This is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and the Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests

One of our biggest technological innovations is that of time keeping. From the atomic to the astronomical scales, our technology has enabled us to precisely measure time. Our timekeeping uses clocks that all tick along the same time scale – a time scale that is also relative to how we perceive the passage of time.

For biology, the passage of time, however, is not only different but reveals deep truths about life. Across the diversity of life, the passage of time from bacteria to humans to giant Redwood trees is perceived differently. Instead of a constant ticking of a clock – the pace of life is reflected in scaling laws that characterise the variation in the cycles of heartbeats, metabolism, growth and reproduction.

In this lecture Professor Brian J. Enquist, Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow, will introduce a second concept of time – physiological time. Physiological time enables us to better understand why we age, the emergence of disease and cancer, the functioning of ecosystems, and the diversity of life. Physiological time is one of the most significant characteristics of life and helps unite the study of biology. A deeper question is what ultimately sets the pace of life.

As will be discussed, the search for a universal biological clock that unites life’s cycles is the most intriguing Holy Grail of biology.

This event will be followed by a drinks reception, all welcome

For Dr Kanade, good research derives from solving real-world problems and delivering useful results to society. As a roboticist, he participated in developing a wide range of computer-vision systems and autonomous robots, including human-face recognition, autonomously-driven cars, computer-assisted surgical robots, robot helicopters, biological live cell tracking through a microscope, and EyeVision, a system used for sports broadcast. Dr Kanade will share insights into his projects and discuss how his “Think like an amateur, do as an expert” maxim interacts with problems and people.

Dr Takeo Kanade is the 2016 Kyoto Prize Laureate for Advanced Technology.

Recent research purports that climate change is creating conflict, and leads to unchecked migration. But three distinct flaws characterise such research efforts; they often ask the wrong questions, present poor evidence, and remove references to other, more likely factors that cause conflict. It often gets translated into a perception that poor people act violently for ‘natural’ reasons, or are spurred by physical hazards. We all know that high climate vulnerability and conflict co-occur in the same general regions, but we know far less about what does shape the power and competition dynamics at the local level. Basically, who are the winners and losers of environmental change?

The reality from local research is that far more cooperation is occurring at the local level to mitigate and adapt to environmental challenges; and that a tremendous amount of development money is being directed towards adaptation and risk management. This changes the local calculus for violence. As a result, conflict, when and where it does occur, is often between the ‘winners’ from climate change, development and transitions to democracy.

A number of developments such as the Arab Spring and on-going famines in Somalia and South Sudan have led to renewed interest among both scholars and policymakers in the role of food insecurity and food-price related grievances as catalysts of conflict. In this lecture Prof Gunnar Sørbø, Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), will address such linkages, using case material mainly from Sudan and Somalia, with a particular focus on food insecurity as a risk multiplier and the implications for choice of interventions.

Competition over resources and territory is not just a feature of modern or historical times, but a recurrent theme in the natural world, and a phenomenon that reaches far back in human evolutionary history. While modern conflict has many unique qualities, common patterns across species and time suggest important fundamental insights about human nature and social organisation that may help to address modern problems, especially those which are hard to resolve.

Oil suppliers have more unsellable than unburnable oil: they are more at risk from competition than from climate regulation. Electricity suppliers too, face a swarm of disruptors that will transform their business beyond recognition. As these two vast industries merge and as insurgents in both challenge incumbents, almost everything we thought we knew about energy is ripe for rapid and profound change. In this lecture, physicist and innovator Amory Lovins will consider the changing face of the energy market.

Talk followed by questions and discussion

All welcome

Oxford Communist Corresponding Society

The two-day event, sponsored by Freeths, will feature a range of keynote speakers – including design and sustainable transport expert, Lynn Sloman; and cycling tsar and former cycling commissioner for London, Andrew Gilligan – but the emphasis of the event will be on discussion and debate across a wide range of workshops throughout the conference programme. Workshop subjects include: inclusive cycling, funding, changing travel behaviour, workplace cycling initiatives, Bikeability, effective campaigning, the role of social media, the application of cycling research, and the role of cargo bikes and e-bikes in urban environments.

