The speakers (OCLW visiting scholars) will present their current life-writing projects, and discuss the use of archives and memoirs in life-writing, and alternative methods of writing biographies.
John Bak: ‘Editing Tennessee Williams’ Ur-Memoirs’
Lorraine Paterson, ‘Global Exile: Tracing a Life of Deportation from French Indochina.’
Jennifer Cooke, ‘The New Audacity: Contemporary Women’s Life Writing and the Politics of Intimacy’

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.

St Catherine’s College student Daniel Shao (2013, Music) has organised a music concert in aid of the Oxford branch of Crisis (the national charity for single homeless people). The concert will showcase a wealth of musical talent, and St Catz alumni will perform alongside current students.

St Catz alumni performing include Philip Gault (1997, Music) who is a Baritone at Scottish Opera, Catherine Groom (2004, Music) a recorder player, early harpist and mezzo-soprano, and artist and composer Tom Phillips CBE RA (1957, English).

St Catz student performers and composers include violinist Makoto Nakata (2012, Music) the winner of the 2013 Oxford Philomusica Concerto Competition, flautist Daniel Shao (2013, Music) a 2014 BBC Young Musician of the year Wind Finalist, composer and pianist Joshua Hagley (2013, Music) the winner of the Royal Opera House Fanfare Competition, Tomos Nicholls (2012, Music) a former National Youth Orchestra GB Composer, and James Orrell (2014, Music) the current New Chamber Opera/Catz Répétiteur Scholar.

Tickets £5/10 available on the door or online.

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. You can find out more about our relationship with Jacari here.

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!

We are also offering courses in:

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!

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.

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.

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.

Javier Cercas, novelist and essayist, is one of Europe’s most distinguished contemporary writers. His works, which have been translated into more than twenty languages, include the acclaimed, Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), which was made into a film by David Trueba in 2003, La Velocidad de la Luz (The Speed of Light, 2005), Anatomia de un Instante (The Anatomy of a Moment, 2009) and Las Leyes de la Frontera (Outlaws, 2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including the Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, and Spain’s National Narrative award. He is currently a Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, and a columnist for El Pais. His work, which is highly politically engaged, troubles the borders of history and fiction, as it explores the Spanish civil war, or the legacies of fascism. In this sequence of lectures Javier Cercas will reflect on the nature of the novel as a genre, including discussions of The Anatomy of a Moment, as well as works by Vargas Llosa, Cervantes, Melville, James and Kafka. The final lecture will address the question of whether it makes sense to talk about intellectuals nowadays.

‘The Third Truth: Parts 1 and 2’ will cover the nature of the novel as a genre, both from a historical and theoretical point of view, and include a discussion of The Anatomy of a Moment.

The Annual Zola Skweyiya Lecture

Javier Cercas, novelist and essayist, is one of Europe’s most distinguished contemporary writers. His works, which have been translated into more than twenty languages, include the acclaimed, Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), which was made into a film by David Trueba in 2003, La Velocidad de la Luz (The Speed of Light, 2005), Anatomia de un Instante (The Anatomy of a Moment, 2009) and Las Leyes de la Frontera (Outlaws, 2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including the Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, and Spain’s National Narrative award. He is currently a Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, and a columnist for El Pais. His work, which is highly politically engaged, troubles the borders of history and fiction, as it explores the Spanish civil war, or the legacies of fascism. In this sequence of lectures Javier Cercas will reflect on the nature of the novel as a genre, including discussions of The Anatomy of a Moment, as well as works by Vargas Llosa, Cervantes, Melville, James and Kafka. The final lecture will address the question of whether it makes sense to talk about intellectuals nowadays.

‘The Third Truth: Parts 1 and 2’ will cover the nature of the novel as a genre, both from a historical and theoretical point of view, and include a discussion of The Anatomy of a Moment.

Siddhartha will be reading from his books of poetry, Kalagora and Digital Monsoon, showing clips from his theatre work and film, as a way into exploring the relationship between memory, imagination and globalised environments. He will reflect on how the very idea of writing lives in the 21st century, of creatively using memory and imagination, are being renegotiated in radical ways in contemporary thought and aesthetic practice.

