Mo Lovatt is Co-director of The Great Debate.
She has a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from the
University of Oxford. She has been actively involved in political
and social issues debating groups for many years, including
The International Research Group (IRG), The Oxford Union,
The Philosophy Society (Oxford) and Newcastle Philosophy Society.
She has been involved in The Great Debate since 2000.
As well as having a keen interest in political, philosophical
and social issues, Mo has considerable experience as an
International Arts & Culture programmer and project manager,
having recently been awarded a Cultural Leadership “Peach” Placement
by the Arts Council of England (ACE) to co-ordinate the programme
for the international collaboration
The Swallows
Partnership / Sihlanganiswa Ziinkonjane –
between the North East of England and the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
During this 18-month placement she was voted as one of the
top 100 young leaders in the North East of England.
Mo is passionate about exploring intercultural arts as an aid
to social cohesion, economic and cultural regeneration and
political change and she is active in a number of initiatives
that enhance her vocational work in the Arts & Culture sector.
She currently leads the Youth Engagement Sub-Group (YES) for the
North East Cultural Diversity Arts Forum (NECDAF), is a
member of Newcastle’s Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) working group,
which aims to promote
intercultural and interfaith understanding as well as commemorating
the victims of genocide and organised the 2010 National Commemorative
event for HMD. She is currently exploring a new piece of
international research aimed at gaining a better understanding of
whether intercultural arts can aid social cohesion between diverse
communities in cosmopolitan societies.
For The Great Debate, Mo has brought together her
dual interests in the arts and politics
by convening and chairing a number of public discussions
including the post-show discussions at Newcastle Playhouse:
Is Anti-Americanism Xenophobic?
(In association with The Ashton Group’s production of Lockerbie 103)
and
What does it mean to be human?
(In association with David Glass Ensemble’s production of
The Chimp That Spoke). Among her countless
contributions to The Great Debate she was instrumental in
organising and obtaining Mediabox funding for The Great Debate's
documentary-making project for young people, Living in a Changing World
in 2010.
