About the Manchester Salon

The Manchester Salon was inspired after a trip to London for the Battle of Ideas in 2007, and a desire to bring some of the flavour of those very engaging debates to Manchester – at least in between the annual Battle of Ideas festival. The Salon organises discussions that happily move from a problematic or tricky topic in current affairs one month, through a morally difficult subject of scientific research the next, followed by unpicking the tensions between the Arts and demands by Policy wonks. There’s no interesting subject the Manchester Salon won’t consider.

The aim is to capture the essence and nuances of the intellectual and moral problems facing society, challenge modern prejudices and debate solutions. With as many views as there are participants, discussions are often ongoing and carry on more informally in the bar afterwards.

Salon Discussions

The Salon discussions are fairly informal. Usually a couple of speakers introduce their take on a subject of contemporary importance, and then the debate is opened to the audience. A chair, moderates the debate to ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to speak, and that all those niggling questions and differences of opinion itching to get out are indeed drawn out, taken seriously and responded to where possible.

In order to attend any of the forthcoming discussions, please complete the Contact Form, so that you can be added to our mailing list and then come along. For those using Twitter, Manchester Salon are extending our experimentation by beginning to use Twitter updates so please follow at http://twitter.com/manchestersalon.

A small charge is made in order to cover the cost of room hire and any speakers’ travel expenses. Download the Salon’s promotional brochure by clicking on this Manchester Salon brochure link.

Friends of the Manchester Salon

Want to support the Manchester Salon’s approach to critical public discussion and debate? If so, you are invited to make a £15 donation towards the costs involved in organising the Manchester Salon at http://manchestersalon.eventbrite.co.uk. As a thank you, you will then get a £1 discount to all the discussions organised by the Manchester Salon – monthly public discussions and the First Tuesday current affairs discussions.

Suggestions for Discussions

The Salon discussions are usually organised a month or two in advance to allow attendees and speakers alike to prepare. Both forthcoming and recent discussions can be seen by clicking on the Discussions tab. If you have any suggestions for future debates, please let us know by completing the Contact Salon form. It would help us tremendously if your suggestions included a promotional paragraph highlighting the importance and focus of the topic, a couple of background readings and any possible speakers.

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Many thanks, Simon Belt