Katharine Hayhoe has been named one of FORTUNE’s ‘World’s Greatest Leaders’, TIME’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ and Huffington Post’s ‘20 Climate Champions’, and has shared the stage with Barack Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio to talk about climate change.

She is a climate scientist and a Christian based in Texas and has pioneered a way of talking about climate change that truly engages people as human beings and reaches even the most resistant of audiences.

Katharine’s approach is patient and compassionate and modeled after conversations she had with her husband, a linguistics professor and pastor who once himself had doubts about climate change. She is a brilliant communicator who spends her time talking with all sorts of people, from oil field engineers to Christian college students. She believes that “each of us, exactly as we are, with the values we already have, has every reason we need to care about climate change.”

She will be coming to Oxford on Wednesday 15th November 2017 as a guest of Climate Outreach, in partnership with The University Church of St Mary. At this not-to-be-missed event, Katharine will be in conversation with Climate Outreach’s founder George Marshall about how we can use community values to get people on board with climate change, why social science is more effective than statistics, graphs and facts in engaging people, and why we all need to get talking, and keep talking, about climate change.

The event will take place at The University Church of St Mary in Oxford on 15 November. Doors will open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start, and the event will be followed by a drinks reception.

Tickets cost £3 but students can attend for free upon showing a valid student ID on the night, but please register your place online to reserve a space.
This event is wheelchair accessible.

This is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and the Oxford Climate Research Network

The impacts of climate change are already evident both in the UK and worldwide, through changes in extreme weather, diminishing snow and ice and rising sea levels. The Paris Agreement in December 2015 marked a turning point in climate negotiations with 195 governments agreeing to take global action to tackle climate change.

As a result, the focus of climate science research at the Met Office has changed to reflect these changing drivers: moving from proving that climate change is happening to understanding the nature of the change. Robust, impartial and targeted climate science is needed to manage the risks of climate change, including developing strategies for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for the changes to our climate which are unavoidable.

The end of the twentieth century was marked by optimism for the stability and effectiveness of the constitutional systems of the nations in Latin America. The authoritarian regimes of the 1970s and 80s had been replaced by constitutions based on well-functioning institutions, respect for individual and social rights, compliance with the rule of law, and a general commitment to the principles of advanced constitutionalism.

Over the last decade, however, matters have taken a very different turn for the worse. The resurgence of political conflict, the growth in violence, widespread disaffection and discontent, authoritarian discourses, and a deep economic crisis have all contributed to the undermining of the established constitutional orders in many of the continent’s nations.

Constitutional texts are being redrafted to serve short-term political objectives; respect for rights has declined; and the institutions of government, particularly the executive and the judiciary, compete for power.

The aim of this workshop is to examine these issues, to assess their causes, and to chart the consequences for the constitutional systems concerned. The participants are drawn from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including law, sociology, political science, and economics. The workshop will focus on a series of case studies of several key countries: Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela.

The workshop forms part of a wider enquiry into the success and failure of constitutions. Why do some succeed; why do others fail?

CARU | Arts re Search Annual Conference 2017

“What does it mean to research art / to research through art?”

CARU brings together artists and researchers for yet another day of cross-disciplinary exploration into arts research! The event will consist of an exciting mixture of talks and performances from a variety of creative and academic disciplines, including Fine Art, Live Art, Social Practice, Art History, Anthropology, Education, Science and Technology, to question and debate various areas of arts research, such as themes, material/form, documentation and practice methodology.

Keynote talk: ‘Resonances and Discords’
Speaker: Prof. Kerstin Mey
PVC and Dean, Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster
“The presentation will explore research in art at the interface to other epistemological systems and approaches. Drawing on case studies, it will explore key strategies and tactical manoeuvres of knowledge making in order to explore the hermeneutics of practice led inquiry in the space of art.”

Presentations include:

“The artist in the boardroom: Action research within decision-making spaces”

“Exploring the Art space as fluid cultural site through the immediacy of the performance and its inherent collaborative ethos”

“Chapter 1 (draft): Using text in performance: a range of strategies”

“Memory and identity within Bosnia’s Mass Graves”

“Fermenting conversations”

“Arcade Interface Art Research”

“Making sounds happen is more important than careful listening (with cups)”

“Shadow:Other:myself / photographic research from 2010”

“Un-knowing unknowing in painting as research”

“Developing an artistic epistemology”

Register at: www.ars2017.eventbrite.co.uk

Driverless cars are hitting the road, powered by artificial intelligence; robots can climb stairs, open doors, win Jeopardy, analyse stocks, work in factories, find parking spaces and advise oncologists. In the past, automation was considered a threat to low-skilled labour. Now, many high-skilled functions, including interpreting medical images, doing legal research, and analysing data, are within the skill sets of machines. How can higher education prepare students for their professional lives when professions themselves are disappearing?

Join Northeastern University’s President Joseph Aoun in conversation as he discusses new ways to educate the next generation of university students to invent, to create, and to discover – to fill needs in society that even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence agent cannot.

There will be a drinks reception and book signing following the talk, all welcome

It seems like everywhere we look computers are running more and more of the world around us. In healthcare, we have seen an astounding level of hype surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in image recognition, personalised treatment, form filling in and diagnostic technologies. What are the potential applications for AI in health and life sciences, but also the barriers to its adoption and practical implementation?

Further information and registration: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/2521

The global food system is facing momentous global changes: rapid urbanisation and rising middle income populations; changing diets; climate change; political uncertainties and anti-globalisation sentiments; and advances in technology in and out of agriculture, among other large-scale trends. At the same time, multiple burdens of malnutrition persist, with 815 million people suffering from hunger, 2 billion living with micronutrient deficiencies, 155 million children under five stunted, and 1.9 billion people overweight or obese. For food systems to help achieve the end of hunger and malnutrition while addressing other social, economic, and environmental goals, innovation will be key.

Dr Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), will discuss the role of innovations in policy, institutions, and technology to reshape food systems to achieve multiple development goals in the context of rapid global change.

The World Health Organization identifies antibiotic resistance as a global challenge so serious that it threatens the fundamental achievement of modern medicine. Looking at human use and the use of antibiotics in meat production – what can we do to stimulate research into new antibiotics and to regulate the current use of antibiotics? How does collective responsibility and its ethical implications play its part?

Part of the Hilary Term Lecture Series Health:fresh perspectives”

For further information and registration: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/2524

The Oxford Israel Forum, Oxford PPE Society and Oxford International Relations Society are delighted to host Dan Meridor, former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. Mr Meridor will be discussing the current political situation in Israel and the wider Middle East, including the peace process, recent developments in diplomacy and the future of the region.

Dan Meridor has served the Israeli Government in various distinguished positions, including as Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy and as Deputy Prime Minister. In power during the Obama administration and a collapsed peace process attempt under Kerry, Meridor has been at the centre of the Israeli Government through pivotal times. He is now the President of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A and drinks reception. All three are free to attend, simply click ‘going’ on our Facebook event to register: https://www.facebook.com/events/143239079681080/

This event is kindly facilitated by the Pinsker Centre.

Predicting the shape of our future populations is vital for installing the infrastructure, welfare, and provisions necessary for society to survive. There are many opportunities and challenges that will come with the changes in our populations over the 21st century. We must plan for the following challenges, the impact of climate change and urbanisation, and the difficulty of feeding 10 billion people, and consider ways in which we can prepare for, and mitigate against, these challenges.

Professor Sarah Harper, Director of the Oxford Institute for Population Ageing, will explain how population change will transform the world and looks at what we can do to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

Part of the Hilary Term Lecture Series “Health: fresh perspectives”

For further information and registration: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/2525

Human health is better now than at any time in history. Thanks to advancements in technology, industry, agriculture and public health, we are living longer and more prosperous lives than ever before. But since the start of the Anthropocene period – the geological epoch marked by humankind’s impact on the planet – unprecedented environmental challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, are threatening our health and the health of our planet. Are we at risk of losing the significant gains we have made in planetary health over the years?

Part of the Hilary Term Lecture Series “Health:fresh perspectives”

For further information and registration: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/2526

Think Human Festival is proud to host this panel on Writing Working-Class Fiction.
Kerry Hudson, Kit de Waal and Alex Wheatle are celebrated contemporary British novelists who have all written working-class experience into their fiction. At this event, the novelists are hosted by writer and critic Boyd Tonkin.

They will read from their work, and then discuss the problems they have encountered in being working-class writers, the creative responses they have formulated in their writing of working-class experience, and the wider issues of publishing and literary culture in relation to working-class writing and authorship. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes has a rich tradition of research into working-class life and culture, across literature, history and the social sciences.

This is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and the Oxford Climate Research Network

Managing the risk to coastal populations, infrastructure, and ecosystems resulting from sea level rise presents unique and daunting challenges. Sea level rise lags behind global warming due to inertia in the ocean-ice system; likewise, the response of sea level to stabilisation of the climate will lag behind the temperature response, making emissions reduction policy relatively ineffective through midcentury in reducing the rate of rise. Consequently, anticipatory adaptive responses are the key to lowering risk in the near term. On a century scale or longer, emissions mitigation can substantially reduce risk but century-scale projections of sea level rise are deeply uncertain due to a lack of knowledge and expert disagreement about the future contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet. On the latter timescale, effective responses would include a mixture of hard protection such as surge barriers and sea walls, flexible measures such as enhancement of natural defences and buildings that can withstand episodic flooding, and permanent, managed withdrawal of populations from many areas.

However, inertia in the policy system arising from perverse incentives, short-term perspectives, and behavioural biases, exacerbated by scientific uncertainty, virtually guarantee a response to this threat which will be far below the optimum. In many countries, including wealthy ones, a large gap between adaptation capacity and implementation is already apparent, putting lives and property continually under threat from temporary flooding and eventually, permanent inundation. Professor Michael Oppenheimer’s, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University, talk will elucidate the increase in coastal hazard accompanying sea level rise to date, the rapid increase in the threat projected for the future, and means to overcome, at least partially, the dual problem of physical and policy inertia.

This talk will be followed by a drinks reception, all welcome.

This talk draws on findings from applying novel empirical approaches to understanding climate change and its impacts in the past, present, and future. The talk will highlight the impact major ‘natural’ changes in global climate have had on the five largest mass extinctions over the last 500 million years, and will explain modelling of recent CO2 emissions and concentrations which confirm the impact of human activity, with a focus on UK CO2 emissions over the period 1860 – 2016. The role of major policy interventions which have reduced the UK’s per capita annual emissions below any level since 1860 when the UK was the ‘workshop of the world’ will be investigated.

Professor Sir David Hendry, INET Oxford and Climate Econometrics, will illustrate how to investigate the costs of ‘mis-forecasting’ extreme climate events by studying the economic impacts of inaccuracies in hurricane forecasts and will discuss empirical evidence on local climate impacts of emissions and what influences climate-change scepticism. Future climate is illustrated by projecting the impacts of 1.5°C versus 2°C on temperature and sea-level rise.

This talk will be followed by a drinks reception, all welcome.

