Newsletter: Events at Clare Hall, Winter 2026
Dear Clare Hall members and friends,
Please find below a list of events taking place this week and beyond, to which you are warmly invited.
➢ Members’ events
College Bar, Lent 2026 |
Wednesdays and Fridays, 7-11pm
The College bar is open two nights a week – Wednesday and Friday evenings, 7-11PM.
Clare Hall Through Your Lens: Seasonal Photography Competition |
Monday 16 February – Monday 2 November 2026
Following the wonderful response to our community photo project, Clare Hall Through Your Lens continues throughout this special anniversary year as our official 60th Anniversary Photography Competition.
We invite students, fellows, staff, and families to capture Clare Hall’s grounds, gardens, and moments of college life across all four seasons. At the end of each season, a judging panel will select the top three photographs, which will go forward to be included in a commemorative Clare Hall 60th Anniversary Calendar.
This is a chance to celebrate Clare Hall at 60, highlight our natural environment, and contribute to a lasting visual record of the College during this milestone year.
Find out how to take part on the main event page.
Family Supper |
Friday 6 March, 5.30pm
Join us for a Family Supper starting in the Meeting Room at 5.30pm where we do a craft activity, before heading for supper at about 6pm. After supper we will return to the Meeting Room to watch a film together if there is enough demand.
There is no need to book – this is an informal event and dinner will be the regular dining hall with usual prices, and half price for children. Family suppers are organised by Chandy Nath and Susannah Salter.
➢ Lectures and talks
Clare Hall Colloquia |
Tuesday 20 January – Tuesday 10 March 2026, 7.15pm
The Clare Hall Colloquia provide members of the College – especially (but not exclusively) Visiting Fellows and Life Members – with an opportunity to present their research, whether in its early stages or already published, in a friendly setting. They are a great way to discuss your ideas, meet fellow members and to contribute to our vibrant community. Sessions take place on Tuesday evenings during term time, 7.15–9.15pm, in the Clare Hall Meeting Room. Refreshments are provided.
The next session is on 24 February, with speaker Professor Midori Yamaguchi (Visiting Fellow, Daito Bunka University, Tokyo, Japan)
Title: ‘Prosper the Work of Our Hands’: Gender, Clothing, and ‘Empire’ in the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1860-1923
The Anglican missionary society SPG recruited women missionaries from the 1860s onwards yet provided them with little financial support. English women who supported such women would send ‘mission boxes’ filled with handmade clothes to be sold abroad to raise funds. This paper analyses the gendered perceptions of the ‘Empire’ held by women in the SPG, and their participation in it, through the lens of the debate surrounding the practice of the ‘mission box’.
Please see the full Lent programme here.
Physics SIG |
Thursday 19 February, 5pm
All Clare Hall members are welcome to attend the next meeting of the Physics SIG on Thursday 19 February at 5pm in the King Room with speaker Fabio Pino (Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge) and his talk “Absolute and convective instabilities in liquid film flows”.
For further information, please contact Roman Staňo (rs2365@cam.ac.uk) or Fabio Pino (fp448@cam.ac.uk).
Film & Moving Image SIG |
Thursday 19 February, 7.30pm
All Clare Hall members are welcome to attend the screenings and events of the new Film & Moving Image SIG. The full schedule for Lent can be found here.
Upcoming event: Film Screening – The Brood (1979, 92 minutes, dir. David Cronenberg) at ALB Bar.
– Lent Term’s second screening is David Cronenberg’s The Brood! This sci-fi horror is featured in the Criterion Collection and has inspired decades of horror filmmakers. It is gross and scary, but also very good. Be prepared for that! Works on its face, and also as a metaphor – but for what? It’s up to you to decide.
– As per our normal routine, we’ve reserved a table in the dining room from 6pm for members of the SIG to gather before the screening.
English Literature SIG |
Friday 20 February 2026, 5pm
All Clare Hall members are welcome to attend the meetings for the English Literature SIG this Lent term. Meetings are held at 5pm in the Clare Hall Meeting Room, followed by a group dinner in the Dining Hall.
For further details please contact Professor Eric Nye, SIG convenor, at ewn10@cam.ac.uk. Zoom link provided on request.
The full schedule can be found here.
From Idea to Start-up: Founders & Investors in Conversation |
Wednesday 25 February 2026, 6-7pm
Join us for a fireside chat to hear from Dr Isaac Johnson, Co-founder of Verinnogen and Dr Damian Crowther, Co-founder of TRIMTECH Therapeutics about their entrepreneurial journey from starting a new business from scratch, to building founding teams, raising investment and developing a roadmap to bring game-changing innovations to life.
They will be joined by Industry and Enterprise Fellows Dr Anne Horgan from Cambridge Innovation Capital and Dr Loukik Arora from Macmillan Impact Investments who will be bringing their investor perspective to Isaac’s and Damian’s experiences.
Date: Wednesday 25 February 2026
Time: 6.00 – 7.00 pm
Location: Richard Eden Suite, West Court
- See event details here.
