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

How can the human economy become more sustainable in the face of a rapidly changing climate? Professor Cameron Hepburn, Director of the Economics of Sustainability programme at The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, will discuss new ways of assessing climate and economic risk, how to stimulate innovation in greener technologies, and the impacts of climate policy on the economy.

Join in on Twitter #2015climate

Genomic variation, through its effect on gene structure and expression, plays an important role in disease predisposition, biology and clinical response to therapy.

In my presentation, I will provide examples of ongoing projects that emerged from large-scale genome studies of cancer that are pertinent to understanding the role of both classes of cancer mutations (inherited and acquired) in the context of early phases of cancer development and potential approaches to use this knowledge in tailored screening interventions. I will provide examples of:

Models to determine colorectal cancer risk using common genetic risk markers and optimise screening strategies;
Deep-sequencing of acute myeloid leukemia samples used to trace the initiating mutations to infer leukemia and possible applications that will enable diagnosis of pre-leukemic states, i.e. prior to overt leukemia;
Cancer mutation profiles that can better distinguish aggressive and indolent forms of prostate cancer at the time of first diagnosis to reduce the overtreatment of the disease in patients with more benign forms.

In each example, I will also pose biological questions that arose in these studies, and avenues for further work to obtain a greater understanding of early cancers and transform this knowledge into tailored interventions based on the profile of the tumour and the patient.

Join the Weidenfeld Scholars for an engaging debate on economic inequality moderated by Jon Snow. We will be engaging with what drives inequality, what economic, social and political impact inequality has and what policymakers ought to do to respond.

Format: The ‘Intelligence Squared’ debate format (Two speakers debating for, and two speakers debating against the motion).

Speakers:
For the motion:
Josh Spero (Editor, Spear’s Magazine)
Andreas Wesemann (Financial Services Advisory Group, Ashcombe Advisors).

Against the motion:
Vicky Pryce (Chief Economic Advisor, CEBR)
Alan Gray (Chairman, London Economics).

Moderator: Jon Snow.

Venue of debate: Danson Room, at Trinity College.
Time: 5 to 6.30pm, followed by drinks.

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. 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.

Delivered by Professor Philippe Van Parijs, University of Louvain

Join us at the Museum of Natural History for an evening of talks and networking to celebrate the research behind our new exhibition,‘Biosense’.
The exhibition features contemporary research, including how bacteria sense their micro-world, why oxygen sensing could revolutionise human medical treatment, and the way that the light around us affects our behaviour.

Free, all welcome, no booking required.
After a week long residency choreographing to the ancient Greek text of Odyssey Book XI, Cathy Marston will discuss her approaches to adapting works of literature into dance performances with APGRD Visiting Scholar Tom Sapsford. Cathy will then also show and discuss the material which she has developed throughout the course of the week with performances from professional dancers Charlotte Broom and Aaron Vickers.

We are all aware that Christian communities with ancient roots in the Middle East, are again under enormous pressure.This study day looks in detail at the present situation and how different communities are responding. Mardean Isaac is British-Assyrian and will speak on the Assyrian Christian community which has suffered multiple tragedies over the past century. Fr Shafiq is a Melkite (RC) scholar based in Oxford, whose roots are in Lebanon, a country deeply affected by the surrounding conflicts and the flow of refugees. Anthony O’Mahony is a leading scholar of Middle Eastern Christianity. He considers the situation in the Holy Land, and asks to what extent diaspora communities can preserve their distinctive Christian cultures and spirituality when scattered across the world in very different cultural and geographical contexts.

Professor Sir John Bell has been invited to Oxford Brookes to discuss the future of medicine and the role of the Oxford Academic Health Science Centre. His research interests are in the area of autoimmune disease and immunology where he has contributed to the understanding of immune activation in a range of autoimmune diseases. In 1993, he founded the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, one of the world’s leading centres for complex trait common disease genetics.

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.

The next Surgical Grand Rounds presentation at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences is a Burdette Lecture and will be given by Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, President of the British Medical Association, President of the International Federation of Gynaecology & Obstetrics, and Professor Emeritus of
Obstetrics & Gynaecology, St. George’s University, London.

Chaired by Professor Freddie Hamdy, Head of Department, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences.

The Surgical Grand Rounds are the key educational meetings for consultants, juniors and medical students. Presentations revolve around clinical cases and are followed by lively, educational discussion.

Part of a series of one-day conferences held by the Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics (HAPP).

Arguably the First World War saw the greatest advent of new science and technology and the role of science in warfare than any conflict hitherto. On land the innovations of barbed wire, machine guns and eventually, tanks changed the nature of land battles. At sea, radio communications changed operation of surface fleets and the introduction of submarine warfare changed the nature of war at sea. This war saw also the advent of aerial warfare which was to change the nature of all future wars. This conference seeks to review the key ways in which physics and its mathematics changed the nature of conflict from various points of views: technical, historical and sociological.
Confirmed speakers include:

Professor David Edgerton (King’s College London) – The Sciences and the Great War: Myths and Histories

Dr Elizabeth Bruton (Museum of the History of Science, Oxford) – Hydrophones and Piezoelectricity: Ernest Rutherford and Anti-submarine Innovations in the Royal Navy during World War I

Professor Adrian Smith (University of Southampton) – Warfare and Wind Tunnel: Engineers, Physicists and the Evolution of Combat Aircraft (1914-1918)

Dr Arne Schirrmacher (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) – On the (Self-)Mobilization of Scientists in Germany, France and Britain: The Impact on Physics in War and thereafter

There will be a conference dinner at St Cross in the evening following the end of the conference. Although the conference itself is free of charge, the dinner carries a cost of £35 to attend – booking a place for dinner can be done here; http://www.oxforduniversitystores.co.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=2188&prodid=10126

Hosted by the Pembroke History Society, Professor Paul Hyams will give a guest lecture, open to all. Please register to attend.

