PODCAST · education
Alumni Weekend
by Oxford University
The annual Oxford University Alumni Weekend aims to showcase the Collegiate University as a whole, giving prominence to a range of current research and its application to real world situations, as well as recognising the achievements of Oxford men and women.This series also includes podcasts from other alumni events including study days and the Oxford European Reunion.Past themes include "A Global Oxford" (2008), "Equal Citizenship" (2009) and "Shared Treasures" (2010).
Episodes
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Sacred Landscapes, Buddhist Temples: A case study from Central Tibet
This talk illustrates how Tibetan Buddhism relates to the landscapes of the Tibetan plateau, to form a unique, truly Himalayan blend.
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Choice or Accident? The outbreak of the First World War
The causes of the First World War have long been controversial and remain so. The Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford, and author of The War that Ended Peace (2013) brings us up to date on the debate.
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The Commercial Evolution of Microfinance: From donor dependence to sustainable social investment institutions
Ira Lieberman provides an expert analysis on the evolution of micro-finance institutions. Followed by Juan Guerra, founder of StudentFunder – a case study.
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Oxford’s Global Leadership in Social Enterprise: A panel discussion
Social finance and social investment is creating a global buzz, with estimates that the sector will grow over the next decade – an emerging trend that may lead to both vibrant social change and financial returns on investment.
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Innovation in Financing Human Well-being
Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine and Will Hutton, Principal of Hertford, in conversation.
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Why is Oxford Determined to Change the Way We Discover New Medicines?
Chas Bountra, a popular speaker at the recent Meeting Minds: Alumni Weekend in Asia, will explain how Oxford is creating a new ecosystem for drug discovery.
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Richard Nixon’s Reputation: 40 years after Watergate
Nigel Bowles explores Nixon’s politics that achieved a synthesis of strategy, imagination, ideologies, and calculation rare among Presidents.
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Richard Ovenden and Diarmaid MacCulloch in Conversation
Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian and Fellow of Balliol, and Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church and Fellow of St Cross.
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What Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climate
How has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.
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Understanding Fracking for Shale Gas
Joe Cartwright provides a geological perspective into the exploration of shale gas reserves.
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What is a Cyber-Attack?
What constitutes a cyber-attack and who conducts them? What are the risks to society? Sadie Creese will discuss these issues and explain research underway at Oxford to help in the detection and prevention of attacks.
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The 2020 Vision for Engineering Science in Oxford
Professor Lionel Tarassenko, an alumnus of the Department and its new Head as of September 2014, sets out his vision for the Department for the next five years.
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Jenkin Lecture The Oxford RobotCar
Paul Newman talks about the UK’s first self-driving car – being developed at the Department of Engineering Science. He’ll explain the project’s motivation, its underlying technology, and its impact on the transport sector and beyond.
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The Butterfly Defect: How globalisation creates systemic risks
Globalisation has brought us vast benefits including growth in incomes, education, innovation and connectivity. Ian Goldin argues that it also has the potential to destabilise our societies.
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Living with Flooding: Science, democracy and the complex challenge of managing environmental risk
Professor Whatmore, who focuses on the interface between cultural geography, political theory and science and technology studies, will draw upon her recent research to propose a new approach to living with flooding.
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The Ottoman Front: The First World War in the Middle East
Drawing on European and Middle Eastern sources, historian Eugene Rogan provides an overview of the Great War in the Middle East from both sides of the trenches.
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The Future of the Past: Dating archaeology using radiocarbon and particle accelerators
Tom Higham examines some of the projects the Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit has been involved with over the last few years; from dating the Neanderthal extinction, to identifying the bones of Richard III and Alfred the Great.
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Heroes, Villains and Victims: The dangerous politics of international migration
This panel debate discusses key facts and fiction in international migration, and presents new ideas for a better politics of immigration.
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Forbidden Crystal Symmetry: Mathematics and architecture
World-renowned mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, Oxford University, describes how crystalline symmetries are necessarily 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold, or 6-fold.
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70 Years On: My, how you’ve changed!
Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford University draws upon his experience at the highest levels in the public sector to share his unique perspective on Britain over the last seven decades.
