During a speech in 1957, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan declared “our people have never had it so good”. Now, more than half a century later, are we fundamentally any better off? Through discussion of technological advances, social changes, political reforms, and economic shocks and recessions, this panel will seek to question whether the world we currently live in is indeed a better place than it was in the 1950s.

Chaired by Professor Brian Nolan, Professor of Social Policy, the panel will consist of:

*Dr Max Roser, James Martin Fellow at The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School
*Dr Anders Sandberg, James Martin Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute
*Professor Robert Walker, Professor of Social Policy

A drinks reception will follow, all welcome.

This is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and The Oxford International Relations Society (IRSoC)

The lecture is free and open to all and will be followed by a drinks reception for members of IRSoc, membership is available on the night.

Major General (Rtd) Jonathan Shaw CB CBE has 32 years experience in the UK Army during which time he commanded on operations at every rank up to two star. He has gained extensive operational experience in the Falklands, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan and has a profound knowledge of the workings of Whitehall and international strategy. Major Shaw is the former Assistant Chief of Defence Staff and Colonel Commandant of The Parachute Regiment (Director of the Special Forces).

As Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, his responsibilities included international security policy, global issues and he headed the Defence Cyber Security Programme.

Graduating from Oxford having read Politics and Philosophy, he joined the Parachute Regiment in 1981 and retired as its Colonel Commandant in 2012. Since leaving the Ministry of Defence in 2012, Major General Jonathan Shaw holds consulting roles at three security companies, Optima Group UK, Certivox, and Tempest Group.

The Annual Zola Skweyiya Lecture

Having seen the election results unfold, the topic of political strategy and communication is as relevant as ever in highlighting the ways in which politicians and organisations seek to influence public opinion and shape political debate. The Oxford Forum welcomes you to the Political Strategy Panel Debate to discuss the challenges faced, and the solutions provided, in devising an effective communication strategy.
This event will be co-hosted with the PPE society and the Journal of Political and Constitutional Studies.
Following the debate, we will be having dinner with the speakers in the private dining room of Christ Church. Tickets are available to purchase at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-forums-political-strategy-speaker-dinner-tickets-16819258856
It is an unmissable opportunity to engage more directly with the speakers!

Cyclox and the Oxford Pedestrians Association (OxPA) will be welcoming representatives of the bus companies that serve Oxford to a meeting to discuss the relationship between bikes, buses and pedestrians on the city’s busy streets.

Richard Mann, an Oxford-based transport and liveable cities consultant, will open the meeting with a presentation on how to make an excellent bus network and lead a discussion with contributions from Phil Southall of the Oxford Bus Company and Martin Sutton of Stagecoach.

There will be plenty of opportunities for questions and discussion from the floor, which will make for a very interesting event for anyone interested in how we move around our city. This is a public meeting so please come and add your voice to the debate.

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

As part of this year’s community outreach program, Oxford Brookes University’s 150th anniversary, and as a way showing our appreciation to all participants, clinicians, researchers, members of the public and organisations that have supported our work, we will be holding an open day on Saturday, 30th of May 2015. Over the past decade, the Movement Science Group, which now falls within the Centre for Rehabilitation at Oxford Brookes University, has conducted extensive research on a variety of topics related to rehabilitation and physical activity. Topics include measuring and understanding movement in those with movement difficulties, exercising benefits in people with neurological conditions, and developing novel rehabilitation strategies.

This is a joint event between the Oxford Martin School and The Oxford International Relations Society (IRSoC)

For more than a century, the United States has been the world′s most powerful state. Now some analysts predict that China will soon take its place. Does this mean that we are living in a post–American world? Will China′s rapid rise spark a new Cold War between the two titans?

