Date/Time: Tuesday 9 May 2017, 17:30 - 19:00

Venue: Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University

Free admission, all seats allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

In the current climate of global political uncertainty, there are serious and hotly contested debates over the role of the arts and humanities in civil society. Has the discipline of history become the handmaiden of contemporary politics? Can history really make a difference to how government policies are made, considering the ‘lessons of the past’? Should valuable public resources be going into preserving our heritage in an era of austerity? A distinguished panel will debate these questions. Presented in collaboration with the British Academy and Newcastle University Institute for Social Renewal theme ‘Past in the Present’.

The event will be chaired by Professor Helen Berry, Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Professor of British History, Newcastle University, and we have the following panellists confirmed:

• Revd Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch (Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford; Fellow, St Cross College, Oxford & Vice President Public Engagement, British Academy)
• Dr Sam Willis (historian, archaeologist and broadcaster)  
• Dr Amanda Foreman (biographer and historian)