The Academy was founded by the Academy of Ideas in 2011 and came under the auspices of the Battle of Ideas charity in 2019.
The theme of the first Academy, which ran from Saturday 23 July – Monday 25 July, was the historical development of consciousness.
Schedule:
Day one
Plenary: Humanism – problems and opportunities (Professor Frank Furedi)
Classics: Greek philosophy and thought (Professor Dennis Hayes)
History: What is history? (Dolan Cummings)
Plenary: The emergence of consciousness in the ancient and medieval world (Professor Frank Furedi)
Day two
Classics: Greek politics (Professor Frank Furedi)
History: The English Revolution (Professor John Fitzpatrick)
Classics: The Roman tradition (Angus Kennedy)
History: The Age of Empire (Dr Norman Lewis)
Plenary: The establishment of historical consciousness in the 17th century
(Professor Frank Furedi)
Day three
Classics: The rise and fall of Rome (Dr Michael Fitzpatrick)
History: The origins of welfare thinking (Dr James Panton)
Classics: The Renaissance: old wine; new bottles (Angus Kennedy)
History: Fascism and anti-modernity (Bruno Waterfield)
Plenary: Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment thought (Professor Frank Furedi)