The Pitzer Laboratory of Osteoarthritis Research investigates cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to the development of osteoarthritis. Our hypothesis is that environmental signals such as overloading, injury or inflammation trigger stress in chondrocytes. Under stress, they then produce inferior cartilage, degrade articular cartilage or undergo apoptosis. In three-dimensional cell cultures of human chondrocytes under hypoxia, we show that stimulation of selected Toll-like receptors impairs cartilage matrix production and induces a catabolic, inflammatory state. Furthermore, we identified candidate genes that may control the growth of blood vessels and bone in the joint area. This finding could be therapeutically useful to limit cartilage ossification and the formation of osteophytes in osteoarthritis. ---- Prof. Dr. Max Löhning is head of the Pitzer Laboratory of Osteoarthritis Research at the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin (DRFZ) and at the Charité – University Medicine Berlin. M.L. studied Biology at the University of Mainz and did his dissertation in immunology at the Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne (2000). He was a visiting researcher at William E. Paul (NIH, NIAID, Bethesda, MD), and at Kenneth M. Murphy (Washington University-School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO), USA, and then a postdoctoral fellow of Schering Foundation with Rolf M. Zinkernagel and Hans Hengartner at the Institute of Experimental Immunology, ETH and University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland (2003-2006). Then he was appointed Lichtenberg Professor of Experimental Immunology, supported by Volkswagen Foundation, at the Charité – University Medicine Berlin (2006-2015). In 2015, he was appointed University Professor of Osteoarthritis Research at the Charité and head of the Pitzer Laboratory of Osteoarthritis Research, funded by Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation, at the DRFZ Berlin. He was awarded several prizes: the Georges-Köhler-Prize (2010) and Otto-Westphal-Prize (2000) from the German Society for Immunology (DGfI), the Avrion-Mitchison-Prize for Rheumatology (2000) of the Ernst Schering Foundation, and the Robert Koch Foundation’s Postdoctoral Award (2004). He is member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and spokesperson of the class Biological Sciences and Medicine.
I will tell about a long story in interacting particle systems that emerged across decades in several stages: 1. A second class particle in asymmetric exclusion (ASEP) and in an exponential bricklayers process (EBPL) sees certain shock-like distributions stationary. 2. Such shock-like distributions perform a simple random walk in both ASEP and EBLP (what does that mean...?) 3. It is in fact the second class particle in the middle of the shock that does the random walk (what does THIS mean...?). Besides ASEP and EBLP, it also works for an exponential zero range process (EZRP). 4. Q-zero range is yet another example that has this random walking property. The second class particle really helps to reveal this secret here. The last step is recent, the ones before are old results. (Joint work with Gyorgy Farkas, Peter Kovacs, Attila Rakos; Lewis Duffy, Dimitri Pantelli)
(An opportunity to share strategies for archiving techniques, software, and strategising as well as general advice with regard to travelling in the US)
Transitional Justice and the Prosecution of Political Leaders in the Arab Region (Hart 2017) argues that the Arab region presents the strongest challenge yet to the conventional understanding of transitional justice. Transitional justice scholarship and practice has predominantly operated on the assumption that transitions entail a shift from violent, authoritarian rule to liberal, democratic rule. As we all know, this has not been the case in the Arab region. Instead, transitional justice has served as a battleground for competing visions of justice. Demons of the past that have morphed into the present continue to hijack transitional justice processes, and in particular the prosecution of political leaders. How can we understand the pursuit of transitional justice in the context of resurgent authoritarianism and ongoing conflict? This brings to the fore two questions that target the heart of transitional justice: what is meant by ‘transition’? And what is meant by ‘justice’?
As Latin American cities deal with the effects of population growth and insufficient infrastructure provision, informal car share (ICS) is increasingly filling the gap in transportation choice for underserved populations. ICS is the use of private vehicles to provide transportation for a fare that is neither taxed nor monitored by any type of government. Although this practice contributes significantly to development and economic growth, it is often stigmatized as an urban mistake and little is known about how this system functions. The purpose of this research is to understand the characteristics of ICS and the value that it provides to cities. The city of Quito, Ecuador was used as an analytical case study because of its similarity with many other developing cities within the Andean region of Latin America. Results indicate that Quito’s ICS is significantly improving quality of life as well as contributing to the resiliency of the city. Without any other transportation service available to Quito’s peripheral communities, capturing the value that this informal system provides may help change its stigma as an urban mistake and, instead, offer strategies to promote urban interventions towards more inclusive and sustainable solutions.
In eukaryotic cycling cells, two centrioles, the microtubule (MT)-based nano cylinders, with the peri-centriolar matrix (PCM) form a centrosome. The centriole biogenesis generally occurs once per cell cycle to tightly regulate its number. After cells exist cell cycle, these nano-cylinders can template the skeleton of cilia, also called sensing hairs and propeller of cells. Given that these nanomachines have critical sensing, motility and cytoskeleton-organising functions, their alteration/deregulation causes several human diseases, such as cancer (occurs is 1 in 3 individuals worldwide) and ciliopathies (frequency is >1:1000 people in Europe and America). Strikingly, in the later diseases, the mutations affect either all or specific tissue(s) (e.g., eye, kidney and sperm) at various ages of our life, often showing defects similar to ageing pathologies. I will talk about the new mechanisms on how the number and diversity of centrosome-cilia are regulated in time and space in animal cells, including the fruit fly. Subsequently, I will discuss to highlight how these findings would immensely help not only better understand these nano-organelles´ evolution and biology, but also the associated-human disorders.
At the Uganda Cancer Institute, lines often blur between past and present, sickness and health, life and death. Founded in 1967 as a small chemotherapy clinical trials facility in Kampala, today the Institute’s 60 beds serve a population catchment of over 40 million living in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The Institute houses the only continuous collection of patient records documenting cancer treatment and care on the African continent. This talk considers the temporal, methodological, and ethical challenges of preserving patient records at the Uganda Cancer Institute.
The happiness of individuals is an important metric for societies, but we know little about how the cumulative influence of daily life events are aggregated into subjective feelings. Using computational modeling, I show that momentary happiness in a decision-making task is explained not by task earnings, but by the combined influence of past rewards and expectations. The robustness of this account was evident in a large-scale smartphone-based replication. I use a combination of neuroimaging and pharmacology to investigate the neural basis of happiness, finding that it relates to dopamine. I then show that this computational approach can be used to investigate the link between mood and behaviour in psychiatric disorders including major depression and bipolar disorder.
Eli Fenichel is an Associate Professor at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. His research approaches natural resource management and sustainability as a portfolio management problem by considering natural resources as a form of capital. Eli is interested in how people can and do allocate natural resources and natural resource risks through time. This leads to a strong interest in feedbacks among humans, ecosystems, and the management of coupled ecological-economic processes. His research is applied in a wide variety of systems including: natural capital valuation, fisheries, infectious disease, groundwater, tropical forests, and grasslands. For more information see Eli Fenichel's Research page (https://environment.yale.edu/profile/eli-fenichel/research).
What role do corporate boards play in compliance? This paper seeks to assess public companies’ engagement with compliance at the Director and board level. While corporate enforcement and compliance failures could not be more high-profile, and they have placed the board in the position of responding to systemic problems, very little empirical literature exists on the role of boards in compliance. We present empirical evidence describing the use of corporate prosecution agreements to mandate a board-level role in compliance. We then analyze the pattern of adoption and the role of board compliance committees in U.S. public companies. We explore competing hypotheses concerning the extent of companies’ engagement with compliance. The insurance hypothesis suggests companies are motivated to engage with compliance by the prospect of more favorable treatment should they be targeted by prosecuting authorities. The governance hypothesis suggests that corporate engagement with compliance is affected by firm-level governance attributes, including board structure and director compensation. To shed light on these hypotheses, we explore the relationships between corporate engagement with compliance (proxied by the creation of compliance committees) and, on the one hand, firm-specific governance, and on the other, exogenous enforcement intensity. We conclude that despite a standard account that compliance has boomed in response to enforcement, particularly criminal enforcement, even in areas of aggressive enforcement, boards do not typically adopt compliance committees. Given the failure of a deterrent “stick” to promote a formal board role in compliance, we conclude by examining alternative proposals for how boards can be more centrally involved in compliance. Paper available at https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/events/board-compliance
Mujtaba (Mij) Rahman leads the firm's analysis on Europe, helping clients navigate elections, Brexit, EU-Turkey dynamics, bailout politics in Greece, European Central Bank politics and policy and EU sanctions policy against Russia, to name a few recent issues. Prior to joining Eurasia Group, Mujtaba worked at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and at the UK Treasury. He is an adjunct professor at New York University's Stern Business School and Sciences-Po in Paris, as well as a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, and teaches political risk to graduate students at all three institutions. He is likewise a nonresident fellow at ESADE Business School's Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and is regularly quoted in the Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Bloomberg and many other publications.
This seminar will provide an assessment of the development of research in subject-based education, and of its future prospects. Using geography education as an exemplar, it will offer a challenging critique of this field of research. Importantly, in a period of radical change for all education research and researchers, the seminar represents a timely appraisal of possible ways forward for subject research in the field. The intention is to help us further understand the unsteady, sporadic and increasingly insecure development of subject-based education research. However, despite the obvious challenges, the aim is to outline realistic ways forward for geography education, and other subject-based, researchers.
When people think of physics, their most common image is of Einstein or of a particle accelerator or other laboratory site. Although much of physics fits comfortably within the dichotomy of theory versus laboratory, a lot of physics occurs in other settings. This talk focusses on the history of geophysics and space physics, areas in which much of the important research of the 19th and 20th centuries was pursued either in observatories or in the field. Whether it is the history of geomagnetism or of seismology, of atmospheric properties or magnetic storms, the stories of these researches must include field work and observatory measurement, in addition to laboratory testing, and theory and modelling. The talk will conclude with an overview of the work of the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics and with a view towards the future needs of the history of physics.
A panel discussion to launch the Oxford Critical Theory Network with Professor Lois McNay, Professor Alice Crary, and Dr Eleni Philippou, followed by a drinks reception.
When people think of physics, their most common image is of Einstein or of a particle accelerator or other laboratory site. Although much of physics fits comfortably within the dichotomy of theory versus laboratory, a lot of physics occurs in other settings. This talk focusses on the history of geophysics and space physics, areas in which much of the important research of the 19th and 20th centuries was pursued either in observatories or in the field. Whether it is the history of geomagnetism or of seismology, of atmospheric properties or magnetic storms, the stories of these researches must include field work and observatory measurement, in addition to laboratory testing, and theory and modelling. The talk will conclude with an overview of the work of the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics and with a view towards the future needs of the history of physics.
The Centre for the Resolution of Intractible Conflict is honoured to host Ambassador Thomas Greminger the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. OSCE is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections. The Ambassador will outline how the OSCE offers multilateral responses to our current security challenges.
Ambassador Thomas Greminger was appointed Secretary General of the OSCE on 18 July 2017 for a three-year term. Ambassador Greminger joined the diplomatic service of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1990 and has held numerous senior management positions during his career.Prior to his appointment as OSCE Secretary General, he was Deputy Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, overseeing an annual budget of USD 730 million and 900 staff in Bern and abroad. From 2010 to 2015, Greminger was the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OSCE, serving as Chair of the Permanent Council during Switzerland’s 2014 OSCE Chairmanship. Prior to his assignment at the Permanent Delegation of Switzerland to the OSCE, Greminger was Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affair’s Human Security Division, Switzerland’s competence centre for peace, human rights, and humanitarian and migration policy. Thomas Greminger holds a PhD in history from the University of Zurich and the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (General Staff) in the Swiss Armed Forces.He has authored a number of publications on military history, conflict management, peacekeeping, development and human rights. His mother tongue is German; he speaks fluent English and French, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese. In 2012, he was awarded the OSCE white ribbon for his long-standing support for gender equality.
Where is the Labour party going? Has it swung too far to the left? In this talk, Peter Hitchens talks about Corbyn's ascent to the top of the Labour party and considers the impact of Cobynism as a doctrine.
We need to talk. Talk about climate change. Or the climate crisis? Climate breakdown? Either way: Ensuring an effective communication about the importance of climate action is crucial if we are to protect global stability. We invite you for an exchange with leading experts on how to best talk about climate change and climate action. With Karen Brandon (Communications Officer, Stockholm Environment Institute Oxford), Gethin Chamberlain (Freelance Photojournalist) and an expert from Climate Outreach. Venue: Gottman Room, School of Geography and the Environment
What is open access? What does it mean for researchers and research students at Oxford University? What should you do about it? How do you find out about your research council or funder's requirements, and what your publisher will allow? Who pays what, to whom and when? What are the different 'routes' and charges, and how can you claim for an Article Processing Charge? Come along and ask your questions, find out about any new developments such as the OA policy for REF 2010 and the New University policy for the RCUK Open Access block grant. And, crucially, find out where you can get further help as you need it. This session is part of International Open Access Week.
At this talk we have Dr Ariell Ahearn-Ligham (Geography Department) and Dr Abrar Choudhury (Said Business School) talking about Adaptation in Diverse Food Systems. Please sign up here by Monday midday. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/food-thinkers-lunch-adaptation-in-diverse-food-systems-tickets-51526332648 The idea of these is that we have lunch in the private dining room (space for about 20) and hear from two speakers working on food-related issues. We then open it up for questions and discussion. The overall aim is that we have a chance to bring together the food community at Oxford (graduate students and staff), encourage multi-disciplinary engagement, and have a nice lunch in a relaxed atmosphere. Importantly, lunch is paid for!
Pre-circulated paper: contact peter.thompson@history.ox.ac.uk.
Full details of this seminar series are available at the following link: http://www.davidronayne.net/lgn-seminar We consider social learning settings in which a group of agents face uncertainty regarding a state of the world, observe private signals, share the same utility function, and act in a general dynamic setting. We introduce Social Learning Equilibria, a static equilibrium concept that abstracts away from the details of the given extensive form, but nevertheless captures the corresponding asymptotic equilibrium behavior. We establish conditions for agreement, herding, and information aggregation in equilibrium, highlighting a connection between agreement and information aggregation.
Since 2014, the changing nature of threats to international peace and security, in particular, the threat posed by terrorism, has demanded a more rapid pace of change in policy-making at the United Nations and has, in part, led to wider institutional reform within the organization aimed at developing a One UN approach to counter-terrorism. In addition, increasingly complex terrorist threats have led to a broadening of the informational and analytical resources available to inform the work of the Security Council, following demands from its Member States for a more granular and dynamic analysis of threats; and a greater willingness on the part of the Security Council to entertain engagement with civil society and academia, aimed at increasing the impact of multilateral efforts on counter-terrorism. Elizabeth Joyce is Chief for Asia-Pacific and the Americas at the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), a subsidiary organ of the United Nations Security Council. She has an M.Phil. in Latin American Studies and a D.Phil. in Politics from Oxford University, where she was a member of St. Peter’s College. A light sandwich lunch is served at 12.50pm. All are welcome.
About the speaker: Léa Macias is a PhD student in contemporary anthropology at EHESS (Paris) under the supervision of Michel Agier (EHESS- IIAC/IRD) and Kamel Doraï (CNRS/Ifpo) and a researcher at Télécom ParisTech with the E Diaspora team. She holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from IEDES (Paris 1 Sorbonne University) and conducted humanitarian needs assessments in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and the Balkans between 2014-2016 for an NGO. Her PhD research focuses on the development of statistical tools and information management initiatives in the humanitarian sector. Her research aims at exploring the statistical tools used and data collected by various humanitarian actors in refugee camp settings and later measuring its impacts on the humanitarian intervention, the geography of the camp and the refugees involved in these exercises.
Behaving appropriately under threat is key to survival. In my talk, I will provide a decision-theoretic view on this action selection problem and ask, what are computational algorithms and neural controllers that underlie this behavior. Non-human animal data tentatively suggest a specific architecture that relies on tailored algorithms for specific threat scenarios. To make this plausible in humans, I build on fear-conditioning paradigms, as well as on a translation of approach-avoidance conflict (AAC), a classical rodent anxiety model, to human computer games. I will analyze possible cognitive-computational algorithms for behavioral control and learning in these tasks, and their neural implementation.
Dr Roser Vento-Tormo is an EMBO/HFSP postdoctoral fellow in Sarah Teichmann lab at the Sanger Institute, Cambridge. Roser is interested in using single-cell transcriptomics to study cell-cell communication. Her work now focuses on mapping the female reproductive tissue, and studying maternal-fetal communication during pregnancy using single-cell transcriptomics.
Recent developments in technology have enabled the exploration of complex biological systems at the single cell level, leading to new insights in the way the immune system is regulated in conditions such as cancer or auto-immune disorders. One of these technologies, mass cytometry, is now being applied in the context of clinical trials as a way to gain insights into the mechanism of action of treatments, as well as to unravel determinants of patient response. These new applications pose significant challenges for data analysis, and in this presentation Yann Abraham, a computational immunologist with Janssen Pharmaceutical, will cover issues such as quality control, batch correction and single cell differential analysis, and the computational solutions that have been developed to address them.
Come and ask questions about involving the public in your research. Learn from colleagues and the experts.
Yakov M. Rabkin is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Montreal. His analyses of Jewish and Israeli issues have appeared in various venues. His books, A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism, and What is Modern Israel won international praise and were translated into several languages
Sign up to meet with the speaker at the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJbG-r8MQZ9VCgwYdY6VZGDndIwnnJd5SigFyq_JipM/edit#gid=0
Two sessions co-hosted by the Building Integrity Programme: Session 1: Reflections on the general elections Speakers Timothy Power is Professor of Latin American Politics at the University of Oxford. Maria Herminia Tavares de Almeida is a Professor at the University of Sao Paulo of International Relations and Political Science. Felipe Rigoni is an Oxford MPP alumnus and a Federal Congressman (elect) for the State of Espirito Santo. Tabata Amaral is a young social activist and a Federal Congresswoman (elect) for the State of São Paulo. Session 2: Research talks: local government management impacts of anti-corruption institutions Speakers: Andreza de Souza Santos is the Departmental Lecturer of "Political Economy in Latin America" in the Latin America Centre, University of Oxford. André de Aquino is an Associate Professor at the University of São Paulo and visiting researcher at the University of Birmingham/UK. André Feliciano Lino is pursuing a PHD in accountability at the University of São Paulo and the University of Birmingham.
One of the most powerful Islamic militant groups in Africa, Al-Shabaab exerts Taliban-like rule over millions in Somalia & poses a growing threat to stability in the Horn of Africa. Somalis risk retaliation or death if they oppose or fail to comply with Al-Shabaab-imposed restrictions on aspects of everyday life such as clothing, media, sports, interpersonal relations, & prayer. Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al-Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally recounts the rise, fall, & resurgence of this overlooked terrorist organization & provides an intimate understanding of its connections with Al-Qaeda. Drawing from interviews with former Al-Shabaab militants, including high-ranking officials, military commanders, police, & foot soldiers, authors Harun Maruf & Dan Joseph reveal the motivations of those who commit their lives to the group & its violent jihadist agenda. A wealth of sources including US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks, letters taken from the Pakistani hideout of Osama bin Laden, case files from the prosecution of American Al-Shabaab members, emails from Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, & Al-Shabaab's own statements & recruiting videos inform Maruf & Joseph's investigation of the United States' campaign against Al-Shabaab & how the 2006 US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia gave the group the popular support it needed to radicalize ordinary citizens & become a powerful movement.
