In response to the Ashmolean Museum’s Love Bites exhibition, Dr Naomi Wolf, author of among other books The Beauty Myth and Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries, and a graduate of Yale University and New College, Oxford, will be discussing how censorship and homophobia in early Victorian society had a tremendous impact on literature and art, including the development of subversive cartoonists such as James Gillray.

This talk explores the representation of the suffrage movement in letters to the editor of The Times in the years leading up to World War I.

Co-hosted with the Oxford Finance Society and the Oxford University Engineering Society.

Technology has changed rapidly in the last 30 years; in order to survive businesses have had to evolve or otherwise face extinction. As technology has moved from fax machine to smart phone, businesses are constantly forced to adapt in order to take advantage of the latest technological advancements. Here to discuss the changing nature of technology and its impact on business, The Oxford Forum has invited four experienced and qualified speakers on the issue to debate the subject; Zahid Khan will chair a panel consisting of Mitchel Lenson (Non-Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society), Vikram Nair (President of Europe for Tech Mahindra) and Haydn Jones (Account Managing Director of Fujitsu UK and Ireland). For further information on all of the speakers please visit the link below:

http://www.oxfordforum.org/termcard/2015/4/29/the-oxford-forums-technology-in-business-panel-debate

After the panel debate, you will have the chance to converse and dine with all four of the speakers in a more private setting. Dining tickets are limited to 30, and include a three course meal with wine in Pizza Express’ private dining room at the Golden Cross. This is an exclusive networking opportunity. Dinner will start at 8:00 p.m. and finish at 10:00 p.m.

To purchase the dining ticket, please visit the link below:
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-oxford-forums-technology-in-business-panel-debate-dinner-tickets-16533731837

During a speech in 1957, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan declared “our people have never had it so good”. Now, more than half a century later, are we fundamentally any better off? Through discussion of technological advances, social changes, political reforms, and economic shocks and recessions, this panel will seek to question whether the world we currently live in is indeed a better place than it was in the 1950s.

Chaired by Professor Brian Nolan, Professor of Social Policy, the panel will consist of:

*Dr Max Roser, James Martin Fellow at The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School
*Dr Anders Sandberg, James Martin Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute
*Professor Robert Walker, Professor of Social Policy

A drinks reception will follow, all welcome.

Do you want to learn something new?

The Knowledge Project offers affordable evening courses in exciting subjects. Our classes are taught by specialists in small, friendly groups and open to all. The coming term is set to be our busiest schedule yet, packed with new courses and some old favourites. All courses will be held in the comfortable setting of Oxford International College, taught by passionate and talented postgraduate students. As always, our proceeds will be donated to local children’s charity Jacari.

What is Feminism? Tuesdays 6.30-8pm, 12th May – 30th June. £80

This fantastic new course – developed by the talented Monique Ma-Velous of Sydney University (Gender Studies) and University of Oxford (Creative Writing) – explores what it means to be a feminist in today’s world.

We are also offering courses in:

Creativity. Tuesdays 7-8.30, 12th May – 30th June. £80

This new and innovative course explores how creativity makes us happy, even replacing the job of therapy, and what the right creative medium is for each individual person.

Introduction to Contemporary Art. Thursdays 6-7.30, 14th May – 2nd July. £80

This course is for anyone who loves art (or would simply like to understand what the new Tate Modern exhibition is all about. You’ll cover: performance, feminism, land art, conceptual art, appropriation and globalisation. The course is discussion led so come with questions and opinions!

Introduction to Novel Writing. Mondays 6-7.30, 11th May – 29th June. £80

Our flagship course covering all the key aspects of novel writing: voice, world-making, perspective and of course endings and beginnings. No experience necessary!

Positive Psychology. Saturdays 10-11.30, 16th May – 4th July. £80

This new course looks into the popular topics of positivity and resilience. Why are some people more resilient than others and how can we increase our resilience? Why are some people more optimistic and is it possible to make ourselves happier?

Premium: Introduction to Shakespeare. Fridays 7-8.30, 14th May – 2nd July. £150
This premium course will help you to discover the world of the Bard in six discussion based classes and two outings to local plays. With the aid of a passionate postgraduate student, discover the double meanings within Shakespeare’s plays and why this playwright is still so loved today.

To enrol simply visit our website, select the course you would like to follow and fill in an enrolment form. Your space will be confirmed upon payment. Be sure to stay up to date with all of our goings on by visiting our Facebook page and feel free to contact us with any further questions.

