BU Research Blog

“The focus on dialogue, on exchange rather than simple knowledge transfer, which is the heart of true Public Engagement, is one of the greatest challenges for the modern university”

Michael Worton, UCL (University College London)

Can you present your research through comedy? Here are a few ‘top’ examples from the sensational ‘Bright Club’ ran by UCL:

• ž   Lust
• ž   Space
• ž   Food
• ž   Power
• ž   Time

If you are new to running a free public engagement event, an evening like ‘Bright Club’ is sure to be an enjoyable first experience. It’s exciting, innovative and creative structure brings together those from the academia world and those outside into a relaxed, informal setting where research can be communicated through an interactive and engaging way.

Throughout the evening, those researchers participating would be allocated a short time to present their comical performance on their research and there would be a professional host to ‘kick’ off and manage the evening.

Being involved in an event like this is a fantastic way to ‘brush-up’ on your presentation and performance skills and allows you to share your research in an entertaining and memorable way. It is also a fantastic way of raising awareness of your research and influencing the attitudes and values of your audience to your research.

A comedy club style evening is also very beneficial for both the audience members, and the performers. The members of the audience are able to hear about all the interesting research that goes on behind our institutional walls, learn from this and have a good time! Performers and researchers also benefit greatly as they develop/improve skills, gain feedback on their research – and have a good time!

Time to perform…..

If you would like to get involved in the Festival of Learning 2014 by hosting an event like ‘Bright Club’ and/or have some exciting ideas for any other type of public engagement activity, please register your interest with myself,  Naomi Kay: or my colleague Harry Gibson.

There is also a useful blog post on why public engagement is beneficial here and other innovative ways of getting involved with public engagement here.

Please remember the deadline is 12 noon Friday this week (19th)