Chester-based BBC TV presenter Louise Minchin and renowned Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan are just two of the highlights of the University of Chester ’s public events programme for this academic year.

Louise, who is also an Honorary University of Chester graduate, will be a guest of the Department of Media on January 24 at the Warrington campus.

Over at the Parkgate Road campus in Chester, Ian McMillan is the guest speaker at the Cheshire Prize for Literature Awards evening, which is held on November 22.

Other topics this year include Shakespeare and Religion – visiting lecturer Raymond Salter will focus on the Bard’s habit of thinking and his philosophical and religious outlook.

On November 17, a military veterans and their families wellbeing symposium will take place at the Riverside Innovation Centre , which should be of interest to a wide variety of people, including those from health and social care backgrounds, as well as veterans themselves and their families.

Once again, the university’s lecturers will be taking part in the popular Chester Literature Festival organised by Storyhouse in Chester Town Hall .

Among the contributors is visiting writing fellow, Dr Francesca Haig, whose sequel to the post-apocalyptic novel, The Fire Sermon, The Map of Bones, was published this year. She will be running a workshop on ‘writing dystopian fiction’.

The Chester Research Unit for the Psychology of Health (CRUPH) is hosting a number of fascinating public lectures.

With our hectic lives, make sure you find the time to book a place on ‘The stressed ape: Why human beings are so prone to stress and what to do about it’ – Dr Lee Hulbert-Williams’ public lecture on stress, including how to reduce it, which takes place next June.

The university’s newly launched Institute of Gender Studies is running a research seminar series.

On October 27, in ‘More a home than a refuge’, Dr Jo Turner from the department of social and political science will present her research on Battery House in Winchester, a refuge established in 1862 for women released on licence from sentences of penal servitude.

As always, there will be an inspiring range of professorial inaugural lectures by newly appointed professors from faculties across the university.

The Faculty of Health and Social Care’s museum will be open monthly and there will be several talks hosted by the Faculty’s Historical Society.

Events and administrative manager Jenni Westcott said: “We very much look forward to welcoming as many people as possible to the university to enjoy the variety of events we have on offer, which should have a broad appeal.”

Please visit www.chester.ac.uk/at-chester/events for the latest information or contact corporate communications on 01244 511344 or events@chester.ac.uk.