We researched and discussed two challenging questions with the help of students, staff and an alumna.

On Wednesday 26 February we considered whether there has been, or could ever be, an original thought with Shefali and Joshika, Lower VI, representing Psychology, Katy Lawrence, an alumna, talking about Classics and Dr Cuthbertson bringing a philosophical and theological perspective.

The consensus was that there needed to be original thoughts but that these were inevitably composed of, or reimagined from, earlier ideas. Katy discussed the existence of systems of thought which existed before written records. Shefali and Joshika considered the role that original thought played in different theories of human development and progress. Dr Cuthbertson looked at different definitions of ‘originality’ before considering its role in invention.

On Friday 28 February we discussed how we imagined. All three departments were represented by students who gave short presentations: Bella, Upper VI, for Art, Ella, Grace and Liza, Upper VI, for Drama, and Jemimah and Lily, Lower VI, for English.

In a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation, Ella, Grace and Liza discussed collaboration and how ideas were developed using improvisation and associative thinking while working collectively. Bella explored how making art involved reinterpretation and perspective. Jemimah and Lily considered the shared, but individual, experience of reading and how narratology, and its concept of ‘storyworlds’, related to imagination.

The quality of the presentations and discussions was impressively high, and it was wonderful to hear different departments’ approaches to overlapping problems. Thank you so much to everyone who took part.

Mr Dalton

Director of Abbey IP (Enrichment)