Speakers:
-Jonathan Scheele (Senior Member, St Antony’s College and Head of Representation at the European Commission Representation in the UK, 2010-12)

-Michael Weatherburn (Imperial College and Foundation for European Progressive Studies)

-Lise Butler (Pembroke College and Vice-Chair, Oxford Fabian Society)

Jonathon Porritt and Shaun Chamberlin celebrate the launch of the late Trinity alumnus David Fleming’s extraordinary book, ‘Surviving the Future: Culture, Carnival and Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy’.

This intimate event will be held in the Sutro Room at Trinity College, Oxford University, and will be recorded for a short film. Various themes in Fleming’s wonderfully diverse work – from carnival to climate change, religion to resilience, manners to markets – may be explored in response to the interests of those present.

Interview with Shaun Chamberlin on David Fleming, Brexit and the book: http://www.darkoptimism.org/2016/08/21/interview-on-david-fleming-music-and-hippos/

More information on David Fleming’s books:
http://www.chelseagreen.com/surviving-the-future
http://www.chelseagreen.com/lean-logic

Copies of both books will be on sale on the day.

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“David Fleming was an elder of the UK green movement and a key figure in the early Green Party. Drawing on the heritage of Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful, Fleming’s beautifully written and nourishing vision of a post-growth economics grounded in human-scale culture and community—rather than big finance—is both inspiring and ever more topical.”
~ Caroline Lucas MP, co-leader, Green Party of England and Wales; former Member of the European Parliament

“I would unreservedly go so far as to say that David Fleming was one of the most original, brilliant, urgently-needed, underrated, and ahead-of-his-time thinkers of the last 50 years. History will come to place him alongside Schumacher, Berry, Seymour, Cobbett, and those other brilliant souls who could not just imagine a more resilient world but who could paint a picture of it in such vivid colours. Step into the world of David Fleming; you’ll be so glad you did.”
~ Rob Hopkins, cofounder of the Transition Network

“Why do some of the truly great books only emerge and exact their influence upon us after the death of their authors? Perhaps it takes a lifetime to accrue and refine the necessary wisdom. Or perhaps it simply takes the rest of us too long to catch up. Like Thoreau, Fleming’s masterpiece brims not only with fresh insight into every nook and cranny of our culture and what it means to be human, but with such wit and humour that its challenging ideas and radical perspectives become a refreshing delight. If we’re to have a future worth surviving, this book demands to be read, re-read, and—ultimately—acted upon.”
~ Mark Boyle, author of The Moneyless Manifesto and Drinking Molotov Cocktails with Gandhi

Elain Harwood will look at David Roberts’s work in Cambridge and Oxford, and will place it in the context of the growth of higher education in the 1950s and 1960s, and the development of a modern style for university buildings.

Elain Harwood is Historic England’s specialist on post-war architecture and an acknowledged expert on and champion for Modernist architecture.

This event is part of the series A Festival of Anniversaries.

Brookes Centre for Global Politics, Economics and Society seminar series

Centre for Global Politics, Economics and Society seminar series

Mary Keen, Paradise and Plenty – the How and Wow of Lord Rothschild’s private garden on the Waddesdon Estate

Mary Keen is a writer, lecturer and renowned garden designer and will talk about the garden, its dedicated gardeners, past and present, and her book, which celebrates the tradition of excellence at Eythrope.

This workshop increases understanding of conflict and wrongdoing from a restorative perspective and explores the principles and values underpinning a restorative approach.

Designed for professionals in the legal field, case referral managers, supervisors of restorative practitioners, and anyone supporting or working alongside restorative practitioners.

LED BY KATHERINE STROESSEL WHO HAS WORKED IN THE FIELD OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICE FOR OVER 20 YEARS IN THE UK, THE USA, WEST AFRICA, THE BALKANS AND EASTERN EUROPE AND SHE IS A REGULAR FACILITATOR AND TRAINER FOR THE THAMES VALLEY RESTORATIVE JUSTICE SERVICE. SHE IS PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH THESE POWERFUL AND MEANINGFUL PROCESSES AND THEY UNDERPIN HER DEEP COMMITMENT TO RESTORATIVE APPROACHES AND THE PROFOUND DIFFERENCE THEY CAN MAKE TO PEOPLE’S LIVES.

Studying or working in a science or engineering subject? Interested in how to close the gender gap, and want to hear great role models speak about their experiences?

Join Oxford Females in Engineering, Science and Technology (OxFEST), alongside OxWIB and OxWomIn, on Saturday 18th February for our annual conference at the Oxford Maths Institute! We’ll be hosting inspiring women from industry and academia who are breaking boundaries in their fields. The day will involve talks, workshops on diversity, entrepreneurship and communication, and a panel discussion on promoting women in STEM. Breakfast, lunch, refreshments and prosecco will be provided! This is a great opportunity to be inspired, add to your skills, make new connections and get involved.

We are proud to introduce our first speaker: Anne-Marie O. Imafidon MBE. Anne-Marie is a computing, mathematics and language child prodigy who graduated from Oxford aged 20 and was awarded an MBE for championing women in STEM in her organisation Stemettes. You can read about her recent thoughts on the glass ceiling here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/…/the-glass-ceiling-is-made…

Like our Facebook page for more updates as we reveal our other amazing speakers: https://www.facebook.com/oxwomanempowerment/

Tickets are heavily subsidised and cost just £8 for the whole-day program and food and drink. Get yours here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breaking-boundaries-shatteri….

We look forward to welcoming you on the day!

Jonathan Metzger (KTH, Sweden) will talk about the necessity of exclusion in environmental planning.

Abstract: A more-than-human sensibility is founded upon an awareness of the fundamentally entangled fates of humans and non-humans, from the individual body to the planetary scale. The purpose of this presentation is to probe some of the implications of such insights on planning theory and methodology, and to explore potential ways of studying the degree to which such insights actually influence existing planning practices.

In the first part of the presentation I briefly review some currently fashionable ‘radical’ planning theories from the angle of how they may contribute to enacting a more-than-human sensibility within planning processes. I suggest that their oft-repeated ambition of producing benefits ‘for all’ are deceitfully misguiding, since such claims effectively serve the function of covering up the ever-present biopolitical dimension of planning practice and the radical exclusions that necessarily must take place.

In the second part of the presentation I sketch the outlines of a research program investigating how urban planning and design professionals relate to the more-than-human biopolitical dimension of planning. I argue that it is necessary to focus not only on the degree of displayed reflectiveness regarding this type of issues, but also if/how this comes to affect their concrete professional practice.

Lincoln Leads
In Material Culture

In conversation with
Robert Kerr • Former executive at Burberry •
Dr Joshua Thomas • Fellow in Archaeology •
Sarah Bochicchio • MSt in Modern History – Elizabeth I’s wardrobe

Discussing
‘The Power of the Image’?

Inviting the SCR, MCR, JCR and Alumni to join the conversation

Limited spaces available so register now to secure your place:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skills-workshop-an-introduction-to-design-tickets-32120337795

Working on a start up but lacking skills in design?
This session will help beginners and non-designers get comfortable with the basic principles of design (colour, typography, layout and psychology) and pick up the intangible skills that are hard to learn alone, but essential in coming up with fresh ideas, working with other creatives and designing with human behaviour in mind.

The main topics that will be covered are:

• FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES
A walkthrough of a design from start to finish to show how a designer comes up with and implements concepts, and a review of existing designs to see how colour, typography, layout and psychology are used and how these can be applied to your own work

• DESIGNING FOR A PURPOSE
A practical session to show the considerations and decisions a designer needs to make to fulfil an objective such as to communicate a message clearly, make something intuitive and easy to use, attract and guide attention and so on.

• HOW TO GET STARTED
A few short stories to demonstrate common mistakes beginners make and how to avoid them, how to come up with ideas and then translate them into an actual design, and ways to find opportunities to practise your skills

This workshop will be tailored to people with no or little previous design experience.

Check out previous workshops here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmfRPcybmAY

This workshop will be taught by Barney Yau. He has 8 years of design experience, started 3 design companies since he was 16, and has worked on over 200 projects with startups, SMEs and multinational corporations. He also taught design to over 500 students at Google Campus London, The London School of Economics, Imperial College London, The University of Warwick, Durham University and at HKUST for over 3 years, and have run private design sessions with startups, hackathons and incubator cohorts.

