https://www.facebook.com/events/495653777253176/

The Oxford Guild is very excited to welcome Larry Hirst CBE, former Chairman of IBM EMEA, to speak on Thursday 7th May. This will be an incredibly insightful talk and is not one to be missed, especially for anyone interested in technology, business, or issues of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The event will include a Q&A session open to the floor, and promises to cover a wide range of topics, as Larry discusses his high-profile and varied career. ALL ARE WELCOME!

DATE: Thursday 7th May 2015 (2nd Week)
TIME: 6:40pm
VENUE: Habakkuk Room, Jesus College
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE: http://tinyurl.com/LarryHirstIBMGuildTalk

Until his retirement from IBM in July 2010, Larry Hirst was chairman of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He represented IBM to the European Commission and other authorities such as NATO and the EDA on issues of international public policy and business regulation. During his time as Chairman, IBM EMEA revenues grew to $35bn, with a workforce of 110,000 people. Previous roles in his 33-year career included Chairman of IBM Netherlands (2002-2010), the leadership of IBM’s business in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa (2002-2008).
Larry is passionate about the issues of diversity and inclusion and is an Ambassador to the Everywoman company (https://www.everywoman.com/) and Black British Business Awards (http://www.thebbbawards.com/), as well as a supporter of groups including the Asian Business Networks Association, the European Women’s Achievement Award, the Afro Caribbean Group, Stonewall, Whitehall in Industry, Asian Business Women, and Investors in Diversity.
Larry was appointed C.B.E. in 2006, in recognition of Services to the IT industry.

This event will be particularly insightful for anyone considering a career in technology or business, and there will be a Q&A session as part of the event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Twenty minute talk, one hour discussion. Free entry, no need to book.

Oxford Internet Institute Bellwether Lecture presented by Professor Dan Burk on Copyright, Culture, and Community in Virtual Worlds

We have accumulated an increasingly rich body of data concerning online communities, particularly those that share virtual environments. The on-line interactions of such communities are uniquely mediated by the audiovisual content of the software interface, which becomes a feature of shared culture. Much of this content is subject to copyright law, which confers on the copyright owner the legal right to prevent certain unauthorized uses of the content. Such exclusive rights impose a limiting factor on the development of communities that are situated around the interface content, as the rights, privileges, and exceptions associated with copyright generally tend to disregard the cultural significance of copyrighted content. Thus, the opportunity for on-line communities to legally access and manipulate the graphical elements on which their communities are built is frought with potential legal liability. Reconsideration of current copyright law would be required in order to accommodate the cohesion of on-line communities through cultural uses of copyrighted content.

Please visit http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/events/ for more information.
Please email events@oii.ox.ac.uk to register for the event.

St Catherine’s College student Daniel Shao (2013, Music) has organised a music concert in aid of the Oxford branch of Crisis (the national charity for single homeless people). The concert will showcase a wealth of musical talent, and St Catz alumni will perform alongside current students.

St Catz alumni performing include Philip Gault (1997, Music) who is a Baritone at Scottish Opera, Catherine Groom (2004, Music) a recorder player, early harpist and mezzo-soprano, and artist and composer Tom Phillips CBE RA (1957, English).

St Catz student performers and composers include violinist Makoto Nakata (2012, Music) the winner of the 2013 Oxford Philomusica Concerto Competition, flautist Daniel Shao (2013, Music) a 2014 BBC Young Musician of the year Wind Finalist, composer and pianist Joshua Hagley (2013, Music) the winner of the Royal Opera House Fanfare Competition, Tomos Nicholls (2012, Music) a former National Youth Orchestra GB Composer, and James Orrell (2014, Music) the current New Chamber Opera/Catz Répétiteur Scholar.

Tickets £5/10 available on the door or online.

New College Chapel presents Paradise Lost: a staged reading of Milton’s epic poem in 3 parts, directed by Professor Elisabeth Dutton (Fribourg), featuring new settings of Milton’s hymns by the Organist, Robert Quinney, and anthems by Byrd, Weelkes and Purcell. There will be a pre-performance talk by Dr Will Poole on Friday 22nd May, 7.15, in the Conduit Room.

Wed 20 May: Books 1-4, The Parliament in Hell
Thurs 21 May: Books 5-8, The War in Heaven
Fri 22 May: Books 9-12, The Fall
Each part can be viewed individually.

