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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We are at the cusp of some far-reaching technological advances that will be of tremendous benefit to sensory research. Within a few short years we will be able to test thousands of people from any demographic with ‘connected’ technology every bit as good as we use in our labs today — indeed more so. Here, Dr Woods discusses on-web versus in-lab, predicted technological advances and issues with online research.

Dr. Andy Woods received his PhD from Trinity College, Dublin, in Multisensory Psychology and have subsequently postdoc’d in Bangor (Wales) and later in Manchester (England). He also spent 4 years as a research scientist working for industry in the Netherlands (Unilever R&D). His research remains primarily focused in the field of multisensory psychology. For the past 6 years he has been developing the ‘Xperiment’ software package, which lets scientists conduct research interchangeably on the internet, on the phone/pad through Xperiment apps, or in the lab.

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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.

Most modern democracies punish hate speech. Less freedom for some, they claim, guarantees greater freedom for others. But that view confuses democracy with liberalism, as if the two assume identical norms in principle, or entail the same results in practice. It also assumes a misleadingly ahistorical model of democracy.

In this Max Watson memorial lecture, Eric Heinze from Queen Mary University London will argue that modern democracies have better ways of combating violence and discrimination against vulnerable groups without having to censor speakers. The lecture will show why free expression must be safeguarded not primarily as an individual (‘liberal’) right, but as an essential attribute of democratic citizenship.

Professor Eric Heinze is Professor of Law and Humanities at Queen Mary University London. He has worked with the International Commission of Jurists and UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, and on private litigation before the United Nations Administrative Tribunal in New York. He is a member of the Bars of New York and Massachusetts, and has also advised NGOs on human rights, including Liberty, Amnesty International and the Media Diversity Institute.

A talk by Seán Donlon, the former Irish ambassador to the United States.

Come listen to a curator with the Smithsonian Institute, Dr. Ellen Feingold, talk about the ongoing fascinating ‘Money in Arica’ project at the British Museum, which aims to piece together African monetary history and its cultural and political impact. Dr. Feingold will also speak on her own focus of counterfeit currencies in colonial East and West Africa. The lecture will be held at the Ioannou (Classics) Centre on St. Giles.

This event should interest you if:

• you wish to know more about various numismatics research projects;
• you wish to know more about a unique and rare field of numismatics (African numismatics);
• you wish to know more about using numismatics as a source for research.

Speaker profile: http://americanhistory.si.edu/profile/1159
Abstract:

During the interwar period, international counterfeiting schemes originating in West Africa presented a new threat to British colonial and national currencies. The institutions responsible for the West African monetary system – the Colonial Office and West African Currency Board – believed these plots had the potential to generate high quality forged currency and thus considered them to present a greater risk than local counterfeiting practices. This paper argues that colonial officials were also alert to this illicit activity because the schemes presented a new challenge to British law enforcement in the colonies, set off disputes between national and imperial institutions in London, and required the British to collaborate with other nations to thwart. The emergence of these international counterfeiting schemes demonstrates that while the creation of a colonial monetary system for West Africa facilitated British imperial economic aims, it also created new and unanticipated challenges to British rule.

Please contact qaleeda.talib@some.ox.ac.uk for more information.

Free for members; a £2 fee applies for non-members. Please contact the Secretary at kim.zhang@wadh.ox.ac.uk if you wish to be a member and sign up to the mailing-list. Membership is free.

Venue: John Henry Brookes Lecture Theatre, Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane OX3 0BP

Time: Sunday 8 November (Week 5), 9:30 am – 5:30pm

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The ‘Symposium in Applying Psychology & Neuroscience to Business’ is a first of its kind inter-faculty venture at Oxford Brookes University (Sponsor) between the Faulty of Business and the Faculty of Health and Life sciences.

There has been an increasing trend in applying insights provided by psychology and neuroscience to business in fields such as neuromarketing, consumer neuroscience & psychology, sensory marketing, and crossmodal research. Thus, jointly organized by Oxford Brookes University, Psychology & Neuroscience Applications Society (PsyNAppS) of the University of Oxford, and the International Research Institute for Applied Neuroscience (IRIANS), this Symposium is a confluence of inter-disciplinary, inter-university and academic-industrial collaborations, featuring six talks from renowned academics & industry professionals, a panel discussion and a networking event thereafter.

The event is free and open to all enthusiasts. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis only as there are limited seats.

