Events

The Living Together oral history project has documented the memories of 103 people who have made their home in Leicester. This talk will discuss key themes from the interviews, and explore points of cohesion, tension and unity in the city.   Tom Wilson is the director of the St Philip’s Centre, an organisation that fosters understanding, respect and cooperation between diverse faith and belief communities through education, dialogue and community engagement.    All welcome - admission free . Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs. 

One of the most iconic books of the late twentieth century, ‘The Outsider’, by Leicester- born Colin Wilson, caused a sensation when first published on May 28, 1956. Colin Stanley tells the story of his overnight success.   Colin Stanley is  Colin Wilson’s bibliographer, convenor of 4 International Conferences on his work and associate curator of his archive at the University of Nottingham. Author of several studies of his work including ‘An Evolutionary Leap: Colin Wilson on Psychology’ (Routledge, 2016) All welcome - admission free . Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs. 

  Freethinking humanist heroes who shook the world!    Paul is based in Manchester and had been producing ‘Polyp’ cartoons since 1980 (for Leeds Student Newspaper) and took it up full time in the 90’s, having been a care worker before then.  He has drawn many cartoons including for New Internationalist, Ethical Consumer Magazine, The Freethinker, Christian Aid, The Big Issue, Friends of the Earth, Liberty and  Campaign Against the Arms Trade.   His graphic novels  focus on deliberately suppressed history, or events from the past that challenge how we see the present.  He is chair and founder of the Peterloo Memorial Campaign in Manchester, which successfully lobbied for a permanent physical tribute to those who died.  He describes himself as a secular, freethinking humanist with a deep belief in rationalism, scientific skepticism and in confronting the tough ethical issues our culture often tries to ignore. Pa...

From religion to capitalism, systems demand conformity. This talk questions ableism and whether neurodivergent struggle reflects individual failure or systemic design.   Veiled Rose is a British Bengali ex-Muslim activist and writer working at the intersection of neurodiversity, secularism, and human rights. Her work focuses on how social and religious systems impact mental health, autonomy, and equality, particularly for women and neurodivergent people. She is Communications Manager at Faithless Hijabi , and a lay member of both the Leicester Secular Society and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain .    All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs. ...

 

 We have a break in our programme at Yuletide, Easter and in the summer holiday period. The new programmes commence in January, April and September.

An ex-Muslim woman exposes sexual shame, forced marriage and Islamist gender apartheid, combining lived experience with UK context and global evidence.   Veiled Rose is a British Bangladeshi ex-Muslim activist and Communications Manager at Faithless Hijabi .

Tom’s talk will introduce his research that is working to better understand the reality of marine litter on heavily-littered shorelines with the help of community experts.   Plastic pollution and marine litter have emerged as pressing environmental challenges of our time, impacting the health of our ocean and ecosystems. With the relentless production and disposal of plastic materials, our planet has become a dumping ground for an alarming array of plastic debris. From microplastics, to larger plastic items like bottles and bags, these pollutants pose a threat to marine life, the food chain, human health and the delicate balance of our planet's aquatic environments.   Tom is is a Senior Lecturer in Geography at Loughborough University. As an interdisciplinary environmental researcher, Tom’s work combines environmental science, human geography, ethnography, and material cultures disciplines to better understand society’s material footprints on the pl...

Francesco Sani   Scholar and theatre practitioner Francesco Sani explores the use of community-based theatre to discuss political economy and labour rights. Francesco has undertaken research aimed at identifying modalities of engagement with the practice of political theatre that would be accessible to non-traditional theatre audiences and explores different possibilities of performance production outside of the professional industry. The applications of this work can range from education to community-oriented cultural activities.   All welcome - admission free. Tea & biscuits. Donations welcome - £5 suggested to cover  costs.  ...

A Look at the Society's Website then joining at 7pm A BELIEF IN DIALOGUE EVENT on Zoom 'One God - Many Masks We have been unsuccessful in booking a speaker for this Sunday and will therefore begin with a review of what is available on our website before joining this Zoom event from the Hall. As you will see below you can register to join the event from home if you prefer.   Is there just one way to God, or are there many ways? Or is there no God at all, only the mystery and gift of life on this earth. Does this diversity of perspectives make any difference? Can we still live together and all our children flourish?   The  subject will be addressed b...

Phil Cooper   Phil will give an illustrated talk on the highlights from his trip of a lifetime 20 or more years ago  from Cairo visiting the oldest functioning monastery in Mount Sinai;  Jordan’s Wadi Rum and of course Petra;  fortresses in Syria, the oldest Byzantine Mosaics at Madaba;  Palmyra and Aleppo before the destruction of the civil war,; finishing in Turkey with Cappadoccia and Istanbul.

Ned Newitt   The Shoe Strike Girl", a true story about a girl who was at the centre of a strike at the Co-operative Society Boot and Shoe Factory in Enderby, Leicestershire, in 1913. The unfair dismissal of 19 year old Olive Coulson led to an eight week strike which involved 1,800 workers. The film was made by Pudding Bag Productions, a community heritage group which involves local people in making historical drama films. The film is about 30 minutes long and will be introduced by Ned who undertook the research which provided the starting point for Wendy Freer's script and film.   Ned has written several books, most relating to the history ...