Currently we are hearing more and more about LGBT+, and specifically transgender, people and issues in the press, media and everyday life. With terminology evolving at a fast pace and misinformation scattered around the internet, it can be hard to know what words mean and which are offensive / preferred. It can also feel impolite to ask or you may worry that you ‘should already know’ the answers to unanswered questions. What does it mean to be transgender? Is ‘queer’ offensive? What can I ask and what should I avoid? This LGBT+ 101 talk aims to answer some of those questions and will provide a safe space to ask more.

This session will be led by Dr Clara Barker (University of Oxford). Clara is a material scientist at Oxford University, following a four year post-doc at Empa, Switzerland. Last year she also became the vice-chair of the LGBT+ Advisory Group for the university and she volunteers at two Oxford LGBT+ youth and young adult groups. Clara also works with the Oxford County Council on various projects, including an anti-bully campaign for schools. In her spare time she blogs, writes for a music magazine, climbs, plays D&D and paints miniatures. Clara strongly believes in allowing people to be themselves and to be judged on what they do, not who they happen to be.

Lunch will be provided from 12.30-1pm. Talk and discussion from 1-2pm.

This one day workshop will explore the particular challenges, joys, and dynamics of working and living in a restorative way with young people in their teens. The values, language, and principles of restorative approaches contribute to building and maintaining positive and mutually respectful relationships. They offer more effective approaches to discipline and boundary setting. At a time when teenagers are going through so many changes our interactions with them are critical to the development of their identities and interests and potentially highly rewarding to our relationships with them.

Led by Katherine Stoessel who has worked in the field of restorative practice for over 20 years in the UK, the USA, West Africa, the Balkans and Eastern Europe and she is a regular facilitator and trainer for the Thames Valley Restorative Justice Service. She is privileged to work with these powerful and meaningful processes and they underpin her deep commitment to restorative approaches and the profound difference they can make to people’s lives.

Oxford International Relations Society has the pleasure of welcoming Lord David Owen CH FRCP to give a talk about his illustrious career in British politics. Foreign Secretary from 1977-1979, Owen was involved in overseeing and developing the creation of independence for certain African states, and in the promotion of human rights. A staunch centrist having held a lot of previous support for the European Union, Owen made headlines when he announced that he intended to Vote Leave in the Referendum of 2016.

In 1981, Owen became one of the ‘Gang of Four’, leaving the Labour Party to found the Social Democratic Party, of which he was leader from 1983-1987 and which eventually transformed into the Liberal Democrats. Made a life peer in 1992, he now sits in the House of Lords, changing his status from ‘crossbencher’ in 2014, to ‘independent social democrat’.

Lord Owen will be sharing his thoughts on ‘Brexit – An amicable divorce from the E.U.?’

This event is FREE for members and £3 for non-members, with a special offer of £20 for lifetime membership of the Society available for a limited time.

Featuring Professor Glen O’Hara (Oxford Brookes) and more TBC.

Oxford Translation Day is taking place on the 3rd of June. We have an excellent line-up: women’s writing from the post-Soviet Baltic states; translation workshops; an achingly cool modern libretto, and MUCH MUCH MORE! Don’t dare miss out! All events are free but registration is required. More info about the programme and how to book here: http://www.occt.ox.ac.uk/oxford-translation-day-2017.

Speakers:

Ivor Crewe (Master, University College, Oxford)

Anne Deighton (Emeritus Professor of European International Politics, St Antony’s College, Oxford)

Stephen Fisher (Associate Professor of Political Sociology, Trinity College, Oxford)

Iain McLean (Emeritus Professor of Politics, Nuffield College, Oxford)

Chair

Ben Jackson (Associate Professor of Modern History, University College, Oxford)

All are welcome.

A one-off screening of recent documentary release Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring four local experts talking about how the themes in the documentary relate to issues for our own city — both past and present.

The panel is made up of four women who will discuss the issues raised in the film from four different perspectives — urban planning, architecture, local history and art.