Tickets on the door: £10/£5 students; £25/10 for all 3 nights. All proceeds will go to Sight Savers, who work to treat and prevent blindness in the developing world.

New College Chapel presents Paradise Lost: a staged reading of Milton’s epic poem in 3 parts, directed by Professor Elisabeth Dutton (Fribourg), featuring new settings of Milton’s hymns by the Organist, Robert Quinney, and anthems by Byrd, Weelkes and Purcell. There will be a pre-performance talk by Dr Will Poole on Friday 22nd May, 7.15, in the Conduit Room.

Wed 20 May: Books 1-4, The Parliament in Hell
Thurs 21 May: Books 5-8, The War in Heaven
Fri 22 May: Books 9-12, The Fall
Each part can be viewed individually.

Tickets on the door: £10/£5 students; £25/10 for all 3 nights. All proceeds will go to Sight Savers, who work to treat and prevent blindness in the developing world.

New College Chapel presents Paradise Lost: a staged reading of Milton’s epic poem in 3 parts, directed by Professor Elisabeth Dutton (Fribourg), featuring new settings of Milton’s hymns by the Organist, Robert Quinney, and anthems by Byrd, Weelkes and Purcell. There will be a pre-performance talk by Dr Will Poole on Friday 22nd May, 7.15, in the Conduit Room.

Wed 20 May: Books 1-4, The Parliament in Hell
Thurs 21 May: Books 5-8, The War in Heaven
Fri 22 May: Books 9-12, The Fall
Each part can be viewed individually.

Tickets on the door: £10/£5 students; £25/10 for all 3 nights. All proceeds will go to Sight Savers, who work to treat and prevent blindness in the developing world.

This book talk is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict

This book talk will see author Chris Woods discuss his new book Sudden Justice: America’s Secret Drone Wars, an exposé of the little-understood yet extremely significant world of drone warfare. His work is based on insights from many of those intimately involved – the pilots and analysts, US and UK intelligence officials, Special Forces and Pentagon commanders.

Chris Woods is an award-wining investigative journalist who specialises in conflict and national security issues. During almost a decade at the BBC, he was a senior producer for both Panorama and Newsnight.

The event will be introduced by Dr Alex Leveringhaus, a James Martin Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict and lead author of the recent Oxford Martin Policy Paper Robo-Wars: The Regulation of Robotic Weapons.

The book talk will be followed by a book signing, all welcome

This book talk will be live webcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdE9AJrZ_Fk

C.S. Lewis is best-known for his Narnia Chronicles and works of Christian apologetics such as Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain, but he was professionally a literary critic and literary historian with carefully thought out ideas about the imagination and its function. Dr Michael Ward will give two talks, looking at Lewis’s understanding of imaginative creativity, first in theory and then in practice. Metropolitan Kallistos, who has spoken and written on Lewis in relation to Orthodoxy’, will reflect on Lewis’s Christian faith.

Amy Hollywood (Harvard) delivers a series of lectures on “The real, the true, and the mystical” in Oxford. At 7pm will be a play on Derrida in Oxford by John Schad and Fred Dalmasso.

Tickets 8£/ 5£ reduced for students and Lecture attendants.

Amy Hollywood (Harvard) delivers a series of lectures on “The real, the true, and the mystical” in Oxford.

Amy Hollywood : The Unspeakability of Trauma, the Unspeakability of Joy: The Pursuit of the Real at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century

Twenty minute talk, one hour discussion. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take an active part in the discussion. Free entry, no need to book.

Enter a lost world of music and poetry as more than 300 years of Mughal rule approached its end at the hands of the British in 1857. William Dalrymple, award-winning historian, in performance with the celebrated North Indian vocalist Vidya Shah, takes us back to the bygone era of matchless splendour, bringing to life a world of emperors, courtesans, politics, bayonets, intrigue and love, through words and music. Doors open at 17.45. Food and drinks in the Pitt Rivers Museum till 9p.m. after the lecture. Signed copies of ‘The Last Mughul’ and ‘Return of the King’ available after the lecture.

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

The Psychology and Neuroscience Applications Society (PsyNAppS) is excited to bring you the biggest event on the neuroscience calendar!

Register here to attend our inaugural symposium for FREE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/psynapps-inaugural-symposium-tickets-16983645541

The event boasts an exciting line up of speakers – guaranteeing something for everyone – held at the award-winning TS Eliot Theatre.