• Mike set up the volunteer organisation Smile Kids Japan (website under reconstruction…) in 2007 to promote sustainable and local volunteering at institutional care facilities (sometimes called orphanages) in Japan. This grew and has helped volunteers set up visits in 25 of the 47 prefectures in Japan, seeing several thousand people volunteer their friendship to kids in care. Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck Tohoku, Smile Kids Japan joined up with another NPO, Living Dreams, and Mike moved to the area to work full time on this project. Mike and the team raised over $900,000 in the months after the disaster, working with large corporate donors and setting up smaller events, including a 5 kilometre fun run that was carried out in 12 countries on the same day and raised over $100,000. The work was featured on the ITV ‘Tonight’ documentary news program, and in national papers. After giving a talk at TEDxTokyo and returning to the UK to study the alternative care system in Japan, Mike was invited by the Japanese Ambassador to meet and talk with the Emperor and Empress of Japan along with other Brits, including Lord Patten, who had been involved in the relief work.

• Mike is going to speak about fundraising strategies and will suggest (at least) three concrete ideas for fundraising that can be done before the end of term. These can be used for any charity fundraising, however the focus will be on post disaster, specifically on the situation in Nepal.

• The meeting aims to form a small team who can work on a flash fundraising event before the end of term, though you do not have to participate further if you just want to listen to the talk and learn more about fundraising.

To Book a place, click ‘going’ on our Facebook Event https://www.facebook.com/events/467192280115835/

OxFund — the Crowdfunding Society for Oxford Students
Email: hello.oxfund@gmail.com
Website: http://oxfund.wix.com/oxfund
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OxFund/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OxFund
Fund OxFund to run events: https://hubbub.net/p/oxfundsociety/

So many of us are desperately busy doing what’s immediately in front of us rather than the things that make a real difference.

Ben will tell the story of the GB men’s rowing 8+ in the build up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where they won the gold medal, and how they challenged everything to make the boat go faster. For Ben it was the culmination of nine years in the national team.

Ben’s story is a call to action, challenging you to examine how you spend your time in a way that ensures you are travelling in the direction that you want to go.

About the Speaker
Ben Hunt-David MBE
BEN HUNT-DAVIS MBE

Former Brookes student, Ben Hunt- Davis is a performance coach, speaker and author. Ben has been involved in five Olympic Games – three as a competitor and two as a member of the headquarters team. He was also Chairman of the Organising Committee for both the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships and the 2013 Rowing World Cup. He now runs a performance consulting company helping companies to make their ‘boats go faster’. His first book is entitled Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?

This is a panel discussion organised in collaboration with ‘Oxford Refugee Week’ by the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Chairing will be Dr Jeff Crisp, with speakers Prof. Alexander Betts, Prof. Cathryn Costello, Dr Mariagiulia Guiffre and Dr Nando Sigona. Open to all. Registration recommended but not compulsory. To be followed by a drinks reception.

Human-caused global warming has been making headlines for over two decades, but people’s opinions on it often depend on what headlines they’re reading. How is it that a scientific theory has become so politicised? Join us to hear Adam Levy (Nature, University of Oxford; @ClimateAdam), a climate change scientist and YouTuber, discuss the key scientific evidence behind climate change, and explain why perspectives on climate change shouldn’t be a matter of belief.
twitter @oxfordscibar
facebook ‘British Science Association Oxfordshire Branch

Two hour cycle ride with Max as he reveals some surprising facts about the science of cycling. Ride and demonstration.
Please show up 10 minutes before departure at The Story Museum. The ride will finish back at The Story Museum.

Author and cyclist Max Gaskin explores the science of cycling from hydrogen to helmets!
6.30pm – 7.30pm £8/£5 concessions

International table tennis player, broadcaster and writer, Matthew Syed will reflect on the psychology of performance.

A discussion about the ethics of Arts Sponsorship with Jeremy Spafford, Director of Arts at the Old Fire Station, and representatives from arts activists Art Not Oil – a network is dedicated to taking creative disobedience against institutions such as Tate, National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum until they drop their oil company funding. Together the panel will explore the ethics of sponsorship at a time where funding for the arts continues to be drastically cut. Who is it acceptable to take money from and what is the price that we pay? [IMAGE: Liberate Tate]

‘TRADE IN UK-AFRICA RELATIONS’: Event taking place on July 1st at Oxford Brookes University.

