About Us
Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, formerly called Human Worlds Festival, is the University of Southampton's annual celebration of Humanities and the Arts.
It is a free series of events for members of the public, including families, to explore the humanities and beyond. In the past years, most of the events took place at the University's Avenue Campus, which is the home of the Faculty of Humanities, including disciplines such as Archaeology, English, Film, History, Modern Languages, Music and Philosophy.
The week usually starts/concludes with our Hands-on Humanities Day, a free family-friendly event with interactive hands-on activities, workshops, and talks from across our Faculties.
The Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival was first launched in 2014 and runs every year to coincide with Being Human festival, the UK's national celebration of humanities research.
Over the last few years, we have opened participation to external exhibitors including local bookstores, schools, community groups, cultural venues and other research institutions.
Discover the City of Southampton
Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival is organised by the UoS Festival team - part of the Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu) at the University of Southampton - who curate all sides of the event from planning to evaluation, and take pride in delivering the best possible experience to everyone involved, from volunteers to visitors.
Silvia Lanati
Public Engagement Manager
UoS website profile
Kara Goodland
UoS Festival Admin
Ben Littlefield
Head of PERu
Lisa Hanley
Deputy Head of PERu
Isobel Buck
Student Ambassador Lead (coordinator)
Matthew Grove
Student Ambassador Lead (operations)
Elizabeth Nutburn
Senior PERu Admin
We are part of the Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu), which exists to inspire and support high quality public engagement with research across all disciplines at the University of Southampton.
As a signatory to the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)'s Manifesto for Public Engagement, the University is committed to sharing knowledge, resources and skills with the public, and to listening to and learning from the expertise and insight of the different communities with which we engage.
Alongside Southampton Arts and Humanities, the UoS Festival team organises other family-friendly events across the year.
Our annual Southampton Science and Engineering Festival (SOTSEF) is held every March, during British Science Week, and the programme usually includes Science and Engineering Day, a free family-friendly event taking place across Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Innovation Campus, packed with hundreds of interactive hands-on activities, workshops, live shows, art performances and laboratory tours from across all our Faculties.
For Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival we also contribute towards related special events including Black History Month (October), UK Disability History Month(November-December) and LGBT+ History Month (February).
The wider PERu team is responsible for a spectrum of other activities for research engagement, including the University of Southampton Bringing Research to Life Roadshow, the Research Café, and the Public Engagement Hubs.