Photography mediates our experience of the world, especially in a culture powered by images at an unprecedented level. Social media, alternative facts, debates about post-truth and fake news make our negotiation between what is real or fake challenging. Beyond or perhaps before our cognitive judgments about images, we respond and relate to visual culture in visceral, embodied ways. We ran a series of experiments to understand how our visceral responses, as the basis of subjective feelings, influence our relation and response to photojournalistic images. First, participants saw a series of photojournalistic images, while we measured their neurophysiological (heartrate acceleration and heartbeat-evoked potentials) and affective arousal. Next, they were informed they would see the same images again and judge whether the images were real (i.e. photos capturing an event as it happened depicting genuine emotions) or fake. Thereby we were able to assess the relation between levels of neurophysiological and affective arousal and the participants’ cognitive judgements of realness. Our findings over several experiments highlight the crucial role that ‘feeling in seeing’ plays as in determining our beliefs about realness in a political culture powered by images. The multidisciplinary approach that we propose compliments the visual turn in global politics and the emotional turn in history as we are trying to figure out who we are when we look at and being moved by images.
Please sign up for meeting using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eTUvKW-onEzp681ri-yQa8KSWOYRJC81y_6GEmwQTp0/edit#gid=0
This paper focuses on the role of secretaries in shaping an Ottoman diplomatic discourse on the Ottoman conflicts with the Safavids and Mamluks during the reign of Selim I (r. 1512–20). Understandably, most scholarship on the diplomatic interactions of the Ottoman Sultanate with its eastern neighbours during these years has focused on the exchange of royal letters between the Ottomans and their principal adversaries. Significantly, throughout these years of tumultuous conflict, the Ottoman Sultanate also developed and maintained a much broader correspondence with other eastern polities and prominent notables in an effort to explain and legitimize its campaigns and conquests, to obtain logistical support and intelligence from local allies in Iran, and to initiate military alliances with other major powers designed to bring about a decisive end to the rule of the Safavid shah Ismail (r. 1501–24) in Iran. Crucially, secretaries, and especially Persian émigré secretaries, were central to the realization of these objectives. In their work within the Ottoman chancery, these secretaries drew upon their broad learning and mastery of epistolography (insha) in composing Ottoman royal letters, the form of which contributed significantly to their political or diplomatic function. In composing these documents, these émigré secretaries frequently drew upon decades of administrative experience within courts in Iran and rekindled their trans-imperial networks of scholarly and professional affiliation in an effort to mould a unified international discourse of anti-Safavid opposition and advance the quickly evolving and complex Ottoman ‘eastern policy’.
Does high consumption make us happier? As much as we like it not to be true, electricity consumption correlates positively with enjoyment. This is a problem for all who wish we used less. This week we will explore how *valuable* energy is to people, rather than just how costly it is. High resolution data from hundreds of UK households can shine a light on the diversity of electricity uses, the activity patterns underlying them and the enjoyment perceived at the time. Important stuff if demand side response is to deliver on its promise. If using more makes us happier, what happens when we intervene to reduce demand? Find out - there is a happy twist.
Dr Homa Katouzian is the Iran Heritage Foundation Research Fellow, St Antony’s College, and Member, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. He is editor of Iranian Studies, Journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies and co-editor of the ISIS-Routledge book series in Iranian studies. He taught and published in economics for eighteen years, but his recent and current research interests are in Iranian history and politics, the comparative sociology of Iranian and European history, and modern and classical Persian literature. He has worked, as tenured staff or visitor, at Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Leeds; University of California, Sane Diego; University of Kent at Canterbury; Pahlavi University and McMaster University.
While previous works have extensively studied how authoritarian governments use state violence to suppress political expression and deter collective action, little is known about the effect of violence and its effects in democratic countries. Does the experience of state repression polarize views against the democratic regime? Does it foster or suppress political participation? Who is more likely to be affected? We address these questions by exploring the impact of police violence during the 2017 Catalan independence referendum on the subsequent regional election scheduled two months later. Leveraging panel data on election results from the 2012, 2015 and 2017 elections and distance to the police headquarter as an instrumental variable, we examine whether violent interventions by the Spanish police during the independence referendum affected turnout and pro-independence support. In addition, we delve into the mechanism and exploit an original survey conducted in several polling stations, half of them 'treated' with police violence during the Election Day. Overall, we find that violence increased the relative share of the votes received by pro-independence parties, although the effect is driven by a higher propensity to abstain among unionist voters. Results shed light on the impact of state violence on political polarization and mass political participation.
Followed by a drinks reception; all welcome Convenor: Marek Jankowiak (marek.jankowiak@history.ox.ac.uk)
The almost simultaneous demise of the Estado Novo in Portugal (1933–1974) and the Francoist regime in Spain (1939–1975) took place through revolution and pacted transition, respectively, becoming the canon for the third wave of democratization. Forty years later, the Great Recession forced a revisiting of the period of transitions, especially by a younger generation of activists who began to challenge established narratives that regarded the mid-1970s as a political masterpiece. This paper analyses the complex relation between past and present using oral histories with the so-called second generation of the transitions, namely people who have only “projective memories” of the 1970s, seen especially through their participation in the 2011 indignados movements. It argues that this radical re-evaluation of democratisation in the two countries turned the conflicting generational recollections of these events into pivotal components of present political contestation. It thus showcases how the redeeming power of the Spanish ‘Transición’ and the Portuguese ‘Revoluçao’ animates the political, cultural and public discourse of these young people, who, although (or precisely because) they have not experienced these events directly, keep returning to them to make sense of contemporary politics. Kostis Kornetis studied history in Munich, London and Florence. He taught at Brown University and New York University and was Marie Skłodowska Curie Experienced Fellow at the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid. His book Children of the Dictatorship: Student Resistance, Cultural Politics and the “Long 1960s” in Greece (Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books, 2013) received the Edmund Keeley Book Prize of the Modern Greek Studies Association in 2015. He has co-edited Metapolitefsi. Greece at the Crossroads of Two Centuries (Athens: Themelio, 2015, in Greek) and Consumption and Gender in Southern Europe since the “late 1960s” (London: Bloomsbury, 2016). He has published extensively on the history and memory of social movements in the European South and is currently working on a manuscript on the generational memory of the transitions to democracy in Spain, Portugal and Greece.
This is a free event but spaces are limited. To register, please contact oceh@history.ox.ac.uk
X-linked retinitis pigmentosa is an incurable genetic disease that causes blindness in men, and affects approximately one in 15,000 people. The disease is caused by a defect in the RPGR gene, which plays a key role in the development and homeostasis of the retinal cells, and is characterized by a severe phenotype and rapid disease progression. Gene therapy using adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors is currently the most promising therapeutic approach to slow or even stop the degeneration of the retina and, eventually, the vision loss. This approach involves the administration of normal copies of the affected RPGR gene back into the cells of the retina to help them to function normally. However, the development of a therapeutic vector for gene therapy represents a challenge because the natural form of the RPGR gene has an unusual genetic code that makes it less stable and more prone to mutations during its production. Our research team overcame this problem by reprogramming the genetic code of the RPGR gene, allowing it to be delivered reliably by an AAV vector into retinal cells. In March 2017, a Phase I/II clinical trial started with the first person in the world receiving the gene therapy vector in an operation led by Professor Robert MacLaren and conducted at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. This trial, known as the XIRIUS study, is ongoing, with patients being treated at the Oxford Eye Hospital, the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Victorian Britain had hundreds, if not thousands, of societies devoted to the cause of self-improvement, many populated by aspiring working-class men (and, later in the century, women). Scientific discussion and debate was very important to these associations. This talk will focus on the little-known archive of their meetings records and the magazines that they produced, showing that these give us significant insight into how, why, and when societies discussed key scientific debates and development, and the ways in which scientific education was perceived as vital to the cause of mutual improvement. This talk is delivered by Dr Lauren Weiss, whose PhD and postdoctoral research has focused on literary societies and mutual improvement magazines, and Prof Kirstie Blair, whose current research is focused on Scottish and Northern working-class literature and culture.
A recent systematic review found that almost half of participants who take placebos in clinical trials experience drug related adverse events (AEs), with 5% of participants dropping out due to ‘drug related’ intolerance. However the placebo per se cannot be the cause of these adverse events. Instead, there are two overlapping likely explanations: 1. Misattribution A patient may have an underlying condition whose natural history produces some event (such as a headache), then the patient misattributes the event to the placebo. 2.Nocebo effects Having been warned about side effects in the patient information sheets, the patient may expect an adverse event. This negative expectation could then produce the event. Nocebo effects may be caused—at least partly—by sharing information about AEs in the wrong way. This causes a tension between the ethical requirements of autonomy and non-maleficence. On the one hand, autonomy demands that patients be fully informed about treatment (adverse events). On the other hand, non-maleficence demands that patients be informed about AE’s in the right way. Ethical discussions of informed consent have focused almost exclusively on autonomy and may therefore been violating the requirement to do no harm. I will discuss ways in which autonomy and non-maleficence can be balanced in future clinical trials and ethical debates.
-Wolff, Janet, ‘The Invisible Flâneuse: Women and the Literature of Modernity’, Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 2, no. 3 (1985), pp. 37-46. -Smith, Mark M., ‘Producing Sense, Consuming Sense, Making Sense: Perils and Prospects for Sensory History’,Journal of Social History, vol. 40, no. 4 (Summer 2007), pp. 841-858. -Corbin, Alain, ‘Preface to the English edition’ and ‘The Great Century of Linen’, in Time, Desire and Horror: Towards a History of the Senses, Polity Press, 1995, pp. iix-x, 13-38.
Come to meet others interested in the history of childhood and to talk about your own research. We will also discuss a recent thought-provoking article: Mona Gleason, ‘Avoiding the Agency Trap: Caveats for Historians of Children, Youth, and Education’, Journal of the History of Education, 45: 4 (2016), pp. 446-59 [available from solo]
The wildlife component of the human/wildlife interfaces where zoonotic pathogens emerge is usually very poorly characterized. This is true both for the wildlife communities themselves and for their parasites. Ecological and veterinary investigations are absolutely required but the infrastructure and manpower needed prevent their broad deployment. Fecal sample analyses are now frequently used to magnify our ability to monitor wildlife and their pathogens. In this presentation, I will show how we can extend our toolkit by using other sources of environmental DNA, with a strong focus on invertebrate-derived DNA.
How does the scarcity of women affect gender norms? We explore the Gold Rush in Western United States in the late 19th century as a natural experiment to answer this question. We use a geographic difference-in-difference methodology, exploiting the location and discovery of the gold deposits and its influence on sex ratios, to understand short term and medium term changes in women’s labor market participation and marriage market opportunities. Gold mining, likely through the oversupply of marriageable men with income, increased marriage rates among women. Women also married older men with higher prestige occupations. Men were less likely to marry. In parallel with the changes to marriage markets, the Gold Rush created a market based service sector economy, potentially catering to men with money but poor marriage prospects. We find support for the hypothesis that these effects persist in the medium term using the 1940 census, also when controlling for contemporaneous sex ratio and presence of mining. Written with Sandra Aguilar-Gomez (School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University)
About the Book Alongside the Renaissance dynasties of the Tudors, Valois, Habsburgs, and Medici once stood the Jagiellonians. Largely forgotten in Britain, their memory remains a powerful element within modern Europe. Remembering the Jagiellonians is the first study of international memories of the Jagiellonians (1386–1596), one of the most powerful but lesser known royal dynasties of Renaissance Europe. It explores how the Jagiellon family has been remembered across Central, Eastern and Northern Europe since the early modern period. The book considers their ongoing role in modern-day culture and politics and their impact on the development of competing modern national identities Offering a wide-ranging panoramic analysis of Jagiellonian memory over five hundred years, this book includes coverage of numerous present-day European countries, ranging from Bavaria to Kiev, and from Stockholm to the Adriatic. It explores how one family are still remembered in over a dozen neighbouring countries. Contributors use memory theory, social science and medieval and early modern European history to engage in an international and interdisciplinary exploration of the relationship between memory and dynasty through time. About the Author Edited by Natalia Nowakowska, Fellow and Associate Professor in History at Somerville College, University of Oxford, and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council (ERC) funded project ‘Jagiellonians: Dynasty, Memory & Identity in Central Europe’. Her previous publications include King Sigismund and Martin Luther: The Reformation before Confessionalization (2018) and Church, State and Dynasty in Renaissance Poland: The Career of Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellon (1468–1503) (2007). Contributors: Natalia Nowakowska, Giedrė Mickūnaitė, Stanislava Kuzmová, Ilya Afanasyev, Dušan Zupka, Susanna Niiranen, Simon M. Lewis, Tetiana Hoshko, Olga Kozubska-Andrusiv.
Stephanie Hare has been working with CognitionX, a start-up providing expertise about Artificial Intelligence (AI), on the topic of AI ethics. She will present the approach she and her CognitionX colleagues have been developing on how to think about AI ethics, including 'why ethics', a taxonomy and definitions, and why AI ethics is important for companies to consider as a core concept when acquiring and managing data, building and maintaining customer trust, and anticipating regulatory trends. Stephanie is a researcher and broadcaster focused on technology, political risk and history. Selected for the BBC Expert Women programme, she contributes regularly to BBC radio and television and has written for The Financial Times, The Herald, Project Syndicate, CNN and The Guardian. Her research showing how EU data protection regulation is forcing US technology companies to change their operating models -- and in doing so puts them at risk of violating data protection regulations and cybersecurity laws elsewhere -- was selected as a Harvard Business Review case study. Her media work and publications are at www.harebrain.co. Previously Stephanie has worked as a principal director at Accenture Research, a strategist at Palantir, and as Senior Analyst for Western Europe at Oxford Analytica. She holds a BA in Liberal Arts in Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MSc in Theory and History of International Relations and a PhD in International History, both from the LSE. All are welcome. Lunch will be provided at 12.15pm.
Free Lunch Provided
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-faith reading where people of all faiths gather and reflect on short passages from their scriptures together. There is sometimes overlap between texts where different faiths share their Scriptures. It is a worldwide movement www.scripturalreasoning.org and this is the major meeting in Oxford. We spend time with texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, and discuss ancient, medieval, and modern interpretations of Scripture, modern day practices which reflect these texts, and what they mean personally for individuals and faith communities. Free, simple kosher snacks may be provided.
Do you need help managing your references? Do you need help citing references in your documents? This hour-long session will introduce you to Mendeley (www.mendeley.com) – a free programme which can help you to store, organise and retrieve your references and PDFs; as well as cite references in documents and create bibliographies quickly and easily. The session will cover creating your own Mendeley account and installing Mendeley Desktop; importing references from PubMed or directly from a database such as Ovic Embase; how to annotate and manage PDFs using Mendeley; how to synchronise your desktop and web libraries; creating a bibliography and citing references in document. Intended Audience: Postgraduate students, researchers and university staff based on the Old Road Campus or in Medical Sciences Division departments elsewhere in Headington.
About the seminar: Marriage, in Afghanistan, is a highly strategic affair. In most cases, Afghan parents carefully manage who their children marry. This is done to forge alliances and accrue financial benefits. At the same time, marriage also serves to maintain community boundaries — be they familial, religious or ethnic. These boundaries are often stark; with prolonged conflict making interethnic and intersectarian marriage uncommon. Yet, since the US-led intervention in Afghanistan, intergenerational modes of control have begun to falter and marriage patterns have begun to shift. In the Bamyan Valley — deep in the mountainous Central Highlands of the country — “escape marriage” or elopement has become increasingly common, as has the retaliatory violence it engenders. A series of high-profile elopement cases, between members of two ethnic communities, have captivated the local media. Hazarah men are “escaping” with Sayid women; which is being met with mounting violence and growing ethnic tensions. Young women and men in Bamyan are caught between familial/ethnic expectations and their personal desire—backed by Human Rights institutions—to marry those they choose. Based on extended ethnographic research in Afghanistan’s Bamyan Valley, this lecture will discuss the emerging phenomenon of “escape marriage” and the underlying mechanisms that foster it. It will do this by exposing the shifting social landscape in Afghanistan and by drawing linkages between the formation of the new Afghan State, the emergence of educational opportunities for women, the action of Human Rights institutions and, ultimately, the changing nature of marriage and elopement. This lecture will explore how and why young Bamyani men and women navigate the treacherous ground between love and lineage.
Felipe Pereda, ‘Vox populi: Carnal blood, spiritual milk, and the debate surrounding the Immaculate conception, ca. 1600’, Medieval Encounters 24:1-3 (2018): 286-334; Carmen Fracchia, ‘The fall into oblivion of the works of the slave painter Juan de Pareja’, Art in Translation 4:2 (2012): 163-184; Rebecca Earle, ‘The pleasures of taxonomy: Casta paintings, classification and colonialism’, William & Mary Quarterly 73:3 (2016): 427-466.
TBA
Biotic connectivity between ecosystems can provide major transport of organic matter and nutrients, influencing ecosystem structure and productivity, yet the implications are poorly understood owing to human disruptions of natural flows. When abundant, seabirds feeding in the open ocean transport large quantities of nutrients onto islands, enhancing the productivity of island fauna and flora. Whether leaching of these nutrients back into the sea influences the productivity, structure and functioning of adjacent coral reef ecosystems is not known. I address this question using a rare natural experiment in the Chagos Archipelago, in which some islands are rat-infested and others are rat-free. I found that seabird densities and nitrogen deposition rates are 760 and 251 times higher, respectively, on islands where humans have not introduced rats. Consequently, rat-free islands had substantially higher nitrogen stable isotope (δ15N) values in soils and shrubs, reflecting pelagic nutrient sources. These higher values of δ15N were also apparent in macroalgae, filter-feeding sponges, turf algae and fish on adjacent coral reefs. Herbivorous damselfish on reefs adjacent to the rat-free islands grew faster, and fish communities had higher biomass across trophic feeding groups, with 48% greater overall biomass. Rates of two critical ecosystem functions, grazing and bioerosion, were 3.2 and 3.8 times higher, respectively, adjacent to rat-free islands. Collectively, these results reveal how rat introductions disrupt nutrient flows among pelagic, island and coral reef ecosystems. Thus, rat eradication on oceanic islands should be a high conservation priority as it is likely to benefit terrestrial ecosystems and enhance coral reef productivity and functioning by restoring seabird-derived nutrient subsidies from large areas of ocean. Prof Nick Graham is a Royal Society Research Fellow and a Chair in Marine Ecology, based at the Lancaster Environment Centre. He tackles large-scale ecological and social-ecological coral reef issues under the overarching themes of climate change, human use and resilience. Nick has assessed the impacts of climate induced coral bleaching on coral reef fish assemblages, fisheries and ecosystem stability. He has studied the patterns and processes by which degraded coral reefs recover, and how this can be influenced by management. He has also worked extensively on the ecological ramifications of fishing and closed area management.
How can we ensure that women are equally mentored in their research career? What can research teams do to support female researchers and enumerators in the field? Are we networking the wrong way? The gender imbalance within the economics profession has been a hot topic of late. While big-picture and structural problems often take centre stage, we tend to neglect the day-to-day dynamics. For development economists, these typically involve co-authorship relationships, supervision, networking, mentorship, managing field teams, writing grant applications, and designing surveys. We hope to open a constructive discussion about concrete strategies that we as a CSAE community can adopt in the midst of the debate surrounding diversity within the economics profession. Join us for a panel discussion with Abi Adams, Stefan Dercon, Cheryl Doss, and Muhammad Meki, with Kate Orkin as moderator.
The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School brings you a series of talks on understanding the interconnections between environmental and human health.
Surabhi Shukla is DPhil (law) student at the University of Oxford. She researches in the area of constitutional theory. The talk is based on her ongoing DPhil thesis which attempts to propose a methodological approach to constitutional interpretation based on an exploration of the value system behind each provision.