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Wildlife in the Anthropocene: Environmentalism without nature
This lecture by Jamie Lorimer explores new ways of thinking and doing environmentalism that need not make recourse to nature. The diagnosis of the ‘Anthropocene’ marks the public end of the idea of nature as a pure place removed from society and revealed by natural science. This problematic idea...
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Black Land, Red Land: The Nile Valley and Egypt’s Western Desert
Illustrated with photographs from previous trips, this talk by Professor Mark Smith contrasts the Nile Valley and the desert and explore how the relationship between them developed over the course of Egyptian history.
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The Biogeography of Madagascar: A Gondwanan island
This lecture given by Dr Matt Friedman will look at the evolution of the unique flora and fauna of Madagascar and how it is intertwined with the geological history of the island.
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An Oxford Education
Panel discussion led by Vice Chancellor Andrew Hamilton, with Mike Nicholson, Helen Swift, Priscilla Santos and Jenny Brennan. Each year, Oxford welcomes talented students, at both undergraduate and graduate level, from all over the globe. Our students come from 140 different countries and...
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Medieval Romance and the Gift of Narrative
Dr Perkins gives a talk for the 2013 Oxford Alumni Weekend. Dr Nicholas Perkins curated the 2012 Bodleian exhibition 'The Romance of the Middle Ages'. In this illustrated lecture (also intersecting with the ongoing 'Magical Books' exhibition in the Bodleian) he reflects on medieval romance…
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From the Arab Spring to the Syrian War: Regional, international and humanitarian impact
This session will examine the political and humanitarian dynamics behind the Arab Spring and the Syrian War. Starting with a long view of the events leading to the Arab Spring, it will analyse the regional and international repercussions of the uprisings.
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Biotechnology: For better or worse?
Marianne Talbot talks about the uses and dangers of the relatively new discipline of synthetic biology.
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Fireworks Displays: The chemistry of explosive entertainment
Fireworks consultant, author and former Oxford chemist Dr Tom Smith explains the basic chemistry and construction of fireworks, and their use in modern fireworks displays.
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The Secret Mathematicians
Professor Marcus du Sautoy (New College), Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science, author and broadcaster gives a talk for the 2013 Oxford Alumni Weekend. From composers to painters, writers to choreographers, the mathematician's palette of shapes, patterns and numbers has...
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Measuring Global Poverty
Dr Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) gives a talk for the Oxford Alumni Weekend 2013. What does 'being poor' really mean? The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, or MPI, is an international measure of acute poverty covering more than 100...
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Writing Contemporary Fiction: From Inspiration to Publication
James Benmore (Kellogg), Samantha Shannon (St Anne's) and Sam Thompson (St Anne's) talk about their work as writers. Chaired by Dr Clare Morgan (Kellogg), author and Director of the Master of Studies in Creative Writing. Whether you're an aspiring author or simply a fan of contemporary fiction,...
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Physics in the 21st Century
Dr John Wheater (Head of Physics Department), Emeritus Professor Derek Stacey and Dr Jay Watson (alumnus), give a talk about the Oxford Physics department and the study of physics today.
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A Successful Strategy for Building Normal Brains - Nature or Nurture?
Dr Simon Butt (Keble), Fellow and Tutor in Neuroscience, gives a talk for the Oxford Alumni Weekend. The human brain is an amazingly complex organ, yet at the moment of conception we are formed of a single fertilised egg, the potential of which will be sculpted over the years ahead by a variety…
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Against All Odds: Recovering the first climate data from the central Sahara
Professor Richard Washington, Professor of Climate Science at the School of Geography and the Environment; Fellow and Tutor in Geography, Keble College, gives a talk for the 2013 Oxford Alumni Weekend. In summer the central Sahara is a brutally hot and inhospitable place largely devoid of people....
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Divided Nations: Why global governance is failing, and what we can do about it
In this lecture, Professor Goldin presents ideas from his latest book and focuses on issues such as the financial crisis, the internet, pandemics, migration and climate change, in order to highlight the need for urgent global action.
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Big Data and Drug Discovery (The Osler Discussion)
'Big data' in medicine is an emerging field with the potential to revolutionise healthcare research.This session will look at how Oxford is addressing some of these research opportunities and challenges.