- Learn more about the Industry & Enterprise Programme here.
- Please sign up for the event here.
The Betty Behrens Seminar on Classics of Historiography |
Thursday 26 February 2026 – Thursday 19 March, 2.15pm
The Betty Behrens Seminar on Classics of Historiography offers a unique opportunity for students and scholars to reflect on some great historical works and engage in discussion with renowned experts. This Lent term, the seminar will take place between the 26 February and the 19 March and will be composed of three meetings. The charming and fresh atmosphere of the Richard Eden Suite in Clare Hall, West Court, will be the location for the discussions.
The first meeting of the term is on Thursday 26 February from 2.15-4.00 pm with speaker Youssef M. Choueiri (Visiting Professor of History, London School of Economics and Political Science).
Find out more information here. Register for the seminars via Eventbrite.
Biomedical & Life Sciences SIG |
Wednesday 4 March, 6pm
All Clare Hall members are welcome to attend the meetings for the Biomedical and Life Sciences SIG this Lent term. Meetings are held on Wednesdays 6.00-7.00pm in the Clare Hall Meeting Room.
The next meeting is on 4 March with speaker Professor Alison Smith (Department of Plant Sciences & Director, Algal Innovation Centre, University of Cambridge) – “Opportunities for sustainable chemicals from algae: fact or fiction?”
For further information, please contact convenors Dr Chris Cooper at sulfolobus1976@icloud.com, or Dr Rachel Sippy at rjs271@medschl.cam.ac.uk, or Dr Mike Trower at mt981@cam.ac.uk.
➢ Music
Emmanuel Bach and Jenny Stern |
Saturday 21 February 2026, 7.30pm
This concert presents a programme of rarely performed works that look ahead to new musical ideas and expressive possibilities, brought to life by Emmanuel Bach (London Firebird Orchestra) and Jenny Stern (Royal College of Music, London).
The Fantasies by C. P. E. Bach and Schubert explore mood and atmosphere in ways that anticipate the Romantic movement. André Previn, best known as a conductor, was also a fine pianist and composer, and his Violin Sonatas reflect his close musical partnership with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. The programme also features a suite for violin and piano by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, drawn from incidental music written in 1919 and first performed at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, revealing the confidence and imagination of a remarkable young composer.
Tickets are available via Eventbrite: General Admission – £20, Clare Hall members – £15, students – £5.
String Sextet led by Darragh Morgan |
Sunday 8 March 2026, 7.30pm
Join us on Sunday 8 March for an evening of sweeping Romantic expression and chamber music at its most powerful.
This performance of string sextet, led by Darragh Morgan, brings together two landmark works of the Austro German tradition. Brahms’s String Sextet No. 1, radiant and richly lyrical, marked his first great success in writing for strings and remains one of his most beloved chamber works. Alongside it, Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht offers an intensely emotional and atmospheric journey, composed early in his career and steeped in the sumptuous sound world of late Romanticism.
Tickets are available via Eventbrite: General Admission – £20, Clare Hall members – £15, students – £5.
Richard Strauss – Enoch Arden |
Saturday 21 March 2026, 7.30pm
Robert Anderson and Patrick Hemmerlé perform Richard Strauss’ Enoch Arden, a rarely heard melodrama for narrator and piano in a form that once enjoyed widespread popularity across Europe.
Written early in Strauss’s career, the work earned him significant recognition and was widely admired in its day. In more recent years it has been taken up by celebrated musicians including Glenn Gould and Stephen Hough, with narrators such as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Jon Vickers. Based on Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s narrative poem, Enoch Arden recounts the story of a fisherman cast away for eleven years, who returns home to find his wife remarried to his childhood friend. Strauss’s score intensifies this moving tale of endurance, sacrifice and love.
The programme will also include Strauss’ Violin Sonata, performed by a student duet.
Join us at Clare Hall for an evening of powerful storytelling and music!
Tickets are available via Eventbrite: General Admission – £20, Clare Hall members – £15, students – £5.
➢ Art
‘All of Your Demons Will Wither Away‘ by Marguerite Horner |
Friday 16 January – Thursday 5 March 2026, 9am-4pm
Clare Hall is proud to present All of Your Demons Will Wither Away, a remarkable exhibition by Marguerite Horner, which will be open for public viewing Monday to Friday between 9am to 4pm. It demonstrates afresh this college’s interest in the diversity to be found in contemporary art and its ability to provoke thought and feeling. The dominant images in this show are concerned with light on water.
The exhibition’s title is explained by the artist. Drawn from Fatboy Slim’s Demons (sung by Macy Gray), it carries the lyric: “All of your demons will wither away, ecstasy comes and they cannot stay.” It therefore speaks to transformation – to the quiet promise that illumination, however brief, can dissolve the shadow.
Marguerite Horner
Learn more about the exhibition here.
