Leeds Humanities Research Institute Speculative Lunch Series 2011-12

The Leeds Humanities Research Institute (LHRI) is pleased to announce a new series of speculative lunches to be held in 2011-12.

Leeds Humanities Research Institute - Speculative Lunches

The Leeds Humanities Research Institute is pleased to announce a series of interdisciplinary 'Speculative Lunches', and to invite proposals for topics and themes. Speculative lunches are intended to offer a forum for informal discussion, enabling Leeds colleagues to discuss interdisciplinary research ideas at an early stage of formulation, with a view to potentially establishing research collaborations around particular themes. The LHRI will host up to seven of these events in the academic year 2011-12.

Each lunch will be coordinated by two members of academic staff, at least one of which will be based in the Faculty of Arts. However, participation will be open to members of staff, as well as postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students, across all Faculties in the University of Leeds. Numbers at each meeting will be limited to 12, with spaces for up to four postgraduate students. Participants will be asked to register for the lunches in advance, on a first-come first-served basis. Coordinators are free to structure discussion as they wish and to set their own agenda. The LHRI, in addition to offering a venue, will provide lunch and limited photocopying if requested.

There is no expectation or obligation for Speculative lunches to lead directly to particular outcomes; they are first and foremost an opportunity for enjoyable discussion of research ideas in an informal setting. The lunches may nonetheless provide an opportunity to explore potential collaborations leading to funding bids, or to consider responses to research council themes. A member of the LHRI team will be present to offer follow-up support if required, although discussion itself will be led by the academic coordinators of the lunch.

Members of academic staff in the Faculty of Arts wishing to propose a topic for a speculative lunch should write to Matthew Treherne ( m.treherne [a] leeds.ac (p) uk ) with a suggested title for a lunch. They should also identify one or more colleagues from outside their own School with whom they will coordinate the lunch. Topics should be based around potential future directions for collaborative research, rather than established collaborations.

Lunches will be held in the academic year 2011-12 at 12.30-2 in the LHRI, on the following dates:

• Wednesday 26 October
• Friday 25 November
• Wednesday 7 December
• Wednesday 15 February
• Friday 16 March
• Wednesday 9 May
• Wednesday 6 June