southampton

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, formerly called Human Worlds Festival (2014 - 2020), is the University of Southampton's annual arts- and humanities-based festival organised by the Public Engagement with Research unit. It is a free series of public events, in-person and online, open to all.

Human Worlds Festival was first launched in 2014, it was renamed in September 2021 and runs every year in November to coincide with Being Human festival , the UK’s national celebration of humanities research led by the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy .

The ten-days celebration usually starts/concludes with our Hands-on Humanities Day, a free family-friendly event with interactive hands-on activities, workshops, exhibitions, talks and performances from across our Faculties.

Over the last few years, we have invited participation from external exhibitors including local bookstores, radios, schools, community groups, cultural venues, trusts and other research institutions.

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival 2023

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival returns this autumn and will run from Thursday 9th to Saturday 18th November .

The main events of this year's edition will include:

the Wider Festival (hybrid format, with in-person and online events/activities)
Hands-on Humanities Day

The Wider Festival will run through the whole length of the festival. All online content and in-person events will be available on the official website at www.southamptonartshumfest.co.uk

Hands-on Humanities Day (HOHD) is a FREE family-friendly day of celebration with a selection of interactive stands, workshops, talks, exhibitions, and live shows to explore the world of Humanities and the Arts.

Exhibitors will also be able to contribute towards related special events including Black History Month (October), UK Disability History Month (16th November - 16th December) and LGBT+ History Month (February 2024).

If you are interested in submitting an activity as a contributor to be included in the Festival programme, please visit the ' How to get involved ' page by clicking on the blue text box above the image gallery at the bottom of this page.

Follow #UoSArtsHumFest on social media to stay-up-to-date.

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival 2021

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival ran from Thursday 11th to Sunday 20th November 2021.

The Festival was preceded by a month-long series of celebratory events in October for Black History Month and for the first time was followed by a month of celebration for UK Disability History Month (18th Nov - 18th Dec), and then by LGBT+ History Month in February 2022. The series were curated in collaboration with few other teams across the University, including the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, the BAME Network , the UoS Pulse LGBT+ Network and the University of Southampton Student Union (SUSU).

Other events that were hosted under the Festival umbrella included a strand of digital events for Writers in Conversation (run by English at the University of Southampton and led by Carol Burns , Head of Creative Writing) and a special night on Thursday 7th October for 'Enduring Freedom? The 20-year mission in Afghanistan' (run by History at the University of Southampton and chaired by Dr Christopher Fuller ). Watch the following video to re-discover the exclusive event that took place on the night of the twenty-year anniversary of the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The main events of Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival 2021 included:

Wider Festival , a selection of online activities and events taking place across ten days, with the return of some in-person events too. E.g.:
- Human minds, animal minds, and alien minds: exploring the outer limits of thought, an online discussion that explored the philosophy of neurodiversity, and the possible limits of human thought and communication;
- Monarch Butterflies, the Mexican Day of the Dead in Covid Times and Renewal, a family-friendly workshop that focused on the Mexican Day of the Dead to raise awareness of this globally practiced cultural phenomenon;
- What happened at the COP and what does it mean for the world? , an online discussion with University of Southampton researchers and delegates (live from COP26 in Glasgow).
Hands-on Humanities Day on Saturday 20th November, at the University of Southampton Avenue Campus (Highfield). The day included a rich programme of interactive activities, exhibits and workshops, from archaeology to light, from history and wellbeing to bones and storytelling. The day was part of the Being Human festival 2021 programme.

Watch the following video from Hands-on Humanities Day to find out what this event is all about from senior leaders and researchers at the University of Southampton. Hear about how taking part helped changing perspectives from festival exhibitors and our visitors too.