The Bell Collection of British Studio Pottery, 1920-1980 |
Ongoing
A rotating display of some 400 pieces of studio ceramics. Learn more at https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/bellcollection/
➢ External events
British Academy ECR Network – Call for Representatives |
Apply by Thursday 12 March 2026
British Academy ECR Network, East of England Cluster would like to invite Early Career Researcher representatives from the region to join the Steering Group. ECR representatives will lead the design and strategic development of the network programme, ensuring that the cluster follows the BA’s ECRN motto “for ECRs, by ECRs”.
What will ECR representatives do?
- Bring an ECR perspective to shape the work of the Network in the region.
- Communicate the needs of the ECR communities from their home institutions.
- Organise Network events within the East of England Cluster (optional).
- Attend ECR Forums at British Academy twice a year.
- Attend the East of England Partners online meetings once a term.
Benefits:
- Network with colleagues and build community regionally and across the UK.
- Engage with senior academics across the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
- Develop skills in advocacy and an understanding of organisational planning.
- Become involved in the organisation of specific events for the network (optional).
- Access to the Development Fund (£3000) to organise an event, as well as funding for personal and professional development (£200).
Eligibility:
- To be a member of British Academy Early Career Researcher Network, East of England Cluster.
Please check more details on the role and fill out the application form by following this link. Deadline: Thursday 12 March 2026.
For questions, contact ba-ecrnadmin@crassh.cam.ac.uk.
SDG & AI+ Academic Conferences 2026 |
Submit papers by Sunday 31 May 2026
Two non-profit, peer-reviewed academic conferences focusing on SDG and AI+ will be held in Cambridge in summer 2026. Both events are organised by UniHive and hosted by Clare Hall and Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.
Professor David Cope (Foundation Fellow at Clare Hall) and Professor Pietro Liò (Professorial Fellow at Clare Hall) will act as the Academic Chair of each conference.
- Call for papers opens: Friday 30 January 2026
- Paper and poster submission deadline: Sunday 31 May 2026
➢ Activities and Societies
Pilates Sessions |
Mondays, 9 January – 20 March 2026
We are delighted to host pilates classes at Clare Hall throughout the Lent Term. The classes will be held on Mondays during lunchtime. Pilates is a form of low-impact exercise that aims to strengthen muscles while improving postural alignment and flexibility.
A full list of dates and the sign up sheet can be found here.
Taiji (Tai Chi) and QiGong Sessions |
Wednesdays, 14 January – 18 March 2026
We are pleased to host Taiji (Tai Chi) and QiGong sessions at Clare Hall in the Lent Term. The sessions will be taking place in the Richard Eden Suite on Wednesdays during lunchtime, starting on 1 October 2025.
A full list of dates and the sign up sheet can be found here.
Yoga Sessions |
Thursdays and Sundays, 15 January – 22 March 2025
We are delighted to host regular Thursday lunchtime and Sunday afternoon yoga sessions in the Lent term. Yoga is a holistic mind–body practice that combines physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation to promote strength, flexibility, and inner balance.
A full list of dates and the sign up sheet can be found here.
Clare Hall Book Club |
Monday 2 March 2026, 8pm
Join the College’s Book Club as they discuss Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. All College members are welcome to attend in-person, meeting in Clare Hall’s King Room, or via Zoom. If you are not on the mailing list and would like to be, please send an email to gloria.carnevali@icloud.com, confirming your Clare Hall connection and putting the following as the email title: I would like to join the Book Club mailing list.
Learn more about the Book Club on this page.
BODIES: Discover Movement Through Contemporary Dance |
Sunday 8 March 2026, 3.30pm
Explore movement, breath and body awareness in a series of free, inclusive contemporary dance workshops led by Clare Hall PhD student and GSB Green Officer Lisa Valentini. Open to movers of all abilities, these sessions invite you to develop confidence and curiosity through guided exploration of space, flow, balance and connection with others.
Second session: Your body, IN THE SPACE
Sunday 8 March, at 3:30 – 5:00 pm, in Richard Eden Suite.
Sign up now: https://forms.gle/EM37UopyvTpvyccP8
Only 15 spots available.
Event reserved to Clare Hall affiliates. In case you are no longer able to participate, and for any other question, please contact Lisa at lv390@cam.ac.uk.
Choir Practice |
Various Dates
A reminder that Clare Hall Choir practice takes place in Robinson College Chapel every Monday (in term-time, but not always restricted to the official Cambridge term dates) from 7.30-9pm. New members are always welcome, and no previous singing or musical experience is necessary. The only requirement is that you want to sing and have fun doing it! If you are interested in joining, please email Ben de Souza, the Choir’s Director, who is a Clare Hall Associate, freelance choral conductor and accordionist: bd402@cam.ac.uk.
Recent recordings of the choir can also be found on our YouTube channel.
Clare Hall Families |
Various Dates
Clare Hall Families is an informal group that holds events throughout the year, centred around our popular Family Suppers, which take place each term.
Join the Clare Hall Families mailing list and WhatsApp group by filling out the form.
For any enquiries, please contact Chandy Nath at chandy.nath@gmail.com.
Find a full range of events at https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/events