Design Informatics Celebrating Humanities Research

We are delighted to announce, that for the UK’s annual celebration of humanities research, during the 2025 ESRC Festival of Social Science and Being Human Festival, the Institute for Design Informatics will present a series of events and an exhibition at Inspace and The School of Informatics, at the University of Edinburgh.

The running period across both festivals is from 18th of Oct to the 15th of Nov.

Programme highlights

Digital Ghosts Exhibition and Event Programme

Join multimedia artist Dorsey Kaufmann, data visualisation developer Parker Kaufmann and master students from the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh as they invite you to step into the forgotten corners of the internet, through an exhibition, late event and panel discussion and a workshop. Through this exhibition and the association event programme, the artists, students and researchers involved in this project invite you to reflect on what’s preserved, what’s lost, and what that reveals about our identities and values.

Exhibition and Event Programme Join multimedia artist Dorsey Kaufmann, data visualisation developer Parker Kaufmann and master students from the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh as they invite you to step into the forgotten corners of the internet, through an exhibition, late event and panel discussion and a workshop. Through this exhibition and the association event programme, the artists, students and researchers involved in this project invite you to reflect on what’s preserved, what’s lost, and what that reveals about our identities and values.

Read more about the full programme here.

Decolonising AI Workshop

Join researchers, artists and community members for a lively exploration of AI, bias, and creativity.

There will be two hands-on roundtable workshops on AI bias in visual and language models, inviting you to collaborate and co-design with language and visual AI tools, creating a participatory artwork. Co-create a sonic performance that challenges Western norms of sound and music making—using AI music generators and sound-processing tools to reveal the status quo and probe the limits of AI. Read More and Register.

About the ESRC Festival of Social Science

The festival explores the world of social science, from how society has shaped our local areas to behaviours that help fight climate change. This year a number of our events will focus on our working lives, exploring the relationship between humans and digital technology. Read More.

About Being Human FestivalBeing Human is the UK’s national festival of the humanities. A celebration of humanities research through public engagement, it is led by the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, the UK’s national centre for the pursuit, support and promotion of research in the humanities. The festival works in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy to support humanities public engagement across the UK. Read More.