Social Science blog

Exploring Social Science at the British Library

05 March 2014

Spring 2014 events

Robert Davies, Engagement Support Officer for Social Sciences writes:

Each year the Social Sciences department at the British Library holds and hosts a wide programme of events related to the subject areas we cover: from one-day workshops, seminars and conferences aimed at academics, early-career researchers, PhD students and practitioners, to public talks and debates.

This Spring 2014, we are organising, with external partners, two major conferences and the 4th British Sociological Association/British Library Annual Equality Lecture.

On 28 April, a one-day conference ‘Portraying Ageing: Cultural Assumptions and Practical Implications’ takes place. The conference will bring together academics from across the social sciences and arts and humanities, plus policy makers and practitioners, to discuss the many ways in which age and ageing are portrayed and understood and explore how insights from research can be translated into policy and practice. We are delighted to be working with colleagues from the School of Language, Linguistics and Film, Queen Mary, University of London and the Centre for Policy on Ageing. There is a great line up of speakers and the keynote address will be given by Professor Lynne Segal, Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies, Birkbeck and columnist at the Guardian.

On 23 May, in association with the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, we will be holding a one day international conference aimed at academics and postgraduate students interested in the material culture, history and globalisation of the football world cup.  For further details of the speakers and to reserve a ticket go to the ‘A Cultural History of the World Cup’ booking page on the British Library website.

This year’s British Sociological Association/British Library Annual Equality Lecture will be delivered by medical sociologist and disability rights advocate Dr Tom Shakespeare. The title of the lecture is ‘Enabling Equality: from disabling barriers to equal participation’. Dr Shakespeare will explore ‘where next for disability equality’ in the era of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ‘welfare reform’? He will examine what is needed for people with diverse disabilities to flourish and will argue that the state needs to do more than simply ‘level the playing field’. The lecture will be held on 30 May in the British Library Conference Centre.  Tickets can be obtained via the British Library What’s On pages.

During the spring we are also hosting the Social Research Association’s conference on Social Media in Social Research on 16 May (details of the programme will appear on the SRA’s events page) and one on the impact of austerity for the University of East London (on 30 May – details to be provided soon).

To keep up-to-date with the events we have in the pipeline for summer 2014, watch this space or visit the events pages on www.bl.uk/socialsciences where you will also find links to podcasts and film recordings of many of our past events.

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