Having seen the election results unfold, the topic of political strategy and communication is as relevant as ever in highlighting the ways in which politicians and organisations seek to influence public opinion and shape political debate. The Oxford Forum welcomes you to the Political Strategy Panel Debate to discuss the challenges faced, and the solutions provided, in devising an effective communication strategy.
This event will be co-hosted with the PPE society and the Journal of Political and Constitutional Studies.
Following the debate, we will be having dinner with the speakers in the private dining room of Christ Church. Tickets are available to purchase at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-forums-political-strategy-speaker-dinner-tickets-16819258856
It is an unmissable opportunity to engage more directly with the speakers!

Cyclox and the Oxford Pedestrians Association (OxPA) will be welcoming representatives of the bus companies that serve Oxford to a meeting to discuss the relationship between bikes, buses and pedestrians on the city’s busy streets.

Richard Mann, an Oxford-based transport and liveable cities consultant, will open the meeting with a presentation on how to make an excellent bus network and lead a discussion with contributions from Phil Southall of the Oxford Bus Company and Martin Sutton of Stagecoach.

There will be plenty of opportunities for questions and discussion from the floor, which will make for a very interesting event for anyone interested in how we move around our city. This is a public meeting so please come and add your voice to the debate.

Amy Hollywood (Harvard) delivers a series of lectures on “The real, the true, and the mystical” in Oxford. At 7pm will be a play on Derrida in Oxford by John Schad and Fred Dalmasso.

Tickets 8£/ 5£ reduced for students and Lecture attendants.

#### This event is fully booked. ####

The second of the College’s 50th Anniversary termly lectures will be given by Thomas Heatherwick, designer of the 2012 Olympic Cauldron and one of Britain’s foremost design talents.

Thomas Heatherwick on Heatherwick Studio

Established by Thomas Heatherwick in 1994, Heatherwick Studio is recognised for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design and strategic thinking. Having designed projects ranging in scope from a handbag to an urban master plan, Heatherwick Studio refuses to specialise and embraces the continuity of designing across different scales. In this talk, Thomas Heatherwick will present a series of the studio’s past and present projects, with a focus on the working process and how the studio approaches new briefs.

Free event, booking essential.

This is a panel discussion organised in collaboration with ‘Oxford Refugee Week’ by the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Chairing will be Dr Jeff Crisp, with speakers Prof. Alexander Betts, Prof. Cathryn Costello, Dr Mariagiulia Guiffre and Dr Nando Sigona. Open to all. Registration recommended but not compulsory. To be followed by a drinks reception.

Human-caused global warming has been making headlines for over two decades, but people’s opinions on it often depend on what headlines they’re reading. How is it that a scientific theory has become so politicised? Join us to hear Adam Levy (Nature, University of Oxford; @ClimateAdam), a climate change scientist and YouTuber, discuss the key scientific evidence behind climate change, and explain why perspectives on climate change shouldn’t be a matter of belief.
twitter @oxfordscibar
facebook ‘British Science Association Oxfordshire Branch

The Mask You Live In follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.
The documentary presents the personal narratives of young boys and men and features experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media, further exploring how gender stereotypes are interconnected with race, class, and circumstance. The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men. Written, produced and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2015.
After the screening there will be a panel discussion with the film producer.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is making a stop in Oxford on her way back to California from Cannes after being awarded the Glass Lion Award at the Cannes Lion Film Festival 2015. https://www.canneslions.com/cannes_lions/press/press_releases/1058/cannes_li
She will be talking about her experience in film making and campaigning. With more than 4 million views on YouTube for The Mask You Live In trailer it is promising to be an event not to miss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc45-ptHMxo

A discussion about the ethics of Arts Sponsorship with Jeremy Spafford, Director of Arts at the Old Fire Station, and representatives from arts activists Art Not Oil – a network is dedicated to taking creative disobedience against institutions such as Tate, National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum until they drop their oil company funding. Together the panel will explore the ethics of sponsorship at a time where funding for the arts continues to be drastically cut. Who is it acceptable to take money from and what is the price that we pay? [IMAGE: Liberate Tate]

A talk in association with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

A talk by Roger Hunt, the award winning writer specialising in sustainability, old houses, housebuilding and traditional and modern building materials.

Join our expert panel for an evening of debate exploring the subject of the United Kingdom’s place within the European Union.

Actress, performer and researcher, Dr Naomi Paxton explores the importance of theatre, performance and propaganda in the campaign for Votes for Women.

In 1908, the Actresses’ Franchise League was founded to support the suffrage movement. It staged suffrage events and readings, and its members wrote and produced plays in support of the cause. Eminent members included Cicely Hamilton, Ellen Terry, Elizabeth Robins, Edith Craig and Sybil Thorndike. By 1914 membership numbered over a thousand and the League was working nationally and internationally in support of the suffrage cause.

Dr Naomi Paxton has shared her passion for the work of the Actresses’ Franchise League at many events, including the National Theatre, Hay Festival and Latitude Festival and was one of the AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers for 2014-15. She is the editor of The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays (2013).

