Helen McCrory, in conversation with Edith Hall (KCL), about her performance in the National Theatre’s recent production of Medea (2014).
Free, all welcome, no booking required.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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]

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

What the World is Losing, a talk with Dr Paul Collins, Dr Robert Bewley & Dr Emma Cunliffe

A special talk with Dr Paul Collins, Curator of the Ancient Near East Collections at the Ashmolean Museum, as well as Dr Robert Bewley and Dr Emma Cunliffe from the University of Oxford School of Archaeology

Saturday 25 July, 10.30am‒12pm
Ashmolean Museum Lecture Theatre

FREE entry. No booking required.

*** Spaces limited. Please arrive early to secure your seat. ***

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Middle Eastern cultural heritage is under threat as never before. These talks highlight what the world is losing in Iraq and Syria, as well as talking about Oxford University’s ‘Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa’ project.

Dr Paul Collins spoke in April this year about the recent destruction of museums, libraries, archaeological sites, mosques, churches and shrines across northern Iraq to highlight the unique heritage that is being lost.

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This is a free Festival of Archaeology Talk. See the full programme of events at: http://www.ashmolean.org/events/Festival/

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.

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.

The Earth Trust is an environmental learning charity based in Oxfordshire that reconnects people with their environment and encourages sustainable living, enhancing people’s quality of life as well as their environment. It believes that sustainability can only become a reality if economics, society and environmental needs are in balance. The Earth Trust is unique in its broad range of economic and environmental activities focusing on changing hearts and minds. Dr Lock will provide an overview of the Earth Trust’s aspirations and explores its evidence-based research approach to developing sustainable land management models.

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

(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

Over the last few decades there have been many initiatives to bring about the recovery of populations of scarce or declining bird species in the UK. This has resulted in some notable successes, with species such as Red Kite and bittern. However such schemes do not always meet with immediate success. Having been involved in many recovery projects over many years, Ken Smith will look at some of the successes and also examine why it is not always easy or possible to bring about recovery

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

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).

This panel takes the publication of Ruti Teitel’s new book ‘Globalizing Transitional Justice’ as paperback 15 years after the publication of her seminal book ‘Transitional Justice’ (OUP 2000) as the entry point into a critical discussion of the state of the field of Transitional Justice: What is its future? Has it a future? What is the role of Law vis-à-vis other disciplines in the field? Are the concepts and methods of Transitional Justice which emerged against the backdrop of transitions in Latin America and Eastern Europe still relevant to new contexts such as transitions in the Middle East? How are national and international security agendas with their renewed focus on terrorism affecting Transitional Justice Mechanisms? How can we push the research agenda in the field in new directions?

Panel Members:

Prof. Ruti Teitel, Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law and Director of the Institute for Global Law, Justice and Policy at New York Law School

Prof. Leigh Payne, Professor of Sociology, University of Oxford

Prof. Chandra Sriram, Professor of International Law and International Relations, University of East London

Dr. Iavor Rangelov, Global Security Research Fellow, London School of Economics

Under Mithradates II (c. 121-91 BC), the Parthian Empire reached its greatest extent, quickly transitioning into an eastern superpower to rival Rome. His coin iconography and monetary policy demonstrate a constant negotiation between the Hellenistic and Iranian cultural worlds. Alexandra Magup will examine how the motifs on Mithradates II’s coinage relate to a distinct Parthian political and religious ideology based on the concept of the khvarnah. She will also look at how Parthian ideology left its mark on the coinage of some of the sub-kingdoms such as Persis, where local kings portrayed themselves as the true inheritors of Achaemenid power.

Profile of Ms Magup: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/all_current_projects/collaborative_doctoral_awards/alexandra_magub.aspx

Ecohydrologist Prof David Gowing will speak on “Plant species diversity: the role of soil moisture”. He will discuss the conundrum of how up to 40 species can all sustain themselves in a single metre square of grassland, referencing research in English meadows from the past 20 years. The temporal variability of our weather may be an important factor in maintaining the species-richness of our grasslands.

David Gowing studied Botany as a first degree and gained a PhD in plant-water relations. He has worked on the link between vegetation composition and soil water for twenty-five years, at Lancaster, Cranfield and now the Open University. He is currently the Professor of Botany at the Open University, where he contributes to the Environmental Science programme, teaching undergraduates how to appreciate and record vegetation in the field a particular motivation.

‘How to feed 9 billion people?’ is a free public seminar as part of the NERC Environmental Research DTP Grand Challenges Seminar Series.

FREE TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/grand-challenges-seminar-series-tickets-19857062007?aff=ebrowse

By the year 2050, it is estimated that the global population will exceed 9 billion. Much of this population growth will occur in the poorest regions of the world, placing intense pressure on the supply of food to these regions. Changes in dietary preferences are likely to place additional pressure on the planet’s food supply. This increasing requirement for food is occurring at the same time as we become increasingly aware of factors reducing the productivity of agriculture such as: soil erosion, disease, extreme climate, and pollution. An increased awareness of the negative environmental impacts of intensive agriculture further highlights the range of pressures facing food security. In order to tackle these issues, different groups involved in the maintenance of food security need to cooperate effectively.

