The Great Debate
is an umbrella title for a series of
courses and public discussions on a variety of topics organised by
Caspar Hewett,
Dave O'Toole,
Jon Pugh,
Mo Lovatt and
Jon Bryan.
Our aim is to facilitate lively, open debate on scientific and social issues.
We are committed to public participation and to facilitating topical
discussions through which we hope to encourage critical thinking and a
willingness to challenge current orthodoxies. We engage with the general public in the
broadest sense and aim to develop a deeper shared understanding of science and society.
We hope that you will find our website to be a useful resource for information
on a range of subjects.
Since its inception in 1998, The Great Debate has organised a programme
of courses, day schools, public discussions and workshops on a range of topics including
Darwinism, theories of human nature, the human mind, consciousness,
Evolutionary Psychology, internet freedom, biodiversity, development, sustainability and
environmentalism (see Previous Events).
Last year, events hosted by The Great Debate attracted over 350 attendees. We have a core
subscription mailing list of 200 people who attend our events.
We have convened events at a number of venues in the North East including
Newcastle and Gateshead Civic Centres, Newcastle
University, The International Centre for Life and Newcastle Playhouse. We have engaged
with prominent speakers from Europe and the UK who have spoken at our events and
provided ongoing contributions to the debates on our website. These
speakers have included journalists, best-selling authors and academics from the
Universities of Newcastle, Northumbria, Durham, Sunderland, Wageningen,
Lancaster, Manchester and the London School of Economics (see
Previous Contributors).
Hits per months at The Great Debate website currently run at well over
50,000 .
Regularly updated with current research information, new articles and discussions,
the site is now widely used as a resource for academics, students and the general public.
Previous collaborators with The Great Debate have included
RSA, Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability,
The International Centre for Life,
Peer Review for European Sustainable Urban Development (PRESUD),
Newcastle Local Agenda 21,
the development charity WORLDwrite,
Christian Aid, Northern Stage,
Water Resource Systems Research Laboratory (WRSRL),
Transport Research Group (TRG) and
Institute of Ideas.
Sponsorship has been received from Economic and Social Research Council,
PRESUD, The Well Read Bookshop
(University of Northumbria), Hodder & Stoughton, Polity Press,
Weidenfield & Nicholson and Newcastle Science Festival (see
Sponsors).
