Towards the business end of world cup month the Brighton Salon invites you to a discussion on the changing role of sport in British cultural life.

The country seems more hungry than ever for sporting success, yet has an ambiguity and often outright hostility towards competition. At the same time we look to sport to make us healthier, wealthier and act as a moral beacon of fairness.

With the Olympics only two years away, is the dramatic increase in participation activities like running having an impact on elite athletic performance?

Presenting their own views on the question we will have a panel including Geoff Kidder, events director and the institute of ideas, Mark Dolley, member of the IOC and Dan Travis of the Brighton Salon. The discussion will be chaired by Dr Rob Clowes.

This discussion of two halves will take place will be proceeded by drinks and the second half of what has been dubbed the 'Battle of the Basket Cases' between Argentina and Greece.

Burlesque is everywhere and has arguably never been more popular. Alongside the live performances of burlesque and DVDs of these, burlesque has a clear influence on other cultural activities from music videos and advertising to graphic novels and fashion. TV shows such as Dancing on Ice and Gok Wan's How to Look Good Nakedhave also harnessed its appeal.

Starting as a theatrical form, burlesque has become associated with many kinds of performance today that stylistically reinterpret the various aesthetics of the period between the mid-nineteenth century and the early 1960s.

Two things about burlesque that particularly set it apart from forms of stripping, such as lap-dancing and pole-dancing, are its broad popularity with women and the reputation it has of being the celebration of real women's glamour. In our "hypersexualised" society, where pornography is a click away and shops have been forced to withdraw padded bras for children from sale, burlesque stands out as an expression of sexuality that is both respectable, and respectful of, women.

The British University system continues to enjoy a world class reputation and has been the model for higher education systems around the globe. Over the last couple of decades Universities have enjoyed a massive expansion in student numbers and opened up much wider section of the population. Yet over the same period its ethos, organisational model and raison d’être has come under ever greater pressure.

Asked to recruit and educate more students for less money, to make research and teaching more “relevant” to students interests and to submit research and education to an ever narrower set of economically and ideologically motivated top-down goals; it is time to ask whether the university as presently constituted can meet the demands put on it.

In the midst of the economic crisis these problems are set only to get worse and the questions that are posed need to be taken head on.

Should the link between teaching and research be uncoupled? Should universities be re-targeted on producing the skills Britain seems to need to build its way out of the recession? Or will such a narrowly pragmatic programme itself serve to undermine the fabric of British Society?

Can the University continue to pursue the noble pursuit of research for research's sake and "the great conversation" of liberating and enlightening minds? Or is this an “unsustainable” and outmoded aim?