This panel discussion will bring together leading figures with different roles in the food supply network. We aim to provoke a stimulating and engaging debate with input from individuals with a variety of perspectives.
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CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
Chair: Julain Cottee, Environmental Change Institute
http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/people/jcottee.html

Tara Garnett, Food Climate Research Network, Oxford
http://www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/people/tara-garnett

Mike Bonsall
http://www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/people/mike-bonsall

Mark Buckingham, Monsanto
http://monsantoblog.eu/category/news-views/#.Vp9Vp_mLTIU
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Date: Tuesday 16th February 2016
Time: 5pm sharp, followed by a drinks reception.
Location: TS Eliot Lecture Theatre, Merton College, Oxford, OX1 4JD
FREE TICKETS available here (please ensure you choose the correct date):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/grand-challenges-seminar-series-tickets-19857062007?aff=ebrowse

Please ensure you reserve a place on eventbrite if you intend to come as it would greatly aid us in our organisation of the event. Thank you in advance

As a cornerstone initiative of the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities, we are proposing a new format for presenting and elaborating thinking on what urban governance does, when it succeed and fails, and how it can be re-organized to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We put academics on the cutting edge of global urban scholarship face-to-face with established innovative practitioners—architects, activists, policy makers, and artists.

Through a series of rigorous yet accessible public dialogues they will grapple with the intellectual and everyday implications of their theories and practices on cities to produce visionary but grounded research and intervention strategies for the future of city life.
Each debate will be preceded by a small panel of academics and practitioners presenting papers that speak to the same key issues. Building on the long-standing Oxford tradition of public debate, we hope to encourage productive engagement between intellectuals and practitioners that is too often missing from discussions of the city.

Come down and listen to Malcolm Graham, local historian, talk about Oxford’s involvement in the Great War period.
Sponsored by the Oxford Castle Quarter and their Oxford Images in World War I Project.

As a cornerstone initiative of the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities, we are proposing a new format for presenting and elaborating thinking on what urban governance does, when it succeed and fails, and how it can be re-organized to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We put academics on the cutting edge of global urban scholarship face-to-face with established innovative practitioners—architects, activists, policy makers, and artists.

Through a series of rigorous yet accessible public dialogues they will grapple with the intellectual and everyday implications of their theories and practices on cities to produce visionary but grounded research and intervention strategies for the future of city life.
Each debate will be preceded by a small panel of academics and practitioners presenting papers that speak to the same key issues. Building on the long-standing Oxford tradition of public debate, we hope to encourage productive engagement between intellectuals and practitioners that is too often missing from discussions of the city.

Erwin James murdered two men and spent 20 years behind bars. Now he has written a book called Redeemable. Is he?

From 5.00pm, LMH will be selling copies of Erwin’s book in the lobby of Pipe Partridge Building. The event will start at 5.45pm in the Simpkins Lee Theatre and will finish at 7.00pm.

Now in its seventh year, St Hilda’s College Gender Equality Festival features speakers, workshops, debates, film screenings and a comedy night.

Student, blogger, part-time model and eco-fashion-expert, and winner of the Vogue Talent Contest for Young Writers Rosalind Jana, joins the Festival on 22 February. Rosalind will discuss her forthcoming book ‘Notes on Being Teenage’ and the issues it covers, from the serious to the slightly-less-so.

The 2016 annual Heron-Allen lecture will be given by Dominic Johnson, Alastair Buchan Chair of International Relations, Director of Research, at the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), Oxford.

For millions of years, humans and other animals have had to find ways to coexist in sharing finite resources in the environment. Often this has led to competition and conflict, but it has also led to the evolution of remarkable adaptations and systems of social organisation that promote cooperation and sharing. Dominic suggests that we have often focused too much on the former and not enough on the latter, more optimistic aspects of ecology and evolution. Today, with the rapid rise in human population and consumption, the Earth’s finite resources are dwindling beyond repair, and we desperately need fresh approaches to maximise our chances of damage limitation. Dominic and the interdisciplinary “Natural Governance” project team at Oxford suggest that major new insights may come from studying and learning how other species, as well as indigenous human societies, have successfully managed common resources in the past, and the social and behavioural mechanisms which enable this sharing and conflict resolution to succeed. The team believe that, even if by small steps, this approach opens a new avenue for the successful governance of natural resources. From long term studies of badgers in Wytham Woods, to hunter-gatherers in Africa, to contemporary conflicts over resources, the talk will give examples of new ways to think about our predicament and ask whether nature itself may hold solutions to help us preserve it.

The lecture starts promptly at 5.15pm in the Simpkins Lee Theatre and finishes with a drinks reception in the Monson Room. The event is free to attend and guests are welcome. To book your place(s), please email events@lmh.ox.ac.uk.