On April 21st, The AKADEMIA Forum from the Department of Humanities held its first Cineforum event. We watched a film about the Attention Economy, followed by a smaller group discussion and an open forum. We discussed what is meant by the Attention Economy and how this economy is competing for our ‘attention’, we pay with our attention. We discussed how they intertwine with new AI technology and the way our subjectivity is being reconstructed and constantly our attention interrupted by new media technologies designed to do just that. We discussed that what we pay attention to shape our thinking and outlook, indeed we could say that what we pay attention to is ‘our very life’. The event ended with a beautiful rendition of “Friday I Am in Love” by the British rock band The Cure.

On May 12th, The AKADEMIA Forum held its first Artivism event which explored a way to creatively use different art forms to engage with global issues facing us today. The theme was ‘decolonizing art’. Students demonstrated through poetry and music, and examples from prior projects what they mean by “Artivism”. Artivism is a new word formed by combining Art+Activism. Afterward, we worked in groups to think of art/music projects to be part of the upcoming AKDEMIA Forum Symposium on 8 July. To participate in these events you do not need to be an ‘artist’ or have special musical talents. Anyone can join in or simply enjoy by listening in.

Each of these events was attended by around 40 students, faculty, and staff members. Everyone enthusiastically enjoyed the open discussion and creativity of humanistic ‘value-creating’ education in action and felt the way working together gives rise to greater creativity and new joint-up thinking

On the 26 May is the next AKADEMIA Forum Cineforum. If you like to attend online please register via the flyer attached.
Topic: Do we need to rethink our relationships? How our lifestyle competes with planet earth and wild animals.

The AKADEMIA Forum is A Student-Faculty Project for Implementing Humanistic Education
The AKADEMIA Forum is a faculty-student collaborative project in the Department of Humanities that seeks to ask the bigger philosophical questions, seeks to understand contemporary human realities through an anthropological lens while thinking together about ways to create cultures of peace, justice, and egalitarian relations for a common, sustainable future, and finding ways to implement the SDGs. The AKADEMIA Forum events are open to students, faculty, staff, and friends. Just come along and enjoy. The aim is to deepen awareness of social issues and together enrich our debates, thinking, and action. Our aim is to increase young people's involvement in shaping our society and we welcome students who want to get involved with organizing events. We also want to open up new avenues for using art and music in innovative ways to further cultures of peace and human rights.