Deconstruction as Old Testament midrash, with New Testament implications.

Valentine Cunningham is a University Lecturer (CUF) in English, Professor of English Language and Literature and Vice-President of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. He has previously served as Dean of Corpus as well as Chair of the Oxford English Faculty, and was made a titular Professor of English Language and Literature in 1996. He works widely across literary-historical-cultural periods, areas and genres, as well as in literary theory. Originally and still a Victorianist, he has edited the Blackwells Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetics, Adam Bede (Oxford World Classics) and Reading Victorian Poetry Now (forthcoming, 2011). He maintains a strong interest in fiction, especially more recent fiction including Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Iris Murdoch. A main research interest has been and remains the literature of the 1930s, not least the writing of the Spanish Civil War. In more recent times, he has published extensively on musico-literary topics, on Theology- and Bible-and-Literature, as well as in literary theory.

Upstairs, in the function room, at the Mitre. 7:30pm with drinks and nibbles served from 7pm.

Please share the event with anyone who might be interested.

Professor of Caribbean Literature and Culture at Goldsmiths University, Joan Anim-Addo brings us her voice on Black Women’s Writing and the place of the Black figure in the Humanities. This event will be hosted in connection with Oxford ACS.

Subtitle: Forced displacement, coercion and foreign policy

Seminar by Professor Kelly M. Greenhill (Tufts University)

Part of the Refugee Studies Centre Trinity term Public Seminar Series

Writer of autobiography, poetry, fiction and journalism and Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths University Blake Morrison brings some of his latest work and interesting discussion to St. Anne’s.

Dr Simon Underdown (Oxford Brookes University) will explore how we made the journey from small-brained African apes to the dominant animal on the planet, answering questions such as ‘why are humans so smart?’, ‘why is there only one species of human?’, and ‘why are we the only animal with language and art?’.
As part of the Oxford Brookes University Festival, Outburst, at Pegasus, 6-10 May 2014. #OutBurst2014

Professor Roger Griffin (Oxford Brookes University), author of ‘Terrorist’s Creed’, will draw upon actual examples of terrorist attacks and a number of films in this talk to help explain why ‘ordinary’ individuals carry out violent attacks, and what possibilities might exist for deradicalization (for years 14+).
As part of the Oxford Brookes University Festival, Outburst, at Pegasus, 6-10 May 2014. #OutBurst2014

Alumni Lecture 2014.
In the Department of Social Policy and Intervention’s Centenary year, Jacqueline Bhabha, Harvard, will deliver the Alumni Lecture, followed by a drinks reception. Make a booking by sending an email to events@spi.ox.ac.uk

Novelist Ali Smith, author of Artful, Hotel World, and The Accidental, returns to St. Anne’s after holding the Weidenfeld Visiting Professorship in European Comparative Literature in 2012.

The spiritual and second-order sense of scripture, according to which, for example, the crossing of the Red Sea denotes Baptism, and Jacob’s ladder denotes the cross, presents at least two epistemological challenges. First, the history of interpretation suggests that some kind of collective judgment has been made between acceptable and unacceptable interpretations, but the rules for making these judgments are unclear. Second, for a variety of reasons, spiritual interpretations of specific persons, objects or events in scripture cannot add to theological knowledge through argumentation. A further challenge, that the spiritual sense depends on belief in providential special divine action (SDA), ought not to exclude the study of this interpretation according to its own principles but may have contributed to a comparative neglect of this topic. Despite its historical popularity and influence, recent academic work on the spiritual sense has therefore been limited.

In this seminar, I examine the spiritual sense in the light of recent work in neuroscience. I argue that although particular spiritual interpretations are dependent on a body of pre-existing theological propositions, and cannot add to these propositions directly, this does not mean that these interpretations lack cognitive value. On the contrary, the spiritual sense is the fruit of a kind of insight most commonly associated with the right hemisphere of the brain, associating embodied experiences with otherwise abstract theological statements and integrating such statements within shared narratives. I further examine work on partial brain dysfunction to underline the risks involved from a neglect of the spiritual sense, and consider practical implications for religious life.

