Is international governance facing a pivotal moment? Seventy years on from the creation of the UN, the list of issues requiring international co-operation is lengthy and complex, ranging from the conflict in Syria to infectious disease outbreaks, and from nuclear weapons threats to food security. Even where concord has been achieved, as with the recent COP21 climate agreement, the road ahead will be long, hard and fraught with conflicting needs and desires.

With considerable humanitarian and environmental challenges facing the world, Baroness Amos, Director of SOAS, will draw on her distinguished career in development to look at how the international community can work together, what the UN could and can do, and at the likely obstacles to overcome on the road to helping secure global peace and security.

Registration required.

The Bapsybanoo Marchioness of Winchester Lecture with Dr Neil MacGregor, Former Director of the British Museum and currently Chair of the Steering Committee for Humboldt Forum, Berlin.

Neil MacGregor explores the stories and representations of faith in material culture. Fire in particularly has been a powerful symbol for religious ideas. Exploring those representations, the talk will take the audience on a journey across times and religions, from the burning bush of the Exodus story to the flames representing the Spirit at Pentecost.

To reserve your seat, please visit http://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/fire-faith
This event is organised by the Faculty of Theology and Religion.

Mitigating climate requires a transition to low carbon energy systems and renewable energy looks increasingly likely to play a key role, but the most important resources are intermittent.

This lecture will describe the research of the Oxford Martin Programme on Integrating Renewable Energy, on how intermittency and related challenges can be addressed, technically and in markets and policy.

Registration required

Professor Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin School, looks at what we mean by development and what citizens, governments and the international community can do to encourage it.

Goldin explains how the notion of development has expanded from the original focus on incomes and economic growth to a much broader interpretation. He considers the contributions made by education, health, gender and equity, and argues that it is also necessary take into account the rule of law, the role of institutions, and sustainability and environmental concerns.

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

Registration required.

In this talk Professor Daniel Kammen, Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow at INET Oxford, will discuss the strategies emerging to cost-effectively decarbonise energy systems worldwide. This work integrates elements of the science and engineering of energy systems, regional and global energy and environmental policy, and mandates and mission objectives that have emerged from the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, and energy and climate planning in both developed and developing nations.

As Science Envoy for the US Secretary of State, Kammen will also examine opportunities that have arisen as result of the Paris Climate Accord, and US and Chinese climate agreement.

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

Registration required.

Prevention and management of infectious diseases remains one of this century’s biggest challenges. As drugs and vaccinations have proliferated, protection from disease has increasingly been seen as an individual problem, requiring individual action. But due to the evolution of anti-microbial resistance, vaccine refusal and rapid disease transmission through global trade and travel, the impact of the drugs and vaccines that we have come to take for granted is undermined.

This lecture will explore the importance of understanding the ‘Human Factor’ in disease management, looking at the effects of policy on individual and group behaviour and at the role psychology plays in developing a new understanding of collective moral responsibility for infectious disease. The lecture is an introduction to the Oxford Martin Programme on Collective Responsibility for Infectious Disease, an interdisciplinary team from zoology, history, philosophy, psychology and medicine.

Registration required.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are hugely popular in modern life and bring many benefits. However they also risk ‘digital wildfires’ in which provocative content in the form of hate speech, misinformation or inflammatory posts etc. spreads rapidly and causes serious harm to individuals, groups and communities.

This talk describes current research on digital wildfires. The research examines how provocative content spreads on social media and the impacts that it has. It also seeks to identify ways to promote the responsible governance of social media – in which the harms caused by digital wildfires are prevented or limited but rights to freedom of speech are also protected.

Helena Webb is a Senior Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford. She works as part of the Human Centred Research group, which examines the inter-relationships between technology and social practices. She has worked on a variety of research projects and is interested in communication, organization and the use of technology in everyday work and interaction. Most recently she has been working on the ‘Digital Wildfire’ project.