Catherine Gallagher from Berkeley will give a talk on A Tale of Two Cities and the History of Modern Revenge as part of the Victorian Research Seminar series at the Faculty of English Language & Literature

Led by Hermione Lee, Elleke Boehmer, Rebecca Abrams, Kate McLoughlin and Jacob Dahl, this full-day workshop will focus on the challenges contradictory accounts about their subjects’ lives pose to life-writers. £70 (£55 unwaged). For more details & to register please visit http://www.oxforduniversitystores.co.uk select ‘Oxford Centre for Life-Writing’ under Product Catalogue, & ‘Workshops’.

Maarten De Pourcq (Radboud University Nijmegen) will present a paper on the links between Classics, the First World War, and the Rise of Flemish Culture.
Followed by Q & A and refreshments.
Free, all welcome. no booking required.

Javier Cercas, novelist and essayist, is one of Europe’s most distinguished contemporary writers. His works, which have been translated into more than twenty languages, include the acclaimed, Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), which was made into a film by David Trueba in 2003, La Velocidad de la Luz (The Speed of Light, 2005), Anatomia de un Instante (The Anatomy of a Moment, 2009) and Las Leyes de la Frontera (Outlaws, 2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including the Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, and Spain’s National Narrative award. He is currently a Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, and a columnist for El Pais. His work, which is highly politically engaged, troubles the borders of history and fiction, as it explores the Spanish civil war, or the legacies of fascism. In this sequence of lectures Javier Cercas will reflect on the nature of the novel as a genre, including discussions of The Anatomy of a Moment, as well as works by Vargas Llosa, Cervantes, Melville, James and Kafka. The final lecture will address the question of whether it makes sense to talk about intellectuals nowadays

‘Vargas Llosa’s Question’ will discuss reflections on Vargas Llosa’s masterpiece, The Time of the Hero, and the core of his literary, moral and political thinking.

Javier Cercas, novelist and essayist, is one of Europe’s most distinguished contemporary writers. His works, which have been translated into more than twenty languages, include the acclaimed, Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), which was made into a film by David Trueba in 2003, La Velocidad de la Luz (The Speed of Light, 2005), Anatomia de un Instante (The Anatomy of a Moment, 2009) and Las Leyes de la Frontera (Outlaws, 2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including the Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, and Spain’s National Narrative award. He is currently a Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, and a columnist for El Pais. His work, which is highly politically engaged, troubles the borders of history and fiction, as it explores the Spanish civil war, or the legacies of fascism. In this sequence of lectures Javier Cercas will reflect on the nature of the novel as a genre, including discussions of The Anatomy of a Moment, as well as works by Vargas Llosa, Cervantes, Melville, James and Kafka. The final lecture will address the question of whether it makes sense to talk about intellectuals nowadays

‘The Blind Spot’ will be a discussion of novels and short stories that put irony and ambiguity in their centre and constitute a tradition of the novel, ranging from Don Quixote to Moby Dick, The Trial and The Leopard.

New College Chapel presents Paradise Lost: a staged reading of Milton’s epic poem in 3 parts, directed by Professor Elisabeth Dutton (Fribourg), featuring new settings of Milton’s hymns by the Organist, Robert Quinney, and anthems by Byrd, Weelkes and Purcell. There will be a pre-performance talk by Dr Will Poole on Friday 22nd May, 7.15, in the Conduit Room.

Wed 20 May: Books 1-4, The Parliament in Hell
Thurs 21 May: Books 5-8, The War in Heaven
Fri 22 May: Books 9-12, The Fall
Each part can be viewed individually.

Tickets on the door: £10/£5 students; £25/10 for all 3 nights. All proceeds will go to Sight Savers, who work to treat and prevent blindness in the developing world.

This symposium offers an innovative and exciting ‘coming together’ of language teachers and teachers of the creative arts, asking the questions:
What does creativity mean to me? What do I do about it as a teacher? Why does it matter?
It will offer exciting new ideas for teaching language through dance, poetry, art and play; and will give participants opportunities to share and try out creative teaching ideas that connect language with other ‘intelligences’.
The plenary speakers are world-class creative educators both within and beyond the TESOL profession, including Jean Clark (dance educator), John Daniel (poet), Charlie Hadfield, Jill Hadfield, Chris Lima, Alan Maley, Amos Paran, Rachel Payne (art educator), Rob Pope, Jane Spiro and Nick Swarbrick (specialist in children’s play).

Fees include gourmet Friday evening meal & Saturday tapas lunch for all delegates.

