SCFS host international ‘Nurturing Hope’ conference on Liberal Education, Democracy, and Designing Sustainable Futures
On 8th-9th May 2025, the Liberal Arts department and the School for Cross Faculty Studies ran an international conference titled ‘Nurturing Hope: Liberal Education, Democracy, and Designing Sustainable Futures,’ which aimed to demonstrate how even 2,000 years later, Liberal Arts education can still provide valuable critical tools for addressing modern-day problems from the very local (Warwick) to the global. The conference was planned as part of the University of Warwick’s 60th year anniversary celebrations and looks forward to the Liberal Arts department’s 10th year anniversary – which it will be entering in 2026.
What was the purpose of the conference?
‘Nurturing Hope’ invited researchers and academics from across the globe to discuss three primary questions:
1.What is the relevance of Liberal Arts education for the challenges we face in the twenty-first century?
2.How can the critical tradition of Liberal Education nurture hope and foster democratic values?
3.Can Liberal Arts Education lead us to designing better and more sustainable futures for ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities?
Through interdisciplinary talks, panel discussions, and interactive workshops, the conference not only explored the value of Liberal Arts education today but considered how its unique approach to learning can help foster hope within individuals, communities, institutions, and our world, particularly during the current political and climate crises.
Who attended and gave presentations?
The conference was attended both online and on campus by almost 100 participants from around the globe. Speakers included students and staff from Warwick’s Design Studies, GSD and Liberal Arts programmes, in addition to academics and researchers focussed on the Liberal Arts from institutions in Canada, the US, Europe, and Nigeria.
On the first day of the conference, proceedings were introduced by Dr Rachel Moseley (Provost for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Warwick) and our Head of School Dr Jane Webb. We then heard from Josh Patel (Edge Foundation) about the history of British Liberal Education following the Second World War and the importance of Liberal Education within the foundation and early years of the University of Warwick.
William H. Rupp and Simon Scott (U. Birmingham) discussed the growing popularity of Liberal Education in the UK (along with the challenges it faces); Stuart Kirk (The Schumacher Institute) and Elena Korosteleva reflected on the policy implications of fostering hope amid our sustainability challenges; and Milan Kovačević (U. Maastricht) shared his research demonstrating the value of a Liberal Arts degree to employers in the Netherlands.
Attendees also enjoyed student presentations from Liberal Arts (Dae Pomeroy, Olivia Brown, and Esme Hide), Global Sustainable Development (Joey Kay), and Design (Zeeshan Yousuf, Alice Trump, Megan Carolan, and Nikita Nagda, with our Head of Design Studies Adela Glyn-Davies). Jessica Riddell’s (Bishop’s University, Canada) keynote closed out the first day, focussing on the value of Liberal Arts in the age of artificial intelligence. She shared her toolkit for finding hope and navigating moments of despair, discussing the enduring value of the Liberal Arts in how it leans into the things that make us most human, reminding us that "Hope needs to be wide enough to contain within it our moments of doubt, fear, anxiety, and even despair."
On Day 2 of the conference, discussions were shifted to the regional and international contexts of Liberal Education. Andrew Brogan and Veronica Bremer from Leuphana University of Lüneburg shared their approaches to fostering hope in their curricula, both through an anarchic approach and activities that normalise and help metabolise failure — highlighting the importance of Liberal Education as a holistic approach to intellectual and personal growth.
Samuel Abrahám from BISLA in Bratislava shared with us the important link between Liberal Education and character formation, updating Cardinal Newman's vision for Liberal Education for the 22nd century.
Our final panel included Anthony Kola-Olusanya from Osun State University who discussed the complexity of balancing religious and liberal education values in Nigeria for a sustainable future, and Jarrett Carty from Concordia University, Canada who discussed the crises currently faced by Liberal Arts and higher education in Québec, and the enduring importance of John Stuart Mill's approach to liberty and liberal thinking when navigating complex conversations of Canadian national identity today.
We would like to warmly thank all the speakers and attendees who took the time to engage with our conference, in addition to Dr Bryan Brazeau and Dr Lauren Bird for their efforts in organising such a successful event!