The Oxford Guild and its Collegium Global Network in association with the Oxford PPE Society is delighted to welcome a very special guest – Tawakkol Karman, one of the most famous and most decorated Nobel Peace Prize Winners of all time (https://www.facebook.com/events/108829703317881/). 100% FREE AND OPEN TO ALL INCLUDING NON STUDENTS – Mrs Karman is keen to speak to members of the public as well! Mrs Karman will be speaking in a specially organised event at 6.30pm on Monday 7th May in prestigious and comfortable Bernard Sunley Lecture Theatre in St Catherine’s College. She will be discussing ‘Terrorism – The Problems & Solutions’, sharing her insights into how to tackle this global issue in 2018 and beyond and her experiences of the Arab Spring, the Yemeni Civil War and the political landscape in the Middle East. THIS IS A TRULY UNIQUE AND UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM SUCH A HIGH PROFILE SPEAKER. THE EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO EVERYONE – this will undoubtedly be one of the biggest and most fascinating events of the year – do not miss out on your seat! SIGN UP FOR THE BALLOT HERE TO SECURE YOUR PLACE: https://tinyurl.com/TawakkolKarmanOxford You may ballot for up to two seats. Names will be chosen at random from the ballot and we have several daily releases before Monday 7th May – you will only be notified by email if you have been successful in the ballot.

The will be an opportunity for questions and if you would like to ballot for the chance to meet Mrs Karman and speak to her directly in a private reception please email president@theoxfordguild.com ASAP. THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST NOBEL PRIZES WINNERS AND MINDS AND WE HAVE SPENT A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME AND EFFORT SECURING MRS KARMAN AS A KEYNOTE GUEST.

Mrs Karman is a globally renowned Yemeni human rights activist, journalist and politician. She became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that constituted part of the Arab Spring, and has been dubbed ‘Mother of the Revolution’, ‘Lady of the Arab Spring’ and ‘Iron Woman’. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 in recognition of her achievements in the non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work in Yemen. She became the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, as well as the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate at the time, at the age of 32 (she is now second youngest). She has been recognised by TIME Magazine as the Most Rebellions Woman in History, and been selected by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers for many years.

A mother of three, Mrs Karman is the President and Founder of the NGO Women Journalists without Chains (WJWC), Founder of the Peaceful Youth Revolution Council and a board member of Nobel Women Initiative. Bold and outspoken, she has been imprisoned on numerous occasions for her pro-democracy and pro-human rights protests. She has vowed with other Laureates and global leaders to end child slavery. She has been widely recognised by many other awards and accolades around the world including the Courage Award granted by the US Embassy in Sana’a in 2008, the Galileo Galilei Award in Florence, Italy and was a Winner of the Freedom Award granted by the US National Civil Rights Museum. Inspired by non-violent leaders Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi, Mrs Karman is one of the pioneers promoting peaceful protest in the Middle East as a means for change.

WHEN: 6.30pm, Monday 7th May 2018
WHERE: Bernard Sunley Lecture Theatre, St Catherine’s College
SIGN UP FOR THE BALLOT TO SECURE YOUR PLACE: https://tinyurl.com/TawakkolKarmanOxford
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/108829703317881/

We highly recommend you all attend this historic and invaluable occasion which will be one of the most interesting, topical, high profile and exciting events of the year from our truly fascinating and inspiring guest. SIGN UP FOR THE BALLOT HERE TO SECURE YOUR PLACE: https://tinyurl.com/TawakkolKarmanOxford

Johan Eliasch, Swedish Billionaire CEO and Chairman of Head N.V (a global sporting goods group) since 1995, a global philanthropist and former special representative to the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on clean energy and deforestation, will be speaking to the Oxford Guild and Oxford PPE Society on Thursday 10th May (3rd week) from 4.30pm in the comfortable surroundings of Exeter College’s Saskatchewan Lecture Theatre (https://www.facebook.com/events/2074612062774409/). The will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting, fascinating and topical events of the year and a truly unique opportunity to hear from such a high profile speaker who will be sharing his vast range of experiences and insights and talking about ‘Brexit and Climate Change’. The event is 100% FREE AND OPEN TO ALL and is NOT TO BE MISSED! PLEASE REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE: https://tinyurl.com/JohanEliaschTalk