Asylum seekers, refugees, and undocumented migrants often draw attention to the global colonial histories which give context to their present situation. And yet these connections are rarely made by academics. This presentation explores aspects of my recent book ‘Asylum After Empire: Postcolonial Legacies in the Politics of Asylum Seeking’. The aim of the book is to begin theorising asylum policy within the context of such histories; to make sense of contemporary public policy developments on asylum within the context of histories of colonialism. The book is a historical sociology which brings together postcolonial and decolonial theories on the hierarchical ordering of human beings, troubling the supposedly universal category of ‘man’ within the epistemological framework of ‘modernity’, and naming the response of the British state (which acts as the case study) to contemporary asylum seekers as an example of the coloniality of power. It is an attempt to make sense of the dehumanisation of asylum seekers not as racism, but as enmeshed within interconnected histories -of ideas of distinct geographically located ‘races’, of human beings as hierarchy organised in relation to civilization, and of colonial power relations. In this sense, I am taking as my starting point the sophisticated analyses of forced migrants and sans-papiers and elaborating their conclusions with academic study. https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/events/asylum-after-empire-postcolonial-legacies-in-the-politics-of-asylum-seeking
This is a joint event with INET Oxford Technological change involves many economic, social and individual human factors that are interwoven in a complex pattern; thus, technological change serves as an exemplar for a complex socio-technical system. Moreover, some individual factors central to technological change are challenging areas with more unknown than understood: among these areas are individual creative invention, scientific interplay with technology, new business formation, human/product interactions and others. In this lecture, technological change and socio-technical system expert, Chris Magee, Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow and Professor at the Institute for Data, Systems and Society at MIT will share a perspective that can help all of us better understand this phenomenon despite the complexity. His focus on a major regularity displayed by all technological domains - a constant yearly percentage improvement in performance - and study of how these performance improvement percentage/rate varies over different technologies (but not over time) is one important foundation for this perspective. A second foundation is the wide interconnection among ideas and knowledge that drive improvements in domains that nonetheless have independent and different rates of improvement. Technological change, the process underlying the profound changes in society over the past 200 years - especially economic growth - is surprisingly decoupled from many societal and economic details. This talk will be followed by a drinks reception, all welcome.
For almost two centuries, Shakespeare had no biography. Neither did he have the structure of a biography (a chronology), nor the materials for one (an archive). And his canon did not include the Sonnets (his only work written in the first person). In sum, the mainstays of modern Shakespeare criticism were simply not there. Does this mean that Shakespeare was not valued or understood until after 1800? Each of these four lectures will focus on one of those critical absences, not as an empty place holder for what eventually is to come, but as evidence that other viable priorities were once at work. The 1623 Folio, the first major gathering of Shakespeare’s plays, was prefaced not with an account of his life but with elegies on his death. When in 1709 a Life was first printed at the threshold of his plays, it consisted of discrete anecdotes or ‘traditionary tales’ which would be largely invalidated by later scholars. Yet these anecdotes, singly or in numbers, give a strong impression of Shakespeare’s character. Repeatedly they catch Shakespeare in an act of transgression, breaking the laws of the land or overstepping the bounds of civility. While no support for such offensive behavior emerges from the historical record, there is copious confirmation elsewhere: in early criticism of Shakespeare’s “extravagant” and “unruly” writing. Are the anecdotes, then, a form of literary biography?
Sir John Curtice is best known for appearing on the BBC Election Night programmes as the man chiefly responsible for those strikingly accurate UK General Election exit polls. He's also a Professor of Politics at Strathclyde. In this talk, Sir John Curtice will discuss the potential re-alignments, de-alignments and electoral fractures that could result from the aftershocks of Brexit.
‘Dance of the Trillions: Developing Countries and Global Finance’, published by Brookings Press in the summer of 2018, is a historical narrative that traces the evolution of ‘emerging markets’ as an organising concept in international financial markets. It is also a discussion about how wise it is for developing countries to open themselves fully to unrestricted capital flows, and how countries have sought to protect themselves from the volatility of those flows in the wake of the ‘crisis decades’ of the 1980s and 1990s. It is the first book to look across the entire modern period, since the early 1970s, in which developing countries have had access to international finance. Underlying the story is an analysis of how the relationship between developing countries and global finance appears to be moving from one governed by the ‘Washington Consensus’ to one more likely to be shaped by Beijing.
https://www.facebook.com/events/305520760276346/
As part of our Black History Month celebrations, the Queer Studies Network and St Hilda's Feminist Salon are delighted to host an evening to celebrate the life and work of Audre Lorde. 6:10pm: Introduction to the life and work of Audre Lorde 6:20pm: Screening of 'Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years' 8:00pm: Readings of Audre Lorde poetry, writings and responses to Lorde's work (sign-up) Snacks and soft drinks provided (alcoholic beverages may be purchased from the College bar). Sign-up to read Lorde's poetry, writings or your responses (prose or poetry) to her work here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZAU_A9vCr5xdNqi3Iw9y_jI23twtsoTI16o_fYvdBN8/edit?usp=sharing This event is open to all, however, we ask that attendees respect the nature of the event by giving priority for readings and responses to Black participants.
Adaptimmune is a leader in T-cell cancer therapy. Dr Jo Brewer is the VP of Platform Sciences Research.
Prof. Richard Gregory is Head of Species Monitoring and Research at the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science. His talk will explain how the RSPB's science is delivering evidence-based solutions to address the biodiversity crisis. Please see http://www.anhso.org.uk for more information about the Society.
To mark its third year, the AHRC-funded research project Remembering the Reformation (Prof. Alex Walsham, PI, Prof. Brian Cummings, CI) will hold a day-long POSTGRADUATE SYMPOSIUM in association with the Ecclesiastical History Society, The Church of England Record Society and Lambeth Palace Library, on the 25th October 2018. The symposium will take place at Lambeth Palace Library, will include a roundtable discussion with Professors Euan Cameron, Brian Cummings, Mary Laven, Diarmaid MacCulloch, and Alex Walsham, and will close with a PUBLIC LECTURE by Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, provisionally entitled ‘Matters Overlooked: Straightening out the Story of the Reformation’. The symposium is intended to provide an opportunity for PhD students and early career academics (within four years of gaining the PhD) to share the fruits of their research in progress and gain feedback. We are keen to showcase new and interdisciplinary approaches to the European Reformations and their longer term legacies in the context of enduring historiographical traditions about these movements, as well as to consider a range of ways in which the theme of memory (broadly conceived) offers an illuminating new prism through which to investigate this topic.
A celebration of e-theses for #ThesisThursday in International Open Access Week. Oxford’s open access repository, the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA), contains over 11,500 theses. Around 6,600 are available online full text, thanks to digitisation of past theses and deposits by recent doctoral students. Some of ORA’s top downloads are theses. Find out what they are, who’s using them and the benefits of putting your thesis online. (Clues: discoverability, preservation, citations, re-use.) A chance for Oxford DPhil students to meet members of the ORA team and find out about the practicalities and decisions of who needs to deposit – what, when, how – how soon can it be made available, and what happens next.
Do you need help managing your references? Do you need help citing references in your documents? This session will introduce you to Endnote X8, which can help you to store, organise and retrieve your references and PDFs, as well as cite references in documents and create bibliographies quickly and easily. The session will cover importing references from PubMed or directly from a database such as Ovid Embase; importing references from Google Scholar; managing PDFs; deduplicating references in an Endnote Library; creating a bibliography and citing references in Word documents. Intended Audience: Postgraduate students, researchers and university staff based on the Old Road Campus or in Medical Sciences Division departments elsewhere in Headington.
Long-termism is currently described as a very important discovery of effective altruism. It is the driving idea behind what has been called the second wave of the EA movement. Long-termism is the idea that we should be concerned with effects of our actions on the very long-term future. This, in turn, is based on the assumptions that the welfare of every individual counts equally, no matter when the individual lives, and that a big part of the effects of our current actions may be effects on future individuals. The version of long-termism that leading effective altruists embrace is based on the impersonal total view in population ethics. Proponents of person-affecting views in population ethics are depicted as opponents of long-termism. Some rather implausible versions of person-affecting views do indeed reject long-termism altogether. However, other much more plausible versions are compatible with the main ideas behind longtermism. Person-affecting views, however, reject certain conclusions that leading effective altruists defend as implications of long-termism. These more controversial conclusions only follow from long-termism in conjunction with the impersonal total view. In this talk I aim at providing a better understanding of the two types of long-termism. These different types of long-termism do not only have different implications for cause prioritization. They are also based on fundamentally different axiological assumptions.
Oxford DPhil students are required to deposit a copy of their thesis in the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA). This session will focus on copyright and other issues that DPhil students need to take into account when preparing their thesis for upload to ORA. A #ThesisThursday event in International Open Access Week.
One definition of a biomarker is ‘a naturally occurring molecule, gene, or characteristic by which a particular pathological or physiological process, disease, etc. can be identified.’ Over the past 10 years, there has been substantial investment in research looking for genetic biomarkers for psychiatric or cognitive phenotypes: NIH figures show grant awards on this topic rising from $145 million in 2009 to $562 million in 2018. The yield from this investment has, on the whole been disappointing. There have been advances in discoveries of rare mutations of large effect involved in the causation of conditions such as intellectual disability and autism, but for common psychiatric and developmental disorders and traits there have been mostly false leads and inconsistent findings. I will discuss the implications of this situation: in part, lack of progress may reflect methodological weaknesses that the field must overcome if we are to make progress in this area. However, the kinds of model of underlying process assumed by the biomarker agenda may be inappropriate for many common conditions, in which case we need to move to a different conceptualisation of gene-behaviour associations.
TBA
OCDEM: "Glucocorticoid action, and inaction", Prof David Ray -- Rheumatology: "What can Moving Medicine do for you?", Dr Natasha Jones, Dr Hamish Reid, Dr Ralph Smith and Dr Stefan Kluzek -- Chair: Prof Chris O'Callaghan
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eYzLT2DsbTivOvrVx3OGaE4alXvBO_ALCow3yV_fW8o/edit#gid=0 This paper shows that the intensity of violence in Rwanda's recent past can be traced back to the initial establishment of its precolonial state. Villages that were brought under centralized rule one century earlier experience a doubling of violence during the state-organized 1994 genocide. Instrumental variable estimates exploiting differences in proximity to Nyanza -- an early capital -- suggest these effects are causal. In other periods, when the state faced rebel attacks, with longer state presence, violence is lower. Using data from several sources, including a lab-in-the-field experiment across an abandoned historical boundary, I show that the effect of the historical state is primarily sustained by culturally transmitted norms of obedience. The persistent effect of the precolonial state interacts with government policy: Where the state developed earlier, there is more violence when the Rwandan government mobilized for mass killing and less violence when the government pursued peace.
In this workshop you will be introduced to the principles underpinning the conduct of literature searches for systematic reviews and evidence syntheses: • Formulating a search strategy to address research questions • Applying methodological search filters to restrict by study type • Choosing appropriate databases and search engines • Searching for grey literature and ongoing studies • Documenting and reporting your search • Storing and managing references Intended Audience: DPhils and Researchers in the Medical Sciences Division
An important motivation for financial regulation is the premise that the externality imposed by bank failures on the financial system is not reflected in market pricing. In this study we empirically assess this premise by studying whether systemic contagion losses are reflected in bilateral prices charged on interbank markets. We study this question within a simultaneous equation model in order to account for the endogeneity induced by the simultaneous determination of interbank lending and deposit rates. Our empirical inference suggests that systemic externalities are not internalized on interbank markets, highlighting the existence of a market failure with respect to systemic risk.
OCTF seminar followed by drinks - all welcome (booking required) Speaker: Professor Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Science, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford Tropical forests play an important role in the functioning of the Earth system. Attempts to understand some of these roles brings a novel combination of some of the traditional approaches with new toolkits associated with the Earth system sciences, toolkits such as satellite remote sensing, atmospheric observations and global biosphere-atmosphere models. In his talk, Yadvinder will showcase how these various approaches can work together to provide understanding of the influence of tropical forests at a planetary scale. He will focus on the specific case of the 2015/2016 El Niño, and try to answer the question: why do tropical forests pour out carbon dioxide during El Niño events, and what does this tell us about the future prospects for tropical forests and the global climate? As Professor of Ecosystem Science at the School of Geography and the Environment, and Programme Leader of the Ecosystems Group at the Environmental Change Institute, Yadvinder’s research interests focus on understanding the functioning of ecosystems and how it is altered by processes of local and global change. He has a particular interest in tropical forests, but has recently been frequently sighted in polar regions. The broad scope of Yadvinder’s research interests is the impact of global change processes such as atmospheric change and direct human modification on the ecology, structure and composition of terrestrial ecosystems, and in particular temperate and tropical forests. This research addresses fundamental questions about ecosystem function, diversity and dynamics, whilst at the same time providing outputs of direct relevance for conservation and adaptation to climate change. His group applies a range of techniques including field physiological studies, intensive and long-term ecological monitoring, quantitative and qualitative social science methodologies, satellite remote-sensing and GIS, ecosystem modelling, and micrometeorological techniques. He also runs an active research programme at Oxford University’s Wytham Woods research site. In recent years he has developed an international research network (GEM: http://gem.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk/) collecting data on ecosystem function in a number of research sites across the tropics. Yadvinder is a Fellow of the Royal Society and President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.
Ana María Otero-Cleves, D.Phil Oxon, is an Associate professor at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) and a Visiting Scholar at the Center of Latin American Studies, at Cambridge (2018). She specializes in the history of nineteenth-century Colombia, with a particular interest in the history of consumption and legal culture. Her latest publications include, “Foreign Machetes and Cheap Cotton Cloth: Popular Consumers and Imported Commodities in Nineteenth- Century Colombia.” Hispanic American Historical Review 97, n. ° 3 (2017): 423-256, awarded the prize for Best Article - Nineteenth Century Section by the Latin American Studies association (LASA) and 'This mixed species of population will consume’: Atlantic expectations about Spanish American consumers on the Age of Revolutions, 1780-1831’, Journal of Latin American Studies (forthcoming).
Philip Schwyzer, ‘Lees and Moonshine: Remembering Richard III, 1485-1635’, Renaissance Quarterly, 63 (2010), 850–83.
All are welcome to attend this seminar hosted by the Kellogg College Centre for Creative Writing. Peter Bush is a full-time literary translator and has translated over 70 works mainly from Catalan and Spanish. Peter is a former Director of the British Centre for Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia, where he was also Professor of Literary Translation.
PUBLIC LECTURE by Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, provisionally entitled ‘Matters Overlooked: Straightening out the Story of the Reformation’.
In this practical workshop you will explore how to formulate search strategies to address research questions; choose appropriate databases and search engines; store and manage references; keep up to date with new research over the life cycle of your DPhil. Intended Audience: DPhils in the Medical Sciences Division
SINGLE CELL SEMINARS - WELLCOME CENTRE FOR HUMAN GENETICS Friday, October 26, 2018 CCMP2 10:30 - 1200 Adam Cribbs, title TBC for info, please email curion@well.ox.ac.uk
Radiation damage sets the ultimate limit to structure determination using any form of ionizing radia-tion with sufficient energy to resolve the positions of atoms in a molecule. Electrons, since they interact strongly with biological specimen, induce severe radiation damage, but also provide maxi-mal contrast per unit damage event when compared to X-rays and neutrons [1]. While the amount of information per unit damage for electrons is thought to be approximately constant over the ener-gy range of 10 to 1000 keV, published measurements of radiation damage to biological specimen are not of sufficient accuracy to determine if there is an advantage, in terms of contrast per unit damage, to reducing or increasing the energy of the electron beam. Recently, our measurements of specimen charging [2-3] and the demonstration of a new method of Ewald sphere correction [4] indicate that neither of these present a barrier for reducing the energy of the electron beam from 300 keV, which is the current standard for most commercial high-resolution electron cryomicro-scopes. Some theoretical estimates indicate that the ratio of the inelastic to elastic scattering cross sections for carbon may drop by as much as 30% from 300 to 100 keV [5]. With this in mind, we wish to understand both theoretically and experimentally, if there is a potential advantage in terms of radiation damage, in changing the energy of the electron from the conventional 300 keV used for most cryoEM. Here we present our recent progress in measuring how the amount of structural information in electron cryomicrographs of biological specimen scales vs. damage when changing the energy of the incident electron beam. We measure the high energy elastic scattering cross sec-tions of carbon to high accuracy using pure carbon specimens. We compare these data to estab-lished theory of electron scattering as well as measurements of damage using the fading of diffrac-tion spots from 2D crystals of paraffin and bacteriorhodopsin (purple membrane). From these measurements, we find that there will likely be an optimum energy for imaging a biological speci-men of a given thickness with electrons, assuming that the various technical hurdles to producing efficient detectors at lower energies, can be overcome. References [1] Henderson, R QRB 1995. [2] Russo CJ & Henderson R, Ultramicroscopy 2018a. [3] Russo CJ & Henderson R, Ultramicroscopy 2018b. [4] Russo CJ & Henderson R, Ultramicroscopy 2018c. [5] Edgerton R. et al. Micron 2014.
Is my protein structure damaged? - Prof Elspeth Garman Biophysics of membrane proteins - Prof Anthony Watts
The politics of fiscal policy in Europe since the financial crisis poses an important puzzle to political economy scholarship. Political parties campaigning on and implementing austerity policies were installed and maintained in office despite – or even because of – economic policy choices imposing widespread costs. Canonical theories in political science, and in economics, provide little help in understanding these dynamics. The former stress the difficulties of raising taxes and of reducing spending, while political economists’ concerns over political business cycles assume voters reward outlays and tax cuts at the ballot box. We argue that this puzzle can be resolved with reference to a high degree of deficit aversion in public opinion, at least in the post-2008 period. We make three empirical arguments. First, evidence from the Eurobarometer shows that voter preferences across Europe have shown a high and consistent aversion to government budget deficits since systematic data collection on the issue began in 2010. Second, this is not a meaningless demand for a “good thing”. People (in eight western European countries) are willing to trade off spending on valued public goods (education) if the consequence of that spending would be worsening budget balance. Finally, we identify important downstream political consequences of preferences over fiscal stance. Panel data from Britain reveal that balanced budget preferences have been highly consequential for vote choice in recent elections. Taken together, these arguments indicate that preferences over government borrowing are an important element of the political economy in western Europe today. Distinct from preferences over redistributive state intervention, the anti-deficit tendency of public opinion sways electoral outcomes.
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition:‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
We are dependent on our cardiovascular system for life support. Defects in the formation of either the heart or vasculature can be fatal in utero, reflecting our dependency on this system from almost the earliest stages of life. The cardiovascular system is remarkably stereotypical in its structure, both between individuals and across species. This demonstrates that a strict genetic programme dictates this structure and that the programme is conserved. Focussing primarily on the early stages of heart development, we utilise the zebrafish model for its genetic tractability to identify regulators of cardiovascular development. Using forward genetics, we have discovered several novel regulators of cardiac and vascular development. One such regulator is a novel Hyaluronidase, named Cemip2 (formerly Tmem2), that is required for both cardiac development and angiogenesis. Early data suggests that the function of this protein is conserved in mammals. We have also identified a regulator of N-cadherin trafficking and show that it is required for cardiomyocyte cell adhesion. Whilst exciting for discovery’s sake, this fundamental knowledge is essential for understanding inherited cardiovascular diseases and in plying our knowledge to devise therapeutic strategies.
