Life in the Round

Exploring Life From Every Angle

Life in the Round offers an engaging space to explore the value of life in dialogue with today’s culture and the historic Christian faith.

Recent Events

Upcoming Events

We host an evening event each term. At our next event on Wednesday 18 November, we are due to be joined by Dr Andy Bannister, Prof Nigel Crook and Dr Hope Speirs to discuss the topic of Artificial Intelligence. More details to follow in due course – please sign up to our mailing list to find out more.

We host an evening event each term. Sign up to our mailing list to receive information about future events.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday 18 November, 7:30pm

Made in Whose Image?

AI, Faith and the Future of Being Human

The Round Church, Cambridge (CB2 1UB)

As Artificial Intelligence rapidly transforms our world, it forces us to confront fundamental questions about who we are. From chatbots that mimic consciousness to algorithms replacing human creativity, we are prompted to ask: Are humans merely complex machines? Can technology ever offer true relationship or meaning? What, if anything, makes human life uniquely valuable?

Join Life in the Round for an evening with Dr Andy Bannister (Director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity), Prof Nigel Crook (Professor of AI and Robotics, Oxford Brookes University), and Dr Hope Speirs (Applied AI Scientist at Mistral AI). Together, they will explore the frontier of AI technology, machine morality, and what this technological revolution reveals about human worth, purpose, and identity.

The event is free to attend and all are welcome. Doors open at 7:15pm; the conversation and audience Q&A will run until 9pm, followed by cheese and wine.

Speakers

Dr Andy Bannister

Andy Bannister is the Director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity, and a highly-in-demand speaker, writer and broadcaster on issues relating to faith, culture, politics and society. His doctoral research applied computational linguistics to the question of how the Qur’an was composed. He is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology and Adjunct Faculty at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He is the author and editor of several books, including a forthcoming book on Artificial Intelligence.

Prof Nigel Crook

Nigel Crook is Professor of AI and Robotics, Dean and Interim co-PVC for Research and Innovation, and Director of the Centre for AI, Culture and Society at Oxford Brookes University. He has a PhD in explainable intelligent machines and more than 40 years of experience as a lecturer and researcher in AI. He is author/co-author of 70 scientific publications which have attracted more than 1600 citations. He recently published a popular science book entitled Rise of the Moral Machines: Exploring Virtue Through a Robot’s Eyes. He has made numerous appearances across local, national, and international media outlets. He is an expert reviewer for the European Commission, a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College, and serves on several scientific committees for international conferences. His research interests include biologically inspired machine learning, social robotics and autonomous moral machines.

Dr Hope Speirs

Hope Speirs (née McGovern) works as an Applied AI Scientist at Mistral AI. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge, where she worked on Biblical narrative understanding with Large Language Models (LLMs). She was previously a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna and earned a bachelor's in Engineering Physics from Brown University before transitioning to a masters in Computer Science at Cambridge. Originally from the Philadelphia area, she resides in London with her husband, Toby, where they attend The Globe Church.

Deeper Magic: Fantasy Literature and the Christian Story

Friday 5 february 2027

Sneaking Past Watchful Dragons: Narnia and the Power of Story

Nate Morgan Locke

Friday 19 February 2027

The Boy Who Lived: Sacrifice, Redemption, and Hope in Harry Potter

Dr Tony Watkins and Prof Karen Coats

Speaker: Stephen Shaw KC

Stephen Shaw KC works as a senior advocate and a part-time judge in the Belfast High Court. He also sits on the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in London, which holds to account the security services and other public authorities in their use of surveillance powers. As an advocate he has represented national and local government and advised the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Concentrating on commercial, property and regulatory law, his diverse clients include multi-national companies, energy utilities and banks as well as family companies and high net worth individuals. Stephen has spoken on matters of faith and the Bible in a wide range of settings across the UK, Europe, East Africa, Asia, and South America.

Wed 17 March - Sat 17 April 2027

Unseen Hope

An Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Paul Hobbs

The Round Church, Cambridge (CB2 1UB)

Paul Hobbs’ artwork engages with contemporary issues and the Christian faith using a variety of styles and media. Find out more on his website.

We are now taking bookings for 30-60 min workshops for groups of up to 20 people with the artist (available on certain dates), or for self-guided group visits to the exhibition; please get in touch by email on admin@lifeintheround.org to enquire. Public workshops and opening times will be announced in due course.

dr Tony Watkins

Tony Watkins is the Fellow for Public Engagement at Tyndale House, a biblical studies library and research centre in Cambridge. His PhD explored ideas of flourishing in biblical prophetic literature and narratives in today’s media. Tony has been a speaker and writer on the Bible and media for many years. He previously worked in partnership with various organisations including the Lausanne Media Engagement Network, Damaris Norway, and IFES Graduate Impact. He was an adjunct lecturer at NLA University College, Norway, and been a visiting lecturer at several other academic institutions.

Dr Harry Spillane

Harry Spillane is Bye-Fellow in History at Downing College and Senior Member at Newnham College in Cambridge. Having completed undergraduate study at the University of Oxford, his MPhil and PhD in Early Modern History were undertaken at Cambridge. He has previously been a Bodleian Library Fellow and Munby Fellow in Bibliography at Cambridge University Library, researching how Bibles were collected, edited and reshaped in the centuries after they were printed. His book, Selling the Word of God: The Early Commercial History of the English Bible is due to be published in September 2026.

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Explore life through...

Live
talks

from guest speakers

Arts Evenings

in a 12th century venue

Informal Discussions

on life's big questions

Academic viewpoints

from university scholars

Explore

Live talks

Stimulating ideas and honest dialogue.

Some of our previous topics include:

Can’t we keep faith out of politics? with Tim Farron MP
Who wants to live forever? The problems and prospects of immortality
Peacebuilding in a war-torn world
Nature and grace in Terrence Malik
Three theories of everything
God in the brain: is belief an accident of human neuropsychology?

Explore

Arts evenings

The 12th century Round Church provides a unique and intimate arts venue, with its round regularly hosting music, drama and visual cultural experiences.

A selection of evenings we’ve already shared: