The discussion involved a series of short film clips and discussion with the audience on how music contributes to the film and its effects on the audience.
Contact: Katie Smith (Cheltenham Festival)

The Cheltenham Science Festival - "Music, Pleasure and the Brain".

12 June 2005.
(60 minute lecture/demonstration to ~ 290 paying members of the general public: sold out) with members of the New London Orchestra: Karl Dürr-Sørensen (clarinets) & Dom Nunns (French Horn) The lecture included musical demonstrations of the aspects of music that elicit responses, including extracts from Rhapsody in blue, Jaws, and Pomp and Circumstance. The lecture illustrated the effects of iconic sounds, expectation (e.g. appoggiatura) and staccato/legato notes.
Contact: Katie Smith (Cheltenham Festival) & Dr. Julian Knight (General Manager, New London Orchestra).

The Edinburgh International Science Festival - "Body Language: Non-verbal communication laid bare".

10 April 2005.
(50 minute lecture to ~ 250 members of the general public)with Dr. Andrew Bass (BassClulsker Consulting and formerly of Institute of Psychology at Aston University). This lecture about body language presented the newest scientific research on how body language works, while discrediting the “comic-book” body language often presented in the popular media.
Contact: Tracy Foster (EISF).

The Dana Centre for the Brain, London - "Music, Pleasure and the Brain".

18 March 2005.
(90 minute free lecture to ~ 100 members of the general public) with members of the New London Orchestra: Karl Dürr-Sørensen (clarinets) & Dom Nunns (French Horn). The lecture included musical demonstrations of the aspects of music that elicit responses, including extracts from Rhapsody in blue, Jaws, and Pomp and Circumstance. The lecture illustrated the effects of iconic sounds, expectation (e.g. appoggiatura) and staccato/legato notes. The audience included many members of the music industry and music press, who are not typical attendees at science lectures; within three minutes members of the audience started asking questions, so the lecture was extremely interactive and discussive.
Contact: Elaine Snell (Dana Centre) & Dr. Julian Knight (General Manager, New London Orchestra).

The National Annual Conference of the Solicitors’ Family Law Association (The organisation is now known as Resolution) - "Your client’s body language and you".

12 March 2005.
(2 × 90 minute workshops to ~ 50 solicitors specialising in family law) with Dr. Andrew Bass (BassClulsker Consulting and formerly of Institute of Psychology at Aston University). This workshop applied the science of body language to issues of concern to family lawyers. It included a number of experiential exercises.
Contact: Gillian Bishop (Family Law in Practise, London).

The Royal Institution - "Laughter and the brain".

8 March 2005.
(30 minute lecture to ~ 150 paying members of the general public) This plenary lecture concerned the physiology of laughter, was completely changed since the “Humour, Art and the Mind” festival, because this lecture was not about art. An interesting dynamic occurred with myself and the subsequent speaker, Eduardo Jauregui, as we academically disagree.
Contact: Jonathan Black (www.rigb.org).

Winchester Festival of Art and the Mind - "Laughter and the brain".

30 October 2004.
(45 minute lecture to ~ 100 paying members of the general public) This plenary lecture concerned the physiology of laughter, to be considered within the context of the rest of the festival which was about “Humour, Art and the Mind”. Other speakers included Professor Richard Wiseman, TV producer John Lloyd, comedian Alex Horne and AI expert Dr. Kim Binsted.
Contact: Annabel Huxley.

Cheltenham Festival of Literature - "Pleasure and Leisure".

16 October 2004.
(50 minute discussion to ~70 members of the general public) This discussion about our books involved myself, Carl Honoré (author of “In Praise of Slow”), and Marcus Moore (the host). It took place in the Storyteller Restaurant (the small space was completely sold out), and was part of the “Voices Off” series of talks at the Literature Festival.
Contact: Sara-Jane Arbury, Voices Off Director, Cheltenham Festival of Literature.

Cheltenham Festival of Science - "Body Language and Beyond".

13 June 2004.
(50 minute talk, to ~250 paying members of the general public) with Dr. Andy Bass (Psychology Institute, Aston University). This is the 3rd year that we have lectured at the Festival; this lecture sold out. It integrated advances in neuroscience and recent advances in the understanding of the role of gesture in the process of conceptualisation in children. For a description of the Cheltenham Festival of Science, see below.
Contact: Festival Director Kathy Sykes, c/o Cheltenham Festivals, Cheltenham GL50 1PP.

Cheltenham Festival of Science - "The Hollywood Science of Spiderman".

12 June 2004.
This was a reprise of a lecture for young people previously given to the Royal Society (see below). However, previously the lecture was for young people 16+ in age, whereas the Cheltenham lecture was a family event for young people ages 8 and up. As such, the lecture was completely redone, with more audience participation, more physical demonstrations, and it was more comprehensible to the non-scientist.
Contact: Festival Director Kathy Sykes, c/o Cheltenham Festivals, Cheltenham GL50 1PP.

The Royal Society (London) - "The Hollywood Science of Spiderman” / “DNA goes to Hollywood".

26 November 03.
This was a plenary lecture for the Genetic Futures National Forum, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA. Sponsors of the lecture included MRC, Royal Society, the BBSRC, DFES, DTi and NESTA. This was a “reward lecture” for ~100 specially selected young people from throughout the UK. Other participants and audience members included Nobel prize-winner Sir John Sulston and Professor Robert Winston.
Contact: Darren Bhattachary.

Cheltenham Festival of Science - "Moments of Ecstasy - The Subjective Experience of Time".

7 June 2003.
(50 minute talk, to ~250 paying members of the general public) with Dr. Andy Bass (Psychology Institute, Aston University). This is the 2nd year that we have lectured at the Festival; the Festival is quite popular, receiving a large amount of national press coverage. Other speakers included Paul Nurse, Richard Dawkins, Robert May (President of the Royal Society), Susan Greenfield, Sue Blackmore, Raj Persaud, Simon Singh, Adam Harte-Davis, and the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees.
Contact: Festival Director Kathy Sykes.

Cheltenham Festival of Science - "The Chemicals of Pleasure".

26 May 2002.
With Dr. Andy Bass of Aston University’s Institute of Psychology. This 50 minute lecture for the general public sold out (140 tickets). The Cheltenham Festival of Science, for its first occurrence, was quite successful, selling over 12,000 tickets; the lecturers included Richard Dawkins, Melvyn Bragg, Robert Winston, Brian Aldiss, Alexander Shulgin, Lewis Wolpert and Colin Blakemore among others.
Contact: Scientific Director of the Festival, Kathy Sykes.