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyNu-tHHJ15Se57I0BMvTVqYV0-Yxx6WShyLXVviqlg/edit#gid=0 We study when pure bundling, i.e., offering only the grand bundle of all products, is optimal for a multi-product monopolist. Pure bundling is optimal if consumers with higher value for the grand bundle have lower relative disutility for consuming smaller bundles. Conversely, pure bundling is not optimal if consumers with higher value for the grand bundle have higher relative disutility for consuming smaller bundles. We prove the results using a decomposition approach that relies on identifying binding incentive constraints with multi-dimensional heterogeneity.
Dr. Seth Anziska is the Mohamed S. Farsi-Polonsky Lecturer in Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London. His research and teaching focuses on Palestinian and Israeli society and culture, the international history of the modern Middle East, and contemporary Arab and Jewish politics. He is the author of Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo (Princeton University Press, September 2018). His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, Haaretz, and the Pavilion of Lebanon in the 2013 Venice Biennale. A visiting fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project and a 2018-2019 Fulbright Scholar at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Seth has held fellowships at New York University, the London School of Economics, and the American University of Beirut. He received his PhD in International and Global History from Columbia University, his M. Phil. in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and his BA in history from Columbia University. Signed copies of the book will be available on sale at the event. Cash only.
A demonstration of the archive and a roundtable discussion, preceded by two showings of the film ‘The Girl and the Picture’ at 2pm and 4pm.
The event will close with a celebratory drink
Join us at the Andrew Wiles Building for the launch of our anniversary video, '75 Years in Wytham Woods', starring Miranda Krestovnikoff, celebrating the different research projects which have taken place in Wytham Woods over the last 75 years, and which are still being carried out today. A panel of experts will be on hand to answer your questions following a screening of four other videos from our 'Laboratory with Leaves' series.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most powerful techniques for chemical analysis and when combined with an imaging modality allows molecular chemistry to be visualised in 2D and 3D, from the nano- to the macroscale, in ambient conditions and in real‐time. There are numerous techniques each having different modes of operation including label‐free and labelled analyses. In 2017 the CRUK Grand Challenge programme was launched. By pursuing a multiscale (organ to organelle) and multi-omics approach with a range of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) techniques (MALDI, DESI, SIMS and ICP MS), we aim to deepen our understanding of the interplay of genes, proteins, metabolites and the role of the immune system in cancer development and growth. This presentation will review early results and a discussion of the challenges associated with such a large, multi-technique, multi-site, mass spectrometry project. ---- Professor Josephine Bunch is a Principal Scientist and Co-Director of the National Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Imaging (NiCE-MSI) at NPL and Chair of Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry at Imperial College London. She is currently leading a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge programme (2017-2022; £16 million). She has expertise in a range of mass spectrometry imaging techniques and her group at NPL comprises a multidisciplinary team of around 20 people. To support innovation and instrument development for MSI, Josephine leads a large programme of research and metrology in MALDI and ambient mass spectrometry imaging, funded by the National Measurement System. Within this project a new transmission mode, atmospheric MALDI ion source, with dual mode post-ionisation has been constructed. The group also hosts and co-supervises Ph.D. students from the University of Nottingham, the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London, Oxford University and the University of Surrey.
The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School brings you a series of talks on understanding the interconnections between environmental and human health.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, was a seminal moment in the world's struggle to fight climate change. 197 countries agreed to limit the rise in global average temperature to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. But Christiana, who led those global climate negotiations as Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, says the climate agreement was just a staging post in what remains a long, hard process. So what are the next steps?
Throughout the 1880s lynching in the American South attracted little condemnation by the national newspapers or political elites. In 1891 a New Orleans mob lynched eleven Italian nationals, many of them Italian citizens, and set into motion the internationalization of American lynching as a social and political problem. We trace how this event, and other similar events, spread anti-lynching politics to Italy and Great Britain, and thus eventually contributed to domestic political opposition to lynching. We conclude with discussion of a theory on how repression backfire emerges based on the spread of repression to members of less marginalized social categories.
The peacebuilding literature has long emphasised that youth involvement is key to ensuring long-term peace. In the aftermath of the ‘no’ victory in the Colombian peace plebiscite, great emphasis has been placed on youth movements’ push for peace. However, statistics on violent groups in Latin America show that these groups are largely made of young people. The position of young people at the crux between peacebuilding and perpetuation of violence needs to be contextually unpacked. While studies have tended to focus on youth movements, the question of how non-organised, (self-)marginalised youths relate to peacebuilding is largely unaddressed. Based on 9 months of ethnographic fieldwork with outcast adolescents in the conflict-affected town of San Carlos and marginal neighbourhoods in the close-by city Medellín, this paper addresses this gap. The country’s dominant discourse around “stable and lasting peace” starkly contrasts with these youths’ conceptions of peace and violence. Their daily experiences of interpersonal physical and symbolic violence within their families and communities lead them to continue seeing violence as a legitimate mean of interaction. Feeling rejected by the rest of society, they reject any form of civic engagement in turn. Rather, they opt for moving from the town to the city and getting involved in the micro-traffic business and joining urban gangs, contributing to perpetuating some of Colombia’s most pressing threats to peace. Rather than simplistically framing engagement in violence as an inherent tendency of Latino masculinities, the aim is to understand these young people in their own terms, exploring how social marginalisation relates to engagement in violence. Giving voice to the narratives of these ‘other’ youths, that are not captured by the dominant media discourse, this paper contributes to broader debates intersectional identities and exclusionary dynamics in post-conflict societies, aiming to bright theoretical and policy-relevant insights to peacebuilding in Colombia.
Speakers: Jonathan Ben-Dov, Eshbal Ratson and Asaf Gayer (Haifa)
Cognitive performance relies on the entrainment of neuronal networks in oscillatory patterns of electrical activity, as exemplified in the case of functional interplay between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Coupling of neuronal networks in oscillatory rhythms emerges early during development. However, the contribution of coordinated activity for the maturation of neuronal networks remains largely unknown. The talk will introduce the mechanisms controlling the development of structural and functional coupling within prefrontal-hippocampal networks of rodents. Moreover, the dysfunction within hippocampal-prefrontal networks, switching from neonatal hypo- to juvenile hyper-coupling, will be characterized as a possible mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders.
In the Cold War, East Asian nations became involved in a variety of transnational health initiatives. Although Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan all provided support to the World Health Organization and its American-oriented interventions and strategies, the non-aligned People’s Republic of China followed a different path. The public success of mass immunization in China, as determined by the eradication of smallpox and the “control” of other infectious diseases like measles and cholera in the 1950s and 1960s, contributed crucial evidence for the success of Chinese public health more broadly. By the 1970s, immunization was comfortably entrenched in the rural health system that the People’s Republic of China promoted on a global scale via the export of medical materials, personnel, and funds. State agents also cultivated the goodwill of Western observers who traveled to China after 1971. These international activities contributed to the prominence of the PRC in discussions of global health policy, culminating in the World Health Organization’s Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 and its major policy shift towards promoting primary health care: interventions meant to provide basic clinical services for many people, including those in rural areas. Although the PRC became famous for its “barefoot doctors” as the human faces of the rural health system it promoted, its eradication and control of infectious diseases—a consequence of mass immunization—provided key evidence that helped consolidate its position as a leading national model of public health.
Students’ experiences of learning are comprised of dynamic sequences of intraindividual processes that take place in real-time throughout school days and weeks. Researchers can investigate these processes in diary, intensive longitudinal, or micro-analytic studies. Important questions posed by these are (1) whether learning processes are stable or variable, and (2) how instruction can promote such processes. Indeed, there is a current surge in intraindividual studies using experience sampling or ecological momentary assessment for collecting such real-time data owing to user-friendly electronic devices (e.g., iPads, tablets). Real-time data have advantages above cross-sectional data for drawing inferences and theorizing about processes, as retrospective reporting is minimized and contextual closeness maximized. Multilevel Structural Equation Models are used for analyses of hierarchically nested data (i.e., learning experiences nested in students). In all, the intraindividual (process, situation-specific, within-person) approach to educational research offers a unique window into learners’ and teachers’ experiences of learning and teaching, which is different from that of an interindividual (cross-sectional, between-person) approach. In this inaugural talk I will present key findings from the Learning Every Lesson (LEL) study and other recent studies. Some implications for policies on personalized learning are suggested.
Professor Rahul Sharma, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India Dr Rachel Boschen-Rose, Senior Project Officer, Seascape Consultants Ltd. Professor Rahul Sharma and Dr Rachel Boschen-Rose will present an over view of a new incipient industry in the ocean, deep-sea mining. As well as outlining prospects for a new gold-rush in the ocean they will also highlight the environmental risks of this embryonic industry. Previous human activities in the deep sea, such as fishing, have caused catastrophic damage to marine ecosystems. Will mining repeat the mistakes of the past? Join the OICSD for an evening of informative talks and discussion on the hot new topic in the deep ocean.
The aims of this session are to understand: • what Research Integrity means • why Oxford has an ethics review system for research involving human participants, human tissue and/or personal data • what research is reviewed by the Medical Sciences Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee (MS IDREC) • where, and how, to apply for ethical approval • how to protect personal data obtained in research The session is aimed at graduate students (MA/MPhil and DPhil) as well as early career researchers and interested research support staff. However, all staff are welcome to attend.
The Santa Casa was one of the greatest pilgrimage sites in the world until it was sacked by Napoleon in 1797. It still enshrines the small stone dwelling from Nazareth where Mary grew up, received the angel Gabriel, and then brought up Jesus. This large and unusual relic was brought to Italy by angels for safe-keeping.
Abstract: Abstract: Why do people appear to forgo information by sorting into “echo chambers”? We construct a highly tractable multi-sender, multi-receiver cheap talk game in which players choose with whom to communicate. We show that segregation into small, homogeneous groups can improve everybody’s information and generate Paretoimprovements. Polarized preferences create a need for segregation; uncertainty about preferences magnifies this need. Using data from Twitter, we show several behavioral patterns that are consistent with the results of our model.
Hugh Markus is Professor of Stroke Medicine and Honorary Consultant Neurologist in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge. He was Professor of Neurology at St George’s, University of London, before moving to his current post in 2013. He spends approximately half of his time in clinical care of stroke patients. This includes running a National CADASIL/stroke genetics clinic. His main areas of research interest are the genetics of stroke, where he applies genetic and imaging techniques to investigate the pathogenesis of stroke and develop new treatments, cerebral small vessel disease and clinical trials. He was disease lead for the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 2 (WTCCC2) ischaemic stroke study and established the METASTROKE Genetics consortium. He has a particular interest in small vessel disease and vascular cognitive impairment and pursues genetic and MRI approaches to investigate disease mechanisms.
Coming soon
Sexual violence in conflict once again captured the international spotlight earlier this month when gynaecologist, Dr Denis Mukwege, and human rights activist, Nadia Murad, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Responding to sexual violence grew exponentially in importance on international policy agendas over the past decade, with clear implications for operational and programmatic practice across conflict-affected contexts. The adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) – establishing sexual violence as a threat to international peace and security – marked a clear turning point in this regard. While pervasive across many armed conflicts, testimonies of sexual violence documented in eastern DRC were an important focus of such institutional developments. In effect, these experiences became somewhat defining of the nature of the harm, its victims and its perpetrators. Focusing on the ‘male perpetrator,’ this paper first examines how, why, and with what effect gendered and raced imaginaries became encoded in international peace and security policy. Doing so, it emphasises the role of institutional imperatives and political dynamics in shaping international policy definitions of sexual violence in the Council. Subsequently, exploring efforts to fight impunity for sexual violence in DRC, presentation foregrounds how, and with what effect, this clearly delineated policy definition obscures more complex realities in DRC. Chloé is completing her PhD in International Development at the University of Oxford where she is researching responses to sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Drawing on extensive research conducted at the United Headquarters in New York and in DRC between 2013-2017, her dissertation examines the development of internationally-driven responses to sexual violence, including at the level of the UN Security Council, and their operationalisation in DRC. In particular, Chloé critically explores how different facets of the response architecture ‘see’ and ‘engage’ with conflict-affected women and men, why, and to what effect. Committed to working across scholarship, policy, and practice, she particularly enjoys collaborating with policy- and operationally-orientated entities, including the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, the World Bank Gender Innovation Lab, Search for Common Ground, and the UN Peacekeeping and Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO). Most of all, Chloé is looking forward to life after the PhD.
About the speaker: Jon Echevarria Coco, 26, is a PhD student at the Foundations of Economic Analysis II Department at University of Basque Country. His background goes as follows: Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, University of Basque Country (2010-2014), Master in Economics: Empirical Applications and Policies, University of Basque Country (2014-2015) and currently PhD in Quantitative Economics and Finance, University of Basque Country. His main research focuses on forced migration, both internal (internal displacement) and external (refugee flows), analysing which factors generate them (armed conflicts, the lack of civil liberties or political rights). His previous research has consisted on the effects of fiscal progressivity in many economic features of society, like the welfare the consumption or the national growth rate. He has published an article, called Refugee gravitation in Public Choice, 169(3-4), 269-292.
Do you need help managing your references? Do you need help citing references in your documents? This session will introduce you to Endnote X8, which can help you to store, organise and retrieve your references and PDFs, as well as cite references in documents and create bibliographies quickly and easily. The session will cover importing references from PubMed or directly from a database such as Ovid Embase; importing references from Google Scholar; managing PDFs; deduplicating references in an Endnote Library; creating a bibliography and citing references in Word documents. Intended Audience: Postgraduate students, researchers and university staff based on the Old Road Campus or in Medical Sciences Division departments elsewhere in Headington.
David Tal is the Yosi Harel Chair in Modern Israel Studies at the University of Sussex. Previously the Kahanoff Chair in Israel Studies at the University of Calgary, he has written extensively on Israel’s security and dimplomatic history.
While disturbances in the gut microbiota have been associated with type 1 diabetes progression, the causes of this dysbiosis and the consequences to the host are largely unknown. Using a unique multi-omic approach, we explore the functional link between the gut, pancreas and microbiota in type 1 diabetes. In complementary genetic studies, we show that immune loci linked to type 1 diabetes susceptibility contribute to shaping the gut microbiota.
Coming soon
Abstract: We are pleased to inform you that the theme for our second discussion session will be “Material letters and diplomacy”. Please read the three following articles in advance of the seminar, which we shall then discuss over tea and biscuits, in a very informal and relaxed atmosphere! 1) Jonathan Gibson, ‘Significant Space in Manuscript Letters’, The Seventeenth Century, 12 (1997), 1–10: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0268117X.1997.10555420 2) Giora Sternberg, “Epistolary Ceremonial: Corresponding Status at the Time of Louis XIV”, Past and Present, 204 (2009), 33–88; 3) Heather Wolfe, “‘Neatly sealed, with silk, and Spanish wax or otherwise:’ The Practice of Letter-locking with Silk Floss in Early Modern England,” in In Prayse of Writing: Early Modern Manuscript Studies, ed. Steven W. Beal and S. P. Cerasano (London, 2012), 169–189. Look forward to seeing many of you there! https://earlymoderndiplomacyevents.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/second-discussion-group-material-letters-and-diplomacy/
Please sign up for meeting using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eTUvKW-onEzp681ri-yQa8KSWOYRJC81y_6GEmwQTp0/edit#gid=0
Conceived in this moment of appalling political instability, Agora Europe creates opportunities for a public debate on how to reorganize the European political space. The event at the Oxford University European Centre follows events held at the Sorbonne, the Columbia University Maison Française, the University of Bologna and UCL. It will be an occasion to talk about the future of Europe, and to discuss the potential of each European nation to shape the European political space. Each speaker will talk about the European Union as a political and not merely economic union. The ensuing debate will address populism and Brexit as the central themes. As an agora, the participation of the audience is essential. INVITED SPEAKERS: Agnès Alexandre Collier (Maison Française d’Oxford) Rosemary Bechler (OpenDemocracy) Caterina di Fazio (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) Thomas Lacroix (Maison Française d’Oxford) Hartmut Mayer (European Studies Centre, St Antony's) Sophie Nicholls (Pembroke College, Oxford) Kalypso Nicolaïdis (European Studies Centre, St Antony's) Andrea Pisauro (Oxford Experimental Psychology Department) Federico Varese (Oxford Department of Sociology)
This talk is co-hosted by the Oxford Martin School, University College & Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, and is a continuation of the Trinity Term Series Science and Populism: from evidence to narrative National governments may have less immediate power than they used to but, in matters large and small, someone somewhere often has to make a decision that will affect many lives. The Ministers making those decisions are human too, and what we know about how science works in government can tell us a lot about its place in wider public debates. Making decisions today, based on evidence from the past, in order to change the future: what could possibly go wrong?
Dr Christian Sahner is a historian of the Middle East. He is principally interested in the transition from Late Antiquity to the Islamic Middle Ages, relations between Muslims and Christians, and the history of Syria and Iran. He is the author of two books: Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present (Hurst - Oxford, 2014), a blend of history, memoir, and reportage from his time in the Levant before and after the Syrian Civil War; and Christian Martyrs under Islam: Religious Violence and the Making of the Muslim World (Princeton, 2018, forthcoming) a study of how the medieval Middle East slowly transformed from a majority-Christian region to a majority-Muslim one and the role that violence played in the process. An earlier version of this research was awarded the Malcolm H. Kerr Prize for Best Dissertation in the Humanities from the Middle East Studies Association. Born in New York City, he earned an A.B. from Princeton, an M.Phil from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and a Ph.D. also from Princeton. Prior to joining the Oriental Institute, he was a research fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge. He writes about the history, art, and culture of the Middle East for The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
This talk proposes ways of studying fossil fuel consumption through the lens of global history. Study of technological systems, the social and economic systems in which they are embedded, and the interactions between these, can yield insights. These types of history may help us to understand, first, the context for the political history of the international climate negotiations, and, second, the negotiations’ disastrous failure to achieve their central aim, i.e. to reverse fossil fuel consumption growth. The paper will also reflect on the political significance of different methods of quantitative research of fuel consumption. It will point to important turning-points in consumption growth since the mid 20th century, and consider what light these shed on the transition away from fossil fuels.
Conceived in this moment of appalling political instability, Agora Europe creates opportunities for a public debate on how to reorganize the European political space. The event at the Oxford University European Centre follows events held at the Sorbonne, the Columbia University Maison Française, the University of Bologna and UCL. It will be an occasion to talk about the future of Europe, and to discuss the potential of each European nation to shape the European political space. Each speaker will talk about the European Union as a political and not merely economic union. The ensuing debate will address populism and Brexit as the central themes. As an agora, the participation of the audience is essential. Invited Speakers: Agnès Alexandre Collier (Maison Française d’Oxford) Rosemary Blecher (OpenDemocracy) Caterina di Fazio (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) Thomas Lacroix (Maison Française d’Oxford) Hartmut Mayer (European Studies Centre) Sophie Nicholls (Pembroke College, Oxford) Kalypso Nicolaïdis (European Studies Centre) Andrea Pisauro (Oxford Experimental Psychology Department) Federico Varese (Oxford Department of Sociology) The event is sponsored by the Maison Française d'Oxford and the European Studies Centre.
The event will close with a celebratory drink
Are you a postdoctoral researcher or DPhil student engaged in teaching in MPLS? Do you want to find ways of making your teaching more effective, both for your students and for yourself? Would you like to learn more about how to take a more evidence-based approach to your teaching and your students’ learning? This course offers a way for you to do all of these things while at the same time gaining a portable qualification that will enhance your future employability as an academic with teaching responsibilities.
