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 6-7pm, 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 2026
Speakers

This term, there will be two SCR Conversations, the second speaker TBC. The first speaker this term is shown below

Tuesday 5th May, 6-7pm, SCR
Dr Rennan Lemos, Assistant Professor in Egyptian Archaeology 
Prof. Rennan Lemos joined Durham University’s Department of Archaeology in October 2025. He has excavated many sites in Egypt and Sudan, and specialises in the study of colonialism and coloniality, using materials from these sites to explore how colonial power operated in the ancient world and how its legacies persist. In this SCR Conversation, he will be talking about his research, which brings together scientific analysis, archaeological theory, and material culture studies, and the ways in which the investigation of colonial worlds, such as those of ancient Egypt and Nubia, contributes to ongoing debates about decolonising archaeological practice