Dr Sue Brownill, an urban policy expert at Oxford Brookes University, will chair the discussion and will be joined by: Dr Annie Skinner, local historian and author of ‘Cowley Road: a History’; Dr Igea Troiani, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Oxford Brookes; and Rachel Barbaresi, an artist with interest the social aspects of urban space whose work is currently on show at Modern Art Oxford’s Future Knowledge exhibition.

Numerous free talks, walking tours and workshops over two days in central Oxford. Visit the webpage to find out more and book into sessions.

[N.B. Please confirm the venue with the organiser.]

Build your public speaking skills and confidence in a friendly North Oxford club. First meeting free, £10 per month after that (+ £13 joining fee).

What does it mean to be a feminist? Who can be a feminist? And is there a right and wrong way of doing it?

Join us on a unique journey through feminist history, adding your voice as we discuss key moments in literature, art, politics, music, sport, and science to develop our understanding of feminism.

You’ll discover knowledge you didn’t realise you had as we join together the pieces of feminist history and women’s achievements in this fun, interactive workshop.

We will identify different stages and criticisms of feminism and consider intersections with race, LGBTIQ, age, and disability politics. We look for silences and unacknowledged voices, and consider the privileges and biases in our own perspectives.

This workshop will examine how the increasing ease and speed that we are able to purchase goods and services online exposes consumers to the increasing risk of new types of disputes.

The international panel of speakers will consider how traditional legal institutions are inadequate for this new digital world of cross-border commerce and assess the extent of this ‘Digital Justice Gap’, with the aim of proposing solutions for a new global digital justice framework.

Participants
Chair: Denis Galligan, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, Director Oxford OBOR Programme, Director of Programmes Foundation for Law Justice and Society

Ethan Katsh, Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Director, National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution

Dr Orna Rabinovich-Einy, Faculty of Law, University of Haifa

Dr Ying Yu, Research Fellow, Wolfson College, Deputy Director, Oxford OBOR Programme

Dr Alex Chung, Coordinator of Digital Economy, Oxford OBOR Programme

Dr Janet Hui Xue, Research Associate, University of Sydney, Sydney Cyber Security Network

Watch the process of creating a new ballet in an interdisciplinary workshop with writer, Marina Warner, choreographer Kim Brandstrup, pianist and composer Joanna MacGregor, and professional dancers. Rawaa comes from Arabic – the root for words meaning ‘to water’ and ‘to relate’ and provides the dominant metaphorical motif of the ballet’s mood and movement.

Open to the public on Tuesday 14 November at 5.30pm to view the workshop in action and at other times by request – contact susan.jones@ell.ox.ac.uk

Abstract: This presentation will consider the ethical dimensions of Brexit. Specifically the case will be made that there are profound ethical questions posed by Brexit that have not properly been considered. The focus of the public debate has been largely on the pragmatic, economic and political reasons for and against Brexit. It is important to supplement these with a consideration of the ethical questions raised by it. In a book he edited entitled Political Restructuring in Europe: Ethical Perspectives (1994) Chris Brown made a case for constitutive theory as a way of approaching the ethical issues involved in proposals for restructuring Europe in the wake of the break-up of Yugoslavia. In this talk his analysis will be extended, illustrating how constitutive theory produces surprising, enlightening and important results that have so far been absent from the debate. The insights point to a set of political imperatives that ought not to be ignored.

Mervyn Frost is Professor of International Relations in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. Publications include: Towards a Normative Theory of International Relations (CUP, 1986), Ethics in International Relations (CUP, 1996), Constituting Human Rights: Global Civil Society and the Society of Democratic States (Routledge, 2002) and Global Ethics: Anarchy, Freedom and International Relations (Routledge, 2009). He edited a 4 volume reference work entitled International Ethics (Sage 2011). His recent work, with Dr Silviya Lechner, is focused on the “practice turn” in International Relations. Their book Practice Theory and International Relations is to be published by CUP in 2018.

Professional social media like LinkedIn are changing the professional landscape. Users can now connect and get to be known by creating personal information profiles and inviting colleagues to have access to those profiles. Sending emails and connecting to professional in different sectors became very easy. Recruiters can reach you easily in a matter of seconds. However, it is sometimes hard to identify the right pathways to make our professional social profile most profitable. Reaching out unknown professional can be especially very challenging and stressful when we don’t know how to engage.
Join us to our social workshop: we will talk about tips and tools to build good relationship skills in order to get a powerful network. We will be later joined via a skype call by Jenny Mith who is a business development and outreach manager at CodeSmith LLC.
Codesmith is a selective, need-blind 1- or 12- week program teaching Software Engineering and Machine Learning with locations at LA, NY and Oxford University. Jenny will give us insight on how to make a social profile more attractive and visible using digital and/or coding tools.