It is only recently that PPI has been seen as a key part of healthcare practice and some form of PPI has been almost universally adopted throughout the NHS in England. However, although it is widely recognised that PPI is important by a wide range of different groups, from activists and patient groups, professional organisations to government bodies, within this broad endorsement there are a host of unresolved issues: what is the overriding justification and value base of PPI? There is also uncertainty over what the role of the PPI contributor is or should be and what such roles contribute to decision-making? This paper will consider these issues and how these, possibly, competing rationales for PPI affect the assessment PPI activities.
See here for abstract: http://www.trfetzer.com Written with Stephan Kyburz (CGD).
Want to find out more about REF2021 and how it will affect you? The Research Services REF team is holding a series of events around the University in October and November to update staff on the upcoming Research Excellence Framework assessment. They are open to academic, research and administrative staff from across the collegiate University and will cover: • changes to the exercise for REF2021 • staff and research output eligibility • how staff can contribute to the development of the University’s code of practice • an opportunity to ask any questions
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-faith reading where people of all faiths gather and reflect on short passages from their scriptures together. There is sometimes overlap between texts where different faiths share their Scriptures. It is a worldwide movement www.scripturalreasoning.org and this is the major meeting in Oxford. We spend time with texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, and discuss ancient, medieval, and modern interpretations of Scripture, modern day practices which reflect these texts, and what they mean personally for individuals and faith communities. Free, simple kosher snacks may be provided.
In this workshop you will be introduced to the principles underpinning the conduct of literature searches for systematic reviews and evidence syntheses: • Formulating a search strategy to address research questions • Applying methodological search filters to restrict by study type • Choosing appropriate databases and search engines • Searching for grey literature and ongoing studies • Documenting and reporting your search • Storing and managing references Intended Audience: DPhils and Researchers in the Medical Sciences Division
How to use WebLearn to support your teaching, and support your students. WebLearn is a web-based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which provides tools to support teaching and learning, assessment, collaboration, communication and sharing of resources. This course is at a basic level, aimed at users with little or no experience of the system.
Luke’s version of the Transfiguration is very distinct from that of the other synoptic evangelists’ narratives. He emphasises the visionary character of the incident and links it through key themes and words to other visionary incidents in his writings. This seminar will explore ways in which early Christian reflection on this text focussed on its particular character with sensitivity, originality and ingenuity. Early commentators and artists often spotted Luke’s interest in the visionary, and used the Transfiguration as a means of interpreting other visionary and prophetic texts in the scriptures.
This seminar describes how slavery like situations may occur in transit states. It develops Arendt’s analysis of xenophobic crystallisation to show how under conditions of rightlessness, the interests of the ‘mob’ and capital may give way to economic exploitation and slavery. Drawing upon data gathered as part of an ESRC funded project which included a study of 300 migrants who crossed from Libya to Sicily, it describes how migrants may become increasingly vulnerable to abuse over the course of the migratory process and eventually find themselves absorbed into informal situations of forced labour. It notes how in the absence of governance, opportunistic and often small scale business has exploited the presence of labour in Libya, at times in concert with the police and government authorities and at times in opposition to them. This arbitrary situation is enabled as a result of a symbiotic relationship between employers and the police, built on the circularity of bribes and a shared animosity towards non-Muslim migrants. https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/events/the-business-of-modern-slavery-forced-migration-and-forced-labour-in-a-failed-state
For almost two centuries, Shakespeare had no biography. Neither did he have the structure of a biography (a chronology), nor the materials for one (an archive). And his canon did not include the Sonnets (his only work written in the first person). In sum, the mainstays of modern Shakespeare criticism were simply not there. Does this mean that Shakespeare was not valued or understood until after 1800? Each of these four lectures will focus on one of those critical absences, not as an empty place holder for what eventually is to come, but as evidence that other viable priorities were once at work. How is it possible to make sense of Shakespeare’s canon without the chronology? How could we interrelate his works with his life and times without knowing when he wrote them? How could we track his development through the course of his writing life? Yet no chronology for the plays was attempted until the late eighteenth century, and it was not standard to follow that order in either Complete Works editions or in Shakespeare criticism until the mid-twentieth century. Before that, from the publication of the First Folio, the presiding category had been genre, even when the plays were found intractable to it. Yet, in time, genre itself was brought under the sway of the order in which Shakespeare was thought to have written his plays, so that it could be said that genre, from early comedy to late romance, was made to follow the developing course of biography.
Music has a curious relation to history. On the one hand, we know about music sung or played in the past thanks to surviving music notation. On the other hand, we can never know fully what the music of the past was like (with the exception, perhaps, of historic recordings): sounds of the past are lost to us, leaving only their traces behind. Scholars of music therefore have to ask two questions: not only 'What is there to find?' but also 'What has been lost?'. The traces and fragments of music notation in the margins and on the covers of books in Lincoln's collection tell a double story of musical composition and destruction, loss and re-use. Accompanied by live music examples, this lecture takes a look at the music recorded in books owned by Lincoln and explores the stories that these books can tell. Dr Joseph Mason is a musicologist with research interests in medieval and early modern Europe, the history of music manuscripts and the history of music performance. He recently completed his doctorate at Lincoln College on thirteenth-century French vernacular song and is currently a stipendiary lecturer in Music at New College, Oxford.
Polly Toynbee, the renowned Guardian commentator, will argue that the religious are denying the will of the people to depart in peace at a time of their choosing. Please join us for what will be a thought provoking talk and lively discussion on the timely topic of dignity in dying. Polly is a Guardian commentator and former BBC Social Affairs Editor. She is vice president of Humanists UK, Chair of the Brighton Dome Festival and a trustee of Political Quarterly. She is author of numerous books including The Verdict: Did Labour Change Britain?, Unjust Rewards, and Dismembered: How the Attack on the State Harms Us All.
Newly appoint director of the Royal Geographical Society Prof Joe Smith will talk about the role of Geography in society and his interests in engaging everyday citizens to be participants of geographical research. VENUE: Talk will be in the Halford Mackinder lecture theatre in the School of Geography and Environment
This session will explore the possibilities for active engagement of citizens – including students – to become more active participants in geographical research that explores some of the big issues of the day. Joe will draw on interdisciplinary and creative research projects that he led in his past role as Professor of Environment and Society at the Open University, including the energy themed Stories of Change and the broadcast-based Earth in Vision project. He will also talk about his ambitions in his new role at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) to see that institution innovate in public engagement in geography.
In an increasingly unstable global political climate, governments around the world face greater challenges than ever. This year, the Challenges of Government Conference will look at the 'Future of Government', analysing how technological changes, new kinds of politics and different approaches to addressing inequality can be harnessed for the public good. The Challenges of Government Conference is the Blavatnik School's annual flagship event, which brings together the brightest minds in government, the private sector and academia to discuss policies, strategies and solutions to the world’s public policy challenges.
During learning, repetitive neuronal activity, or lack of it, causes strengthening or weakening, respectively, of specific synaptic connections between axons and dendrites. This process of remodelling synapses is known as synaptic plasticity and forms the cellular and molecular basis of memory and learning. It has been known for over 50 years that long-term plasticity requires new protein synthesis immediately after the learning stimulus. Clearly, a rapid local translational response must depend upon the availability of specific RNAs at the synapse. However, how most mRNAs are directed to the synapse is poorly understood, as is the mechanism by which synaptic RNA abundance is regulated. We have been systematically characterising the distributions of several hundred randomly chosen mRNAs as well as their rates of synthesis and decay near synapses using the powerful Drosophila neuromuscular model junction (NMJ) system. We find that approximately 10% of individual types of RNA present in neurones are located at the tips of synapses and in some cases we have shown that they encode proteins required for synaptic plasticity. Our genome wide analysis of RNA stability has identified a wide variation in cytoplasmic stability and in some cases we show that regulating stability determines the distribution of RNA across different cell types in the nervous system.
One of the most influential discoveries in immunology was the identification of pattern recognition receptors (or PRRs) expressed by immune cells. Recognition of ligands by PRRs, particularly members of the C-type lectin receptor (CLR) family, triggers intracellular signalling cascades that initiate and/or regulate a variety of cellular and inflammatory responses. Although most studied in the context of antimicrobial immunity, CLRs also recognise endogenous ligands and play a key role in the development of autoimmunity. In this presentation, I will focus our most recent discoveries regarding the roles of CLRs in immunity. ---- Gordon Brown completed a Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was a Wellcome Trust travelling postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, UK, then a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is now a Professor of Immunology, Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator and Director of the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Aberdeen, and Director of the AFGrica Unit at the University of Cape Town. His primary research interests are C-type lectin receptors and their role in homeostasis and immunity, with a particular focus on antifungal immunity.
Dermatology: -- Medical Director's Office: -- Chair: TBA
Abstract: We consider a fundamental trade-off in search: when choosing between multiple unknown alternatives, is it better to learn a little about all of them (breadth) or a lot about a single one (depth)? In choice settings where a values are drawn from an exogenous distribution, we find that breadth is optimal for "small'' problems and that depth is optimal for "large'' ones. On the other hand, when distributions are endogenously chosen by firms, we find breadth to be always optimal. In a political setting where voters learn about candidates, we find a rational justification for a heretofore unexplained fact: voters tend to learn only about their preferred candidate. Finally, we consider extensions to fat-tails and correlation, and find that in these extensions, breadth is superior. Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eYzLT2DsbTivOvrVx3OGaE4alXvBO_ALCow3yV_fW8o/edit#gid=0
All periods will be represented, including the archives from e.g. the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera and Modern Political Papers. The stalls cover British & European history, US history, Latin American history, African and Commonwealth history and East Asia, South Asia and Middle East history. We will also have experts for Legal History, Official Papers, History of Science & Medicine as well as Visual Sources and Printed Ephemera. Talk to college librarians and archivists to discover their rich collections of rare books and archives which might be on your doorstep.
TBA
Want to find out more about REF2021 and how it will affect you? The Research Services REF team is holding a series of events around the University in October and November to update staff on the upcoming Research Excellence Framework assessment. They are open to academic, research and administrative staff from across the collegiate University and will cover: • changes to the exercise for REF2021 • staff and research output eligibility • how staff can contribute to the development of the University’s code of practice • an opportunity to ask any questions
This session will explore the ways in which heritage organisations and museums are seeking to broaden the range of research into their collections; widen access and participation, and the importance of enabling individuals from a range of backgrounds to pursue a career in these sectors.
TBC
Abstract: We present a framework for analysing intertemporal labour supply and household formation and dissolution decisions in an equilibrium limited-commitment collective framework that allows for marriage both within and across birth cohorts. Using Panel Study of Income Dynamics and American Community Survey data, we apply our equilibrium limited-commitment framework to empirically implement a model with labour market earnings risk, human capital accumulation, home production activities, fertility, and both within- and across-cohort marital matching. We use the model to assess the economic determinants of the age structure of marriages, and the differences in household specialisation patterns within age-similar and age-dissimilar marriages. Please sign up for meetings using the schedule below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RGiVMwMBw0NPXh9BF6ooO6HJA1J56wqf_en2deCi-ZY/edit#gid=0
This year’s Ewen Green Memorial Lecture will be held on Thursday 1st November at 5pm in the College Auditorium. The speaker is Professor Catherine Hall (UCL), Emerita Professor of History and Chair of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership, and the title of her lecture is “Customs in Common: making ‘race’ in the black/white Atlantic.” If you are interested in attending this free event, please email Magdalen College at alumni.office@magd.ox.ac.uk
Note: Ewen Green Memorial Lecture, in the Magdalen College Auditorium at 5pm
Nigel Llewellyn, Funeral Monuments in Post-Reformation England (2000), ch. 6; Frits Scholten, Sumptuous Memories: Studies in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Tomb Sculpture (2003), introduction.
This paper, which is work-in-progress, considers the 63 motets collected in Oxford Bodleian Library, Douce 308. Most have refrains, often split between the opening and closing lines of the motet text, and all are presented without musical notation or any indication of tenors. Where concordances exist, the texts of D308 are invariably in motetus parts, but the concordances also make Douce 308 a unique witness to a mixture of material from the mainstream polyphonic motet tradition and the otherwise unique monophonic 'motets entés' of Trouvère MS N. This paper will propose that more motets known today only in polyphonic version may have had origins as monophonic motets. It will consider what the lost monophonic motet repertoire might have looked like and ask how the motet repertory might have come to be so largely polyphonic given this possible origin in monophonic, refrain-related, material.
Though the vast majority of people trying to lose weight do so on their own, without support from healthcare professionals or formal weight loss programmes, most research into weight loss focusses on more intensive programmes. We therefore set out to find out more about what people do when trying to lose weight on their own. As part of this work, we conducted three qualitative systematic reviews to explore people’s experiences with self-directed weight loss. The first review provides an overview of the cognitive and behavioural strategies used during self-directed weight loss attempts, and the second two reviews delve further into particular weight loss strategies that emerged as part of the overview, namely self-monitoring and reframing. In this talk, I’ll cover key findings from each of the three reviews, and also use these reviews to illustrate how qualitative syntheses can be conducted and used to shed light on people’s experiences. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce is a Senior Researcher in Health Behaviours, based at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. Her work focusses on obesity and tobacco control and her particular interests lie in evidence synthesis and systematic reviews. This talk is being held as part of the Qualitative Research Methods module which is part of the MSc in Evidence-based Health Care. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
Arctic Northern Eurasia’s climate is changing at a fast pace, with strong impacts on its ecosystems: warmer summers have led to increases in tundra productivity (despite ‘heavy’ grazing by large reindeer herds sustained over decades); warmer winters and reduced sea ice have increased the frequency of rain-on-snow events, leading to record-breaking winter and spring mortality of reindeer; and permafrost melting has caused a widespread drying/draining of lakes, reducing freshwater fish populations. Yet, nomadic pastoralists from Fennoscandia to Eastern Siberia and Mongolia have dealt with extreme weather and variable climate for centuries. Over the past 2,000 years, some Arctic indigenous peoples (e.g. Sami, Nenets) transitioned from hunting to herding, shifting major reindeer populations from wild to semi-domesticated herds. In the process, they directly and indirectly affected tundra/taiga vegetation and soils at scales ranging from a few meters across (Sami milking sites) to entire regions (e.g. Yamal Peninsula). In recent decades, the development of extractive industries on these lands has been significant and has added pressure on these peoples’ livelihoods. Beyond the simplistic concept of ‘overgrazing’, there is a real need to understand human-animal relations, social-ecological drivers and potential climate feedbacks in Northern Eurasian landscapes. It is also overly simplistic to assume that climate change is now, and has been, the main driver of social-ecological transformation in a climatically dynamic Arctic – tundra people live with change! Prof Forbes will present results from his long-term research on social-ecological systems in Northwestern Eurasia and discuss on trajectories of nomadism in contrasting climates. Followed by drinks and refreshments
In a career spanning almost 50 years, Professor W. Mike Edmunds made an extraordinary contribution to water science and water resource management globally. Mike led advances in geochemistry – particularly hydrogeochemistry and palaeohydrology – authored over 150 scientific publications and mentored numerous water professionals in the process. In recognition of his outstanding work, Mike received many accolades including the Whittaker Medal (1999), the O.E. Meinzer Award (2009), and the Vernadsky Medal (2010). Mike is remembered not only for his scientific achievements, but for his passion, warmth and generosity of spirit which touched the lives of many. This lecture aims to honour his legacy by promoting good hydrogeological science to the service of society: something Mike was deeply passionate about. Groundwater replenishment in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from multi-decadal observations Dependence on groundwater withdrawals to alleviate poverty is growing across Sub-Saharan Africa, where groundwater is often the only perennial source of freshwater. Despite substantial uncertainty that persists in projections of climate change, the 5th Assessment Report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change concluded with high confidence that large reductions in groundwater recharge are expected in drylands globally. However, the processes by which groundwater is replenished in the tropics remain inadequately resolved; model output is untested and uncertain. The 2018 Edmunds Lecture will review new evidence of recharge process and relationships between rainfall and recharge from recently collated, multi-decadal records of groundwater levels in 9 countries across tropical Africa. A key focus of this review is how groundwater recharge may be influenced by the amplification of extreme rainfall, an impact of global warming that is physically based and well-observed. About the speaker Richard Taylor is a Professor of Hydrogeology at the University College London (UCL). His area of expertise lies in the use of groundwater resources to improve access to freshwater for agricultural and domestic purposes in low-income countries across the tropics. His research draws not only from the physical sciences including hydrogeology, hydroclimatology, chemistry, remote-sensing and numerical modelling but also from social sciences including political economy, hydropolitics, and metrics (e.g. human ecology).
How should members of a liberal democratic political community, open to value pluralism, decide bioethical issues that generate deep disagreement? Reasoned debate will not often generate an answer equally accepted to all participants and affected persons. One political means of reaching binding because authoritative decisions are majoritarian democratic institutions. Its core feature is proceduralism, the notion both that no rule is acceptable apart from a formal method, and that the acceptable method yields an acceptable rule; a rule is acceptable by virtue of being the outcome of an agreed-upon procedure. This approach is distinctly political and presupposes values such as legitimacy, order, stability, individual freedom, equality, and toleration of difference. Although not value neutral, it makes agreement and collective action possible in ways that bioethics oriented principally on pre-political ethical and moral values cannot. I demonstrate the usefulness of this approach with several examples.
https://www.facebook.com/events/445657209289839/
Join us to be part of a conversation with Helena exploring the challenges she has faced and the potential for the next big breakthrough towards a more diverse workplace for all of us.
The IHR and Senate House Library host a chamber concert featuring the work of three women composers active in the suffrage movement – together with readings from their diaries and letters, and from those of fellow suffrage campaigners. The concert will include music by Ethel Smyth (1958-1944) and Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), who were prominent suffragists and members of the Society of Women Musicians, and by Dorothy Howell (1898-1982) whose work was regularly premièred at the Proms from 1919, but is now rarely heard. The concert will be accompanied by an exhibition of scores, diaries and letters written by these and other women composers from the period, drawn from the Senate House Library collection. The Berkeley Ensemble was formed in 2008 by members of Southbank Sinfonia, Britain’s young professional orchestra, with the aim of exploring the wealth of little-known twentieth and twenty-first century British chamber music alongside more established repertoire. It now enjoys a busy concert schedule performing throughout the UK and abroad, and is also much in demand for its inspiring work in education. Dr Kate Kennedy is a well-known author and broadcaster on BBC Radio 3 and BBC television. She is the consultant to Radio 3 for their First World War programming and a specialist in early to mid-twentieth-century British music. Kate is also Deputy Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing at Wolfson College, and teaches in both the English and Music Faculties. Tickets £10; concessions £5; includes a pre-concert drink and entry to the exhibition. Part of the IHR’s Suffrage Season, 1918-2018 in collaboration with Senate House Library.
The programme of the MALMECC study day will be as follows: 2 November 2018: St Luke’s Chapel, Radcliffe Campus, Oxford 09.30-11.00: Em. prof. dr. Frank Willaert (Antwerp), ‘Hovedauncis and rés d’Alemaigne’ 11.00-11.30: Coffee break 11.30-13.00: Prof. Karl Kügle (Oxford), ‘A song about the Porridge King and Machaut’s B33 re-visited’ 13.00-14.00: Lunch 14.00-15.30: Dr David Murray (Oxford), 'The Monk of Salzburg and the Song Traditions of later Medieval Europe' 15.30-16.00: Coffee break 16.00-17.00: Prof. Elizabeth Eva Leach (Oxford), 'Ripping Romance to Ribbons: the French of German and English knights in Douce 308' followed by 17.00-17.30: Final discussion We are pleased to welcome the following discussants; Prof. Margaret Bent (Oxford), Matt Lampitt (KCL), Prof. Catherine Leglu (Reading), Prof. Nigel Palmer (Oxford), Prof. Yolanda Plumley (Exeter), Dr Uri Smilansky (KCL), and Prof. Almut Suerbaum (Oxford).
