SATURDAY
9.30 - 10.30AM
VICE-CHANCELLOR'S LIVE ADDRESS AND Q&A
*If you missed this session the Vice-Chancellor will be doing a repeat session at 7pm (BST) tonight (Saturday)*
Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford
Join the Vice-Chancellor for a live address and Q&A session regarding the past, present and future of the University of Oxford.
VIA ZOOM
9.30 - 10.30AM
CHINA'S GOOD WAR — HOW WORLD WAR II IS SHAPING A NEW NATIONALISM
Professor Rana Mitter, Director of the University China Centre and Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China
Chinese leaders once tried to suppress memories of their nation's brutal experience during World War II. But now, as China grows more powerful, the meaning of the war is changing. Professor Rana Mitter argues that China's reassessment of the World War II years is central to its newfound confidence abroad and to mounting nationalism at home. China's recontextualisation of its collective memory of the war creates a new foundation for this nationalism. Today public sites of memory-including museums, movies and television shows, street art, popular writing, and social media-define the war as a founding myth for an ascendant China.
VIA ZOOM
11AM - 12PM
BEING A BEAST: EXPLORING THE SENSORY WORLDS OF NON-HUMAN SPECIES
Professor Charles Foster, Fellow of Green Templeton College
A humorous and entertaining talk from Professor Foster's experience of living like a badger in the Welsh Black Mountains, an urban fox in London's East End, and otter on Exmoor, a red deer in the Scottish Highlands and in the West Country, and a swift in the skies between Oxford and central Africa.
VIA ZOOM
11AM - 12PM
CHANCELLOR'S PANEL: BRITAIN'S SOFT POWER
Specially selected panel by Lord Patten of Barnes, The Chancellor (Balliol); Dame Helen Ghosh, (St Hugh’s, 1973), Master, Ballol College; Catherine Mallyon (St John's, 1981), Executive Director, The Royal Shakespeare Company; Miles Young (New, 1973), Warden, New College
Join the Chancellor and distinguished panel to discuss the role of 'soft power' in the rise (and fall) of Britain's influence in the world.
VIA ZOOM
11AM - 12PM
MAXIMISING HAPPINESS AND ENGAGEMENT IN A CRISIS
Professor William Scott-Jackson, Chairman of Oxford Strategic Consulting and Director of the Centre for Applied HR Research
We will focus on how to maximise the happiness and engagement of those around you, and yourself, during a crisis (and indeed all the time). This will be useful for everyone - and particularly anyone who has to lead others – and that could include leading a family! Of course, there are numerous books, blogs, advice and courses on mindfulness, meditation, coping strategies and so on. But this session will focus on how to maximise your, and others’, active enthusiasm, the particular subject of William’s research and books.
Hosted by Kellog College.
Registration may still be open for this event here.
VIA ZOOM
11AM - 12PM
PERSISTENCE, RESISTANCE AND INSISTENCE: ST ANNE'S AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN OXFORD, 1879-1952
Professor Senia Paseta, Professor of Modern History, St Hugh's College
In 2020, Oxford celebrates the centenary of women's formal admission to the University. This talk will give a fascinating insight into the history of women at Oxford and more specifically St Anne’s, looking at its people, its places and its presence across the University since the late 19th century. It will especially focus on the women and the reform movements that made St Anne's what it is today.
Hosted by St Anne's College.
VIA ZOOM
12 - 1PM
ACTIVITY: ADVANCED FRENCH
University of Oxford Language Centre
This class is now full.
Click here for information on future online classes. Discounts are available for alumni.
VIA TEAMS
1 - 2PM
REFINING YOUR CAREER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Dr Mike Moss FRSC FRSA, Alumni Careers Programme Manager, Careers Service
Dr Mike Moss FRSC FRSA has given careers advice to 700 Oxford alumni every year for the past seven years. Hear his conclusions on how to develop a career management strategy; practical tips towards satisfaction, engagement and happiness in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous job market with the gig economy, social media and artificial intelligence.
VIA MY OXFORD NETWORK
4 - 5PM
THE CHANGING FACE OF PPE- CELEBRATING 100 YEARS AT OXFORD
Moderated by Evan Davis (St John's, 1981), presenter. Panel to include Pete Buttigieg (Pembroke, 2005), US politician, Monica Ali (Wadham, 1986), writer, Mary Ann Sieghart (Wadham, 1979), journalist and broadcaster
The panel of speakers will discuss how PPE has developed as a course since its inception and how expanding access and broadening the curriculum can help improve the PPE experience. It will also discuss the future of the PPE degree and how we can train future leaders to generate positive change.