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Full Schedule:

10:00-10:45
Advancing Sustainable Consumption: Some Research Thoughts on a Perennial Behavioural Change Problem
– Prof. Janine Dermody, Professor in marketing and consumer psychology, OBU

10:45-11:30
The Brain’s responses to food cues
– Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience, OBU

11:30-12:15
Using Neuroscience to Improve Communication with Consumers
– Dr. Bradley Vines, Director Neuroscience Europe, AC Nielsen

12:15-1:15
Lunch Break
Kindly make your own arrangements – The Brookes Cafe has options for sandwiches, warps & light snacks & beverages

1:15-2:00
Bringing Neuroscience to the world of Product Design and Performance
– Dr.Ashish Umre, Artificial Intelligence Scientist, Tesco PLC

2:00-2:45
Consumer Responses to Sensory Overload: A Crossmodal Compensation Framework
– Prof.Rhonda Hadi, Associate Professor of Marketing, SBS, University of Oxford

2:45-3:30
Psychological Research Meets Industry: Challenges and Opportunities
– Alejandro Salgado Montejo, Researcher, Crossmodal Lab, University of Oxford

3:30-4:15
Panel Discussion & Q&A
– All Speakers

4:15-5:00
Networking Event over Tea/Coffee

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For any further questions about the symposium and booking please email:

cspurgeon@brookes.ac.uk (Christopher Spurgeon)
ichatterjee@brookes.ac.uk (Indroneel Chatterjee)

Timbuktu is the Palme D’Or-nominated film from the Mauritanian master director Abderrahmane Sissako, which depicts with heartfelt lyricism the crippling effects of extremist ideology on the lives of those visited by instability and war.

The film illustrates the hypocrisy and absurdity of the extreme interpretation of religious laws imposed by a group of militants on the embattled residents of this austerely beautiful Malian city on the edge of the Sahara desert.

By foregrounding the quiet dignity of the local community, who, in scenes of great feeling and grace, defiantly resist the prohibitions on football and music, Timbuktu offers an elliptical and elegiac exposition of the forces currently driving thousands to flee their homelands to seek sanctuary elsewhere.

Professor Hein de Haas, former Co-Director of the International Migration Institute, will give a short introductory talk, drawing on his work investigating migration and the broader forces of social transformation in North Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Richard Guy, Mr Roel Hompes and Mr Bobby Bloemendaal from the Colorectal Department at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be presenting: “Surgery for advanced rectal cancer – crossing the boundaries”.

In this Inaugural Gaza Lecture, Professor Karma Nabulsi, Assiociate Professor in Politics and International Relations from University of Oxford, will explore the politics, history and current predicaments faced by Palestinians in Gaza – particularly in the field of education.

In doing so, the lecture will illustrate the many extraordinary capacities and qualities of the Palestinian people that have come to the fore despite the extreme situation they are living in and how they have become an exemplar of democratic and universal values.

Gaza is commonly seen as a place of humanitarian catastrophe requiring emergency assistance, but Karma will instead show what the Palestinians of Gaza give to us.

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

This workshop will inquire how neoliberalism, as ideology and policy, has transformed employment law and employment relations. Towards this end, participants will question what neoliberalism truly stands for, and what can be derived from it. To what extent do reforms implemented in recent years derive from a neoliberal agenda and ideology?

The workshop will explore the reasons for the increasing significance of equality and non-discrimination in the work of labour lawyers, and ask: Is there an ideological, political and legal future beyond neoliberalism, and if so – what could it look like?

Participants:

Amir Paz-Fuchs, Senior Lecturer in Employment Law, University of Sussex

Amy Ludlow, Lecturer, Law Faculty, University of Cambridge

Matthew Eagleton-Pierce, Lecturer in International Political Economy, SOAS, London

Judy Fudge, Professor of Law, Kent Univesity

Jason Hickel, Department of Anthropology, LSE

Ben Jackson, Leslie Mitchell Tutorial Fellow in History and Associate Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford

Ewan McGaughey, Lecturer in Private Law, King’s College London

Guy Mundlak, Professor of Law, tel Aviv University

Martin Upchurch, Professor of International Employment Relations, Middlesex University

Richard White, Reader in Human Geography, Sheffield Hallam University

o mark Inter Faith Week 2015 (15 – 21 November) and the 150th anniversary of Oxford Brookes University, the University Chaplaincy will host a panel discussion on the role of faith, belief, and non-belief in 21st century higher education.
This discussion between some of the university Chaplains will explore the importance of building good relationships and working partnerships between people of different faiths and beliefs and the cultural, social and educational implications.

Mansfield Lecture Series, Convener Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.Laurie Taylor is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of York and
Visiting Professor in Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck. He is the author of 14
books on crime, deviance, personal identity and the nature of contemporary
celebrity. He presents the weekly social science programme Thinking Allowed
on BBC Radio Four.