Dr Pinsent is Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, a member of the Theology and Religion Faculty at Oxford University and a research fellow of Harris Manchester College. He was formerly a physicist at CERN, has degrees in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a second doctorate, in philosophy, from St Louis University. He is the author of The Second-Person Perspective in Aquinas’s Ethics: Virtues and Gifts, and a wide range of other publications on virtue ethics, neurotheology, science and religion, the philosophy of the person, divine action, and the nature of evil.

THIS SEMINAR WILL BE HELD AT THE SUTRO ROOM, TRINITY COLLEGE AT 8:30PM, PRECEDED BY DRINKS AT 8:15PM.

speakers:
William Kelly, Artist and Humanist

Dr. Rama Mani, Senior Research Associate at the Centre for International Studies at the University of Oxford and Councillor of the World Future Council

Between the artist and the museum

Friday 9 May 2014, 5-6.30pm (doors will open at 4.45pm)

Ashmolean Museum Headley Lecture Theatre

A symposium with Michael Govan (Humanitas Visiting Professor in Museums, Galleries & Libraries at Oxford University) and Vik Muniz (Artist). Chaired by Paul Hobson (Director, Modern Art Oxford).

Free admission but booking is essential.
http://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/humanitas/museums-galleries-libraries

The inaugural Oxford Education Conference is taking place in Pembroke College, Oxford on the 10th May 2014. Specialists from all over the UK will be gathering to discuss educational inequality – one of the most significant issues of today’s society. Supported by OUSU and the Oxford Hub, the Oxford Education Conference has been organised by a student committee and will bring issues of gender, BME, socio-economic background, and further education to the foreground.

We will be hearing from former Minister of Education Andrew Adonis, Teach First/BBC Tough Young Teacher’s Charles Wallendahl, and countless experts from government, social investment groups, and academics. The Oxford Education Conference will offer delegates the opportunity to hear from pioneering experts in Education and will hope to offer some possible solutions to the issues we face today.

For more information (and to purchase your ticket), check out www.oxeduconf.com, www.facebook.com/oxeduconf, www.twitter.com/oxeduconf and join the conversation with the handle #oxeduconf14

India: A Short History
With Andrew Robinson, author

Saturday 10 May, 2-3pm, Headley Lecture Theatre

India is the world’s largest democracy and a fast-growing economy. It is also a civilization with roots more than four thousand years old, including the technically advanced cities of the Indus Valley, the Buddha, Hindu dynasties, the Mughal Empire, and the British Raj. This lecture looks at individuals, ideas, and cultures, as well as the rise and fall of kingdoms, political parties, and economies.

Tickets £5/£4
http://www.ashmolean.org/events/Lectures/?id=132

Led by David Aldridge, an academic philosopher, educationalist and experienced role-playing enthusiast, this evening is intended for curious or experienced gamers alike to sample Dungeons and Dragons, celebrating collaborative storytelling and raising serious questions about ethics, metaphysics, and our own potential as human beings (ages 16+).
Part of the Oxford Brookes University festival, Outburst, at Pegasus, 6-10 may 2014. #OutBurst2014

The following three papers will be presented around the theme of dreams and sleep, and their different interpretations across cross disciplinary research studies:

ANKE EHLERS: ‘Haunted by Trauma: Flashbacks and Nightmares in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder’

TIM VINEY: ‘Activity Patterns of Identified GABA-releasing Neurons in the Rodent Hippocampus During Movement and Sleep’

DELPHINE FAYARD: ‘Sylphic Dreams in Eighteenth-Century French Literature’

This seminar series provides an opportunity to network with other members of the University, and to hear how other researchers plan, conduct and complete their research projects. We meet each term on Mondays of 3rd Week at 5.30pm to hear very brief presentations by a graduate student, a research fellow and a senior fellow at Wolfson, and continue with lively discussion over wine, followed by dinner in hall.

