20/05/2026 - 20/05/2026
An informal monthly evening of ideas, drinks, and conversation with Cambridge PhD researchers at University Arms.
What happens when academic research leaves the lecture hall and enters the bar?
Ideas in Bloom is a free, informal evening series hosted in the Library at University Arms, Cambridge. Once a month, a PhD researcher or recent graduate shares the thinking behind their thesis, not through slides and jargon, but through story, insight, and conversation.
Each event includes:
• A 20–30 minute accessible talk • An open Q&A and audience discussion • Informal mingling over drinks afterwards
Whether you are a Cambridge local, a visitor, a hotel guest, or simply curious, this is a space designed for listening, asking questions, and discovering something new.
No prior expertise required, only curiosity.
NEXT TALK: What Demons Do: Medieval Literature and Modern Insecurities
In this talk, Cat Watts explores the many faces and functions of medieval devils and demons. What are demons for? And what can studying medieval demons teach us about our own?
Cat Watts is currently the Kathleen Bourne Junior Research Fellow in French at St Anne’s College, Oxford. She has recently completed her PhD at Newham College, University of Cambridge, where she specialised in pre-1500 Western literatures and modern media phenomena. Her work focuses on resonances between the medieval past and our complex present.