The SCR Conversations provide an opportunity to learn about, and discuss, the work of invited speakers, prior to a formal dinner. The speakers, many of whom are members of the SCR, will include university staff, working in the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences, but also people making a distinctive contribution to the cultural, social, and political life of Durham City and the North-East. In these informal, small-scale sessions, a brief interview with the speaker opens out into a wider conversation with all present, which can continue, for those attending the formal, over drinks and dinner. The SCR Conversations, which are open to all members of the SCR, MCR, and JCR interested in the work of the speakers, take place on Tuesdays, two or three times each term,  from 6.15 to 7.00pm, in the SCR – or, if more space is required, in the Williams Library.

Questions about the SCR Conversations can be directed to the SCR Academic Officer (currently Colin Crowder).

Michaelmas 2025 Speakers

This term, the SCR Conversations will feature two speakers. The first Conversation will feature:

Tuesday 11th November, 6.15-7.00pm, SCR
Dr Virginia Calabria
Virginia has worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science since 2024. She is a linguist and qualitative researcher, who specialises in Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics. She is a PDRA on the Moving Social Work programme, an award-winning project in which researchers work with Disability Rights UK and Sport England to embed the promotion of physical activity into the training and practice of social workers. In this SCR Conversation, she will be speaking about her contribution to this programme, her research in Conversation Analysis, and her commitment to inclusivity and diversity in academia.

W ednesday 3rd December, 6.15-7.00pm, SCR
Professor Corinne Saunders has been teaching in the Department of English Studies since the late 1990s. Her research focuses on medieval literature and the history of ideas, and she is the author of many books, essays, and articles on the medieval romances. She is also a key figure in the University’s Institute for Medical Humanities, of which she was Co-Director for many years, and she has co-edited several books arising from a series of major interdisciplinary research projects. In this SCR Conversation, she will be talking about her work in medieval literary studies, and introducing a new, interdisciplinary research project, Violence, Trauma, and Memory, which will explore the impact of violence, trauma, and memory on human experience and cultural narratives in different times and places.