This is part of an ESRC seminar series on British Policy after Labour: Coalition, Austerity, Continuity and Change.

This seminar, the fifth in a series of seven and the first since the Conservative election victory in May, will focus on Trade in UK-African Relations and will feature a number of prominent speakers from the worlds of academia, policy and civil society.

It starts with coffees at 1030 and ends at 1630 (a buffet lunch will be provided).

Places are limited so if you are interested in attending could you please confirm by sending an email to me (shurt@brookes.ac.uk) as early as possible.

If you would like to read more about the ESRC series and previous/upcoming seminars then please take a look at our website – http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/bisa-africa/uk-africa-policy/ – or follow us on Twitter @UKAfricaSeminar.

I have also written summaries of the main themes of the four seminars on my blog – http://internationalpoliticsfromthemargin.net/

Join our expert panel for an evening of debate exploring the subject of the United Kingdom’s place within the European Union.

Special Turner Event at the Ashmolean Museum

Turner’s High Street, Oxford: a Unique Townscape

With Colin Harrison

Wednesday 8 July, 11am-12pm, Lecture Theatre

Find out more about Turner’s most significant townscape and the greatest painting of the city that has ever been made. Senior Curator of European Art, Colin Harrison, will give a special talk from 11am on Wednesday 8 July.

Tickets £5/£4 concessions. Booking is essential.

To find out more about the Ashmolean’s current campaign to secure Turner’s painting for the nation visit: http://www.ashmolean.org/turner/

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.

Join us for the Oxford launch of the new NoNonsense series

Panelists:

Maggie Black, author of NoNonsense International Development

A former co-editor of New Internationalist, Maggie has written numerous books on development subjects. She has worked as a consultant writer and editor for UN and other international organizations and for NGOs including Save the Children, WaterAid and Anti-Slavery International. She is also the author of the No-Nonsense Guide to International Development.

Peter Stalker, author of NoNonsense The Money Crisis

Peter is a former co-editor of the New Internationalist who now works as a communications consultant to UN agencies. He has edited the global Human Development Report, and produced many other UN reports on economic and social issues. He is also the author of the No-Nonsense Guide to International Migration.

Danny Chivers, author of NoNonsense Renewable Energy

Danny is an environmental writer, carbon analyst and performance poet. He is actively involved in climate justice groups such as Art Not Oil, Reclaim the Power and No Dash For Gas. He is also the author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change.

The launch will begin with a panel discussion, introduced and led by Chris Brazier (New Internationalist Co-editor) along with special guest Danny Dorling (Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford, and author of many books including the No-Nonsense Guide to Equality and Inequality and the 1%).

The discussion will be followed by an opportunity for questions from the audience, drinks and a chance to buy copies of the new series.

About the NoNonsense Series:

The all-new NoNonsense books cut through the noise and hype surrounding today’s big issues. Concise, comprehensive and critical, they get to the heart of the matter.

FAQs

What are the transport/parking options getting to the event?

Ruskin College is easily accessible by car with ample free parking on site.

Local buses: 280 and U1 — exit at Headington Shops.

To avoid dangerous climate change will require not only very steep cuts in emissions, but also the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Most of the models that avoid dangerous climate change do so by assuming that it will be possible to deploy a technique called biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (or BECCS for short) at a very large scale. But is this realistic?

Please join us for a public discussion to explore this issue. To what extent may it be possible to use biomass as a way of both generating electricity and removing carbon dioxide from the air? What are the likely impacts of such an approach – on climate change, on food supply, on biodiversity and on the will to reduce emissions.

The Oxford Martin School has brought together four excellent speakers with expertise in this field. Dr Craig Jamieson has explored the potential of using waste material from rice production for BECCS, Professor Tim Lenton has modelled how much biomass could be used for BECCS given projected population growth and dietary habits, Professor Nick Pidgeon is an expert on the social acceptability of new technologies and Dr Doug Parr is the Chief Scientist and Policy Director at Greenpeace.

