Join us for York Festival of Ideas 2018. Running from 5 to 17 June, the Festival includes more than 200 mostly FREE events to educate, entertain and inspire. A selection of events is listed below and the full programme can be viewed at yorkfestivalofideas.com.
 
Focus Day: The Future of UK Higher Education Friday 8 June
What are universities for? Who are they for? How do they enhance society? Our Focus Day, presented in collaboration with the UPP Foundation, takes an in-depth view of the value of UK universities, their place in the economy, university funding and the role of universities in post-Brexit Britain. Expert speakers include Lord David Willetts, former Minister for Universities and Science; William Whyte, author of Redbrick;  Margaret Gardner, Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, Australia; Nicky Morgan MP, former Secretary of State for Education; and Amatey Doku, Vice President (Higher Education) of the National Union of Students.
Inside the Learning Revolution, Thursday 7 June
Tackling everything from artificial intelligence to our growing understanding of the infant brain, education expert Alex Beard takes a global tour of the future of learning, from a South London comprehensive to Silicon Valley. Combining anecdote, experience and intelligent research, Alex shows that we’re on the cusp of a revolution – and that learning in the 21st century must change in order for us to access our better future selves.
Focus Day: Creating Inclusive Economies, Friday 15 June
Why in the 21st century do we have a more unequal society than ever before? Our Focus Day explores the relationship between economic and political decision-making and the impact of those decisions on the most vulnerable in our society. Working in collaboration with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we discuss the reasons behind this inequality, the impact it has, and crucially, where the big new ideas on creating inclusive economies lie. Speakers include David Pilling, author of The Growth Delusion; Kate Pickett, author of The Inner Level, sequel to the acclaimed The Spirit Level; and Danny Dorling, author of Peak Inequality: Britain’s Ticking Time Bomb.  
Focus Day: Artificial Intelligence: Promises and perils, Saturday 16 June
Would you like to find out more about artificial intelligence (AI)? Join us to discuss what we should and shouldn’t be worried about, and what AI might mean for our future health, employment and everyday life.  Our Focus Day includes inspiring talks, discussion, an exhibition and an opportunity to chat with artificially intelligent agents. It is brought to you in collaboration with the Assuring Autonomy International Programme, a £12 million initiative funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation and the University of York to spearhead research, training and standards in the safety of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS). Speakers include Alan Winfield of the University of the West of England, Charlotte Stix, of the Leverhulme Centre, Gurch Randhawa of the University of Bedfordshire, Robert Oates of Rolls-Royce and John McDermid of the University of York.