A keen advocate of environmental causes, he created the Rainforest Trust in 2005 and purchased for preservation purposes a 400,000-acre rainforest area in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Johan Eliasch co-founded Cool Earth in 2006, a charity he co-chairs, which sponsors local NGO’s to conserve endangered rainforest and has over 120,000 registered members. In 2007 he was commissioned by UK Government and Prime Minister Gordon Brown to undertake an independent review on the role of international finance mechanisms to preserve the global forests in tacking climate change, ‘The Eliasch Review’ , which was launched by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in October 2008. The Eliasch Review has served as a guideline for REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) as part of the international climate change convention.

He was a member of the Mayor of London’s (Boris Johnson) International Business Advisory Council 2008-2016 and is a member of the Mayors of Jerusalem and Rome’s International Business Advisory Councils. He is Chairman of the Boards of Equity Partners, Aman Resorts and London Films and sits on the board of the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment and Longleat. He is a non-executive director of CV Starr Underwriting Agents and Acasta Enterprises. He has been a non-executive chairman of Investcorp Europe and is an advisory board member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions, Brasilinvest, Societe du Louvre, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Capstar, Centre for Social Justice and the British Olympic Association. He is the first President of the Global Strategy Forum, a trustee of the Kew Foundation and a patron of the Stockholm University. He chaired the Food, Energy and Water security program at RUSI and has also served on the boards of IMG (2006-13) and the British Paralympics Association, the sports advisory board of Shimon Peres Peace Centre, the advisory board of the World Peace Foundation. He was non-executive chairman and a non-executive director of Starr Managing Agents 2008-2015. He served in different roles for the Conservative Party between 1999 and 2007, as Party Deputy Treasurer (2003–07), Special Advisor to the Leaders of the opposition (William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith) and shadow Foreign Secretaries (Michael Howard, Francis Maude and Michael Ancram) (1999–2006). He covered Shadow Foreign Relations (2003–2006) as part of the Shadow Foreign Office team. He was a member of the Austrian President’s delegation of State for Trade and Industry 1996-2006.

If you would like to ballot for the chance to meet Mr Eliasch and speak to him directly and take photos in a private reception please email president@theoxfordguild.com ASAP! DO NOT MISS OUT ON THE UNIQUE CHANCE TO HEAR FROM SUCH AN ACCOMPLISHED AND INFLUENTIAL GLOBAL BUSINESSMAN, PHILANTHROPIST AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST IN WHAT SHOULD BE ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING AND TOPICAL TALKS OF THE YEAR!

WHEN: 4.30pm, Thursday 10th May (3rd wk)
WHERE: Exeter College’s Saskatchewan Lecture Theatre
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE: https://tinyurl.com/JohanEliaschTalk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2074612062774409/

“3.5 million cyber-crimes recorded, true figure could be 20.5 million” – this is just one of the headlines that exemplify how significant cybercrime is today.

Cybercrime has been ruthless, victimising everyone from corporations to charities and the elderly. In this light-hearted talk, Jason examines the topic of cybercrime with a focus on how criminals target individuals and exploit how we think, reason and behave. This touches on the fields of computer science and psychology. Additionally, Jason provides some tips and tricks for how you can protect yourself and your families online.

If you’ve ever wondered about cybercrime, come along tonight – Jason guarantees that fun (honest!) will be had by all!

We are now in the Anthropocene – human activity has become a major influence on the climate and ecosystems of the earth. It has never been more important that the public are aware of the human impact on the environment, and that scientific research about the state of the earth is communicated accurately and truthfully.

Yet we are now in the Post-Truth World where objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. The question we want to address in this panel discussion is: What does the post-truth world mean for the future of our environment?

This seminar is part of the University of Oxford Environmental Research DTP’s Grand Challenge Seminar Series, and is open to all.

We will be releasing speaker announcements in the run up to the seminar.