The speakers and talk topics list is as follows:

Dr. David Lewis: Founder of Mindlab on Neuromarketing
Dr. Adam Corner: Psychology of climate change communication
Dr. Rebecca Park (Oxford): Neuroscience and treatment of eating disorders
Mr. Stelios Kiosses: Challenges of treating compulsive hoarding

This free event will take place on the 11th of June at the TS Eliot Theatre of Merton College, located in Rose Lane gardens (accessible from either Merton College or directly from Rose Lane). Doors open at 3.45pm and there will be a drinks and canapes reception at 7pm.

Twenty minute talk, Q&As, and an hour of discussion. Free entry, no need to book. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take part actively in the discussion.

Evening with Sami Awad of the Holyland Trust http://www.holylandtrust.org
Monday 15th June – Impossible to Possible: what does nonviolence mean in Palestine today?
Palestinian Christian Sami Awad, the Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust will lead discussions about nonviolence and its role in bringing a just and lasting peace to all who live in the Holy Land.
Holy Land Trust exists to lead in creating an environment that fosters understanding, healing, transformation, and empowerment of individuals and communities, locally and globally, to address core challenges that are preventing the achievement of a true and just peace in the Holy Land.
6.30pm for 7.00pm start; Friends Meeting House, 43 St. Giles, Oxford.
“It is encouraging for us to know that people have realised that you can stand up for the human rights of the Palestinians without compromising the rights of Israelis to also live in peace. You do not have to pick a side. I invite you ..to continue praying for peace for both communities that live in what we all call the Holy Land.”
Sami Awad.
“We have to not only understand those people who are oppressing us, but try to walk in their shoes, and ultimately to really engage with what it means to follow Jesus’ call to love our enemies.”
Sami Awad.
Sami will be visiting the UK with the Amos Trust. As well as the event on 15th June, Sami will also give a sermon in St Giles Church on Sunday 14th June. These events contribute to the Oxford Palestine Unlocked festival (4th – 20th June) . More details on the website http://palestineunlocked.com and also http://www.amostrust.org

This is a special workshop hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre as part of Oxford Refugee Week.

Programme:

Chair: Professor Dawn Chatty, Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration and former Director of the RSC

Speakers:
Dr Jeff Crisp, independent consultant, RSC Research Associate, and former Head of Policy Development & Evaluation at UNHCR

Dr Maria Kastrinou, Lecturer, Brunel University

Dr Sara Pantuliano, Director of Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute

Dr Patricia Sellick, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Trust, Peace & Social Relations, Coventry University

Professor Roger Zetter, Professor Emeritus of Refugee Studies, RSC

Since 2011, the on-going conflict in Syria has had an enduring and devastating impact. According to the latest inter-country report of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the humanitarian crisis has reached an unprecedented scale: 7.6 million people are internally displaced in Syria, while more than 3.9 million are seeking protection in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Against the background of this unprecedented humanitarian crisis, what are Syrians’ aspirations for their futures? What kind of futures do they want to build? And what measures have EU Member States taken in response to the crisis?

This workshop will draw on ethnographic accounts from work directly with Syrian communities in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The workshop will bring together experts and academics that have had direct fieldwork experience and can speak about the concerns, needs and aspirations of Syrians who have fled Syria.

This event is open to all. No registration is required.

A wine reception will follow afterward.

Exhibition Tour with Paul Teigh

Join Modern Art Oxford’s Production Manager, Paul Teigh, for a tour of the Lynn Hershman Leeson exhibition Origins of the Species (Part 2).

Free, booking essential via https://www.modernartoxford.org.uk/event/exhibition-tour-with-paul-teigh/

What the World is Losing, a talk with Dr Paul Collins, Dr Robert Bewley & Dr Emma Cunliffe

A special talk with Dr Paul Collins, Curator of the Ancient Near East Collections at the Ashmolean Museum, as well as Dr Robert Bewley and Dr Emma Cunliffe from the University of Oxford School of Archaeology

Saturday 25 July, 10.30am‒12pm
Ashmolean Museum Lecture Theatre

FREE entry. No booking required.

*** Spaces limited. Please arrive early to secure your seat. ***

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Middle Eastern cultural heritage is under threat as never before. These talks highlight what the world is losing in Iraq and Syria, as well as talking about Oxford University’s ‘Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa’ project.

