University of Leeds announce events for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2024

Leeds Social Sciences Institute are excited to be the host institute for this year's Festival of Social Science.  We have been co-ordinating events on behalf of the ESRC, and providing assistance to the 41 partner universities who are running over 300 events across the UK.  The festival is led and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which supports research and training in social science subjects.

The Festival is an annual celebration of research and knowledge about humans and society and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022.  It’s an opportunity for anyone to explore topics relating to social science – from health and wellbeing to crime, equality, education and identity – through events run by researchers from UK universities. There’s no cost to attend, and most are open to everyone, though some are aimed at specific groups.

Events will be running from 19 October to 9 November in a mixture of online, in-person and hybrid formats, and will include talks, performances, exhibitions, participatory events and panel debates. For most events you can book yourself a place in advance online – follow the booking link from the event listing.

A key theme for the 2024 festival is ‘our digital lives’.  Many of our events will explore the relationship between humans and digital technology, from threats and opportunities facing us today to what life might look like in future.

What is social science?

The term social science covers a broad range of subjects relating to society, communities and people, including economics, psychology, sociology, management and business studies, law, economic and social history, politics and human geography, among others.

The events shaping our world – from Brexit and the pandemic to geopolitical tensions and civic protests – reveal how social science is more key to understanding the world than ever. From big ideas to the most detailed observations, social science affects us all every day – at work, in school, when raising children, within our communities, from the personal and local, to the national and global level.

What events are being run by the University of Leeds?

This year, colleagues are running six different events, over 11 days.  These include two events at the fabulous Leeds Light Night, the UK’s largest annual arts and light festival, a selection of drop-in events at Leeds libraries for a chance to play tabletop games that will help people practice their reading skills, and a virtual reality transport experience at the University's driving simulator 'Virtuosity'.  There's also an interactive event at the St George's Conference Centre about how online platforms can be a vital source of support for those living with chronic illness.

All the Leeds events are listed on our EVENTS PAGE.

How can I find events on a specific social science subject?

If you’d like to find festival events relating to a particular social science subject you can use the ‘subject’ filter to identify these. You might find this useful if you already have an interest in a particular subject or are considering studying it and would like a taster. You can also search by topic (eg ‘health and wellbeing’ or ‘equality’) to show relevant events across different subject areas, and by practical matters such as location.