Sir David Tang will reflect on recent developments in Chinese society and on the UK’s changing relationship with the Asian super-power. As a pre-eminent figure in fashion, hospitality, media and the arts, in both the UK and across Asia, Sir David will share his unique insights on this complex and fascinating topic.
The evening will be hosted by Ken Hom OBE, chef, author and broadcaster and honorary graduate of Oxford Brookes University.

**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.

Join your colleagues, friends and mentors at this event to see teams present their projects and find out who will be awarded funding!

The Carbon Innovation Programme is an opportunity for students and staff at the University of Oxford to generate unique ideas for carbon reduction across the University’s Functional Estate. Teams or individuals have the opportunity to receive full funding to deliver their innovative carbon saving projects over the coming academic year (2015/16) whilst also receiving mentoring from industry experts. Successful candidates may have the option to discuss internships and career opportunities.

For much of the last nearly 200 years, a huge amount of work has been undertaken to record, analyse and characterise gait – the patterns of movement when we walk. The common objectives were to enlighten clinical understanding and to improve the quality of life of many thousands of children, veterans and people challenged by disability.

An unintended consequence of this work has been its us in the entertainment sectors. Tom will take you on a visual journey into the world of blockbuster movies, music videos and advertisements populated by amazing creatures animated characters and imaginary environments.
He will describe the techniques used to capture human motion and how to place animated characters and objects into real backgrounds.

Talk, Q&As, and discussion. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take part actively in the discussion. There’s no need to book: just come along on the day.

Ten years after the creation of the world’s first statutory-based national ombudsman service for higher education, Rob Behrens will mark his forthcoming departure from the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) with a frank appraisal of what has been achieved, how universities, student unions and complainants have reacted and what issues remain to be addressed.

He will explore the journey from ‘adjudicator’ to outward-facing ombudsman service and evaluate the OIA’s contribution to the current regulatory scene, assessing the impact of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which brings private suppliers into the scheme on an equal footing with universities.

Members of AUA are very welcome to attend this event.

Rob Behrens is Independent Adjudicator and Chief Executive of the OIA, the ombudsman service for students in higher education in England and Wales. He is a member of the Regulatory Partnership Group for higher education.

He is also a non-executive member of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) in England and Wales, and Chair of the BSB Qualifications Committee.

The use of data capture and visualisation technologies has grown dramatically, embracing the needs of researchers, stakeholder communities, cultural resource managers, tourists and the general public. This paper previews the types of techniques being used by Australian archaeologists and collaborators in a range of study areas. The digital acquisition and visualisation of archaeological sites using photographic techniques (hardware and software), 3D reconstruction, laser scanning and other methods, along with novel methods for presentation provide us with opportunities not available even 5 years ago. The challenge for researchers is to maintain the theoretical impetus in the face of a plethora of new technologies and opportunities. Methods to enhance recording and to facilitate research methodologies are explored and the potentials for cultural resource managers and stakeholder communities to manage their heritage (e.g. with tourists in interpretive displays, websites and other virtual media) are highlighted.

Professor Alistair Paterson is an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia where he has been Head of the School of Social Sciences (2013-15) and Archaeology Discipline Chair (2010-2012). He is currently a visiting researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford. His research and teaching covers culture contact, historical archaeology in maritime and terrestrial settings, European colonization, historical rock art, digital scholarship, and archaeological and historical methodology. Much of his work is located in Western Australia and the Indian Ocean exploring the uses of coast and offshore islands in colonial and pre-colonial settings, and early colonial settlements across the state (in collaboration with the Western Australian Museum, iVec@UWA).

“We all have something of each other’s lives in the palms of our hands” (Martinsen 2006).
The connected nature of caring relationships is well-established in nursing theory and indeed nurses in Oxfordshire have historically been at the forefront of much of this theory generation. More recently, nursing education in the UK has been criticised for losing its base essential values of caring, despite a strong person-centred discourse in healthcare policy and strategy.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have responded with new standards and a code of practice, whilst school of nursing have felt increasingly ‘regulated’ with a focus on compliance

When the Fat Lady Sings: Leadership and Creativity in Opera

In the world of opera, many experts work together to create an amazing show: everyone from costume and lighting to singers and conductor need to align their creativity to make a final product that audiences love. There are many valuable lessons to be learned from these relationships that illustrate how leadership works.

Leadership involves coordinating different functions and communicating effectively both inside and outside an organisation. This talk will explore just that: how a system of shifting leadership works to pull together the creativity of the skilled experts in order to generate value for diverse stakeholders.

Expect practical demonstrations from a top-class singer!

