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Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society

Providing lectures at the cutting edge
of modern thinking since 1835

Forthcoming Lit&Phil Events

This page lists this season's Lit&Phil events.

Click here for the Natural History Section events. 

The Geology Section has a separate website: www.charnia.org.uk/

Scroll to the end of the page for past events.

The 2025 - 2026 season of lectures has now finished.

We look forward to a new season which starts on the 28th September 2026 with the Annual Members Meeting followed by a concert by the Chamber Ensemble of the Bardi Wind Orchestra. 

Highlights of the new programme will be published here by the end of May and the full programme will be published in early summer.

  • Lit&Phil 2026 Annual Members' Meeting, followed by a music concert

    • 28 Sep 2026
    • 18:40 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA

    The Annual Members' Meeting, is open to all members of the Lit&Phil.

    The meeting will start at 6:40 PM.

    The Annual Members Meeting will be followed by a concert by players from the Bardi Wind Orchestra conducted by David Calow



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  • Tectonics, temporality and tranquillity in the architecture of Carlo Scarpa

    • 12 Oct 2026
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    The President's Address

    Kanti Chhapi DipArch

    Retired Architect

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Mary Seacole (1805-1881) and her legacy today

    • 26 Oct 2026
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            


    Claire Dove CBE DL

    Crown Representative Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise Sector at UK Government, Chair St George’s Hall Charitable Trust

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • The Changing Fortunes of the Lit & Phil Movement in Britain

    • 9 Nov 2026
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            


    Dr Heather Ellis SFHEA

    Associate Professor in History of Education, University of Sheffield 

    and

    Dr Martha Vandrei

    Senior Lecturer in History, University of Exeter

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Co-creating graphic heritage

    • 23 Nov 2026
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            


    Dr Robert Harland

    Reader in Urban Graphic Heritage Loughborough University  

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love: secrets, lies and social mobility in the East Midlands of the 1950s

    • 7 Dec 2026
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    The Arthur and Jean Humphreys Lecture

    Louise Doughty FRSL DLitt

    Author 

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission: A new view of Mercury

    • 11 Jan 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    Sponsored by the University of Leicester

    Professor Emma Bunce OBE

    Director, Institute for Space, University of Leicester
    Principal Investigator for BepiColombo MIXS instrument

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Lecture title to be announced

    • 25 Jan 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    Sponsored by De Montfort University

    Chris Stafford

    CEO of Curve, Leicester

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Where the arts meet science: keeping the Mary Rose shipshape

    • 8 Feb 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    Sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry

    Professor Eleanor Schofield PhD FREng FIMMM

    Director of Collections Mary Rose Trust

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Lecture title to be announced

    • 22 Feb 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    Sponsored by Loughborough University

    Professor Rosemary Hunter KC(Hon) FAcSS

    Founding Head of Law, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, Loughborough University

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Bring back British beavers? Species reintroductions and Britain’s relationship with nature in the 21st century

    • 8 Mar 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    Natural History Section Joint Lecture

    Professor George Holmes PhD 

    Professor of Conservation and Society, University of Leeds

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • On Babbacombe Beach - High Tide for the High Victorians?

    • 15 Mar 2027
    • 18:30 - 20:30
    • 100



            

    The Peach Lecture [held at the University of Leicester, location and time to be announced]

    Dr Rosemary Hill FSA FRSL 

    Writer and historian

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • Lecture title to be announced

    • 22 Mar 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    The F.L. Attenborough Lecture

    Richard Graves 

    Author and historian

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • The importance of Geology in a developing world

    • 12 Apr 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    The Geology Section Joint Lecture

    Dr Maggy Heintz  

    Director of British Geological Survey International Geoscience 

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

  • TO BE ANNOUNCED

    • 26 Apr 2027
    • 19:30 - 21:00
    • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA
    • 100



            

    Joint Lecture with the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery

    Speaker to be announced

    Lecture outline

    tbc

    Biographical note

    tbc

    Attending the lecture

    The lecture is open both to members of the Society and to guests.

    The lecture will take place in the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, New Walk https://www.leicestermuseums.org/leicester-museum-art-gallery/

    The hall will be open from 6:45 and tea and coffee drinks will be available between 7.00pm and 7.15pm before the formal start of the event at 7.30pm.

    The lecture will also be streamed on Zoom. A recording of the lecture may be available to members only.


    Show details

Past events

27 Apr 2026 Nearly forty years in the field with Sir David Attenborough
13 Apr 2026 The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool – 150 years young
23 Mar 2026 Tectonic evolution of the Himalaya and Karakoram mountains
9 Mar 2026 What have Insects ever done for us?
23 Feb 2026 “Prophets of Doom”: Environmental Stigma in a Leicester Periphery.
16 Feb 2026 AI and the transformation of business
9 Feb 2026 Plastic: Saviour or Destroyer of the Planet?
26 Jan 2026 The BADU Way: Unlearning and New Learning
8 Dec 2025 A Sense of Place in Austen's Fiction and Letters: Why No Single Biography of her Work and Life Suffices
24 Nov 2025 The Neanderthals - not so different from ourselves? New evidence from Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan.
10 Nov 2025 The Leicester Medical School – Influencing half a century of Academic Cardiovascular Medicine in the UK and beyond
27 Oct 2025 Rural Britain’s Colonial Histories: Country Walks through Hidden Histories of Empire
13 Oct 2025 What has Leicester done for Nature? Celebrating Leicestershire's Natural History and Historians Past and Present.
29 Sep 2025 Lit&Phil 2025 Annual Members' Meeting, followed by a music concert
28 Apr 2025 Writing the Roman Empire: from Leicester to the Sahara and back again - Professor David Mattingly
7 Apr 2025 Rewilding – how we can heal our land - Isabella Tree
24 Mar 2025 Recent discoveries from the Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset - Dr Steve Etches
17 Mar 2025 Conserving Canterbury Cathedral - Jonathan ‘Jo’ Deeming
10 Mar 2025 The making of Plant Atlas 2020, from field to folio - Dr Oli Pescott
24 Feb 2025 Doing Science in the Age of Photography - Professor Kelley Wilder
10 Feb 2025 The Culinary Chemist: Out of the Lab and into the Tent - Dr Josh Smalley
27 Jan 2025 From ‘It’s the Sun Wot Won it!’ to ‘Is This The TikTok election?’: ‘Real Time’ General Election News Analysis in Retrospect (1992-2024) - Professor David Deacon
13 Jan 2025 Reaching for the Stars - Dame Maggie Aderin Pocock
2 Dec 2024 Pantomime is Never What it Used to Be - Professor Katherine Newey
18 Nov 2024 How I came to write ‘This Sporting Life: Sport & Liberty in England 1760-1960’ (OUP 2020) - Professor Robert Colls
4 Nov 2024 What’s in a Name? - Gautam G Bodiwala
28 Oct 2024 The beautiful links between mathematics and literature - Professor Sarah Hart
7 Oct 2024 Beer, bribes, and brawling: an accurate representation of elections in Victorian England? - Mr Nigel Siesage
30 Sep 2024 Lit&Phil members' 2024 Annual Members' Meeting

Summaries of Lit&Phil lectures from previous years are available in the Transactions.

Listings of Lit&Phil events in the recent past are given below.

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