Four free University of Bath events: a Rwanda recovery film on 20 Oct, a welfare talk 2 Nov, a Sudan famine film 3 Nov and a research fair 4 Nov. Book ahead.

The University of Bath is putting on four free events in the city over the next four weeks as part of its Festival of Social Science: two film screenings with panels at the BRLSI on Queen Square, a Minerva Lecture on the future of welfare at the Mission Theatre, and a Research Assembly at the Percy Community Centre run with Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Every event is free, but the university asks people to register. “All of the events are free, but we urge attendees to register to guarantee a slot,” Khai Trung Le, a public engagement officer at the university, told Bath Daily. All four were still on sale on Eventbrite when we checked on 8 October.

The point, he said, is to get researchers in front of residents: “We’re really keen on this being an opportunity for our academics and researchers to speak with members of the public and help demystify research and its outcomes, and hopefully open doors for future involvement.”

The four events at a glance

Date Event Venue Time
Tue 20 Oct More Than Treatment (film and panel) BRLSI, Queen Square 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Mon 2 Nov Minerva Lecture: Reimagining Welfare in Times of Crisis The Mission Theatre, Corn Street 6pm to 7.30pm
Tue 3 Nov “Hunger is more dangerous than war” (film and panel) BRLSI, Queen Square 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Wed 4 Nov Research Assembly Percy Community Centre, New King Street 12pm to 2.30pm

Finish times are worked out from the running time listed on each Eventbrite page.

Illustrated banner reading Exploring society together, showing people budgeting, working and talking at home and at work
The Festival of Social Science banner, "Exploring society together". Image: supplied by the University of Bath

Tuesday 20 October: recovery from mental distress, in Rwanda

The first screening is a short film about OPROMAMER, a peer-led mental health organisation in Rwanda. The question it asks, in the university’s words: “What helps people recover from mental distress and build fulfilling lives?”

The event page says the group works “through peer support, mutual aid, farming and small business initiatives, access to healthcare, and efforts to challenge stigma”, and that it “supports people to rebuild confidence, connection, dignity and valued roles within their communities.”

“Treatment can play an important role, but recovery is also shaped by friendship, belonging, meaningful work, economic opportunity, and the attitudes of those around us,” the organisers write. A panel discussion follows on community-led approaches to mental health, recovery and inclusion.

It is in the Duncan Room at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, from 6.30pm.

A person walking along a path between green and yellow fields in Rwanda, carrying a large white bag on their head, with trees behind
A person carrying a large bag on their head through fields in Rwanda. Photo: Mad Knoxx Deluxe on Unsplash, supplied by the University of Bath

Monday 2 November: the Minerva Lecture on welfare

The Minerva Lecture Series returns at the Mission Theatre on Corn Street at 6pm with Reimagining Welfare in Times of Crisis, a talk of about an hour and a half.

“With global instability already routine, the UK is having to reckon with what meaningful social assistance that meets the needs of its populations looks like,” the university says. The evening brings together scholars, activists and civil society representatives, and will cover sustainable food systems, universal basic income, housing and care services. Registration for this one is described as essential.

A small glass filled with copper and gold coins with a green seedling growing out of it, against a blue textured wall
A seedling growing from a glass of coins, the image used for the welfare lecture. Image: supplied by the University of Bath

Tuesday 3 November: starvation in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains

The second film, “Hunger is more dangerous than war”: Stories of starvation from Sudan, was filmed in Kauda in the Nuba Mountains in 2025, according to the organisers. It is about the region’s long history of famine in wartime.

The event page is stark about what has happened since. “War is now raging in Kauda (Nuba Mountains, Sudan) as the government and rebels fight over gold. Drones have hit schools and fighting has burnt markets and schools,” it says. “There is already starvation in the region and it will be almost impossible for people to survive famine in 2027.”

The organisers add that despite the region’s fertility, “people have suffered repetitive famines over the last four decades because of armed conflict and battles for gold and land,” and that they are “still trying to confirm the safety and wellbeing of everyone in the film.” They also want the film to show something else: “people of the mountains have shown incredible tenacity and innovation in their attempts to survive and preserve hope and dignity.”

The panel afterwards brings together Nuba Mountains community members Mrs Aroma Kunda, Mr Kuwa Bargil and Mr Anwar Salem with University of Bath researcher Naomi Pendle. It is in the Duncan Room at the BRLSI from 6.30pm.

Two women seated against a white wall, each holding a young child, one child holding a green cup and the other a pink cup
Two women with young children, the image used for the Sudan screening. Photo: supplied by the University of Bath

Wednesday 4 November: the Research Assembly

The Research Assembly runs from noon at the Percy Community Centre on New King Street and is the most local of the four. It is delivered with Bath & North East Somerset Council, and this year’s theme is inequality, which the organisers call “a thread that runs through almost every area of local policy, service delivery and community action.”

It is set out as a marketplace of stalls and posters, open to researchers, community groups, council staff, practitioners and residents. Themes listed include educational attainment, transport and accessibility, food insecurity, alcohol and drug harm reduction, young people’s mental health, extreme heat and disability, and housing and healthy places.

Alongside it runs a workshop, “Including the Excluded: Ensuring Community Voices are Heard in Research and Policy”, on involving people with lived experience in research and decisions from the start, drawing on the university’s Upstream Engagement programme among others.

What it means for you

  • It costs nothing, but book a place through each event’s Eventbrite page, linked above. The university says registration is essential for the 2 November lecture.
  • Two of the four are evening films on Queen Square, each followed by a panel you can put questions to.
  • If you run a community group in Bath and North East Somerset, the 4 November assembly is pitched at you: the organisers say it is a chance to “meet potential collaborators from academia, local government and the voluntary sector.”

More on what is happening in the city this autumn is in our What’s On in Bath listing.