Public workshop. £20 per person, to include refreshments and lunch. Speakers: Clara Abraham, Stephen Barker, Dr Malcolm Graham, Dr Rob Johnson, Caroline Roaf, Peter Smith, Sue Smith Introduction: Dr Adrian Gregory Chairs: Dr Jeanette Atkinson and Liz Woolley
Call for papers Abstracts of up to 300 words for 20 minute papers from Post Graduate Students or early career researchers For more information visit www.deconstructingmasculinity2018.co.uk
Bending tubular ER with Yop1 - Prof Jason Schnell New insights into drug transport via the SLC15 family of membrane transporters - Prof Simon Newstead
I consider decision-making when the stakes are high, but information is poor, and outcomes may be far from our experience. My leading example is climate change. We do not know the probabilities of diverse outcomes; we disagree about societal impatience, risk, and inequality aversion. I offer a simple model of "justifiable acts", providing maximal agreement between decision theories, and facilitating quantification of the remaining disagreement. When this disagreement is large, I characterise the choice situation as "dismal". I demonstrate that the question of climate policy is "dismal". This illuminates how subjective much of the literature on climate change economics really is, and so how poor a guide to policy this literature may form. The "dismal" framework here generalises Weitzman's (2009a) "dismal theorem", giving a broader view, which shows that it may be unnecessary or unwise to focus on highly unlikely events.
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition:‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
There has been a resurgence of interest for the field of cardiac metabolism catalysed by the increased need for new therapeutic targets for patients with heart failure. Traditionally, the focus of research in this area has been on the impact of substrate selection – carbohydrates vs. fatty acids - for mitochondrial oxidative energy metabolism. The use of recently emerging metabolomic technologies - which aim at systematically measure all low-molecular weight compounds within a biological system - has provided some novel insight into the global metabolic perturbations prevailing in several cardiovascular diseases. Acylcarnitines (ACs) are among metabolites that have been the focus of many recent metabolomics-based studies, particularly in human heart failure. Profiling of circulating ACs has commonly been used for diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism, particularly mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FA) defects. Beyond being proxies of fatty acid metabolic dysregulation, ACs - primarily long-chain ACs (LCACs) – are, however, increasingly being recognized as “actors”, modulating cell functions, as well as being linked to adverse cardiac events such as arrhythmias. This presentation aims to provide an overview of metabolic pathways generating ACs and of studies reporting elevated circulating levels of ACs, particularly LCACs, in human heart failure. It will also discuss proposed molecular mechanisms for the potential adverse effects of LCACs on cardiac function.
Abstract: During meiotic recombination, homology search and DNA-strand invasion ensure faithful homolog pairing and segregation, to avoid the formation of aneuploidy gametes. These central meiotic steps are catalyzed by two highly conserved recombinases, RAD51 and DMC1, which are assisted by mediator proteins such as BRCA2. RAD51 paralogs are another class of mediator proteins that have been implicated in homologous recombination, but their role in meiosis is poorly understood. I will present our novel findings uncovering a critical role for the recently identified RAD51 paralog complex, SWS1-SWSAP1, in the early steps of mouse meiotic recombination. In addition, I will show data supporting that this complex has overlapping functions with BRCA2, regulating meiotic RAD51/DMC1 recombination intermediates. Finally, I will present evidence of a switch to a mitotic-like recombination pathway at late meiotic stages that ensures the timely repair of double-stranded breaks before homologs segregate. Bio: Carla did her PhD work in Prof. Noel Lowndes lab at the National University of Ireland Galway. Her dissertation focused on the interplay between cell cycle regulation by the cyclin-dependent kinases and the activation of the DNA damage signaling pathway. Carla then joined the lab of Professor Maria Jasin at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in USA. As a postdoctoral fellow, she investigated the homologous recombination proteins that regulate the activity of the repair recombinases RAD51 and DMC1, focusing on the functions of BRCA2, RAD51 paralogs and RAD54. Carla is now transitioning to the IBMC/i3S in Portugal where she will start her own line of research.
Drop-in session for you to see the RSL's 3D printers in action and try out VR equipment. For more information on our 3D and VR services, please see http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/3dprintingscanning and http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/VR
Christian Müller (Nottingham Ningbo): ‘The Colonial Guardians of Slavery? The Problem of Forced Labour and Inter-imperial Knowledge Transfer Under the League of Nations, 1919-1937’ Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo (Coimbra, Portugal): ‘The Labours of Colonial Cooperation: Interimperial Organisations and the Questions of Labour and Welfare in the 1950s’ Amandine Lauró (Université libre de Bruxelles): ‘‘The British, the French and Even the Russians Use These Methods’: Psychology, Mental Testing and (Trans)imperial Dynamics of Expertise Production in Late Colonial Congo’ Miles Larmer (St Antony’s, Oxford): ‘‘Decolonising’ Knowledge Production in Central Africa’s Mining Towns Before and After Independence’
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyNu-tHHJ15Se57I0BMvTVqYV0-Yxx6WShyLXVviqlg/edit#gid=0
What explains the likelihood that a nongovernmental organization (NGO) will turn to the courts to pursue their policy goals? This article explores the factors that influence the mobilization of law by environmental NGOs in four Western European countries. It finds that explanations focused on legal opportunity structures are unable to account for the patterns of within-country variation in legal mobilization behavior. The research also shows that bird protection NGOs as well as home-grown national environmental NGOs are generally more likely to turn to law than transnational environmental groups. Although resources and legal opportunities clearly matter to some extent, the author suggests—drawing on sociological institutionalist theory—that explanations of NGO legal mobilization should (a) incorporate an understanding of how groups frame and interpret the idea of “the law” and (b) explore the role of “strategy entrepreneurs” who promote the use of particular tactics within an organization.
The event is free and open for all Sponsored by: British Society for the History of Philosophy (BSHP) http://www.bshp.org.uk Maison Française d’Oxford (MFO) http://www.mfo.cnrs.fr ; Contact and information: Mogens Lærke : secretary@bshp.org.uk
Joint KCL/Oxford Workshop This workshop considers the composition, performance, and repetition of texts of lament, loss and healing. We understand the writing and reading of these lament traditions to be the work of therapy. Presentations will explore how interpretive communities – collective and individual – internalise, interpret and translate experiences of trauma and fracture into new readings, rewritten scripture, and radical prayer.
In When Political Transitions Work, Fanie du Toit, who has been a participant and close observer in post-conflict developments throughout Africa for decades, offers a new theory for why South Africa's reconciliation worked and why its lessons remain relevant for other nations emerging from civil conflicts. He uses reconciliation as a framework for political transition and seeks to answer three key questions: how do the reconciliation processes begin; how can political transitions result in inclusive and fair institutional change; and to what extent does reconciliation change the way a society functions? Looking at South Africa, one of reconciliation's most celebrated cases, Du Toit shows that the key ingredient to successful reconciliations is acknowledging the centrality of relationships. He further develops his own theoretical approach to reconciliation-as-interdependence-the idea that reconciliation is the result of an integrated process of courageous leadership, fair and inclusive institutions, and social change built toward a mutual goal of prosperity.
Research Professional (www.researchprofessional.com) is an online research funding database. It is free for everyone at Oxford. This hands-on training session provides a full introduction to to the system, including: how to search for funding effectively; how to set up email alerts; and how to access news and Funding Insight content.
Edmund Burke, III is Research Professor and Professor Emeritus of Modern Middle Eastern and World history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Professor Burke’s talk for the Maison Francaise derives from his in-progress manuscript, France and the Sociology of Islam, 1780-1962. His other recent books on this subject include: The Ethnographic State: France and Moroccan Islam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014) and Genealogies of Orientalism: History, Theory, Politics (University of Nebraska Press, 2008). Finally, Burke is the co-editor of Islam and World History: The Ventures of Marshall Hodgson (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2018). NO REGISTRATION NEEDED
Edmund Burke, III is Research Professor and Professor Emeritus of Modern Middle Eastern and World history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Professor Burke’s talk for the Maison Francaise derives from his in-progress manuscript, France and the Sociology of Islam, 1780-1962. His other recent books on this subject include: The Ethnographic State: France and Moroccan Islam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014) and Genealogies of Orientalism: History, Theory, Politics (University of Nebraska Press, 2008). Finally, Burke is the co-editor of Islam and World History: The Ventures of Marshall Hodgson (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2018).
The conference will investigate whether and to what extent religious knowledge in the form of textual traditions and rituals was accessible to and known by ordinary people beyond religious functionaries. Which contexts (e.g., family, synagogue/church, private and public study and ritual practices) enabled the dissemination and acquisition of religious knowledge, in which forms was it accessible (e.g., oral discourse, texts, visual art), and which individuals (e.g., parents, teachers, scribes, rabbis, priests, monks) mediated it to others? Can we assume that the majority of those who identified themselves as Jewish or Christian would have possessed a “working knowledge” of the respective religious traditions and customary rituals? Would that knowledge have differed from one person to another, depending on gender, socio-economic status, religious commitment, and the general circumstances in which one lived? Which sources enable us to access and evaluate ordinary people’s knowledge, given that our literary sources were written by the literate intellectual elites? How did religious leaders disseminate scriptural knowledge? Were they interested in maintaining a monopoly on the interpretation and application of law and theology and show off their erudition and expertise? If “popular” religious knowledge was eclectic and rudimentary, to what extent did customary practice play a role? Would the public have been more familiar with specific stories, traditions, and rituals than with others? And what would have been the consequences of the (limited?) extent of religious knowledge on the public performance of religious rituals and observance?
This paper looks at how eugenics shaped Catholic discussions on sexuality, reproduction and the protection of the family in Hungary during the interwar period. The main issue at the time was how to harmonise the interests of the state and the nation with the interests of individuals and families. The eugenic focus on reproduction intersected long-seated religious and cultural patterns of family life, which Hungarian Catholics considered unalterable. However, eugenics was not completely rejected by the Catholic Church. Whilst negative eugenic practices such as sterilisation and euthanasia were rejected, positive eugenics was considered an important medium through which the Catholic Church could voice its views on sexual morality, population policies and the protection of Hungarian racial qualities.
In studies in psychology and education it is essential to think clearly about causal mechanisms. I will outline the use of path diagrams as tools for representing, reasoning about, and testing causal models. The examples I will use come from studies of children’s reading and language disorders. In studies of such disorders we can probably never practically or ethically manipulate the ultimate causes (genes and environments) of a disorder. I will argue, however, that identifying causes at the Cognitive Level of explanation is crucial for planning effective treatments/interventions for these disorders. Furthermore, if interventions are successful we may, using mediation analyses, get close to identifying the proximal causes for different disorders.
Maj Hartmann, KU Leuven: ‘The Role of Japanese Non-State Actors in the Globalization of International Copyright Law, 1900-1920s’ Yongkeun Chun, Royal College of Art: ‘Advance of the Imperial Brand: Market Expansion and Localised Advertising of Japanese Brands in Colonial Korea, c.1920s-1930s’
The easiest way for us to understand climate change is by looking at how it impacts us humans. What we fail to learn is how our own actions affect not just the physical environment but life around us, in the form of biodiversity. Adaptation, migration, and extinction of species: how is it affected by climate change and does it affect us? Join us in understanding the biological phenomena responsible for and affected by the process of climate change. With Stephen Willis (Professor of Biosciences, Durham University) and Tim Newbold (Research Fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, UCL).
Ethnic inequalities have been demonstrated in severe mental illness experiences and outcomes. There is a long-standing literature on the higher incidence of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder particularly in African and Caribbean populations, but more generally in migrants and South Asians to a lesser extent. There are variations in pathways to care with greater coercive care and compulsory treatment in African and Caribbean patients that are not always explained by substance misuse or levels of violence and criminality. These findings have been sustained for a number of years but uncertainty about causation, the reading of the evidence and uncertainties and disputes, and how to intervene to prevent inequalities. One of the challenges has been disputes amongst professional networks, disciplines as well as within and across service user groups about causation and priority. Some have argued universal interventions are better, to improve healthcare of all parties. Others say that targeted interventions should be tested for better outcomes. A substantial amount of evidence exists in practice and also in pilot studies on targeted interventions. Some of the disputed explanations for inequalities include social exclusion, poverty deprivation, ethnicity, urban life leading to higher incidence of psychosis as well resource strain in local services clustering with deprivation and ethnicity, leading to poorer service experience. Other sources of dispute include the nature of structural disadvantage and discrimination as applied to age, gender and ethnicity and whether societal disadvantage enters into the institutions and, therefore, into individual practice. Racism specifically has led to significant dispute by academics, clinicians, commissioners, policy makers and government, and even patient groups. There are quite different and contrasting ways of reading the evidence, conflating political ideologies and opinions with the evidence-leading to paralysis of any proposed actions. Over time, psychiatry has moved to a better neuroscientific and biomarker based understanding of causation and potential intervention. Is it possible that biomarkers for psychosocial adversity in general and racism in particular could be found to demonstrate differences across ethnic groups, not only in the total dose of psychosocial adversity but also in the responsivity to similar levels of adversity, given the historical legacies of disempowerment and identity politics are argued by social scientists to have a cumulative effect. I hope to present the challenges of work in this area but also potential solutions based on better research taking advantage of the revolution in neuroscientific and biomarker based research with some examples. I hope to provoke some thought about new research lines and potential collaborations.
For people new to patient and public involvement, an introductory workshop alongside members of the public
Learn to make, and publish, a digital edition of a Bodleian manuscript! Undergraduates and postgraduates in any discipline are invited to attend workshops in textual editing at the Weston Library. Participants study previously unpublished Bodleian manuscripts, and produce annotated digital transcriptions which will be published on the database Early Modern Letters Online, as ‘Bodleian Student Editions’. The sessions provide a hands-on introduction to the following: 1. Special Collections handling 2. Palaeography and transcription 3. Metadata curation, analysis, and input into Early Modern Letters Online 4. Research and publication ethics 5. Digital tools for scholarship, and further training available This is a rare opportunity to combine material sources and digital tools to explore the history of your discipline in new ways. Although the sessions are standalone, participants in previous workshops have gone on to further transcription work with Bodleian collections or as research assistants with projects around the country, as well as incorporating the material into their own research. We also provide first-hand experience with primary sources, and a citable publication, for those wishing to apply for postgraduate study in areas where this is valuable. Where: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Weston Library When: 6 November (Tuesday, 5th week), 10am-4:30pm; and later dates Who: sessions are led by curatorial and technical staff and participation is open to all students at the University of Oxford. Attendance is free but places are limited and registration is required. To register & for more information see http://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/digital/2018/10/02/bsed-workshops/
Abstract: The paper develops a mechanism for a principal to allocate a prize to the most valued agent when agents have a knowledge network. The principal does not know any agent's value but any two linked agents know each other's values. Agents compete for the prize and send costless private messages about their own value and the values of others they know to the principal. Agents can lie only to a certain extent and only lie if it increases their chances of winning the prize. A mechanism that determines each agent's chances of winning for any possible message profile is proposed. We show that with this mechanism, there exists an equilibrium such that the most valued agent wins with certainty if every agent has at least one link. We provide sufficient conditions on the network such the most valued agent wins with certainty in every equilibrium, and also provide an example of a network for which there exists an equilibrium such that the most valued agent does not win with certainty. Full details of this seminar series are available at the following link: http://www.davidronayne.net/lgn-seminar
Coming soon
About the speaker: Tamara Tubakovic is a PhD candidate in the School of Social Political Sciences, the University of Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, First Class) from the University of Melbourne. Tamara’s thesis ‘Responsibility Sharing on Refugees: An Analysis of Policy Change to the Dublin System,’ analyses the way in which the EU’s institutional decision-making framework has hindered concrete and durable solutions to the challenges of asylum distribution in the EU. Tamara has conducted extensive interviews with EU policy officials from the European Commission DG Home, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the European External Action Service. She has also conducted interviews with government officials on national asylum policies in Germany and Italy. In 2016 Tamara was a visiting postgraduate researcher at the European University Institute in Florence. In 2017 Tamara conducted an internship at the Royal Institute for International Relations (Egmont) in Brussels. Tamara has research expertise in EU integration, policy making processes and the development of the EU’s asylum policy. Tamara is a named doctoral participant on a recently awarded Jean Monnet+ Network entitled ‘Comparative Network on Refugee Externalisation Policies’ along with six other international universities. She has also worked as a research assistant on EU-Australia relations, comparative regional governance and comparative regional refugee challenges. She tutors an undergraduate subject on European Integration: The Politics of the EU and has given Guest Lectures on ‘Immigration and Asylum Issues’ in the EU in International Affairs (Master of International Relations, The University of Melbourne) and on ‘Regional Refugee Challenges’ in Comparative Regional Governance (Master of International Relations, the University of Melbourne)
This is an invitation for WebLearn users to meet with members of the IT Services WebLearn team to give feedback and share ideas and practices regarding the use of WebLearn. Ensure that your voice and ideas are heard and shared in order to inform the ongoing development and support of the system. Refreshments served.
Want to find out more about REF2021 and how it will affect you? The Research Services REF team is holding a series of events around the University in October and November to update staff on the upcoming Research Excellence Framework assessment. They are open to academic, research and administrative staff from across the collegiate University and will cover: • changes to the exercise for REF2021 • staff and research output eligibility • how staff can contribute to the development of the University’s code of practice • an opportunity to ask any questions
Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History. His research specialties are the history of modern European Jewry, Zionism, and the state of Israel. He is currently writing a biography of Theodor Herzl for Yale University Press’ Jewish Lives series and a book titled Zionism: An Emotional State, for Rutgers University Press’ series on Keywords in Jewish Studies.
Sign up to meet with the speaker at the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJbG-r8MQZ9VCgwYdY6VZGDndIwnnJd5SigFyq_JipM/edit#gid=0 We use transaction-level US import data to compare firms from virtually all countries in the world competing in a single destination market. Guided by a simple theoretical framework, we decompose countries' market shares into the contribution of the number of firm-products, their average attributes (quality and efficiency) and heterogeneity around the mean. Our results show that the number of firm-products explains half of the variation in sales, while the remaining part is equally accounted for by average attributes and their dispersion. Quality is the main driver of firm heterogeneity (explaining between 75% and 100%). We then study how the distribution of firm-level characteristics varies across countries, and we explore some of its determinants. Countries with a larger market size tend to be characterized by a more dispersed distribution of firms' sales, especially due to heterogeneity in quality. These countries also tend to be more likely to host superstar firms, although this is not the only source of higher heterogeneity. To further explore the role of exceptional firms, we develop a novel decomposition that separates the contribution of heterogeneity from that of granularity. While individual firms matter, we find that heterogeneity is more important than granularity for explaining sales.
For centuries medieval Christian Iberian rulers were in regular diplomatic contact with Muslim powers, both within and outside Iberia, yet how these traditions might have affected diplomatic relations in the sixteenth century and beyond remains unresearched. Even diplomacy between the early Iberian Habsburgs (Charles V and Philip II) and the Ottoman court has received limited attention, and with reason, given the difficulty of finding documentation. Despite the patchy material and relatively early state of this research, this paper will discuss diplomatic relations between these two Christian sovereigns and diverse Muslim rulers in North Africa as well as with the Ottoman sultan. It will be argued that a comparative perspective is vital if we are to understand the similarities and differences in the way diplomacy was carried out with Muslim states. It will give examples of how past traditions, changing legal and diplomatic frameworks, and questions of faith and reputation affected diplomatic relations and the language of diplomacy, as well as the development of formal diplomacy.
