The Faculty of Arts of UPJŠ in Košice will host Tim Beasley-Murray from University College London for a lecture and workshop titled Critical Games: Play, Risk and the Self in Academic Writing. The British Slavist and scholar of literary criticism and play will speak on Wednesday, 18 March 2026, from 10:00 to 12:00 in the Minerva building (Moyzesova 9 campus) about the relationship between play and seriousness in the academic world.
The academic environment sometimes appears to be a complicated game. But is academia truly separate from the rest of the world? To what extent does time for play, simulation and experimentation come into tension with risk, responsibility and consequences? How thin is the line between academic playfulness and seriousness? Does the academic world need a protected space?
The words school and scholar have their origins in play. Is the contemporary world of academic writing still a playful process?
Tim Beasley-Murray also tries to answer these questions in his latest publication, Critical Games. The fifth chapter of the book, which forms the thematic basis of the event, can be requested in advance via an e-form.
Tim Beasley-Murray accepted the invitation of the Department of Slovak Studies, Slavonic Philologies, and Communication at the Faculty of Arts of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice to present his research primarily to PhD students in the humanities and social sciences. However, fellow academics and younger students are also welcome, regardless of their field of study and without the need for registration.
