Some face-to-face events are returning. Check carefully for any requirements.

Jul 13 @ 11:30 am – 6:30 pm The Jam Factory
For this event, 12 artists from all over the country will be presenting work that they have been making as part of the Sound Diaries open call. The presenting artists are: Richard Bentley, Hannah Dargavel-Leafe,[...]
Aug 31 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Blackwell's Bookshop
We are pleased to announce a very special Philosophy in the Bookshop to celebrate the release of a new comprehensive look at the history of Philosophy in one volume. Nigel Warburton will be in conversation[...]
Sep 3 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm The Sheldonian Theatre
Blackwell’s are delighted to be hosting a very special event at the Sheldonian Theatre with Alain de Botton on The School of Life: An Emotional Education. We spend years in school learning facts and figures[...]
Sep 3 @ 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm St Margaret's Institute 30 Polstead Road, Oxford
The ability to accurately identify and interpret Track and Sign rests on a body of traditional knowledge that previous generations of naturalists would have regarded as fundamental. Sadly, now it is largely unknown and untaught,[...]
Oct 1 @ 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm St Margaret's Institute
Slime moulds thrive in damp woodlands and normally spread over rotting logs eating bacteria and fungi. They are also unusual in being single giant cells that show remarkably sophisticated behaviour considering their humble form. This[...]
Oct 2 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm The Sheldonian Theatre
Blackwell’s are delighted to present our monthly series of talks, Philosophy in the Bookshop. In a very special event, our programme moves across the street to the Sheldonian Theatre for one night only. Do we[...]
Oct 2 @ 7:30 pm – 9:20 pm Jericho Tavern
An amusing talk and exploration of AI and the future of technology. Is the future more absurd than comedians can imagine? Will a driver-less BMW still cut you up? What do we do when a[...]
Oct 5 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Blackwell's Bookshop
‘Philosophy in the Bookshop’ is our free monthly series of Philosophy events, hosted by Nigel Warburton and featuring a different thinker each month discussing their work. This month, Nigel discusses ‘Becoming Beauvoir’ with Kate Kirkpatrick.[...]
Oct 16 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Blackwell's Bookshop
We are delighted to announce a very special Philosophy in the Bookshop event to mark our fifth anniversary in the series. Host Nigel Warburton will be joined by philosopher Philip Goff and author Sir Philip[...]
Oct 18 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Oxford Martin School
Data-driven micro-targeted campaigns have become a main stable of political strategy. As personal and societal data becomes more accessible, we need to understand how it can be used and mis-used in political campaigns and whether[...]
Oct 21 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Waterstones Bookshop
Award-winning sustainability journalist Tim Smedley has travelled the world to major cities dealing with severe air pollution problems including Delhi, Beijing and Paris, interviewing scientists and politicians to discover the full story of air pollution.[...]
Oct 23 @ 6:45 pm – 9:15 pm Exeter Hall
Bernard Tucker Memorial Lecture – Joint with Oxford Ornithological Society
Oct 24 @ 5:30 pm – 7:15 pm Jacqueline du Pre Music Building
Michaelmas term’s topic of the popular St Hilda’s ‘Brain and Mind – from concrete to abstract’ series of workshops is ‘Creativity and the Brain’. Professor Jane Mellanby (Oxford), Dr Lambros Malafouris (Oxford), and Dr Matthew[...]
Oct 25 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm New Road Baptist Church
From the geological component of a life-supporting planet, to changing how we made tools or helping your body survive every day, iron plays an important part in being human. But which of iron’s roles is[...]
Oct 25 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Waterstones Bookshop
Marking the 150th anniversary of the periodic table, Kit Chapman reveals the incredible and often surprising stories behind the discovery of the superheavy elements; how they have shaped the world today and where they will[...]
Oct 28 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Wolfson College
In this lecture, Professor Sir Richard Sorabji considers free speech in the age of social media, and questions whether legal restrictions on certain speech acts or self-restraint would be the most effective and appropriate means[...]
Nov 5 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
Charles Babbage has been called the ‘great-uncle’ of modern computing, a claim that rests simultaneously on his demonstrable understanding of most of the architectural principles underlying the modern computer,band the almost universal ignorance of Babbage’s[...]
Nov 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Blackwell's Bookshop
Blackwell’s is thrilled to be welcoming Erling Kagge to discuss his new book ‘Philosophy for Polar Explorers’. Synopsis Erling Kagge was the first man in history to reach all of the Earth’s poles by foot[...]
Nov 12 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Wolfson College
Adam Smith is world-famous as a founding father of economics, and well-known to political theorists and philosophers for his Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). His work as a jurist is much less well known. As[...]
Nov 28 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Oxford Martin School
Plants and photosynthetic microbes have the extraordinary ability to convert light energy to chemical energy and as a consequence, they are the foundation of virtually all ecosystems and all agricultural systems on the planet. The[...]
Dec 3 @ 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm St Margaret's Institute
The talk will provide an overview of dragonflies and their life cycles and habitats as well illustrating a number of species that occur in England including those that are currently colonising from the Continent and[...]
Jan 13 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm OU Museum of Natural History
Tara Pirie recalls her three years living in a tent, while tracking and gathering data on these elusive, but beautiful big cats. She is now one of the world’s leading experts on Leopard ecology and[...]
Feb 1 @ 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm The Weston Library, University of Oxford
St Benet’s Hall marks a special exhibition of The Rule of St Benedict MS. Hatton 48, fols. 14v-15r at the Weston Library, with a series of lectures on aspects of the mediaeval Benedictine contribution to[...]
Feb 4 @ 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm St Margaret's Institute
Warburg Memorial Lecture – Joint with BBOWT Volunteer-based botanical monitoring has been a mainstay of British and Irish botany for decades, but only recently has a recording scheme for plant communities been established. Dr Pescott[...]
Feb 13 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Lecture Theatre, St Cross College
Speaker: Dr Neil Armstrong (Stipendiary Lecturer in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Magdalen College) This paper uses ethnographic material of NHS mental healthcare to raise some questions about autonomy, risk and personal and institutional responsibility.[...]
Feb 20 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Oxford Martin School
This lecture will describe research in chemistry and polymer materials carried out in the Williams research laboratories. This research focusses on how to activate and transform non-petrochemical raw materials into polymers (plastics). For example, waste[...]
Feb 27 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Science Oxford Centre theatre
We speak of earthquakes, floods, and fires as wild and untameable disasters – natural phenomena that spring unexpectedly from a hostile landscape and challenge our trust in the safety of our homes. But Ilan Kelman[...]
Mar 14 @ 1:45 pm – 4:00 pm Friends Meeting House
Talk, followed by walking tour of the park. Jane Kilsby, local historian shares her recent research into this well-loved 19th century public park. Maximum 20
Apr 7 @ 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm St Margaret's Institute
How the Freshwater Habitats Trust’s ‘Saving Oxford’s Wetland Wildlife’ project is helping to improve and monitor Oxford’s valuable freshwater areas, and protect the species they support.
May 5 @ 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm St Margaret's Institute
In recent years there have been some alarming media stories about declines in insect populations. This talk provides an overview of trends in British insect populations over the past four decades.