Please sign up for meeting using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eTUvKW-onEzp681ri-yQa8KSWOYRJC81y_6GEmwQTp0/edit#gid=0
The Vincent Strudwick Lecture 2018 will be given by Neil MacGregor, lecturer, former Director of the British Museum and current founding Director of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. The lecture will be on Art and Religion. This lecture has been organised by Kellogg College and is kindly sponsored by the Graduate Theological Foundation (USA). Tickets to this event are free and all are welcome to attend.
We will welcome co-inventor of the Internet, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, Dr Vint Cerf, to deliver the next Romanes lecture: The Pacification of Cyberspace. The lecture will discuss how to pacify the relatively lawless environment of the internet, while preserving the utility of its openness to creative innovation and technological revolution.
Medical research is a very intense, focused activity, and career planning can take a back seat. Yet the reality is that those who engage early tend to make happier and smoother moves into the next role. Booking an appointment with a Careers Adviser is a great way to begin exploring your ideas for after the DPhil or postdoc, get some practical input on applications, or simply to take a moment to pause and think ‘where am I, and where might I want to go next….?’ We will help you identify some achievable next steps and to understand how the Careers Service can support you as you proceed. These include a huge variety of events to help you meet people working in sectors where research skills are valued, hands-on programmes to develop your core employability skills and workshops to help you hone your written application skills and interview techniques. Appointments are offered to DPhil students and contract research staff (grade 6 and above), including postdocs, at The Careers Service, 56 Banbury Road every week and can be booked using your CareerConnect account (accessed via www.careers.ox.ac.uk). We are also offering appointments at a Headington venue, as per the below. Time slots available: 9:30 x 2 10:00 x 2 10:30 x 2 11:30 x 2 12:00 x 2 To book an slot, please phone reception at the Careers Service on 01865 274646
The UK Biobank study has recruited 500,000 volunteers from all around the UK aged 40-69 at enrolment. This age group is being studied because it involves people at risk over the next few decades of developing a wide range of important diseases (including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia). The purpose of this talk is to provide an introduction to this resource for health research and guidance on how to access and handle this data. I will also show preliminary results from current studies we are doing within the Health Behaviours team in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
READING DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Written with Chris Bidner (Simon Fraser University) and Clementine Sadania (Aix-Marseille School of Economics)
Cyberspace is both a deeply technical and a deeply political space with daily reminders at all levels, from small businesses through to national institutions, as to how vulnerable we all are. The events of the past decade have served to show that cyber security is and will remain one of the world’s most pressing security concerns, yet in many ways our understanding of this space remains infantile and prone to hyperbole. In this talk, Danny Steed will discuss his upcoming new book in the attempt to marry a closer understanding of the technical possibilities afforded by cyberspace with the political desires of those actors who must operate with it. Danny Steed is Head of Strategy at ReSolve Cyber. He previously worked for the Cabinet Office in operational cyber security, where he served for two years in both Operations and Incident Management. His specialism during this time was facilitating confidential information sharing between government and industry as the Project lead for the CiSP (Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership) initiative.
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-faith reading where people of all faiths gather and reflect on short passages from their scriptures together. There is sometimes overlap between texts where different faiths share their Scriptures. It is a worldwide movement www.scripturalreasoning.org and this is the major meeting in Oxford. We spend time with texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, and discuss ancient, medieval, and modern interpretations of Scripture, modern day practices which reflect these texts, and what they mean personally for individuals and faith communities. Free, simple kosher snacks may be provided.
Talk by Simon Usherwood, University of Surrey
Bernardo J. García García, ‘Setting limits to grandeur: Preserving the Spanish monarchy in an iron century’, in Monarchy transformed: Princes and their elites in early modern western Europe, edited by Robert von Frideburg and John Morrill (2017), 127-163; Felix Labrador Arroyo, ‘The situation of the Portuguese court and royal household under the first monarch of the House of Austria (1581-1598)’, The Court Historian 21: 1 (2016): 1-21; Alistair Malcolm, Royal favouritism and the governing elite of the Spanish monarchy, 1640-1665 (2017), Ch. 4 (‘Government and society after Olivares, 93-116).
TBA
In the last hundred years, humankind has made the impossible possible: space travel. Only a lucky few have gone where no one had gone before, but what is it really like to venture in to the depths of the unknown? Dr James Pawelczyk, Physiologist and Astronaut on the STS-90 Clumbia Space Shuttle Mission, will be visiting the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford, to discuss just exactly what the body must endure when travelling through space. All members of the Department and their families are welcome, but places are limited so be sure to secure tickets as soon as possible. The talk will take place in the Sherrington Large Lecture Theatre and will also be live streamed on the Big Screen in the foyer. A drinks and nibbles reception will follow the talk, at which you will have an opportunity to speak to the astronaut James himself as well as have a chance to get your hands on some space stash! More information to follow. DPAG members are encouraged to look out for an email invitation.
For almost two centuries, Shakespeare had no biography. Neither did he have the structure of a biography (a chronology), nor the materials for one (an archive). And his canon did not include the Sonnets (his only work written in the first person). In sum, the mainstays of modern Shakespeare criticism were simply not there. Does this mean that Shakespeare was not valued or understood until after 1800? Each of these four lectures will focus on one of those critical absences, not as an empty place holder for what eventually is to come, but as evidence that other viable priorities were once at work. By the time scholars began to long for materials relating to Shakespeare, almost nothing had survived, at least not in his own hand: no autograph manuscripts, no personal papers, only a few signatures. But official written records did survive, and eighteenth-century scholars set about finding and scrutinizing them in various record books: of the parish, the Stationers company, the Master of Revels office, the College of Arms, the law courts. All these documents provided dates, points in time which when sequenced served as the basis for a continuous biographical narrative. Scholars also discovered two very different compilations with entries on Shakespeare, by John Aubrey and Gerard Langbaine. These two record books -- one of lives, the other of plays -- were full of dates, though scholars found them sadly unreliable. For those dates were not meant to be pressed into timelines. They worked to different purposes, more nodal than linear, more dispersive than exclusive.
Who was Marshall Hodgson and should he have a claim on our attention today? In a moment of populist nationalisms and deepening Islamophobia, Hodgson’s humanistic vision is once again of interest. Primarily known as the author of the innovative three volume textbook, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (Chicago, 1974), Hodgson proposes a vision of the unfolding of Islam that seeks to elude civilizationist essentialisms by inserting Islamic history into the larger history of humanity. Essays in Islam and World History: The Ventures of Marshall Hodgson (Chicago 2018) provide the first critical reassessment of his life and work, while grounding it in the post-World War II efforts by global scholars to devise a new framework for a new post-colonial world.
In 2014, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched its Global Action Plan on Statelessness, which identifies the potential for individuals to be at risk of statelessness. The phrase ‘risk of statelessness’ first appears in UNHCR documents in 1996, and between 2000 and 2018, it had been used over 650 times. As a concept, risk of statelessness remains under-examined in the literature on statelessness. Given the proliferation of work on vulnerability and risk within International Relations, it is ripe for examination. As concepts, both ‘risk’ and ‘statelessness’ imply substantial uncertainty, and the 2014 Plan identifies risk of statelessness as the situation of those who ‘have difficulties proving that they have links to a state’. Risk of statelessness is therefore a highly contingent and ambiguous concept. This seminar explores what is at stake in the risk of statelessness, grounding this in wider discussions of vulnerability, and of the governance of pluralism and uncertainty in relation to nationality and statelessness. https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/events/international-society-and-the-risk-of-statelessness
The Lady English Lecture Series has been exploring different aspects of equality since 2013. As St Hilda's 125th Anniversary year draws to a close, we will be hosting a panel discussion on ‘The Future of Equality: Global Perspectives’. Helping us to assess the global challenges to equality and consider possible solutions, our distinguished panellists are Professor Ian Goldin, director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change; Professor Sudhir Anand, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Oxford and Research Director of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University; and Lucy Lake, CEO of Camfed (Campaign for the Education of Women).
The RiCP poster meeting is hosted by OUCAGS and organised each year by a committee of Academic Foundation doctors at Oxford.
Thursday-Friday 8-9 November 2018, Botnar Research Centre 9am-5pm Registration now open! Places strictly limited so book as soon as possible! What previous participants have said about EQUATOR Publication School • Jam packed with really practical tips and ideas • Should be obligatory for all starting out a PhD. • Excellent scope – right the way from authorship and journal selection to submission/peer review/dissemination – not just the bits in the middle! • A very helpful course, wish I’d done it two years ago! • Great pace and content • Really informative and inspiring course • Very comprehensive course covering all aspects of writing and publishing • It has given me the foundation and strategies to construct my manuscript. • Exactly what it says on the tin. • Great value for money. I will come back for more. This course covers all you need to know to plan for publication and write up your health-related research study. It focuses on the use of reporting guidelines such as CONSORT and STROBE to maximise transparency and usability of your research. You will experience two intense and enjoyable days of learning led by methodological and writing experts from the UK EQUATOR Centre and the Centre for Statistics in Medicine. We will use group work and discussion and include practical writing exercises to reinforce the learning. Outline of course content The importance of publishing responsibly • Introduction to reporting guidelines • Matching study designs with reporting guidelines • Writing the methods and results • Good statistical reporting • Writing the introduction and discussion • Writing the title and abstract • Good writing style • Summarising your research for different audiences • Choosing a journal and avoiding predators Lunch and refreshments are included in the price of registration Registration fees £50 for members of NDORMS and University Students (incl. Brookes) £95 for University Staff (incl. Brookes) £195 external applicants
Part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science: https://esrc.ukri.org/public-engagement/festival-of-social-science/
TBA
Mindfulness is a natural, trainable human capacity to intentionally bring attention and awareness to all our experience, with attitudes of curiosity, friendliness and compassion. Mindfulness trainings have started to play a role in the contemporary world in recent years through a confluence of ancient contemplative traditions with modern science. This confluence offers insights into how the mind creates distress and suffering, but also how it can create joy. It includes tools to train - and retrain - the mind so we can live with greater ease and effectiveness. This talk will address questions such as “How have mindfulness and mindfulness practice developed into the various contemporary mainstream forms? How effectively can these methods of transformation be applied to different conditions (e.g., chronic pain, recurrent depression)? What does psychological science have to say about the meditating and mind-wandering brain? Who are the people that practice mindfulness - from politicians to prisoners - and why? Could it be a way of “finding peace in a frantic world?” Or should be mindful skeptics? The session will include some brief mindfulness practices.
Acute General Medicine Firm A: -- WIMM: -- Chair: Prof Chris Conlon
Abstract The introduction of intuitive graphical software has enabled structural biologists who are not experts in crystallography to build complete protein or nucleic acid models rapidly. In contrast, carbohydrates are in a completely different situation: scant automation exists, and users building models manually frequently trip over legacy issues such as incorrect dictionaries or non-standard atom naming, which evidence a historical lack of methodological support for carbohydrates. Sugars are stereochemically complex and, as pyranose rings, have clear conformational preferences. And despite this, all refinement programs may produce high-energy conformations at medium to low resolution, without any support from the electron density; this problem renders the affected structures unusable in glyco-chemical terms. Bringing structural glycobiology up to ‘protein standards’ is thus requiring a total methodological overhaul. Time is of the essence, as the community is steadily increasing the production rate of glycoproteins, and electron cryo- microscopy has just started to image them in precisely that resolution range where crystallographic methods falter most. In this talk, I will introduce our latest methodological developments, designed to streamline and automate hitherto error-prone processes, effectively aiding crystallographers and electron microscopists alike in producing correct atomic models with confidence. Some references in chronological order - Agirre, J., Davies, G., Wilson, K., & Cowtan, K. (2015). Carbohydrate anomalies in the PDB. Nature chemical biology, 11(5), 303. - Agirre, J., Iglesias-Fernández, J., Rovira, C., Davies, G. J., Wilson, K. S., & Cowtan, K. D. (2015). Privateer: software for the conformational validation of carbohydrate structures. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, 22(11), 833. - Hudson, K. L., Bartlett, G. J., Diehl, R. C., Agirre, J., Gallagher, T., Kiessling, L. L., & Woolfson, D. N. (2015). Carbohydrate–aromatic interactions in proteins. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137(48), 15152-15160. - Agirre, J., Davies, G. J., Wilson, K. S., & Cowtan, K. D. (2017). Carbohydrate structure: the rocky road to automation. Current opinion in structural biology, 44, 39-47. - McNicholas, S., & Agirre, J. (2017). Glycoblocks: a schematic three-dimensional representation for glycans and their interactions. Acta Crystallographica Section D: Structural Biology, 73(2), 187-194. - Agirre, J. (2017). Strategies for carbohydrate model building, refinement and validation. Acta Crystallographica Section D, 73(2), 171-186. Biography Jon Agirre did a degree in Computer Engineering (San Sebastian, Spain) and received a PhD in Biochemistry (Bilbao, Spain) from the University of the Basque Country in 2009, and after short stages in the Institut de Biologie Structurale Jean-Pierre Ebel in Grenoble and Institut Pasteur in Paris (2011), went on to postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemistry of the University of York, where he continued the longtime tradition of crystallographic method development at York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL). In 2017 he received a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to work on new methodologies for carbohydrate structure modelling, refinement, validation and representation. He is the lead author of the Privateer, Sails and Glycoblocks software, and a major contributor to CCP4i2, the new graphical user interface for the CCP4 suite of programs.
12 different speakers on migration participating in the “Speed-Geeking Migration Challenge”. Come and see globally recognised migration scholars present in a fun and accessible format. Drinks reception to follow after the event. Part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science: https://esrc.ukri.org/public-engagement/festival-of-social-science/
Network Website: http://torch.ox.ac.uk/cpagh
TBC
Please sign up for meetings using the schedule below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RGiVMwMBw0NPXh9BF6ooO6HJA1J56wqf_en2deCi-ZY/edit#gid=0
Matthew Hale, A short treatise touching sheriffs accompts written by the Honourable Sir Matthew Hale (1683), 42-45; Myron C. Noonkester, ‘Dissolution of the Monasteries and the Decline of the Sheriff', The Sixteenth Century Journal 23 (1992), 677-98
It is with great pleasure that the Faculty of History invites you to join us on Thursday 8 November for the Inaugural lecture of Professor Rob Iliffe. Professor Iliffe’s lecture is entitled: ‘Science Fictions: the triumph of the imagination and the invention of scientific creativity' In this lecture Prof Iliffe will describe the various attacks on the imagination launched by natural philosophers in the seventeenth century, and account for the dramatic change in its reputation that occurred in the middle of the eighteenth century, when a powerful imagination became the defining characteristic of the recently-invented scientific genius. It continues to play a key role in modern accounts of scientific creativity, but the ways in which the potential dangers of scientific theorizing have been emphasised shows that the imagination, while essential to areas such as modern physics, is still seen by many as posing an existential threat to science. All are welcome to attend The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the North School.
Sergio Raimondi (Bahía Blanca, Argentina, 1968). Publicó Poesía civil (2001) y un adelanto de Para un diccionario crítico de la lengua (2012), proyecto en el que continúa trabajando y por el que recibió las becas Guggenheim (2007) y Künstlerprogramm DAAD (2018). Desde 2002 es profesor de “Literatura Contemporánea” en la Universidad Nacional del Sur. Ha escrito numerosos ensayos sobre Sarmiento, Alberdi, Martínez Estrada y L. Lamborghini, entre otros, articulando problemas de poética con la política y la economía argentina. Sus versiones de Catulo al español bonaerense se editaron bajo el título Catulito en 1999 y, ampliadas, en 2017. Fue durante muchos años director del Museo del Puerto, una institución comunitaria dedicada a la historia de los trabajadores del lugar, y secretario de Cultura de la ciudad de Bahía Blanca entre 2011 y 2014.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2221588934745032/
Public lecture – open to all
Molecular mechanisms in the nervous and vascular systems - Prof Elena Seiradake TBA - Dr Paul Elliott
New technologies can bring tremendous benefits. But they also have costs, or risks, some known, some unknown. How should authorities regulate new technologies in the light of the possible costs and benefits? A standard approach to decision making under risk is to use formal risk cost-benefit analysis. Yet there are clear limits to this approach where risks and probabilities are unknown. Furthermore, simple cost-benefit analysis ignores questions of moral hazard – where benefits and costs fall – and the political dimensions of the introduction of new technologies. In this paper, I discuss how to frame a reasonable precautionary attitude to the risks of new technology, setting out a series of questions that need to be taken into account before a technology should be approved.
How to detect plagiarism in your students' work and how to interpret Turnitin Originality Reports? What do the percentage matches mean? What about direct citations? Should I include bibliographies in the similarity index? This lunchtime session covers viewing and navigating Turnitin Originality Reports. (Note that critical reading and further action based on the data in the report depend on your discipline, department or faculty and are not included in a generic session.)
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition:‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
he 1918-19 German ‘November Revolution’, which catalysed the end of WW1 and prompted nearly a year of violent upheaval, saw the political institutions of one of the most advanced societies in Europe quickly and comprehensively overthrown by a combination of military revolts and civil unrest. While its immediate causes lay predominantly in the defeat of the German Reich at the hands of the Allied powers, the German Revolution took place within the context of a larger wave of socialist and anti-colonial revolutionary activity that gripped Europe and the wider world between 1916 and 1923—much of it inspired by the successful revolutions against tsarist rule in Russia in 1917. Similarly, while the rupture it brought about was a direct response to the exigencies of four years of wartime repression, censorship, rationing, labour requisitioning, and wage restraint, the Revolution also represented the long-awaited culmination of a long period of ideological debate and partisan pressure by a variety of democratic and socialist currents who aspired to a significant break with Germany’s absolutist, imperial, militarist past. The aim of this conference, held on the centenary of the declaration of the new German Republic, is to explore the social and intellectual context and legacy of the German Revolution. It seeks to re-examine the reception of the Revolution, as well as the Weimar Republic and the interwar period, across a range of disciplines, including but not limited to European history, intellectual history, political theory, and political science. In light of the collapse of the nascent Republic into Nazi dictatorship, and shortly afterwards the abrupt end of two decades of uneasy peace with the outbreak of WW2, there has been a temptation to see the German Revolution and the Republic it inaugurated somewhat in block-colour terms. Either they are presented as a ‘false dawn’, an aberrant moment of superficial democratisation that failed to achieve lasting structural transformations in a recalcitrantly reactionary society, or a ‘lost opportunity’, a glorious first flowering of progressivism replete with idealistic creativity whose reversal represented one of the greatest tragedies in European history. Together, these views have contributed to a systemic neglect of a moment, and a period, whose effects reverberated around Europe for many years afterwards. This conference intends to help redress this neglect by refocusing attention on the Revolution and the Weimar period as objects of study and sources of insight in their own right, and locating them within a more rounded picture of their geographical and temporal setting. On the geographical side, it hopes to use the occasion of the German Revolution centenary as a springboard to decentre the 1917 Bolshevik revolution as the paradigm case of interwar political transformation, in favour of a more comparative treatment of the revolutions that took place during and after WW1 and the regimes that emerged from them. On the temporal side, the conference aims to reconnect the German Revolution and its aftermath with the moments of socialist, anti-absolutist, and anti-colonial activism and unrest across Europe before and during WW1, and trace the continuities between interwar institutions within and beyond Weimar Germany and those that emerged in Europe after WW2. In particular, it seeks to regalvanise interest in neglected social and political thought from or about the German Revolution and the wider interwar period in Europe and beyond, as well as offer a new appraisal of the significance of the events of 1918-19 for the study of revolutionary practices and political violence. Organisers: Ruth Harris (Faculty of History; All Souls College, Oxford), Stathis Kalyvas (Department of Politics & International Relations; All Souls College, Oxford), Marius Ostrowski (Department of Politics & International Relations; All Souls College, Oxford), Nick Stargardt (Faculty of History; Magdalen College, Oxford)
Persistently elevated levels of glucose and fatty acids are known to contribute to failed insulin secretion during the development of Type 2 diabetes. We have shown that glucolipotoxic conditions impair cell-cell communication (“connectivity”) to impair insulin secretion (Hodson et al, 2013). Recently (Johnston et al, 2016) we have combined optogenetics and rapid Ca2+ imaging across the islet syncytium to demonstrate that a subset (~5%) of beta cells (“hubs”) coordinate the activity of “follower” cells. Photo-painting using a light sensitive-RFP revealed that hub cells are enriched for glucokinase, but show low levels of Nkx6.1 and insulin gene expression. These cells also display enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential in response to high glucose. Interrogation of single β cell RNASeq data (Xin et al PNAS, 2016) confirms the existence of a subset of cells with a similar transcriptomic configuration. Hub cells are unusually susceptible to metabolic stresses including high fatty acid/glucose levels, and cytotoxic cytokines, suggesting that they may be targeted in diabetes. Since deletion of GWAS genes for diabetes including ADCY5 and TCF7L2 affect cell-cell communication, future work will explore the possibility that genes at other loci, including STARD10 (Carrat et al, 2017) also act in part by altering hub cell-led β cell connectivity. Recent findings exploring the existence of β cell sub-populations in islets in the living animal, including zebra fish and after engraftment into the anterior chamber of the mouse eye, will also be discussed.