Dr Paul Collins spoke in April this year about the recent destruction of museums, libraries, archaeological sites, mosques, churches and shrines across northern Iraq to highlight the unique heritage that is being lost.

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This is a free Festival of Archaeology Talk. See the full programme of events at: http://www.ashmolean.org/events/Festival/

A one-day free exhibit featuring powerful children’s drawings from Burma and Sudan.

The event is co-sponsored by Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) and Waging Peace. The drawings from Burma were collected on visits by HART to their partners. HART works with these partners and others in conflict or post-conflict areas, often facing persecution and oppression and trapped behind closed borders. The areas in which HART’s partners work are often not reached by larger organisations and Government support.

The pictures from Sudan were collected by Waging Peace, from Darfuri children living in refugee camps in Chad. Waging Peace is a non-governmental organisation that campaigns against genocide and systematic human rights abuses and seeks the full implementation of international human rights treaties.

These drawings are commanding and moving, providing an insight into the lives and minds of children living in these contexts.

Since the discovery that our genes hold the keys to our health, the race has been on to find a precise method to edit our genomes. CRISPR provides the tools to precisely edit genomes with unparalleled simplicity and flexibility, resulting in the potential for a revolutionary step towards curing hereditary disorders and correcting mutations that cause cancer. This breakthrough gene editing technology is barely 3 years old, however it has already attracted tens of millions of dollars from investors, inspiring a multitude of exciting biotech start-ups.

Join us for what is certain to be an informative and inspiring discussion about how entrepreneurs, academics and industry professionals can join in with the battle to exploit, arguably the biggest biotech discovery of the decade.

Part 2 of a three-part mini-series on notation: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.

Part 1 (July 16th) was Reading Slough and London Paddington: the persistent lure of spelling reform. Also coming up… Arithmetic: a study in the irreversibility of human progress (September 24th).

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

This free inbound strategy workshop, speifically aimed at the technology sector, will teach you how to enable business growth by implementing the inbound methodology of attracting new visitors, converting them into leads, closing them into customers and delighting them to promoters. We will use a step by step approach to offer you real practical advice relevant to you and your business.

A lecture in aid of the British red Cross services in Oxfordshire and beyond kindly given by award winning journalist Peter Taylor and entitled ‘Terrorism from IRA to Al Quaeda and ISIL.’ In his lecture Peter will describe his 40 year journey from reporting the IRA to investigating Al Qaeda and, latterly, assessing the Islamic State. He will discuss how successful – or otherwise – governments and states have been in countering the threats and addressing their root causes.

An open lecture by Professor Andrew Steane of Exeter College on the subject ‘Faithful to Science’. Professor Steane will contend against the prevailing view that science and faith are incompatible – for him each enriches the other – by drawing on material from his recently published book, “Faithful to Science – the role of science in religion”. There will be an opportunity for questions afterwards. Refreshments will be provided and entry is free.

In conjunction with The Angus Library and Archive’s exhibition, ‘Navigating the Congo’, Bandi Mbubi, will be joining us to speak about conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and his work in demanding the development of fairtrade technology which uses conflict-free minerals.

Bandi Mbubi is a founder and director of Congo Calling, an organisation who are working to bring the world’s attention to the atrocities being committed in the Congo and for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing war. Bandi writes and speaks nationally and internationally to create a mass movement of consumers who demand the development of fair trade technology which uses ethically-sourced, conflict-free minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The exhibition will be open to visitors before the talk from 1pm-5.30pm on 22nd September.

In conjunction with The Angus Library and Archive’s exhibition ‘Navigating the Congo’, Dr Rob Burroughs will be speaking on missionary travellers in the Congo Free State and examining how documenting the violence of King Leopold II’s colonial regime led missionaries to new understandings of their own work and the peoples and cultures that they witnessed in central Africa.

Dr Rob Burroughs is Senior Lecturer in the School of Cultural Studies and Humanities, Leeds Beckett University. His publications include Travel Writing and Atrocities (Routledge 2011) and The Suppression of the Atlantic Slave Trade (co-edited with Richard Huzzey, Manchester 2015). Rob is the lead UK partner in the NWO-funded European research project ‘The Congo Free State across Languages, Media and Cultures’. Current projects include research of the Africans who testified against colonial violence in the Congo Free State.