Archive

The 2025 Festival of Social Science at the University of Leicester featured:

The Horror of Childhood: The Babadook

Building on criminological research looking at representations of youth justice in fictional film, this event showed the audience how and why media influences public opinion of youth justice, and thus why the depiction of children as scary is impactful in reality. Combining this with sociological work on childhood memory, attendees were encouraged to engage with their own experiences, contextualising this in relation to horror, and how we idealise our own experiences.

Indigenous Products and Practices: Adivasi Narratives of Survival and Change

This event brought to life the voices of Adivasi communities in India, exploring how cultural heritage, traditional practices and collective resistance are central to their working lives. At the heart of the session a short documentary film revealed personal stories and visual ethnography, highlighting how Adivasi communities navigate culture as both work and livelihood, the challenges that threaten these practices, and the creative strategies people use to sustain identity in a rapidly changing world.

Life after Gestational Diabetes: Health, Working Life and Missed Opportunities

Gestational diabetes is a common pregnancy complication where women develop high blood sugar levels. While it often goes away after giving birth, women who have had gestational diabetes are almost ten times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the future. Yet, fewer than 1 in 4 women received the follow-up test needed to screen for type 2 diabetes, suggesting that there are missed opportunities for prevention. This gap in care affects women’s long-term health, their ability to work, and has the biggest impact on those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The aim of this event was to raise awareness about the lack of follow-up care and long-term risks, support women to feel empowered in managing their health, work and family life and to bring lived experience together with research to guide better policies and practices.

Superdiversity on Screen: Joyland / Children of Men / Babel

The University of Leicester’s Migration, Mobility and Citizenship Network (MMCN), in  partnership with Phoenix Cinema, and the charities Trade Sexual Health and Leicester City of Sanctuary brought together three film screenings to spark discussion of different aspects of superdiversity. After each screening a member of the MMCN and a non-academic representative reflected on the film providing an exciting informal opportunity for audience discussion on superdiversity, a topic of special significance in Leicester.

Fair work and supply chains in the UK garment industry

While the garment industry’s problems had considerable media exposure over the last years, what has remained somewhat under the radar is that the industry also served as a platform for experimentation towards positive solutions. This event explored recent initiatives and the conditions under which garment manufacturing can have a future in the UK. Findings of current research projects and recent forward-looking initiatives, both involving manufacturers, auditing and enforcement actors, as well as workers, were shared along with the opportunity to discuss those developments with industry stakeholders with the aim of starting a process of formulating a policy framework.

Our working lives: Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole

This event introduced school students to the local writer, Sue Townsend, and her comic novel, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4, which is set in Leicester and examines the social and economic changes that defined 1980s Britain. Students explored Townsend’s archive, discovered the role of an archivist and gained insight into the value of an archive.

The Craft of Live Sociology at Snibston Colliery

Held at the site of old coal mine at Snibston, Coalville this event examined the skills and crafts of ‘doing sociology’ in the field. Through undertaking a field trip and experiencing the post-industrial landscape firsthand, as well as hearing from those who worked at the colliery, the event offered an unparalleled insight for anyone interested in industrial sociology and how sociology is done.

The 2024 Festival of Social Science at the University of Leicester featured:

Moving People, Moving Pictures: Representations of Migration on Screen

The University of Leicester’s Migration, Mobility and Citizenship Network (MMCN) partnered with Phoenix Leicester to bring three excellent films paired with discussion of how they represent different aspects of international migration and the migrant experience on the screen.

Health Bytes: Getting Digitally Fit

Aimed at those with limited skills and knowledge of health literacy this interactive session engage participants in discussions about how digital health literacy impacts various aspects of wellbeing, including mental health, physical health, and social connectivity. These discussions will help participants understand the broader implications of digital literacy on their overall quality of life.

Winston Parva Revisited: A community restudy of Established-Outsider Relations 

The aim of this event was to engage the local community, and those interested in the work of prominent sociologist Norbert Elias, with research that has previously, and continues to be, undertaken in the South Wigston area of Leicestershire.  In addition to learning about the research participants were encouraged to engage in a range of activities including (for younger attendees) drawing the local area, taking part in interactive digital research methods and sharing their memories of living and being part of the community where this important study is based.

Young People’s Law Reform Club: Protecting us in our digital life

This one-day participatory event held at the Leicester Law School enabled young people to work with researchers to decide what new laws should be created to address modern challenges in the online lives of young people.

Criminology goes to the Movies! Scrapper

Building on past film seasons in 2022 and 2023, the University of Leicester’s School of Criminology, Sociology, and Social Policy once again partnered with Phoenix Leicester.  This year's film focussed on how youth justice is depicted on screen and why media matters in criminal justice.

What helps you cope when life is hard? A live drawing session with Dr Ozzy Ogbeide

This live online drawing event focussed on the concept of resilience—specifically, the systems and elements in our lives that help us navigate challenges and thrive in and after adversity. The session delved into the everyday support systems, both tangible and intangible, that contribute to our resilience pathways and participants were encouraged to explore their thoughts and feelings through drawing.

Health Matters

A range of activities, including an online physical activity session, a breathing and meditation workshop and nutrition advice regarding healthier food options were held to support local communities to become more active and mobile and empower them to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing.

The 2023 Festival of Social Science at the University of Leicester featured:

Criminology film season

A series of film screenings to encourage members of the community to think about crime and justice and how we use this as a source of entertainment. Each film was introduced by an academic working within the Centre for Hate Studies research hubs and focussed on how film represents crime and justice, what this means for the subject, and highlighted the current research in the area.

Well-being at the end: Time to reform the law on assisted dying

This one day participatory event, aimed at young people interested in justice and social issues, enabled participants to discover how laws are reformed and the processes involved in this, including the involvement of the public and role research plays.

Mast Khana Swasth Khana - eat well, eat healthy and Nacho Nacho - Dance, Dance

These two interactive events, led by the Centre for Ethnic Health Research, promoted healthy alternatives to Indian cooking during the Diwali celebrations and physical activity in a fun and culturally appropriate style.

Revisiting the Harms of Hate: Film premiere and live podcast

Ten years on from producing the award-winning film ‘The Harms of Hate’ this event reconnected with the original film participants and other victims of hate crime to assess how their experiences have been affected by a decade characterised by hostility, volatility and toxicity. This followed a live podcast of ‘Hidden Hate’ with special guests, the CEOs of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and Stop Hate UK.

Joe Orton’s Leicester by bike

A 10-mile cycle tour around Leicester with talks about leading twentieth century playwright Joe Orton (1933-1967) featuring 9 stops at sites significant to Orton's life readings from his unpublished teenage diaries. The tour ended at the University of Leicester giving attendees the opportunity to look at material in the Orton archive.

"We know all about you”: how are teenagers commercially influenced online?

This event showcased the different forms of commercial harm experienced by teenagers online enabling teenage participants to explore together different forms of online commercial harm experienced by teenagers.

Bodies that matter: Celebrating the social history of the body in the Viking age

This interactive exhibition of a number of body-objects explored bodies and bodily matters in the Viking age and invited reflection upon ideas of bodily wellbeing and the social construction of body norms, both past and present.

EmpowerED: Shaping healthcare research together

Healthcare workers, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds, face a higher risk of COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes. These interactive sessions featured games and brainstorming activities focussing on understanding the barriers to research engagement for non-clinical staff including games designed specifically for non-clinical healthcare workers. 

You need to see this: Realities of public service work today

This conversation-based forum on the nature of public service work in Leicester and Leicestershire aimed at raising awareness of the issues facing the public service worker today with the aim of supporting dialogue and networking across the sector.