The Oxford Architecture Society lecture series

Lisa Finlay is coming to speak to us from Heatherwick Studio.
Established by Thomas Heatherwick in 1994, Heatherwick Studio is recognised for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design and strategic thinking. At the heart of the studio’s work is a profound commitment to finding innovative design solutions, with a dedication to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship. In the twenty years of its existence, Heatherwick Studio has worked in many countries, with a wide range of commissioners and in a variety of regulatory environments.

The first OxArch workshop of the series ‘Behind Architecture: The Essentials’ is set to bring us back to the analogue process of representation. ‘Architecture in Watercolours’ presents an opportunity to begin the year with a little experimentation.

Anisha Meggi (currently studying her PhD) works with watercolour to capture the essence of a project with the physical and theoretical layering of watercolour paint and model making.

Come join us on the 4th floor of Abercrombie on Thursday at 4pm, if you’re interested in learning a new skill or pushing further what you already know about watercolour.

We will be providing some watercolour trays, watercolour paper and brushes. However, if you have you’re own watercolour sets, please feel free to bring them in.

Prices:
£7 for members
£9 for non members

To avoid dangerous climate change will require not only very steep cuts in emissions, but also the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Most of the models that avoid dangerous climate change do so by assuming that it will be possible to deploy a technique called biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (or BECCS for short) at a very large scale. But is this realistic?

Please join us for a public discussion to explore this issue. To what extent may it be possible to use biomass as a way of both generating electricity and removing carbon dioxide from the air? What are the likely impacts of such an approach – on climate change, on food supply, on biodiversity and on the will to reduce emissions.

The Oxford Martin School has brought together four excellent speakers with expertise in this field. Dr Craig Jamieson has explored the potential of using waste material from rice production for BECCS, Professor Tim Lenton has modelled how much biomass could be used for BECCS given projected population growth and dietary habits, Professor Nick Pidgeon is an expert on the social acceptability of new technologies and Dr Doug Parr is the Chief Scientist and Policy Director at Greenpeace.

My European citizenship rights…and why I don’t want to lose them.

We warmly invite you to a public meeting, followed by a reception to launch New Europeans in Oxford.

For details and speakers, please visit the event page on the New Europeans website.

Ordinary people across Europe have reacted with horror to the plight of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war and other conflicts—and sent solidarity. David Cameron reacted with callous cynicism.

At first he held firm against letting in any. Britain, the world’s ninth richest country, supposedly couldn’t afford to take in more than a tube carriage full of desperate refugees.

After tens of thousands marched and more than 400,000 signed a petition to do more, Cameron was forced to shift gear. But his new plan is an insult.

Britain is to take in 20,000 Syrians over the next five years—fewer than Germany took in last weekend alone. There is no action to alleviate the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees already in Europe who face razor wire fences and detention camps to prevent them moving to find a new home.

The Home Secretary announced plans for more draconian treatment of asylum seekers, and the UK has withdrawn 2 more ships from rescuing refugees drowning in the Mediterranean.

There were even reports that refugee children could be deported on their 18th birthdays. The Tories are also trying to use the refugee crisis to drum up support for more bloody wars.

Three year old Aylan Kurdi was not the first child to drown needlessly on Europe’s doorstep. But after pictures of his dead body sent shudders around the world, his father made the plea, “let him be the last”.

We can stop the carnage. But it will take a mass movement to defy Cameron and the inhumane system he represents.

Come along to our first SWSS meeting this term to find out what we can do to build such a movement.

Hosted by Socialist Worker Student Society

WE would like to invite you to celebrate the WEP policy launch and the launch of the Oxford branch of the Women’s Equality Party.

What is the policy launch?
On Tuesday 20th October, at 11am, WE are launching our first policy document in London and are asking all of our members to support this launch. This event will be streamed live from the official press event at Mary Ward House in London, and all local branches are celebrating on this day.

What is the Oxford launch event?
The WE Oxford launch event will take place in All Bar One, High St, Oxford from 6:30pm on Tuesday 20th October.

The main focus of the evening will be a panel interview with four fascinating Oxford people who feel passionately about the objectives of WE, with opportunity for questions and discussion afterwards. There will also be plenty of time to meet members of the Oxford branch and find out what WE are all about.

(1) Ancient Africa’s Gift to: Law, Architecture, Mathematics, Judaism, Islam & Christianity.
This will be a 45 minute slide presentation.
(2) Magna Carta, Ancient Africa’s Gift to the English. The ancient roots of Magna Carta and the need to protect it today…with contributions from Political Parties
(3) Books that have shaped the perception of African people: Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, The Bible, & Black Athena

Wine reception, snacks, and £5 year membership to PsyNAppS available. Alternatively, pay £2 for a single event!