VIA ZOOM
4 - 5PM
GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBOURS: HOW PEOPLE MANAGE THEIR MANY SOCIAL IDENTITIES ONLINE
Dr Bernie Hogan, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute
Employers, friends, family, lovers, and even “frenemies” are all a part of one’s social media audience. Yet, what we say to them can vary considerably by context. This session will explore a decade of research into the idea that social media ‘collapse contexts’ and what both social media companies have done (or not) to address the issue.
VIA ZOOM
4 - 5PM
"NOT MY FIELD? THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERDISCIPLINARITY IN THE PANDEMIC ERA
Chaired by Professor David Gellner, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, Head of the Institute of Human Sciences. Panel: Professor Hannah Bradby (Wadham, 1987) Professor of Sociology, Upsala University, Dr Dougal Jeffries (University, 1970) retired GP; Dr Lynne Jones (LMH, 1970) child and adolescent psychiatrist, writer, researcher and relief worker; Cathy Rogers (St Catherine’s, 1987), former TV producer and presenter; Professor Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Health, University of Edinburgh; Rachel Stancliffe (St Anne's, 1987), Director of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare
Human Sciences is a unique degree that over the last 50 years has brought together biological and social perspectives in its study of humanity. A panel of alumni, from various fields, reflect on the value of taking an interdisciplinary perspective and how this approach is now more important than ever.
Hosted by Human Sciences.
VIA ZOOM
5.30 - 6.30PM
E.E. CUMMINGS AND THE BRUTALITY OF LOVE AND LOSS: READINGS FROM 'THE BEAUTY OF LIVING: E.E. CUMMINGS IN THE GREAT WAR'
Dr Alison Rosenblitt, Director of Studies in Classics at Regent’s Park College
Alison Rosenblitt reads from New York Times Editors' choice, 'The Beauty of Living: E.E. Cummings in the Great War'. Her incisive new biography of enduringly popular poet E. E. Cummings’s early life includes his World War I ambulance service and subsequent imprisonment, which were inspirations for his inventive poetry.
Hosted by Regent's Park College.
VIA ZOOM
6 - 7PM
THE LIFE OF A BBC REPORTER AND ANCHOR - THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF A LIFE ON THE ROAD, IN WAR ZONES AND IN THE STUDIO
Ben Brown (Keble, 1978), journalist and news presenter at BBC News
Ben Brown will cover his 32 years at the BBC, reporting historic events like the fall of the Berlin Wall, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia, 9/11, disasters like the Tsunami and the Haiti earthquake, and terror attacks at home including Manchester and London Bridge. His talk will also include the pleasures - and perils and pitfalls - of presenting BBC One and BBC News Channel bulletins for the last decade.
Hosted by Keble College.
VIA ZOOM
7 - 8PM
VICE-CHANCELLOR'S PRE-RECORDED ADDRESS AND LIVE Q&A
Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University
Join the Vice-Chancellor for her pre-recorded address from earlier in the day and a live Q&A session regarding the past, present and future of the University of Oxford.
VIA ZOOM
7 - 8PM
MUSIC WITH TARIK O'REGAN
Tarik O'Regan (Pembroke, 1996)
Tarik O'Regan (1996, Music) will be providing an original composition which a student will perform live, with comment by Tarik on the piece afterwards.
Hosted by Pembroke College.
Registration may still be open for this event here.
VIA ZOOM
STORIES IN THE SKY — CULTURAL INTERPRETATIONS OF VISIBLE PATTERNS AND RHYTHMS
Charles Barclay, Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College
Perhaps now, more than ever, we are realising the loss of our connection to our environment. This highly illustrated talk will explore the interpretations that came with patient observation of the night skies, of the patterns, cycles and rhythms, the need to build cosmologies and belief systems to provide structure for an otherwise bewildering existence. It will examine some of the stories that were common across the globe and that played a role in preliterate human development, and which in a busy, modern, light-polluted, world have largely been forgotten.
INTERNATIONAL OXFORD WITH ALASTAIR LACK
Alastair Lack (Univ, 1964)
Alastair Lack, always a firm favourite on our usual alumni weekends, took time out to give us an insightful tour Oxford. Alastair takes us to multiple locations across the city, where he divulges many of Oxford's international links, from India to America, Germany to Australia - it's a trip around the world in the comfort of your own home.