Please join us for a drinks reception afterward to discuss the topic further and speak with the panel. Drinks will be provided.

Reserve your free ticket on Eventbrite

As part of Think Human Festival, this one-off pop-up event is a unique opportunity for visitors of all ages to interact with leading academics from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. The academics will act as ‘human books’ from a range of perspectives; historic, literary, political, legal and educational for 15 minutes per ‘book loan’ against the back drop of revolution. ‘RESIST! REMAIN!’ will provide the chance to engage with and access humanities and social science disciplines in a fun, original and inspiring way, and aims to create a lasting impression of how these subjects can help to understand what it is to be human.

Please note that this event is free, open to all ages and there is no need to book ahead. Please come to Bonn Square and start a interesting conversation around revolution!

Come and experience an installation exploring journeys from childhood to adulthood and the hopes, fears and aspirations of young adults. People from around the world – students, teachers, visitors, asylum-seekers, newly arrived or long-established – share imaginings of themselves in the past, present, and future, and explain what these transitions mean to them, using words, images, objects and artefacts. Their stories take us on journeys in time, across landscapes, cultures and languages, through memories and ideas of self.

Craft Activism: Collaborative crafting as activism, the search for justice & the creation of emotional objects’

This event explores crafting as a form of activism by setting it in its historical, social, and gendered context. Speakers will piece together the ways in which craft gives the powerless a voice to seek justice, to publicise injustice, memorialise victims, create identities, and work through different emotional states. As well as investigating craftivism through time and place, collaborative crafters and their creations will be analysed to understand their power and legacy.

Two quilts and a textile panel will be exhibited as a focus for the day’s talks.

Speakers/exhibitors include:

Dr Richard Huggins, Principal Lecturer in Criminology, sociology and politics, Oxford Brookes University

Professor Joanne Begiato, historian of emotions, material culture and gender, Oxford Brookes University

Dr Sally Holloway, historian of emotions and material culture in Britain, Oxford Brookes University

Roxanne Ellis, Labour & Cooperative Councillor, founder of The Women’s Quilt

Professor Janet Read, expert on the human rights of disabled children and adults and their families

Dr Karen Nikkell, Visual Artist and lecturer on the history and theory of textiles

Dr Bridget Long, historian of textiles, domestic needlework and patchwork in Britain

Claire Goodall, Artist and Tutor with The Workers Educational Association

Booking essential at https://www.brookes.ac.uk/think-human/whats-on/
This event is part of Think Human Festival which showcases the exciting and relevant work of Oxford Brookes University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Think Human events are designed to share teaching and research to demonstrate the value and significance of the humanities and social sciences for everyone. A full programme of free talks, debates, activities, and performances covering topics as diverse and divisive as Brexit, criminality in the internet age, protest songs, and craft-activism can be found online!

Solar energy, once a niche application for a limited market, has become the cheapest and fastest-growing power source on earth. What’s more, its potential is nearly limitless – every hour the sun beams down more energy than the world uses in a year. But Varun Sivaram, Fellow for science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations, former Oxford researcher, and author of a new book, Taming the Sun, warns that the world is not yet equipped to harness erratic sunshine to meet most of its energy needs. And if solar’s current surge peters out, prospects for replacing fossil fuels and averting catastrophic climate change will dim.

Innovation can brighten those prospects, Sivaram will argue. Financial innovation is already enticing deep-pocketed investors to fund solar projects around the world, from the sunniest deserts to the poorest villages. Technological innovation could replace today’s solar panels with coatings as cheap as paint and employ artificial photosynthesis to store intermittent sunshine as convenient fuels. And systemic innovation could add flexibility to the world’s power grids and other energy systems so they can dependably channel the sun’s unreliable energy. Unleashing all this innovation will require visionary public policy: funding researchers developing next-generation solar technologies, refashioning energy systems and economic markets, and putting together a diverse clean energy portfolio.

This talk will be followed by a drinks reception and book signing, all welcome.