Venue: Lecture Theatre B, Department of Experimental Psychology

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How do individuals and groups react to different environmental situations (home, office, hospital, street, shop, and so on)? What psychological processes are triggered by our environment, and how do they affect our perception, attitude and actions? How can individuals and groups change their environment so that it provides a more stimulating, less stressful and more enabling setting in which to live? How are our identities tied up with place? How might sustainability in environmental policy be better informed by current research?

Byron Mikellides is currently Emeritus Professor at the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University, where he has been teaching since 1968. He has published several influential books including Colour for Architecture (1976),with Tom Porter, Architecture for People (1980) and Colour for Architecture Today (2009),with Tom Porter. He has also contributed to several books, scientific journals and papers over the years, and lectured extensively in various countries particularly in USA and Scandinavia. He is also a former member of Directors of IAPS (International Association of People Environment Studies), a committee member of the Colour Group of Great Britain and an Honorary member of the Portugal Colour Group. He organised the Exhibition of Antonio Gaudi, in Oxford in 1983 and the ‘Colours of Savannah’ in Georgia, USA in 1996 for the Olympic Games.

His latest works include chapters in books such as Building Happiness (2010) on architectural psychology and Colour Design – Theory and Applications (2012).

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Psychology and Neuroscience Applications Society

The junction where psychology and neuroscience research meets action and innovation.

PsyNAppS aims to disseminate information about what you can do with your psychology or neuroscience degree and research. We are here to tell you everything Freud hasn’t. We want to show you how psychology and neuroscience can be applied practically to a variety of industries.

Oxford Brookes Centre for Global Politics, Economy and Society seminar series

Mass Circulation: Writing about Art in a Daily Newspaper

With Richard Dorment, art critic, and Dr Alexander Sturgis, Director, Ashmolean Museum

A special Ashmolean evening In Conversation event

Wednesday 18 November
6‒7pm
Lecture Theatre

As The Daily Telegraph’s chief art critic from 1986‒2015, Richard Dorment CBE covered exhibition subjects ranging from the Ice Age to the Turner Prize. He talks to Ashmolean Director, Dr Alexander Sturgis, about art history, art criticism, and the popular press.

Tickets £12/£10 concessions. Booking is essential.
https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/ticketsoxford/#event=20239

**OxPolicy and #periodpositive are ready to launch their report on the state of menstruation education in the United Kingdom!**

Join us on the evening of November 30th for a bloody good time (haw haw). We’ll be discussing our findings and making suggestions on how to improve the provision of menstruation education in UK schools, ways of teaching period positivity, and how to lessen menstrual stigma both for young people and generally. Featuring the wonderful Chella Quint – comedian and founder of #periodpositive!

Drinks to follow at the Lamb and Flag (St Giles) after the event.

Blasphemy and Apostasy exist in many countries in the world, commonly within the Middle East and North Africa. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws were first codified by India’s British rulers in 1860 and were inherited by Pakistan in 1947. The law (section 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code) states that blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad is to be awarded a fixed death penalty, with no leeway. Mass support of the law through promotion by legal and socio-political institutions of religious authority has led to its use as a tool for oppression and persecution. In 2014 alone, over 90 people were accused of blasphemy.

Join OUPakSoc and South Asia Research Cluster, Wolfson College, for a discussion on Blasphemy Laws where we explore their history, religious basis and impact in Pakistan and beyond.

Date: 2nd December, 2015
Time: 5.30 pm
Venue: Leonard Wolfson Auditorium, Wolfson College, OX2 6UD
Moderator: Matthew McCartney

Debate from the floor: There will be an opportunity for the audience to contribute in the form of short speeches. Please send us an email at secretary@oupaksoc.net if you would like to participate in the event.

Panellists:
Dr Jan-Peter Hartung – the Department of Religions and Philosophies at SOAS
Tehmina Kazi – Director of Media, Outreach and Lobbying, British Muslims for Secular Democracy
Arafat Mazhar – Engage Pakistan, a non-profit research and advocacy organization working to reform Pakistan’s blasphemy law from within the framework of law.
Bob Churchill – Director of Communications, International Humanist and Ethical Union, Head of End Blasphemy Laws campaign
Khalid Zaheer – Vice -President AlMawrid institute Lahore (Foundation for Islamic Research and Education)
Reema Omer- international legal advisor for Pakistan for the International Commission of Jurists, member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Ali Usma Qasmi – Assistant Professor (History) at LUMS, author of ‘Questioning the Authority of the Past: The Ahl al-Qur’an Movements in the Punjab’ and ‘The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion in Pakistan’ (Karachi Literary Festival Peace Prize).