Vignesh Rajahmani & Karthick Ram Manoharan   This public conversation brings together Vignesh Rajahmani (The Dravidian Pathway) and Karthick Ram Manoharan (Periyar: A Study in Political Atheism, co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Periyar) to explore how the Dravidian movement reshaped the meaning and practice of secular politics in India. From Periyar’s radical anti-caste and rationalist critique of religion to the DMK’s transformation of social reform into a durable political project, the discussion will examine how secularism can function as a mass political ethos grounded in social justice, dignity, and democratic mobilisation. Vignesh Rajahmani is a researcher affiliated with King's College London and KITLV-Leiden, specialising in Indian and Indonesian politics, with a PhD from King’s College London. His work spans public policy, political strategy, and democratic development. Karth...

Joshua Thorpe Elizabeth Heyrick was a pioneering abolitionist and philanthropist whose contributions to social justice have been largely forgotten. This talk will explore her life, her impact on Leicester and beyond, and the reasons her memory has faded. It will also highlight the work of the Elizabeth Heyrick Society.  Joshua is Chair of the Elizabeth Heyrick Society. He gained an MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2020 and then  taught English and History in Girona, Spain. He is now a UK Civil Servant, working for the Department for Business and Trade. Joshua is originally from Leicestershire and has deep roots in the county.  ...

An informal evening with the creative talents of Red Leicester Choir and Leicestershire Guild of Storytelling. Hear songs with a story to tell and enjoy tales to make the heart sing.   Members of Red Leicester Choir Red Leicester is Leicester’s socialist choir singing songs expressive of social and political protest, and songs of worldwide celebration, struggle and change. To find out more about them, including how to join, please click here.   The Leicestershire Guild of Storytelling is a not for profit community association and, using their brand ‘The Story Tree’, aim to promote the traditional oral storytelling art in Leicester and Leicestershire. This is done by: running a free monthly club night to which anyone is welcome to come and tell a story or simply to listen to others tell; ...

Megan Manson   Female subordination. Sexist 'modesty' codes. Violence against women. These are forms of misogyny we would expect charities to try to combat. Yet as the National Secular Society's ground-breaking report " Mission and Misogyny " reveals, too many charities are promoting these ideas – all under the cloak of 'advancing religion'. Report author Megan Manson will explain how religious fundamentalists are exploiting our charity sector to promote regressive and harmful ideas about women. Her presentation will summarise the report's findings, and include video clips from sermons revealing how religious charities have used the cover of 'the advancement of religion' to promote or condone misogyny.  Megan Manson is head of campaigns at the NSS. She previously worked for the Japanese government promoting cultural exchange and lang...

Professor Lala Meredith-Vula   Lala Meredith-Vula is an artist and Professor of Art and Photography at De Montfort University. Lala has worked extensively in the Balkans since 1988 and has a huge archive capturing life in the Balkans, following blood feud reconciliation ceremonies and the Yugoslav Kosova war.  Born in Sarajevo, Lala moved to England in 1970 and became part of the Damien Hirst-led Freeze exhibition in 1988, after her graduation from Goldsmiths College, University of London. This was followed by postgraduate studies at the University of Prishtina, Kosova. Since 1989 she has lectured at various colleges in the UK, USA and Kosovo. In 1995 she set up the first photography department...

Mariam Shalvashvili   At the beginning of the 2000s, the Western countries and Russia had a common goal – to eradicate terrorism in a small region in (the republic of) Georgia. Yet, the reality was more complicated and new policies led to the stigmatisation and persecution of Muslim communities. By using the case of Caucasus as an entry point, this talk investigates the notions of securitisation and terrorism.   Mariam Shalvashvili is a social anthropology PhD candidate at Ilia State University in Georgia. Mariam has worked as a researcher and collaborator for several prominent Georgian NGOs and as an adjunct lecturer at the Free University of Tbilisi. She has extensively written about ethnic and reli...

Dr Anna Joy Drury Did you know Earth’s climate varies with a semi-periodic beat that is controlled by Earth’s location in our solar system? Using oceanic sediments recovered from deep below the sea floor, we will explore how astronomical processes influence Earth’s climate beat and why it sometimes changes – seemingly unpredictably.   Anna is a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow with the Geography, Geology and Environment Unit at Leicester University. Her research interests span palaeoceanography, geochemistry and stratigraphy, with a strong focus on understanding climate evolution and dynamics. She has helped develop the Code for Ocean Drilling Data (CODD) to facilitate analysis of ocean drilling data and the creation of composite core images. ...

Guest Speaker: 'Polyp' (author of the visual biography of Tom Paine)  plus readings, music from the Falling Angels , traditional fayre and toasts at Secular Hall.     Tickets £16 (members £12)  We can only accommodate 40 so it is "first come first served" and the final date for booking a place is 31st January (provided there are places remaining).   For tickets contact Mike either by email to tickets@Lsec.org.uk or phone 07722 782727. Please indicate if you want the vegetarian option. No bar, bring your own drinks.