Professor Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin School, and fellow author Chris Kutarna preview their forthcoming book about the risks and rewards of a new Renaissance taking place in our modern world. They will show how we can achieve our own golden age, given the will. But many of the factors that undid the first Renaissance are rising once again: warring ideologies, fundamentalism, climate change, pandemics. Can we weather the crises and seize the moment to leave the world a legacy it will still celebrate, 500 years later?

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

Registration required.

For most of the world’s toughest challenges, there exists a tension between the needs of an individual and what is best for the common good. Income derived from fishing may be vital to one country’s economy but overfishing depletes stocks to dangerously low levels. Low income countries need to develop in order to lift people out of poverty but this increases demand for fossil fuels at a point where global efforts to reduce carbon emissions have become critically important.

Some of Oxford’s leading thinkers on how to manage global commons and shared resources come to together for a lively panel debate to address the tension between individual rationality and collective responsibility, drawing on examples from the four lectures in this term’s series.

Panellists:

Professor Ian Goldin, (Chair), Director, Oxford Martin School
Professor Richard Bailey, Co-Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Sustainable Oceans
Professor Nick Eyre, Co-Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Integrating Renewable Energy
Professor Cameron Hepburn, Co-Director, Oxford Martin Net Zero Carbon Investment Initiative
Professor Angela McLean, Co-Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Collective Responsibility for Infectious Diseases

Registration required.

An introductory talk of about twenty minutes, followed by Q&As and an hour or so’s discussion among the audience. You’re welcome to come along just to listen, or to take an active part in the discussion.

How has humanities scholarship influenced biomedical research and civil liberties and how can scholars serve the common good? Entrepreneur and scholar Donald Drakeman will discuss his new book exploring the value and impact of the humanities in the 21st century with:

– Stefan Collini (Professor of Intellectual History and English Literature, University of Cambridge and author of What Are Universities For?)
– Richard Ekins (Tutorial Fellow in Law, St John’s College, University of Oxford)
– Jay Sexton (Associate Professor of American History, University of Oxford)

Chaired by Helen Small (Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford and author of The Value of the Humanities)

Free, all welcome. Join us for a sandwich lunch from 12:30, with discussion from 13:00 to 14:00. No booking required, seats will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

About the book

An entrepreneur and educator highlights the surprising influence of humanities scholarship on biomedical research and civil liberties. This spirited defence urges society to support the humanities to obtain continued guidance for public policy decisions, and challenges scholars to consider how best to fulfil their role in serving the common good.

The event is part of Book at Lunchtime, a fortnightly series of bite size book discussions, with commentators from a range of disciplines.

Is there anything wrong with putting a price on health, education, citizenship, and the environment? Where do markets serve the public good, and where do they not belong?

Join us for a lively discussion with Professor Michael J. Sandel about money, markets, and the good things in life.

Registration required

Drawing upon sociology of culture and digital rhetoric literature, this talk will illuminate the persuasive function of hashtags in the context of the UK EU membership referendum. What makes a hashtag more influential, or more successful?

The hashtag is not just a category or community marker—it has also become a vehicle through which rhetorical strategies are being used to influence thoughts and feelings. Many scholars have explored hashtag success by examining popularity and longevity. This talk presents an expanded definition of success that takes hashtag hijacking into account. The data that will be presented are being gathered live from the Twitter Streaming API; over two hundred hashtags and usernames relating to the EU referendum are being tracked. The talk will also highlight the challenges and opportunities afforded by big ‘linguistic’ data on social media.

Yin Yin Lu is a DPhil Candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and Balliol College, as well as a Clarendon Scholar. She is fascinated by the intersection between language and technology, and her research focuses on the hashtag, one of the most notable sociotechnical phenomena of the 21st century. Prior to joining the OII, Yin obtained a Masters in English Language from the University of Oxford (Lincoln College) and a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University. Between these degrees, she worked at Pearson Education and 10 Speed Labs, a digital media agency in Manhattan. She is the founder and co-convenor of the #SocialHumanities network at TORCH, and her ultimate objective is to reinvent the novel—along with the very acts of reading and writing—through new media technologies.