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Trust, Free Speech and British Pluralism in the 21st Century
With digital broadcasting increasing and newspaper readership falling, how should we respond in ways that ensure the free flow of information that is essential in a pluralist society?
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Darwin's Fish: Evolutionary controversies in the fossil record
See how modern analyses of the fossil record, genetics and development provide a new understanding of flatfish evolution, and how this bears on both the great flatfish controversy and the rate and nature of evolutionary change more broadly.
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Socrates and 'The Hemlock Cup'
This lecture, based on the recent biography by Bettany Hughes, looks at Socrates' life, following in his footsteps across Greece and Asia Minor and examining the new archaeological discoveries that shed light on his world.
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Exploring the Universe
Dr Rana Irshad, University of Oxford, gives a brief whistle-stop tour of the exciting initiatives Oxford has running in exploring the vast expanse of the Universe in which we live.
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The Arrogance of Power: Senator Fulbright's Concept and Today's World
Sir Adam Roberts, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Oxford, gives a talk for the Oxford Alumni Weekend 2013.
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What the World Needs Now from the Environmental Movement
Dr Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, gives a talk for the Oxford Alumni Weekend 2013. Some have described the current moment of world history as a 'perfect storm', as a range of crises converge. The impacts of climate change are picking up speed with often devastating...
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Colliding Continents
Geologist Mike Searle gives a beautifully illustrated talk on his expeditions and field research in many remote locations, over 25 years.
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The Oxford English Dictionary: From Victorian venture to the digital age endeavour
Fiona McPherson, Senior Editor, Oxford English Dictionary, explores the OED's journey through the last century, from paper to screen, and how the digital age ensures that the OED remains as relevant as ever.
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The Battle for the Black Vote: Findings from the Ethnic Minority Election Survey
Professor Anthony Heath (Nuffield), Emeritus Professor of Sociology, presents findings from the ESRC-funded Ethnic Minority British Election Survey.
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The Fraud of Forgiveness without Reconciliation in Economic Life.
Dr Michael Black (Blackfriers Hall) speaking at the 2013 Oxford Alumni Weekend.
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Reporting Education
Reeta Chakrabarti, BBC Education Correspondent, gives the third annual Oxford Education Society lecture. She looks at changes in education policy under the Coalition government and the challenges of reporting them.
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Spain and Europe, Old Myths and New Realities
W.H.Auden described Spain as "...that arid square, that fragment nipped off from hot Africa, soldered so crudely to inventive Europe". This discussion looks in more detail at Spain's place in Europe, as well as the image and reality of Spain today. The panel includes Charles Powell, Director of…
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The Spanish Golden Age
A session chaired by Dr Frances Lannon that examines this period of flourishing arts and literature in Spain, which coincided with the political rise and subsequent decline of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Renowned historian and author Professor Sir John Elliott (Oriel) gives the first talk on…
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Shakespeare's Fools
Professor of English, Katherine Duncan-Jones, discusses the real life characters and contemporaries of Shakespeare that inspired, shaped, and on occasion performed the various roles of the 'fool' in much of his work. Shakespeare's fools, in sync with Shakespeare's revolutionary ideas about…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The annual Oxford University Alumni Weekend aims to showcase the Collegiate University as a whole, giving prominence to a range of current research and its application to real world situations, as well as recognising the achievements of Oxford men and women.This series also includes podcasts from other alumni events including study days and the Oxford European Reunion.Past themes include "A Global Oxford" (2008), "Equal Citizenship" (2009) and "Shared Treasures" (2010).
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Oxford University
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Alumni Weekend have?
Alumni Weekend currently has 132 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Alumni Weekend about?
The annual Oxford University Alumni Weekend aims to showcase the Collegiate University as a whole, giving prominence to a range of current research and its application to real world situations, as well as recognising the achievements of Oxford men and women.This series also includes podcasts from...
How often does Alumni Weekend release new episodes?
Alumni Weekend publishes regularly with 132 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Alumni Weekend?
You can listen to Alumni Weekend on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Alumni Weekend?
Alumni Weekend is created and hosted by Oxford University.
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