Edinburgh Futures Institute is delighted to announce the opening of “Learning Curves” – our fourth season of events running from 7 October to 6 December 2024.
For the first time, all events will be held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute building, which opened to the public in June 2024.
The season’s theme, “Learning Curves,” explores urgent questions about education and learning: What kind of alternative education futures are desirable? What do we need to unlearn in education as we work towards more just and sustainable futures? What is the role of education for democracy in an increasingly polarised world?
Like our previous seasons, “Learning Curves” will offer a range of co-produced live events, including conversations, readings, participatory workshops and commissioned performances.
With the exception of our in-person workshop series, all events in the “Learning Curves” programme will be delivered in hybrid format, livestreamed from the Futures Institute building to audiences across the world.
All events are free to attend and open to the public.
Exploring Education and Learning Futures
The “Learning Curves” season brings together a group of high-profile academics, activists and creatives to explore what kind of alternative education futures are desirable.
One key theme that a number of events will explore is Artificial Intelligence (AI) – its impact on learning and its role in education futures.
The opening event of our season, held in partnership with the National Robotarium, features acclaimed novelist Jeanette Winterson in conversation with Ameca, the most advanced humanoid robot. Other events exploring the intersections of AI and learning include topics such as videogames and pedagogy, the future of AI in schools, and a dance performance incorporating a machine learning choreographic tool. The season also includes a Technomoral Conversations event delivered by the Centre for Technomoral Futures, where experts will discuss what the “Majority World” can teach us about AI.
A number of events will explore the continued necessity of the creative arts in education, including a conversation with Booker Prize winner and President of the Royal Society of Literature Bernardine Evaristo, titled “Literature is Not a Luxury.”
The season will deliver workshops offering collaborative art making through performance video, music, poetry, and song, including an “Entangled Performing” workshop with artist Karen Christopher. As with previous seasons, the “Learning Curves” programme includes a Utopia Lab workshop where participants will be asked to imagine visions of utopia through a collaborative design project.
Other events will explore issues of learning and unlearning in relation to race, gender, and disability. The event “Rooting Decolonial Education: Routes for Repair and Liberation” features panellists exploring Black presence and Black Studies. One panel event will imagine feminist techonofutures in education, another event explores a project aiming to create a new Scots lexicon of LGBT+ words. The final event of the season, “Ex Silens,” will present a project investigating deafness, sound and AI through participatory research.
Edinburgh Futures Conversations: The Future of Education
Three Edinburgh Futures Conversations events will take place throughout the duration of the “Learning Curves” season, focusing on “The Future of Education.” As with previous seasons, the conversations series bring together a panel of high-profile leaders, thinkers, and activists to discuss pressing issues of our time.
The first conversation on 21 October will focus on the theme of “Crisis,” examining education’s role amid climate change, conflict, and social unrest. Featuring a panel of high-profile leaders and campaigners, including voices from students in Pakistan and Gaza, the conversation will highlight education’s resilience in crisis. The evening also includes the launch of a work by Iranian poet Marjorie Lotfi, inspired by displaced and excluded women in Scotland.
The theme of “Utopia” will be the focus of the second conversation to be held on 29 October, exploring visionary and democratic futures for education. A panel of academics, activists, and creatives will challenge the current paradigms of economic-driven policies and standardization. Joelle Taylor, an award-winning poet, will debut a commissioned work that complements the event’s themes.
The final conversation on 26 November focuses on the theme of “AI” as a significant disruptor that promises to reshape education. This panel gathers researchers, writers, and thinkers to discuss AI’s implications for education’s future.
Edinburgh Futures Institute Interim Director, Kev Dhaliwal said:
Book now! Learning Curves: Autumn 2024 Full Programme“As the beautiful and iconic Edinburgh Futures Institute opens its doors, we are thrilled to launch the programme for ‘Learning Curves,’”’ our Autumn 2024 season, which highlights the future of education as one of the most urgent issues we are facing today. We look forward to welcoming you both in-person and online, and we hope you will enjoy, learn and be challenged by joining our ‘Learning Curves’ event season.
Further information
Subscribe to our mailing list for invites and updates on upcoming events here: http://efi.ed.ac.uk/news/join-our-mailing-list