In this lecture series, Naomi Richman explores the evolution of the ideas central to major global belief-systems such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Marxism, and their status in the modern world from a social-scientific and secular perspective.

6 Lectures run on Mondays starting the 12th May.
6-7pm, Roy Griffiths Room. ARCO Building, Keble College.
Free, open to all, and followed by discussion.

Weeks 1 and 2: Christianity and Secularisation. Week 3: Buddhism. Week 4: Judaism. Week 5: Islam. Week 6: Marxism, Nationalism and Scientific Humanism

For more information, contact Dr Bea Prentiss,

How Should We Read the ‘Signs of the Times’?: Secular vs. Sacred; Spiritual vs. Religious; Fundamentalism vs Pluralism, etc.

Martyn Percy is Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon and the Oxford Ministry Course. He is also Professor of Theological Education at King’s College London, and Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College London. An Honorary Canon of Salisbury Cathedral, he has served as curate at St. Andrew’s, Bedford, and Chaplain and Director of Studies at Christ’s College, Cambridge before being appointed as Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute 1997. He was a Canon of Sheffield from 1997-2004, and Canon Theologian of Sheffield from 2004-10. He moved to Oxford in 2004 to take up his current position at Cuddesdon.

Martyn has served as a Director and Council member of the Advertising Standards Authority, and as a Commissioner of the Direct Marketing Authority. He is currently a member of the Independent Complaints Panel for the Portman Group (the self-regulating body for the alcoholic drinks industry), a member of the BBC Standing Committee on Religion and Beliefs, as well as an Advisor to the British Board of Film Classification. Since 2003 he has co-ordinated the Society for the Study of Anglicanism at the American Academy of Religion. Prior to ordination, Martyn worked in publishing. He is also the Patron of St. Francis’ Children’s Society – an Adoption and Fostering Agency.

Upstairs, in the function room, at the Mitre. 7:30pm with drinks and nibbles served from 7pm.

A view from the Pacific: re-envisioning the art museum

Tuesday 13 May 2014, 5-6.30pm (doors will open at 4.45pm)

Ashmolean Museum Headley Lecture Theatre

A lecture by Michael Govan (Humanitas Visiting Professor in Museums, Galleries & Libraries at Oxford University). Chaired by Professor Christopher Brown (Director, Ashmolean Museum). The event will be followed by a drinks reception to which members of the audience are warmly invited.

Free admission but booking is essential.
http://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/humanitas/museums-galleries-libraries

Speaker:
Professor James Sweeney, Professor of International Law, University of Lancaster

Tour: Joseph Beuys & Jörg Immendorff
With Colin Harrison, Senior Curator of European Art

3–3.45pm on Wednesday 14 May and Wednesday 11 June

Tours are free, no booking is required. Please meet in Gallery 2.

http://www.ashmolean.org/exhibitions/details/?exh=92

Solidarity & responsibility-sharing for refugee protection in the EU’s Common European Asylum System

Speaker: Madeline Garlick (Radboud University)

Part of the Refugee Studies Centre Trinity term Public Seminar Series

Join us for a lunchtime talk by Geoff Kistruck – Associate Professor and Ron Binns Chair in Entrepreneurship at Schulich School of Business, York University. Geoff’s primary research interests involve social entrepreneurship and innovation, principally within the context of poverty alleviation efforts in base-of-the-pyramid markets.

His talk will focus on Base-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) markets and how they present significant governance challenges when undertaking large-scale investments. In the absence of strong legal institutions, organizations must design creative solutions for ensuring that local partners adhere to their agreements. Drawing upon social interdependence theory, his talk will propose that the use of alternative goal structures will serve to motivate local partners to fulfil their commitments.

Short talk followed by questions and discussion. All welcome.