New College Chapel presents Paradise Lost: a staged reading of Milton’s epic poem in 3 parts, directed by Professor Elisabeth Dutton (Fribourg), featuring new settings of Milton’s hymns by the Organist, Robert Quinney, and anthems by Byrd, Weelkes and Purcell. There will be a pre-performance talk by Dr Will Poole on Friday 22nd May, 7.15, in the Conduit Room.

Wed 20 May: Books 1-4, The Parliament in Hell
Thurs 21 May: Books 5-8, The War in Heaven
Fri 22 May: Books 9-12, The Fall
Each part can be viewed individually.

Tickets on the door: £10/£5 students; £25/10 for all 3 nights. All proceeds will go to Sight Savers, who work to treat and prevent blindness in the developing world.

Javier Cercas, novelist and essayist, is one of Europe’s most distinguished contemporary writers. His works, which have been translated into more than twenty languages, include the acclaimed, Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), which was made into a film by David Trueba in 2003, La Velocidad de la Luz (The Speed of Light, 2005), Anatomia de un Instante (The Anatomy of a Moment, 2009) and Las Leyes de la Frontera (Outlaws, 2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including the Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, and Spain’s National Narrative award. He is currently a Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, and a columnist for El Pais. His work, which is highly politically engaged, troubles the borders of history and fiction, as it explores the Spanish civil war, or the legacies of fascism. In this sequence of lectures Javier Cercas will reflect on the nature of the novel as a genre, including discussions of The Anatomy of a Moment, as well as works by Vargas Llosa, Cervantes, Melville, James and Kafka. The final lecture will address the question of whether it makes sense to talk about intellectuals nowadays

‘The Man Who Says No’ will discuss reflections on the public role of the intellectual nowadays.

Have you thought about using crowdfunding to fund your next degree, innovation, entrepreneurial project, charitable work, creative arts or sports club? What support you need from your college, the university and the crowdfunding platform? Speak out and let them know.

OxFund invited Jonathan May – the CEO and Co-founder of Hubbub, the representatives from the Development Offices at Green Templeton College, Keble College, Merton College, Regent’s Park, St Hugh’s College, Somerville College (the only Oxford college has its own branded crowdfunding platform) and University College, and the staff from ISIS Innovation who are working with Hubbub to build a Oxford-branded crowdfunding platform for Oxford staff and students to raise money for their entrepreneurial projects to form a panel to listen your needs.

More college’s development offices may join, as we are still in the process of confirming. Please check the Facebook event for the updates. Even your college’s development office is not in the panel, speak out your needs and we will pass them to the development office of your college.

This book talk is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict

This book talk will see author Chris Woods discuss his new book Sudden Justice: America’s Secret Drone Wars, an exposé of the little-understood yet extremely significant world of drone warfare. His work is based on insights from many of those intimately involved – the pilots and analysts, US and UK intelligence officials, Special Forces and Pentagon commanders.

Chris Woods is an award-wining investigative journalist who specialises in conflict and national security issues. During almost a decade at the BBC, he was a senior producer for both Panorama and Newsnight.

The event will be introduced by Dr Alex Leveringhaus, a James Martin Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict and lead author of the recent Oxford Martin Policy Paper Robo-Wars: The Regulation of Robotic Weapons.

The book talk will be followed by a book signing, all welcome

This book talk will be live webcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdE9AJrZ_Fk

C.S. Lewis is best-known for his Narnia Chronicles and works of Christian apologetics such as Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain, but he was professionally a literary critic and literary historian with carefully thought out ideas about the imagination and its function. Dr Michael Ward will give two talks, looking at Lewis’s understanding of imaginative creativity, first in theory and then in practice. Metropolitan Kallistos, who has spoken and written on Lewis in relation to Orthodoxy’, will reflect on Lewis’s Christian faith.

Amy Hollywood (Harvard) delivers a series of lectures on “The real, the true, and the mystical” in Oxford.

