Free philosophy, religion and ideas events

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Events 1–20 of 123, soonest first

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All eventsOnlineIn person

Tuesday 27 October

5:00 PM-6:30 PM in the UKIn person
Book Launch: European Shiism
Birkbeck, University of London · Birkbeck Central
This is a book launch of the new Cambridge University Press monograph by Dr. Matthijs van den Bos titled 'European Shiism.'
5:45 PM-8:00 PM in the UKIn person
Annual Bishop's Lecture: Chine McDonald
Loughborough University · Martin Hall Lecture Theatre
The University Chaplaincy host the fourth annual Bishop's Lecture welcoming Chine McDonald, writer, broadcaster, author and director of the think tank, Theos.
6:00 PM in the UKIn person
Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History: Benjamin Moser in Conversation with Ahdaf Soueif
SOAS University of London · BGLT, SOAS Gallery
This Centre for Palestine Studies book event brings into conversation the Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser and the award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif.
5:00 PM-6:30 PM in BostonIn person
Religion and the 2026 Midterms: Polarization and Pursuing the Common Good
Boston College · Gasson Hall, 100, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
A Panel Discussion with
6:00 PM in CaliforniaIn person
The Offline Dream Program: Three Takes on Film, the Internet, and Instanternity
CREEES Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies · Encina Commons, Room 123, 615 Crothers Way, Stanford, CA 94305
As part of their Repetition and Contingency series, held across U.S. universities, Bara Kolenc, Gregor Moder, and Jure Simoniti (Department of Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana) explore…

Wednesday 28 October

11:00 AM-12:30 PM in the UKIn person
Exploring Environmental Philosophy via the folklore of plants
University of York · Berrick Saul Building, Campus West
Join Clare for a guided walk and talk to explore the folklore and history of native and naturalised plants growing in Britain and how humans have connected with them through the centuries.
12:30 PM in the UKIn person
RNCM Research Forum: Workshop Afternoon
Royal Northern College of Music · RNCM The Lounge
In this Research Forum, audiences are invited to join an interactive sandpit and workshop exploring ethics in sound and music research
1:00 PM-2:00 PM in the UKIn person and online
The generation effect: How religiosity differs over time and across generations
University College London · Room G03, 55–59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, United Kingdom
Join this event to hear Jacob Legault-Leclair examine how religiosity changes across generations among immigrants in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
3:00 PM-4:00 PM in UppsalaIn person and online
Children’s voices in research and healthcare: Participation, assent, autonomy
Uppsala University · Online event via Zoom. Registration required, use link below.
Children are central to both the research that improves their health and future, and to decisions made about their own care. But involving them in either raises complex questions about participation…
12:00 PM-1:00 PM in BostonIn person
MIT MLK Scholar Presentation "Indigenous Ways of Knowing and the Power of 2-eyed Seeing" by Leslie Jonas
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Building 10, 105, 222 MEMORIAL DR, Cambridge, MA 02139
Leslie’s talk focuses on 2-Eyed Seeing, a teaching from Mi'kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, that brings together the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and Western science.
5:30 PM-7:15 PM in the UKIn person
Male tyranny, epistemic bubbles, and echo chambers: Lessons from Macaulay
University College London · Room 642, IOE, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H0AL, United Kingdom
Elena Gordon will discuss the connection between Catharine Macaulay's views on sympathy and the persistence of male domination.
6:00 PM-7:30 PM in IrelandIn person
When Knowledge becomes Power: Debating Dual-Use Research
Trinity College Dublin · The Inaugural Daniel O’Connell Democracy Seminar.
The Inaugural Daniel O’Connell Democracy Seminar organised by the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute in partnership with the Trinity Centre for Digital Security and Societal…
5:30 PM-7:15 PM in Rochester, New YorkIn person and online
Corner Society for the History of Medicine: The Early Atlantic Slave Trade and the Invention of Modern Corporeality
University of Rochester · Rochester Academy of Medicine, 1441 East Avenue, Rochester, NY
This talk examines how early Atlantic slave trading communities made human corporeality articulable with a new set of ideas about finance, facts, objectivity, and measurable risk that emerged in the…
5:00 PM in ChicagoIn person
Autumn Democracy Core Lecture- Plato and the Tyrant: A Troubled Relationship
Chicago Center on Democracy · Rosenwald Hall, Room 011
The Chicago Center on Democracy and the Democracy Curriculum invite all interested to an insightful lecture and discussion with Giovanni Giorgini, Professor of the History of Political Thought at the…

Thursday 29 October

5:00 PM in the UKIn person
BOOK TALK: The Renewal of Islam: Thinkers and Believers of the Modern Era
University of Oxford · St Antony's College - Investcorp Lecture Theatre
Speaker: Fitzroy Morrissey, Professor Raihan Ismail In The Renewal of Islam (Bloomsbury 2026), Professor Fitzroy Morrissey explores the evolution of modern Islam, from the nineteenth century to…
12:00 PM in MinneapolisOnline
It Consumes What It Forgets: Windigos In and Out of Pop Culture
College of Liberal Arts
In Anishinaabe thought, the wiindigoo (wendigo; windigo) is far more than a monster in a horror story, it is a cannibalistic spirit driven by insatiable greed, selfishness, and loss of the self. In…
12:00 PM-1:30 PM in CaliforniaIn person
From Yahweh to Jupiter: Orthodox Muscovy Deals with the Classical World
Stanford Humanities Center · Humanities Center, SHC Board Room, 424 Santa Teresa Street, Stanford, CA 94305
Join the Other Europe Research Workshop in hosting Dr. Erica Camisa Morale (Slavic Languages & Literatures) for a talk entitled From Yahweh to Jupiter: Orthodox Muscovy Deals with the Classical World.
2:00 PM-3:30 PM in MinneapolisIn person and online
Frontiers in Synthetic Biology: SpudCells, Mirror Life & Societal Implications
Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences · Live Webinar on Zoom
Revolutionary advances in cell engineering and synthetic biology offer enormous potential benefits, while raising vexing ethical and policy issues.
12:00 PM-1:30 PM in Los AngelesOnline
VSRI Lecture by Emmanuel Alloa
Campus Humanities
Emmanuel Alloa is Chair in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art at the University of Fribourg. His work is located at the intersection of phenomenology, contemporary philosophy, visual studies and media…
5:00 PM in ChicagoIn person
Bross Lecture Series | Metalepsis: a trespassing.
Department of Art History · The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) Museum
This is the third and final lecture in the 2026 Bross Lecture Series. Register here.

Recently held

The kind of philosophy, religion and ideas events universities open to the public. These have finished.

Mon 26 OctPast eventAnnual Lecture of the Centre for Anatolian and East Mediterranean Studies — Professor Marcus Milwright · University of St Andrews
Mon 26 OctPast eventArthur Miller Lecture on Science and Ethics · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mon 26 OctPast eventAshura as Submission and Rebellion: An Ethnography on Shia Rituals in Contemporary Iran · University of Oxford
Mon 26 OctPast eventBeing Muslim on Campus · Stanford University
Mon 26 OctPast eventWalking with Death through the Journey of Life · University of Colorado Boulder

Where these events come from

And 33 more universities: see them all in the catalogue.