Magic Museums at Night

Special Ashmolean Late Night Opening
Friday 16 May
7–10pm

FREE ENTRY

For 2014’s Museums At Night event, the Ashmolean is putting on an evening of magic. Curators will be presenting the magical and mystical objects of the collection while visitors are invited for magic shows and workshops, tarot reading, stargazing, flamenco dance and more.

https://www.facebook.com/events/448472011951907/

How does the brain work?
And how can we switch on and off specific neurons?
Join us for a Pint of Science with top academics from Oxford University.

Speaker: Dr Maha Shuayb (Centre for Lebanese Studies)

Description:

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, more than 3 million refugees have fled to the neighboring countries Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. According to the last regional response plan, it is estimated that the number of Syrian refugees in need of assistance across the region reached 3.45 million by the end of 2013. In Lebanon, the number of Syrian refugees has soared to over a million, 630,000 of them are between the ages of 3–18 years.

Syrian refugee children face a number of barriers in trying to access the educational system in Lebanon. The language of instruction poses difficulties for Syrians in coping with host country curricula: the Syrian national curriculum is solely in Arabic, whereas the Lebanese system includes English and French both as subjects and as languages of instruction for maths and science. The impact of all of these conditions on students’ education retention and opportunities to continue higher education is yet to be seen.

This talk will focus on access and quality of education offered to Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. The initial findings of the ongoing study of public, private and UNRWA schools that have Syrian students have highlighted numerous challenges facing Syrian children including discrimination, violence, acculturation and lack of support in the classroom. With the increase of the scale of the crisis, and hostilities toward the Syrian refugees, the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education has already started to adopt an exclusory approach to the education of the refugees by banning new Syrian children from registering in public schools, whilst putting pressure on UN agencies to sponsor afternoon school shifts for Syrian students only.

About the speaker:

Maha Shuayb is the director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies (CLS). She is also a visiting fellow at the Faculty of Education at the University of Oxford and the president of the Lebanese Association for History. Maha joined CLS in 2008 as a senior research fellow at St Antony’s. In 2012, Maha became the director of the Centre.

Maha has a BSc in Sociology from the Lebanese University and a PhD degree in Education from the University of Cambridge. She was a visiting scholar at various universities including University of Cambridge and the American University of Beirut.

Maha’s research focuses on the sociology and politics of education. Her research area include education and social cohesion, refugee education, citizenship education and history education. Her most recent publications are: Rethinking Education for Social Cohesion: International Case Studies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and ‘The art of inclusive exclusions educating Palestinian refugee students in Lebanon’ (Refugee Survey Quarterly, forthcoming).

You ever wanted to understand more about climate change? Is it real? what are the consequences?
Come join us for an expert panel from Oxford University who will shed some light on this highly debated subject

When is a volcano going to erupt and how do you measure that?
What is Magma and how can we start studying it?

These questions and more will be explained by top academics from Oxford University.
More details on our website.

Dr Stephen Tuck is University Lecturer in American History and Director of the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH). He also co-leads an interdiscipilnary network “Race and Resistance across borders in the long twentieth century,” based at TORCH. He is currently working on three projects: African American religion during the Jim Crow era, links between the British and American struggles for racial equality, and the influence of national location on the writing of American history. His most recent book is We Ain’t What We Ought To Be: The Black Freedom Struggle from Emancipation to Obama (www.weaintwhatweoughttobe.com). His forthcoming books include (with Nicolas Barrerye, Michael Heale and Cecile Vidal) You the People: writing American history abroad (California, 2014), and (with Robin Kelley) The other special relationship: race and rights in Britain and America (Palgrave, 2014). His current project, nearing completion, is a short book of Malcolm X’s visit to Oxford in 1964. My main book project is a study of the effect of white supremacy on religious faith. He is a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and a visiting fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard.

Upstairs, in the function room, at the Mitre. 7:30pm with drinks and nibbles served from 7pm.