While qualitative research has received greater acceptance in a great variety of disciplines, including health and medicine, the true potential of qualitative analysis seems not to have been realised in such areas. Hence, the critique for presenting anecdotal evidence is often quite fair. With the basis in two examples, this talk will demonstrate how the potential of qualitative analysis is developed by maintaining a strong inductive strategy of concept development. Rather than summarising endless amounts of nuanced data, the qualitative researcher may apply a detailed coding approach to hunt for empirical insight that triggers curiosity and development of novel ideas. On basis of two examples presented, we will develop what are good qualitative research questions and hence good qualitative research.

Welcome to Future Debates, a series of public events supported by the British Science Association.

A genome is an entire set of DNA; all the instructions for making every part of a living thing. Research into our genomes could improve our understanding of diseases, cancers and passing on certain traits. The application of this research through genomic medicine is at the cutting edge of science. There’s large potential for the technology to help us create new treatments and preventative approaches.

Someone’s genome can explain lots of things about them, and we don’t yet understand all of what the genetic code means. Genome data is being collected from a group of patients with rare diseases and cancers across the UK, as part of the Genomics England 100,000 Genomes Project. This information needs to be collected and stored securely, interpreted by experts and viewed in a way that protects the donor’s identity. There have been discussions among scientists about the implications of genomic medicine for privacy and the NHS, and the British Science Association believes that it is vital to open that conversation up to the public.

Come and join our panel of scientists and other experts to discuss who should have access to this data. Should genomic data be used outside medicine? Should private companies share any profits they make from genomic data with participants? Does the right to privacy outweigh the societal benefit of genomic research?

Doors open from 6.00 pm, and the debate will run from 6.30 pm until 8.00 pm.

Future Debates events are part of the British Science Association’s work to make science a fundamental part of British society and culture. We want to empower many more people – not just scientists – to constructively engage in debates over the applications and implications of science in their lives, their local economy and the UK’s future.

Follow us on twitter @LivingWellOx @HumanGeneticsOx @BritSciAssoc and use the event hashtag #FutureDebates

Leopold Eyharts flew on the Atlantis Shuttle to the International Space Station in 2008. Part of his mission included the installation of the Colombus Space Laboratory, the main contribution of Europe to the International Space Station. In 1998, Leopold flew
on a Soyouz Space Shuttle to the Russian MIR station. Engage in a conversation about his adventures and the future of manned exploration of space. Chaired by Valerie Jamieson, Editorial Content Director, New Scientist.

Visualise the world in the 21st century in seven new maps! Geographers Ben Hennig and Danny Dorling present some of the key challenges and questions relating to the future of people across the world, using a series of seven thought-provoking maps about our lives on the planet.

How to create in the lab the process taking place at the heart of the stars? How to harvest this energy to power the world? Nuclear fusion is arguably the hardest technical challenge humanity works on at the moment. The UK significantly contributes to this world-wide research effort with the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. Get insights from the lab, and learn everything you need to know about nuclear fusion!

Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/sun-opening-weekend.html

In the era of the development of technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence, machines are more and more capable of outperforming human beings at work tasks. What will be the decline of today’s professions? What are the prospects for
employment, and how will professions like doctors, teachers, architects, the clergy, lawyers, and many others adapt to this emerging world? What could be the new models to produce and distribute expertise in society?

Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/monday.html

Date/Time: Friday 1 July 13:00
Venue: Holywell Cemetery, St Cross Road, Oxford
Admissions: Free, Drop-In
Suitability: 14+
Find out more: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/friday.html

The wide range of rock types used for gravestones means that cemeteries can be geological treasure-troves – and provide a wonderful introduction to geology and other sciences. Social history comes into it too. Join geologists Nina Morgan and Philip Powell on a geological walk through Holywell Cemetery, one of the cemeteries described in their book, The Geology of Oxford Gravestones. You’ll never look at cemeteries in the same way again!