Amy Hollywood : The Unspeakability of Trauma, the Unspeakability of Joy: The Pursuit of the Real at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century

Javier Cercas will be at St Anne’s College as Weidenfeld Visiting Professor in Comparative European Literature, and is one of Europe’s most distinguished contemporary writers. His works, which have been translated into more than twenty languages, include the acclaimed, Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), which was made into a film by David Trueba in 2003, La Velocidad de la Luz (The Speed of Light, 2005), Anatomia de un Instante (The Anatomy of a Moment, 2009) and Las Leyes de la Frontera (Outlaws, 2012). He has won numerous literary awards, including the Independent’s Foreign Fiction Prize, and Spain’s National Narrative award. He is currently a Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona, and a columnist for El Pais. His work, which is highly politically engaged, troubles the borders of history and fiction, as it explores the Spanish civil war, or the legacies of fascism. Mr Tim Gardam, Principal of St Anne’s College, will chair a discussion between Javier Cercas, Professor Timothy Garton Ash and Professor Patrick McGuinness on European Literature, Politics and Historical Memory. A drinks reception will follow this discussion.

Enter a lost world of music and poetry as more than 300 years of Mughal rule approached its end at the hands of the British in 1857. William Dalrymple, award-winning historian, in performance with the celebrated North Indian vocalist Vidya Shah, takes us back to the bygone era of matchless splendour, bringing to life a world of emperors, courtesans, politics, bayonets, intrigue and love, through words and music. Doors open at 17.45. Food and drinks in the Pitt Rivers Museum till 9p.m. after the lecture. Signed copies of ‘The Last Mughul’ and ‘Return of the King’ available after the lecture.

In autumn last year Balliol College was pleased to acquire for its research collection the books and papers of a remarkable woman called Josephine Reid, relating to her employer, the writer Graham Greene (Balliol 1922). Josephine Reid was Greene’s secretary and literary typist from 1958 to 1992. Nicholas Dennys, bookseller and nephew of Graham Greene, will be in conversation with Naomi Tiley, Balliol’s Librarian, giving a personal insight into Graham Greene’s writing and Josephine Reid’s collection.

How do the humanities engage with business, and vice-versa? And what might this relationship lead to in the future? This panel will explore the reciprocity – existing and potential – of business and the humanities, considering the contribution humanities researchers and graduates can make to the business world and how the humanities might benefit in return.

Speaker: Dr Donald Drakeman
Panel: Professor Elleke Boehmer (Chair), Professor Howard Hotson, Professor Sally Maitlis

Panel Bios

Don Drakeman has been an entrepreneur and venture capitalist in the life sciences for many years. A lawyer with a PhD in the humanities, he has also written extensively about religious history and constitutional law. His book, Why We Need Humanities, will be published later this year. He is currently Distinguish Research Professor in the Program on Constitutional Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and a Fellow in Health Management at the University of Cambridge.

Elleke Boehmer is Professor of World Literature in English. She has published Colonial and Postcolonial Literature (1995, 2005), Empire, the National and the Postcolonial, 1890-1920 (2002), Stories of Women (2005), and Nelson Mandela (2008). She is the author of four acclaimed novels, including Screens again the Sky (short-listed David Hyam Prize, 1990), Bloodlines (shortlisted SANLAM prize), and Nile Baby (2008), and the short-story collection Sharmilla and Other Portraits (2010). A book on ‘Empire’s Networks’ and a new novel, The Shouting in the Dark, are forthcoming.

Sally Maitlis is a Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Leadership at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Her areas of expertise include sensemaking in organisations, trauma and adversity at work, and processes of personal growth. Sally conducts research in a range of public and privatesector organisations, with a particular interest in the cultural industries,studying symphony orchestras, dancers, and other creative professionals. She specialises in qualitative research, closely observing individual, team and organisational processes as they unfold in real time, and analysing these processes through talk and text.

Howard Hotson is Professor of Early Modern Intellectual History at the University of Oxford. He currently works on traditions of religious non-conformity in the Holy Roman Empire in the post-Reformation period, pedagogical innovations linking Ramus to Comenius and Leibniz and a book on the intellectual diaspora of the Thirty Years War. He also directs the Oxford-based collaborative research project, ‘Cultures of Knowledge: Networking the Republic of Letters, 1550-1750’.

Image: The Moneylender and his Wife, The Yorck Project, Wikimedia Commons

Professor Rachel Bowlby from Princeton University will give a seminar on Commuters: From the Nineteenth Century to Now as part of the Science, Medicine and Culture in the Nineteenth Century seminar series. All are welcome, no booking is required.

Twenty minute talk, Q&As, and an hour of discussion. Free entry, no need to book. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take part actively in the discussion.