“This is a lecture for intelligent men and women who may wonder whether Magna Carta really merits all the hype of the past year. Over the centuries a temporary peace treaty in a civil war became a myth, a kind of foundational myth for an intangible British constitution that may not exist and certainly is not available for reading. Its importance for Western liberties is more celebrated in the US than in England, not to mention the other three parts of the United Kingdom. A returned ex-pat who has spent half his career teaching in the United States, I shall take my text from Oxford alumnus David Cameron’s article on ‘Magna Carta and British Values’ published in The Daily Mail a year ago to mark the 799th anniversary of the Great Charter’s first promulgation at Runnymede further down the Thames Valley. I shall examine both documents briefly but critically and tell you what I celebrate about the event, the occasion and the values and liberties they proclaim — and why I enjoy studying such things.”

Professor Paul Hyams is an historian who held a Fellowship at Pembroke from 1969 to 1989, before spending the latter years of his teaching career at Cornell University. He has published widely on medieval history.

The Patient Safety Academy at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences are pleased to invite you to a seminar on current safety issues for senior management, led by Dr Ken Catchpole from Cedars Sinai Healthcare, Los Angeles. Dr Catchpole has won international recognition for his work on applying Human Factors to healthcare problems. He will deliver an initial assessment of key problems and potential solutions facing senior managers in Trusts in the NHS in England followed by a question and answer session.

Drinks and canapés will be provided. Places are limited, so please respond to this invitation if you would like to attend by 12 June 2015.

#### 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.

Guest speaker: Dr Mike Macnair, Associate Professor in Law, University of Oxford

Talk, Q&As, and discussion. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take part actively in the discussion. Free entry, no need to book.

The next Surgical Grand Rounds presentation at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences will be given by Mr Nick Maynard and Dr Tom Macgregor, Consultant Upper GI Surgeon and Surgical SpR, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Mr Nick Maynard will speak on ‘Medical Student Teaching in Palestine’ and Dr Tom MacGregor will talk about ‘The OxPals Initiative’.

Chaired by Professor Freddie Hamdy, Head of Department, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences.

The Surgical Grand Rounds are the key educational meetings for consultants, juniors and medical students. Presentations revolve around clinical cases and are followed by lively, educational discussion.

A lecture by Professor Richard Sharpe, University of Oxford.

This creative workshop will explore ideas of citizenship in the Magna Carta, led by Penny Boxall of the University Church.

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.

Włodzimierz Staniewski talks about his “Pythian Oratorio”, with excerpts performed by Mariusz Gołaj, Joanna Holcgreber and Tetiana Oreshko – members of the Gardzienice theatre company.
The talk starts at 7pm in the Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building at St Hilda’s, Oxford.
Free, everyone welcome – but due to limited seating, tickets must be booked online at: https://eventbrite.co.uk/event/16708871685/

‘TRADE IN UK-AFRICA RELATIONS’: Event taking place on July 1st at Oxford Brookes University.

This is part of an ESRC seminar series on British Policy after Labour: Coalition, Austerity, Continuity and Change.

This seminar, the fifth in a series of seven and the first since the Conservative election victory in May, will focus on Trade in UK-African Relations and will feature a number of prominent speakers from the worlds of academia, policy and civil society.

It starts with coffees at 1030 and ends at 1630 (a buffet lunch will be provided).

Places are limited so if you are interested in attending could you please confirm by sending an email to me (shurt@brookes.ac.uk) as early as possible.

If you would like to read more about the ESRC series and previous/upcoming seminars then please take a look at our website – http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/bisa-africa/uk-africa-policy/ – or follow us on Twitter @UKAfricaSeminar.

I have also written summaries of the main themes of the four seminars on my blog – http://internationalpoliticsfromthemargin.net/

Special Turner Event at the Ashmolean Museum

Turner’s High Street, Oxford: a Unique Townscape

With Colin Harrison

Wednesday 8 July, 11am-12pm, Lecture Theatre

Find out more about Turner’s most significant townscape and the greatest painting of the city that has ever been made. Senior Curator of European Art, Colin Harrison, will give a special talk from 11am on Wednesday 8 July.

Tickets £5/£4 concessions. Booking is essential.

To find out more about the Ashmolean’s current campaign to secure Turner’s painting for the nation visit: http://www.ashmolean.org/turner/

Part 1 of a three-part mini-series on notation: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.

Also coming up… Writing little messages in Italian: the social origins of music notation (August 20th), Arithmetic: a study in the irreversibility of human progress (September 24th).

Free entry, no need to book. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take part actively in the discussion. The meeting room will be indicated on the display screen just inside the Town Hall entrance lobby.

A one day conference exploring Seamus Heaney’s relationship with the Classics.
Registration will be £20 (or £15 for students) – the registration fee includes lunch and a drinks reception. Please see the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama’s website for full details of the programme: www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk/events/2015/04/bann-valley-muses-seamus-heaney-and-the-classics

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/