Please arrive at 12.15pm for a prompt 12.30pm start. Lunch will then be provided and the lecture will commence at 1pm.

As researchers, we aim to develop knowledge that will improve the human condition. This goal is hampered, however, if research is not consumed, interrogated, and used by those implementing policy. How then does research enter the policy process in practice?

This panel brings together decades of experience working at the intersection of education research and policy and will attempt to answer this key question. Drawing from their considerable experience, the panellists will describe their view of how research informs policy, and share perspectives on how researchers can better communicate and interact with policy makers and what researchers typically miss when thinking about how policy is made.

Featuring:

Tom Mcbride
Head of Strategic Analysis, UK Department for Education

Alex Scharaschkin
Director of Research, AQA; Director, AQA Centre for Education Research and Practice

Ewart Keep
Director, Oxford University Centre on Skills, Knowledge & Organisational Performance (SKOPE)

Nothing is different but everything has changed

While the landscape of marketing is no doubt changing, the importance of cultivating and keeping diverse, creative talent remains as important today as it has been for centuries. This creative talent is at the heart of good marketing and no matter how the world shifts the consumption of media, creativity will remain key to making good ads.

FCB Worldwide CEO Carter Murray will discuss where he thinks the world of advertising is heading and how marketing is breaking new ground by sticking to the basics – awesome creative, great account management and a culture that allows it all to thrive.

The seminar will take place at Saïd Business School on 28 January 2016. Please arrive at the School from 5.15pm for a prompt 5.30pm start.

The talk will be followed by a short networking drinks reception until c19:30 hrs.

Researchers in the humanities and social sciences increasingly visualize their data and results for non-academic audiences like policymakers, civil society organizations, or journalists. They may do this to foster public engagement, or to generate wider research ‘impact’. But not much is known about what makes an ‘effective’ visualization in the first place—or even if this is possible. Using findings from the Seeing Data project this talk explores socio-cultural factors that affect how people perceive visualizations in general. Then, it draws upon visualization practice and outputs from The Migration Observatory to highlight the ways that visualizations can develop public understanding as well as future research questions.

William L Allen is a Research Officer with the Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS) and The Migration Observatory, both at the University of Oxford. His current research focuses on the interactions among British media and public perceptions about migration. He also has interests in visualisation, the politics of data, and how non-academic groups engage with migration statistics. He tweets from @williamlallen.

If you have a University or Bodleian Reader’s card, you can get to the Centre for Digital Scholarship through the Mackerras Reading Room on the first floor of the Weston Library, around the gallery. If you do not have access to the Weston Library you are more than welcome to attend the talk: please contact the organizer.

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.

Driving Business Performance

Peter Tufano and Antony Jenkins will discuss how leadership and culture drives business performance, including the tools that leaders can deploy to improve performance. They will also examine how technology is profoundly affecting business and society, including how to win in a new and very different world.

The seminar will take place at Saïd Business School on 4 Febrauary 2016. Please arrive at the School from 5pm for a prompt 5.30pm start.

The talk will be followed by a short networking drinks reception until c19:30 hrs.

Survival International is the one of the world’s leading tribal rights organisations. From the Yanomami of Brazil to the Bushmen of Botswana, they have defended the land rights of indigenous communities from governmental and corporate influence for over thirty years. The organisation’s director, Stephen Corry, has kindly agreed to come to Oxford to give a talk about the work that both he and Survival have done working with such communities, and the role that the extent to which social sciences can or must engage with these issues.

Millions of people worldwide are affected by natural hazards ranging from devastating but localised events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis to the more subtle but global effects of climate change. It is therefore in our interests to be able to accurately predict these hazards, assess their risks and communicate this information quickly and effectively to those affected so that major loss of life can be avoided. Exactly how this should be done, and the extent to which certain natural hazards can even be predicted are key questions that need to be addressed. Less obvious but of equal importance are the roles that governments and charities should play in communication and prevention, and how different communities perceive the risks associated with natural hazards in the first place. These questions will be debated by a diverse panel of speakers from a variety of different backgrounds to be announced shortly. There will be a free drinks reception afterwards. So come on down, you might just learn something*!

*Or you can just come for the free wine

This is a free event, please register at the link below

Dr Rachel Aldred is a Senior Lecturer in Transport at the University of Westminster, and specialises in cycling research. One of her current research projects is the Near Miss Project, funded by Creative Exchange and Blaze. This has explored cyclists’ experiences of near misses in the UK with one academic paper and one policy report published so far. Notable findings have included the high frequency of near miss incidents (by comparison to slight injury collisions) and analysis of factors affecting their frequency and impact. Dr Aldred will speak about the findings, ongoing analysis of the data, and policy implications.