2024 Festival programme

Collage and Connectivity: Exploring the impact of the digital world on identity and wellbeing

Our digital world and online spaces offer opportunities for learning, creativity, and social interaction – but they also pose challenges to mental health and wellbeing, particularly for young people.

This event provides a platform for 18-25-year-olds to share their experiences and build social connections through collaborative art-making with professional artists.

Led by our School of Social Sciences, alongside Gwella - an Arts in Health organisation based in South Wales that uses creativity to improve social and wellbeing outcomes - participants will develop a deeper understanding of the impact of the digital world on their mental health.

Collage and Connectivity: Exploring the impact of the digital world on identity and wellbeing

Our digital world and online spaces offer opportunities for learning, creativity, and social interaction – but they also pose challenges to mental health and wellbeing, particularly for young people.

This event provides a platform for 18-25 year olds to share their experiences and build social connections through collaborative art-making with professional artists to improve mental health and resilience.

Led by our School of Social Sciences, alongside Gwella - an Arts in Health organisation based in South Wales that uses creativity to improve social and wellbeing outcomes - participants will develop a deeper understanding of the impact of the digital world on their mental health.

Generative AI models that can generate text, images, videos, and sound are becoming more and more widely accessible. The arts community has raised concerns about the impact of such models on their work and their rights in an increasingly automated future.

Led by the Emerging Technology and Digital Society research group, dedicated to understanding the risks, challenges and opportunities associated with emerging technology and digital society, this event explores the newest iterations of generative AI.

Participants will creatively engage and experiment with generative AI models to discuss, collaborate and produce a set of visions and predictions for the impact generative AI will have on their creative fields.

Generative AI models that can generate text, images, videos, and sound are becoming more and more widely accessible. The arts community has raised concerns about the impact of such models on their work and their rights in an increasingly automated future.

Led by the Emerging Technology and Digital Society research group, dedicated to understanding the risks, challenges and opportunities associated with emerging technology and digital society, this event explores the newest iterations of generative AI.

Participants will creatively engage and experiment with generative AI models to discuss, collaborate and produce a set of visions and predictions for the impact generative AI will have on their creative fields.

A hands-on free masterclass in developing a professional Instagram profile for women in the business community

Learning how to build a digital brand to attract career, clients and business opportunities is becoming key to achieving professional and business success.

Based on research into women’s representation in the media, join our School of Journalism, Media and Culture for a practical workshop on how to build your online brand and take your Instagram profile to the next level, exclusively for local businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

Research conducted by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research uses administrative data to answer questions about education for children with additional learning needs (ALN).

Open to parents, guardians and carers who support children with additional learning needs, this talk provides an introduction to administrative data: what it is, how it is collected, and how it is stored/secured anonymously.

Researchers will share examples of studies conducted with this data, and how they have influenced policy to improve the school experience of children with ALN in Wales.

Following the talk, participants will be encouraged to share their views on topics of priority for ALN research, by suggesting research questions which could be asked with the data. These anonymous insights will help Cardiff University establish future research priorities that make a positive difference to communities.

Research conducted by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research uses administrative data to answer questions about education for children with additional learning needs (ALN).

Open to educational professionals who support children with additional learning needs at primary school, this talk provides an introduction to administrative data: what it is, how it is collected, and how it is stored/secured anonymously.

Researchers will share examples of studies conducted with this data, and how they have influenced policy to improve the school experience of children with ALN in Wales.

Following the talk, participants will be encouraged to share their views on topics of priority for ALN research, by suggesting research questions which could be asked with the data. These anonymous insights will help Cardiff University establish future research priorities that make a positive difference.

A workshop exploring the creation of digital afterlives in cultural contexts.

Recent advances in deep learning technologies enable digital data to be changed or manipulated to create new kinds of ‘afterlife’ – such as ‘holographic’ resurrections of celebrities, deepfake historical figures, and animated archive photos.

Research by the School of Journalism and Culture alongside Kings College London explores the use of these automated and algorithmic processes and the ethical challenges they present.

Join the researchers and our creative partner, yello brick, for a workshop to explore how afterlives are created. Participants will be invited to create and discuss synthetic afterlives and explore the ethical challenges they raise.

Participants will leave with a better understanding of the issues around algorithmic afterlives, as well as tools and contacts within the creative and cultural sectors to help navigate these innovative developments responsibly.