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CVAC seminars, workshops and symposia 2025-2026

This year we're delivering a curated programme of events, workshops, seminars, and training opportunities.

26th of September 2025 - 'Games Studies: Now, Next, Northeast' Symposium hosted by DUGS

26 Sept 2025 Games Studies Symposium

The Games Studies Symposium brought together Durham University’s Games Studies (DUGS) network, CVAC, and the Centre for Research into Inner Experience for a full day celebrating the breadth of games-related research and creativity across the institution. The event highlighted diverse gaming projects, lightning talks, and cross‑university collaborations, with contributions from researchers, regional developers, and representatives from North East universities. Through discussions ranging from Durham’s current landscape in Game Studies to future opportunities in regional networking, the symposium provided an energising space for exchange, insight, and the development of new research connections.

22nd of October 2025 - CVAC welcome and Book launch

22 Oct 2025 Book launch & CVAC welcome 2025-26

a picture of the book cover With Love. From an Invader.

During our welcome event we welcomed Dr Yan Wang Preston, a visual artist and photographer, to launch her book 'With Love. From an Invader.' This warm and engaging welcome event for the 2025–2026 academic year invited colleagues, students, and visual culture practitioners to connect over refreshments while learning about CVAC’s upcoming programme of research events, training opportunities, and workshops. The evening also celebrated the launch of With love from an invader by Dr Yan Wang Preston, integrating creative practice with community-building. Focused on visual storytelling, methodologies, and interdisciplinary inquiry, the event fostered an inclusive environment for collaboration and inspiration across the visual arts community.

16th of December 2025 - British Film Institute Video Essay Training

16 Dec BFI Video Essay Training

Led by film journalist and video essayist Leigh Singer, this hands‑on training day gave Durham staff and postgraduates the opportunity to explore video essays as a dynamic medium for research communication. Participants gained practical skills in crafting compelling visual scholarship, learning how moving‑image techniques can expand public engagement and offer new ways of presenting research ideas. With a focus on tailored, interactive instruction, the workshop represented an enriching opportunity to develop creative academic communication.

20th of January 2026 - Richard Rijnvos lecture on "lettura del labirinto" 

20 Jan 2026 Richard Rijnvos lecture - "lettura del labirinto"

A picture of Venetian Canal taken from a boat, with other boats and houses visible. Text

Composer Richard Rijnvos offered an evocative lecture on his new 70‑minute work lettura del labirinto, created for harpsichord and video as part of the Music Department’s Research Forum. Depicting a contemplative journey through all six Venetian neighbourhoods, the piece pauses at fifty‑five locations, each captured through original filmed vignettes that evoke the sensation of wandering within an intricate urban maze. The talk provided rich insight into Rijnvos’s creative process, ahead of the work’s UK premiere by harpsichordist Jane Chapman.