Christmas lectures are as much a part of the national idea of Christmas as putting a pound coin in the pudding or watching the Royal Speech on telly.
Arguably the very first Christmas lectures in the United Kingdom were started by the Royal Institution in 1825. Their Christmas Lectures series is in fact the oldest televised science program - first broadcast in 1936.
In the intervening years, multitudes of universities have followed suit and developed a long standing educational tradition of yuletide lectures which are open to the public.
With no other reason than to simply celebrate this fantastic on-going Christmas custom, here are five of our favourites from 2022.
What would Christmas be without games? While you may be thinking of charades or Trivial Pursuit, Staffordshire University has other ideas. With a burgeoning reputation for computer game design and e sports, the west midlands university leveraged their up and coming reputation in the digital space and juxtaposed it with the traditional idea of Christmas parlor games.
We already mentioned AUB Innovation Studio in our blog article of universities sleighing it with Christmas content, but we feel it’s only right to include them here too. AUB Innovation Studio, part of the Arts University Bournemouth, have also turned a mainstay of the season on its head and explored it through the prism of their own expertise - Santa’s Grotto.
Christmas is a time for adults to be children once more and for children to be amazed. This is something not lost on the University of East Anglia as they prepare a series of Christmas lectures especially curated for curious children and adults alike. We love their use of fun titles combined with an imagination-inspiring graphic design.
Everyone enjoys a few pounds at the bottom of their stocking or a ten pound note sliding from a Christmas card (if you’re really lucky). In their take on the Christmas lecture, The University of Reading explores the concept of money and how it has changed over time. From seashells to gold coins, what we like about this lecture is how the event copy creates a sense of mystery around something so commonplace and makes the familiar unfamiliar.
“We all know Christmas day is December 25th but has it always been?” - say no more Nottingham Trent University, we’re hooked and immediately want to know more. In this extra-terrestrial Christmas lecture, Nottingham Trent University looks into why so many of our earthly feast days land in December from a space physics perspective. This event page is filled with sentences that fire up curious minds such as: “A free Christmas lecture about how the sun has affected our calendars”. Great stuff.
Christmas lectures are a fantastic way to showcase your university’s expertise, reach out to your local community and give your communications and marketing team something to really sink their teeth into in the build up to Christmas. Although if you haven’t planned anything yet, probably best to start thinking about it for next year.
Have a wonderful and educational Christmas time.