Join engaging physicist and Guardian science blogger Jon Butterworth in a lively and fun science adventure about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Share the excitement of the discovery of the Higgs boson, and the latest developments in the investigation
of the fabric of the Universe!

Date/Time: Sunday 3 July, 19:00
Venue: Amey Theatre, Abingdon School, Abingdon-on-Thames
Admissions: £7/£5(conc.)/£22(fam.)
Suitability: 16+
Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/grand-finale.html

What are the next steps for human evolution? Natural changes or technologies? Combining gene splicing and trans-humanism, medical advancement and surgical enhancement, biology and ambition, Level Up Human takes a light hearted look at what it means to be human, and what the alternatives might be. Join science writer and TV presenter Simon Watt, and his guests, for the live recording of an exciting podcast series.

The Las Casas Institute presents a day-long conference on money as a prism through which we often view the world and its challenges. Join theologians, economists, and other experts in discussing what money reveals and conceals about our world.

Reception to follow at Blackfriars Hall at 5:00pm. Registration fee includes lunch and reception.

Speakers:
Professor Philip Goodchild
Sr Margaret Atkins OSA
Sr Helen Alford OP

Panelists:
Barbara Ridpath
Charles Wookey
Peter Róna

The Institute is celebrating the Dominicans’ jubilee with a series of events on the challenges of truth telling in contemporary society.

We’ve all heard the saying to ‘Never Judge a Book by its Cover’, and our Human Library event is all about creating understanding through dialogue with a ‘human book’. A human book is a person you get to talk to for 10 minutes about what it’s like to be them.

A conversation with Restorative Justice participants in cases of grave crime, followed by questions and discussion. (Bring your own sandwich). Tea, coffee & soft drinks provided.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For many years, psychologists have considered the fear of death as a central motivating factor in the human behaviour and achievement. However, only for the past 30 years have psychologists tested these ideas empirically and experimentally. Dr Jonathan Jong (University of Oxford, Coventry University) will evaluate the claim that death drives human behaviour, focusing in particular on religion. Come along to hear Dr Jong discuss this highly intriguing topic!

Dr Duncan Green of Oxfam will launch his new book on global problems ‘How Change Happens’ at Oxford Brookes.This book bridges the gap between academia and practice, bringing together the best research from a range of academic disciplines and the evolving practical understanding of activists to explore the topic of social and political change. Drawing on many first-hand examples from the global experience of Oxfam, one of the world’s largest social justice NGOs, as well as the author’s insights from studying and working on international development, it tests ideas on How Change Happens and offers the latest thinking on what works to achieve progressive change.

‘An indispensable guide for activists and change-makers everywhere’ Francis Fukuyama
‘A landmark, a must-read book to return to again and again to inform and inspire reflection and action. I know no other book like it.’ Robert Chambers
A splendid treatise on how to change the actual world – in reality, not just in our dreams’ Amartya Sen

Dr Duncan Green, a Brookes PhD alumnus, is Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB and author of From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World. He also authors the From Poverty to Power blog.

Copies of the book will be on sale for £10.00 after the event

Refreshments will be available after the book launch.

Inequality is centre-stage in political debate both globally and in individual countries, being blamed for everything from Brexit to stagnating wages and growth. Professor Brian Nolan, Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Inequality and Prosperity, will seek to tease out why this is so and identify central unanswered questions about the drivers of inequality, and what policy responses to it should be.

This presentation will examine the upsurge in the popularity of Hildegard of Bingen. The presentation will use of methodology of crystallisation (Richardson 2000) to examine the subject from a variety of dimensions including the performative in the form of story-telling, the lecture including images of her visions and the meditation using words and music (some from Hildegard and some from the author).

Dr June Boyce-Tillman MBE, FRSA,FHEA is Professor of Applied Music at the University of Winchester. She read music at St Hugh’s College, Oxford in 1962 and has published widely in the area of education, most recently on spirituality/ liminality.

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