My European citizenship rights…and why I don’t want to lose them.

We warmly invite you to a public meeting, followed by a reception to launch New Europeans in Oxford.

For details and speakers, please visit the event page on the New Europeans website.

Demographic changes across the world pose one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Longer lifespans and shifting fertility rates bring with them an array of global health issues. In this lecture, Professor Sarah Harper, Co-Director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, will talk about the causes and effects of population change and the global age structural shift, and Professor Robyn Norton, Co-Director of The George Institute for Global Health, will address the implications of these changes on global health.

The extraction of oil and the mining of coal are devastating communities across the world. These operations have forced people from their land, polluted the environment, and led to widespread human rights violations.

According to the Colombia Human Rights Data Analysis Group, an estimated 9,000 people were murdered and 3,000 have disappeared in Casanare over the past two decades. One of those kidnapped was Gilberto Torres, who is bringing a case for compensation against BP and other oil companies in the High Court in London with the help of law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn (DPG) in the UK and Francisco Ramirez Cuellar in Colombia.

The Centre for Global Politics, Economy and Society at Oxford Brookes University, and UCU Oxford Brookes would like to invite you to a special event as part of the campaign tour ‘OIL JUSTICE NOW! Stop Corporate Impunity’ led by the NGO War on Want in partnership with the law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn and the organisation Cos-Pacc (see attached poster for further details).

Speakers are:

– Sue Wilman (Human Rights Lawyer, Deighton Pierce Glynn)
– Gilberto Torres (Former trade unionist with Union Sindical Obrera in Colombia)
– Dr Lara Montesinos Coleman (University of Sussex)
– Francisco Ramirez Cuellar (trade unionist and lawyer with the Colombian Unified Trade Union Federation)

Gilberto Torres is a former trade unionist with Union Sindical Obrera, representing workers in the oil industry. He was abducted and tortured by paramilitaries in 1992 and now lives in exile. Gilberto believes his abduction was ordered and assisted by Ocensa, a joint venture pipeline company part-owned and operated by BP.

Francisco Ramirez Cuellar is a trade unionist and lawyer with the Colombian Unified Trade Union Federation. He has been targeted and threatened because of his legal and campaigning work challenging multinationals who have committed serious environmental and human right abuses in Colombia.

Chaired by Dr Maia Pal (Oxford Brookes University)

Ordinary people across Europe have reacted with horror to the plight of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war and other conflicts—and sent solidarity. David Cameron reacted with callous cynicism.

At first he held firm against letting in any. Britain, the world’s ninth richest country, supposedly couldn’t afford to take in more than a tube carriage full of desperate refugees.

After tens of thousands marched and more than 400,000 signed a petition to do more, Cameron was forced to shift gear. But his new plan is an insult.

Britain is to take in 20,000 Syrians over the next five years—fewer than Germany took in last weekend alone. There is no action to alleviate the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees already in Europe who face razor wire fences and detention camps to prevent them moving to find a new home.

The Home Secretary announced plans for more draconian treatment of asylum seekers, and the UK has withdrawn 2 more ships from rescuing refugees drowning in the Mediterranean.

There were even reports that refugee children could be deported on their 18th birthdays. The Tories are also trying to use the refugee crisis to drum up support for more bloody wars.

Three year old Aylan Kurdi was not the first child to drown needlessly on Europe’s doorstep. But after pictures of his dead body sent shudders around the world, his father made the plea, “let him be the last”.

We can stop the carnage. But it will take a mass movement to defy Cameron and the inhumane system he represents.

Come along to our first SWSS meeting this term to find out what we can do to build such a movement.

Hosted by Socialist Worker Student Society

(1) Ancient Africa’s Gift to: Law, Architecture, Mathematics, Judaism, Islam & Christianity.
This will be a 45 minute slide presentation.
(2) Magna Carta, Ancient Africa’s Gift to the English. The ancient roots of Magna Carta and the need to protect it today…with contributions from Political Parties
(3) Books that have shaped the perception of African people: Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, The Bible, & Black Athena