Background:

Professor Christopher Smith (Executive Chair of the AHRC) in conversation with Dr Steven Berryman (Worshipful Company of Educators) will be discussing the work of the AHRC in championing arts and humanities research. For 25 years AHRC funded research has 'uncovered what it is to be human', and demonstrated the vital contribution the arts and humanities make to our world.

Speakers:

Professor Christopher Smith is the Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and International Champion for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). He has been Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews since 2002, and he was also Vice-Principal (2007-2009), before being seconded as Director of the British School at Rome, the UK’s leading humanities and creative arts research institute overseas, from 2009 to 2017.

He is the author or editor of over 20 books from textual editions to museum studies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Member of the Academia Europaea.

Dr Steven Berryman is an arts and cultural educator who contributes widely to music education. He is the current President of the Chartered College of Teaching (2022 – 2024) and holds a variety of non-executive director roles, including school governance. Steven is one of the first Chartered Teachers and a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.

Steven was formerly Director of Music at the City of London School for Girls (2015-2020); for the 2019-2020 academic year was seconded to the Education Strategy Unit at the City of London Corporation, leading cultural and creative learning projects across the family of schools in the City. Previously, Steven taught at the Junior Departments of the Royal Academy of Music, Trinity Laban and taught music at the North London Collegiate School. His recent work has included leading music across families of schools in multi-academy trusts and teaching at King’s College London, the Royal College of Music and the University of Buckingham.
Steven was granted Freedom of the City of London in 2017 and is a Liveryman of both the Worshipful Company of Educators and Musicians.