The FORUM

The Forum on BBC World Service brings together remarkable minds from around the world to talk about the subjects they're experts on – and the ones they want to know more about. Dr Janina Ramirez is an occasional guest presenter of The Forum.

SYMBOLS, SIGNS AND SECRETS:
WHAT SYMBOLS TELL US ABOUT OURSELVES

Janina explores symbols in our past and present – from hieroglyphics in the ancient World through symbols in art to the increasing use of the emoji. With her to discuss symbols and signs, Professor Martin Kemp, Emeritus Research Professor of the History of Art at Oxford University, Professor Mimi Ito from the University of California, and Professor Joann Fletcher, an Egyptologist and honorary visiting Professor at the University of York.

AFTER DARK: HOW WE RESPOND TO DARKNESS

Janina explores our relationship with, and attitudes to, darkness and the night. From the beginning of humanity when night was a time to sleep and hide from predators, over millennia the night and darkness has gathered a multitude of myths and cultural references all around the world and is something we can exploit, or something we might fear. Dr Janina Ramirez examines the human perspective of the dark, from night vision technology to Norwegian forest myths.

Resilience: A survivors guide to adversity

These days everyone from schoolchildren to business owners is being told to become more resilient, but what does resilience mean in geological time? How and why do some organisms survive mass extinctions? And, on a shorter time-scale, how do people cope with the demands of dictators? Janina Ramirez and her guests discuss how to survive adversity across time and space.

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