The workshop will be held on Tuesday 14th of November and will start from 5.30 till 7 p.m at the Stapeldon room in Exeter college (Main building). The event is aimed to be informal and fun. Feel free to bring a laptop or tablet to work on your Linkedin ( or other professional) profile.

Ever felt like there was something you really wanted to say but you just weren’t sure how? We’re exploring the why and how of women’s speech and writing with the help of some amazing women writers and gender experts.

This is our fabulous launch for a feminist writing course to run in Oxford in early 2018.

The event will include presentations from rising-star feminist writers sharing their work and discussing what it means to express their gender in their writing.

There will be a chance to share your ideas about what feminist poetry means to you, how gender is expressed through poetry and language, what it means to write as your gender, and some of the challenges of writing women’s experiences, platforming a variety of voices in conversation.

We also invite presentations from YOU of your own work and/or that of your feminist heroes.

Kids and people of all genders welcome.

East Oxford Community Centre
Doors open 7.30pm (the bar will be open)

The Oxford Fabian Society host the Fabian Society regional conference.

Embracing Change: Socialism for a Brave New World

Outline programme

9:00-9:30: registration

9:30: Welcome: Oxford and the Fabian Society. Michael Weatherburn (Secretary, Oxford Fabians)

9:45-10:15: Opening plenary. Kate Green MP (Chair, Fabian Society) and Andrew Harrop (General Secretary, Fabian Society)

10:15-11:15: Panel 1, Taking Our Place: workers affecting workplace change. Annaliese Dodds MP (Oxford East), Melanie Simms (Leicester University), & Caroline Raine (Area Organiser, UNISON). Facilitator: David Yates (Vice-Chair, Oxford Fabians)

11:45-12:45: Panel 2, New Channels of Influence. Shaista Aziz (journalist, writer), Ann Black (Labour NEC), Richard Fletcher (Reuters Institute, Oxford University), Dan Iley-Williamson (Labour city councillor, Holywell & Oxford Momentum). Facilitator: Nick Fahy (Oxford Fabians).

12:45-13:30: Lunch (not provided)

13:30-14:30: Panel 3, The Defence of the Realm. Alex Donnelly (Changing Character of War Programme, Oxford University), Sophy Gardner (RAF, Exeter University), Michael Pryce (Centre for Defence Acquisition, Cranfield University), Chris Williams (Open University). Facilitator: Rosemary Preston (Oxford Fabians).

14:45-15:45: Discussion, Does Socialism Need Patriotism? Facilitated by the Young Fabians.

15:45-16:45: Panel 4, The Local Elections, May 2018. Shaista Aziz (2018 Labour candidate, Rose Hill), Steven Curran (Labour councillor, Iffley Fields), Alex Donnelly (Labour candidate, Hinksey Park 2018), Bob Price (Labour councillor, Hinksey Park), Martyn Rush (Labour candidate, Barton and Sandhills 2018), Christine Simm (Labour councillor, Cowley and Deputy Lord Mayor). Facilitator: Elsa Dawson (Oxford Fabians).

16:45-17:00: Closing remarks, Oxford: Local Politics, Big Picture, 1980-2050. Bob Price (Leader of Oxford City Council, Leader of the Labour Group, and Labour Councillor, Hinksey Park).

We, the Oxford University Swiss Society, are delighted to host Mr Ambassador Alexandre
Fasel, who is the new Swiss Ambassador in the UK since September 2017.

He will give a talk on Monday, January 15th, at 6pm in the Oakeshott
room in Lincoln college. This will be followed by drinks in the adjacent
Langford room, where it is possible to interact with him and ask
him questions.

Registration is not required – everyone is welcome.

The OSS team,
Anita, Camille, Claudia, Fabian, Jasmin, Lisa, Matthias, Philippe, Seb,
Tiziana, Vincent