The management of ecological systems is plagued by uncertainty. This uncertainty impacts our ability to manage effectively and is a major impediment to endangered species recovery, control of pest species and disease suppression. Managers of ecological systems have limited time and money to control threats and are generally uncertain about the effectiveness of management and the likelihood of ecological responses. Faced with limited resources and uncertainty, managers must decide which actions have the highest probability of achieving species objectives over time and space. However, deciding where and when to invest limited resources in an uncertain, partially controllable system is a difficult problem. In this seminar, I will give an overview of some planning techniques that can be used to optimise the management of species over time and account for various kinds of uncertainty. While my talk will draw on examples from conservation science, the techniques I present will be applicable to a broad range of disciplines that seek to control stochastic populations over time and space.
Abstract: We study a theoretical model of behaviour that introduces as a primitive a dataset of “approvals” for objects appearing as a list. Approval situations are typical of online behaviour. Approval is distinct from choice as it does not guarantee a final choice (e.g. when filling a virtual shopping cart or selecting potential partners on a dating site) or it may not involve a final selection at all (as e.g. in social media interactions, when retweeting or reacting to a Facebook post). We study the identification, characterisation and comparative statics of the model, and we introduce the problem of “list design”, whereby a designer of lists can manipulate an agent’s choice to maximise some objective function (e.g. number of clicks). Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyNu-tHHJ15Se57I0BMvTVqYV0-Yxx6WShyLXVviqlg/edit#gid=0
This is an invitation for staff users of Turnitin to share ideas and practices to inform institutional practice in the use of Turnitin. We endeavour to engage a guest speaker, whenever possible. Refreshments served.
In 1897 J.J. Thomson 'discovered' the electron. The previous year, he and his research student Ernest Rutherford (later to 'discover' the atomic nucleus), collaborated in experiments to work out why gases exposed to x-rays became conducting. This talk will discuss the very different mathematical educations of the two men, and the impact these differences had on their experimental investigation and the theory they arrived at. This theory formed the backdrop to Thomson's electron work the following year.
Cancer stem cells have the ability to sustain tumour growth, generate intra-tumour phenotypic heterogeneity and provide a reservoir of therapy-resistant cells. Prof Pelicci and his group have made a major contribution to understanding the altered self-renewal properties of cancer stem cells (CSCs) compared to normal stem cells. His work has deciphered the molecular mechanisms underpinning symmetric versus asymmetric cell division, and identified the therapeutic implications of their altered self-renewal behaviour. Prof Pelicci’s research extends from the regulation of cell division and proliferation to the control of DNA transcription and replication. In particular his work has uncovered the links between oncogenes and tumour suppressors in cancer, and the relationship between cancer, metabolism and ageing. Notably Prof. Pellicci has generated accurate models of carcinogenesis in mammals by introducing mutations that mimic those that occur spontaneously in human cancers (especially leukaemia and breast). These model systems are used in combination with primary patient-derived samples to identify biological markers of disease and to develop innovative strategies to target CSCs in a clinical setting.
Ali Mirsepassi is professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at New York University. He is also director of Iranian Studies Initiative at NYU. He was a 2007-2009 Carnegie Scholar and is the co-editor, with Arshin Adib-Moghadam, of The Global Middle East, a book series published by the Cambridge University Press. He is the author of Transnationalism in Iranian Political Thought: The Life and Thought of Ahmad Fardid (Cambridge University Press, 2017), co-author, with Tadd Fernee, of Islam, Democracy, and Cosmopolitanism (Cambridge University Press, 2014); is the author of Political Islam, Iran and Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Democracy in Modern Iran (New York University Press, 2010), Intellectual Discourses and Politics of Modernization: Negotiating Modernity in Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2000), and Truth or Democracy (published in Iran); the co-editor of Localizing Knowledge in a Globalizing World (Syracuse University Press, 2002); and the guest editor of “Beyond the Boundaries of the Old Geographies: Natives, Citizens, Exiles, and Cosmopolitans” in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, which was published in 2005. He is currently completing the book Al Ghazali’s Alchemy of Happiness. His new book, Iran’s Troubled Modernity: Debating Ahmad Fardid’s Legacy (Cambridge University Press), will be published in November of 2018 and his new book The “Quiet Revolution “The “Westoxification” Ideology Under the Pahlavi State: 1960s-1970s, is under review for publication.
Join philosopher and author Martha C. Nussbaum for a discussion of her new book, The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis. The discussion will be chaired by Jonathan Wolff, Blavatnik Professor of Public Policy. The talk will be followed by a drinks reception.
In England there is a long-standing debate regarding the origins of open field farming and its true impact on the landscape and society. This lecture presents an overview of a new project that is using bioarchaeological data to help advance this debate.
The Symposium will highlight areas of stem cell research with trajectories towards treatments of diseases including retinopathies, metabolic and genetic skin disorders, neurodegeneration, musculoskeletal disease, heart failure and cancer.
Evidence has emerged recently for a specialised subset of macrophages, those lying on the abluminal surface of blood vessels, performing an array of essential functions in steady state tissues. These include the phagocytosis of pathogens, tight control of both vascular permeability and tissue integrity, and dampening on inappropriate inflammation. Alternatively, the aberrant activity of these perivascular sentinels contributes to the onset and/or progression of various diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and type I diabetes. In my talk, I will outline their multifunctional role in cancer, especially their promotion of tumour repair after various forms of anti-cancer treatment (Hughes et al. 2015. Cancer Res. 75: 3479-91. Lewis et al. 2016. Cancer Cell 30:18-25). ---- After completing her DPhil in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics in Oxford in 1986, Claire held two postdoctoral positions and a Research Lectureship in the Medical School in Oxford before moving to the Medical School in Sheffield in 1996. She currently holds a Personal Chair in Molecular & Cellular Pathology and heads a research team focussed mainly on the role of macrophage subsets in tumour responses to various anti-cancer treatments. They have also developed ways of using macrophages to target therapeutic genes and viruses to tumours (as reported by the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20795977). Her work is currently funded by grants from Cancer Research UK, Prostate Cancer UK, Breast Cancer Now, and the EU, and she sits on the editorial boards of Cancer Research, Blood, Oncoimmunology and J. Clin Invest Insight. She is a new member of the MRC’s Molecular & Cellular Medicines Board and was awarded a DSc by Oxford University in 2006 for her contribution to the field of tumour inflammation.
A large body of literature suggests that becoming a grandparent has beneficial consequences for subjective well-being, improved mental health, and happiness. These findings however are based on studies that compare grandparents to non-grandparents which is problematic because many unobserved characteristics are unaccounted for. This is especially important when studying self-reported measures of well-being given their subjective nature – people have different internal concepts about how happy they are. We tested whether becoming a first-time grandparent is associated with increased subjective well-being and found no such evidence across fifteen countries in Europe, nor when we replicated these tests in the UK, or in the USA. We used fixed effects models with longitudinal data which allow well-being to be compared, within the individual, before and after the grandparent event. This design means that any unobserved heterogeneity between people is controlled for. I will discuss what these null findings mean for social and evolutionary theories of grandparenting.
TBC
The protection of life is statistical on two levels, those of cells and individual organisms. Selection has determined that protection against the effects of radiation damage is devolved to the cellular level and at moderate dose is essentially complete. Micromanagement of radiation protection by society then presents failures of public health with disastrous consequences in areas from mental health to the acceptance of beneficial energy sources of power to replace carbon. This social paralysis is sustained by fear and the man-made obstructions of over-regulation and its consequential cost. An intense programme of public education is the only way forward. Wade Allison is Emeritus Professor of Physics and Fellow of Keble. He is an experimental and theoretical particle physicist by background who later moved into Medical Physics, publishing “Fundamental Physics for Probing and Imaging” (Oxford, 2006). Since then he has devoted himself to countering nuclear phobia, not only in the public, but among engineers, physicists, doctors and other scientists whose views are often hampered by the contrast between the physical and biological sciences. “Radiation and Reason” (2009) and “Nuclear is for Life” (2015) engage the problem in rigorous but accessible terms. He has visited Fukushima four times to see for himself.
Want to find out more about REF2021 and how it will affect you? The Research Services REF team is holding a series of events around the University in October and November to update staff on the upcoming Research Excellence Framework assessment. They are open to academic, research and administrative staff from across the collegiate University and will cover: • changes to the exercise for REF2021 • staff and research output eligibility • how staff can contribute to the development of the University’s code of practice • an opportunity to ask any questions
What hereditary effect, if any, does alcohol have upon the nervous system? As the temperance movement gained popularity and political influence in the 19th century, the potential influence of intemperate habits on human heredity became a pressing topic for concern in both the medical and the religious press. The shared anxieties of medical and religious institutions led to an abundance of pamphlets and treatises that attempted to unite the religious and phrenological views on the dangers of intoxication. In this paper, I argue that by examining the significance of phrenological thought to the temperance movement, we can better understand how ideas of the transmission of illnesses and vices from parent to offspring were diffused in the 19th century to the reading public. Drawing on John van Wyhe’s characterisation of phrenology as a popular medium through which scientific naturalism gained prominence, I show that the temperance movement provided a site of discourse that communicated not only the dangers of alcohol, but also theories of reproduction, heredity, and the transmission of acquired traits. As such, the temperance movement prioritised some understandings of the laws of heredity while overlooking or downplaying others.
The language proficiency of bilingual children varies considerably (developmentally and across individuals). Previous research has demonstrated the impact of children’s language exposure and socio-economic background, but the relation between the two remains poorly understood. There is also no consensus on how to best model the effect of language exposure and use as predictors of language proficiency. This study focuses on a highly diverse group of 5- to 7-year-old bilingual children in terms of home language, amount of exposure and use of each language, and socio-economic status. All were in the first few years of formal education in monolingual (English) schools. Using advanced quantitative methods, we demonstrate that cumulative exposure to the school language is the best predictor of proficiency in that language (as indexed by sentence repetition, lexical semantic and discourse semantic tasks). We propose an objective method to identify the amount of school language experience beyond which bilingual children are likely to perform within the monolingual range, and show that relative passivity in the home language does not have a “protective” effect on school language proficiency. Socio-economic status is shown to interact in complex ways with language exposure, so that children with very little exposure to the school language do not benefit from the advantage otherwise conferred by higher socio-economic status.
Week 6 November 12 – VIth François-Xavier Guerra Seminar, to take place in Paris. The making of Ouro Preto as a Heritage Site: Contemporary Interpretations of Brazil’s 18th Century Andreza A. de Souza Santos, Latin American Centre, University of Oxford Vecino de Barrio and Citizen, the Politics of the Urban Community in the Barrios of Caracas during the Venezuelan Fourth Republic (1958-1998) Serge Ollivier, CHS, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Hannah Shepherd, Trinity College, Cambridge: ‘Gateways of Empire: Pusan and Fukuoka in the Age of Air’ Deokhyo Choi, University of Sheffield: ‘Empire’s Contentious Homecomings: The Dissolution of the Japanese Empire and Reciprocal Return Migrations of the Japanese in Korea and Koreans in Japan’
One of the most significant sets of environmental events of the Medieval and Early Modern periods was a collection of climatic changes often known as the “Little Ice Age” lasting roughly from 1200 to 1680. The Little Ice Age changed the soundscape with its own distinctive sounds. It also brought about changes in the appointment and design of interior spaces, including those where worship took place. A secondary impact involved the production of musical instruments, including Stradivari violins. Tapestries, carpet and banners provided warmth and colour during the harsh winters, but also promoted a "drier" acoustic space better suited for polyphony. We will examine these and other factors that contributed to the transformation of sacred song in the fourteenth though sixteenth centuries.
Suicide is something that is at the back of our minds in a lot of our work with patients. Given its importance and the fear that it generates, it is surprising that there is very little known about it’s nature or aetiology. This lecture aims to look at various controversial ‘truths’ about suicide. I will talk about understanding of suicidal states of mind and illustrate with real cases. What leads someone to take their own life? Can it be prevented? The profound effect the suicide of a patient has on the psychiatrist working with them will be discussed. Knowledge gained from running a suicide group for consultants over 9 years will be shared.
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fp5iKeS24Rlu7oiBHfa1sEMBAMSyW2z0istQgSz40s4/edit#gid%3D0
Recent scholarship highlights the multifaceted nature of non-state armed movements, raising important questions about their internal politics and their governance of territory and civilians, i.e. their ‘domestic’ politics. What has received little attention, however, are the ‘foreign’ affairs of non-state armed groups. In times where civil wars are increasingly internationalised and non-state armed groups conduct sophisticated diplomacy with states, international governmental and non-governmental organisations and other non-state armed groups, this paper attempts to address this shortcoming by asking fundamental questions about the nature of rebel diplomacy: How do rebel diplomats conceive of their international environment and meaningful action that can be pursued in relation to it? How does the internal dimension of rebel groups, including armed group fragmentation, and their domestic sphere, including their relations to civilians, shape their foreign relations? In addressing these questions, we propose a conversation between the literatures on non-state armed groups in Comparative Politics with Foreign Policy Analysis in International Relations. While the latter is traditionally concerned with state-to-state interactions, we argue that it makes for a useful starting point for understanding the foreign relations of non-state armed groups that command territory and conduct themselves as de-facto states. The paper draws on long-term field work on ethno-national rebel movements in Myanmar, particularly the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Karen National Union (KNU), to explore and elucidate its main arguments. Dr David Brenner is Lecturer in International Relations at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he researches and teaches on political violence and violent political orders. His first book Rebel Politics: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar's Borderlands is forthcoming with Cornell University Press in 2019. The research monograph is based on ten months of fieldwork inside the Kachin and Karen rebellions. Forwarding a relational understanding of rebellion, it analyses how revolutionary elites capture and lose authority within their own movements and the ways in which these internal contestations drive dynamics of war and peace against the background of wider political transition and geopolitical transformations in Southeast Asia. Please note that this is a collaborative paper with Dr Jurgen Haacke and Prof Chris Alden, both at the London School of Economics. A light sandwich lunch is served at 12.50pm. All are welcome.
Coming soon
Adriana X. Jacobs is Associate Professor of Modern Hebrew Literature and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and St. Cross College. She is also on the steering group of the research program Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation (TORCH/St. Anne’s College). Her book, Strange Cocktail:Translation and the Making of Modern Hebrew Poetry, was just published by Michigan University Press.
Abstract: In this paper, I argue that market power of intermediaries plays an important role in contributing to low incomes of farmers in India. I study the role of spatial competition between intermediaries in determining the prices that farmers receive in India by focusing on a law that restricts farmers to selling their goods to intermediaries in their own state. I show that the discontinuities in market power generated by the law translates into discontinuities in prices. Increasing spatial competition by one standard deviation causes prices received by farmers to increase by 6.4%. To shed light on spatial and aggregate implications, I propose and estimate a quantitative spatial model of bargaining and trade. Using this structural model, I estimate that the removal of the interstate trade restriction in India would increase competition between intermediaries substantially, thereby increasing the prices farmers receive and their output. Estimates suggest that average farmer prices and output would increase by at least 11% and 7% respectively. The value of the national crop output would therefore increase by at least 18% Download the paper at the following link: http://www.princeton.edu/~sc20/papers/SC_spatial_competition.pdf Sign up to meet with the speaker at the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJbG-r8MQZ9VCgwYdY6VZGDndIwnnJd5SigFyq_JipM/edit#gid=0
Professor Scott Sagan (Stanford University) will present his paper with Professor Benjamin Valentino (Dartmouth), entitled "Just War and Unjust Soldiers: American Public Opinion on the Moral Equality of Combatants". Professor Jeff McMahan (Oxford) will serve as discussant. The session will be chaired by Dr Janina Dill (Oxford). ABSTRACT: One of the most significant debates among contemporary scholars of the ethics of war centers on the principle of the moral equality of combatants. Traditional just war doctrine holds that only political leaders are morally responsible for the decision to initiate war, while individual soldiers should be judged solely by the nature of their conduct in war, not by the justice of the war’s cause. According to this view, therefore, soldiers fighting in an unjust war of aggression and the soldiers on the opposing side seeking to defend their country from attack are “morally equal” as long as each obeys the rules of combat. “Revisionist” just war scholars, however, object to the moral equality principle. These scholars maintain that soldiers who fight for an unjust cause bear at least some responsibility for their role in advancing an immoral end, even if they conduct themselves ethically during the war. This article examines the attitudes of the American public regarding the moral equality of combatants. Utilizing an original survey experiment, we find that the public’s moral reasoning is generally more consistent with revisionism than with traditional just war theory. Americans judge soldiers who participate in unjust wars as significantly less ethical than soldiers who participate in just wars, even when their battlefield conduct is identical. We also find, however, that the American public is willing to extend the ethical license of just cause significantly further than virtually all revisionist scholars advocate. A large proportion of the public is willing to support harsh punishments for soldiers for mere participation in unjust wars, a policy many revisionists explicitly reject. Furthermore, we find that half of the U.S. public is willing to overlook soldiers’ participation in unambiguous war crimes when the crimes are committed by combatants fighting for a just cause.
Coming soon
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VENUE: Halford Mackinder Lecture Theatre, School of Geography and Environment. what3words is an innovative mapping start up that has split the world up into 57 trillion 3x3m squares, each labelled with 3 words (e.g. the centre of the RadCam is space.divide.acted). The system has a range of uses in areas without reliable addresses, in disaster relief and event management. Jack will be talking about the concept, what's next for what3words and life in a start-up.
Are you a postdoctoral researcher or DPhil student engaged in teaching in MPLS? Do you want to find ways of making your teaching more effective, both for your students and for yourself? Would you like to learn more about how to take a more evidence-based approach to your teaching and your students’ learning? This course offers a way for you to do all of these things while at the same time gaining a portable qualification that will enhance your future employability as an academic with teaching responsibilities.
PacBio provides the most comprehensive view of human genomes and transcriptomes. Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) sequencing delivers long continuous reads, high consensus accuracy, uniform coverage and epigenetic characterization. Kevin will be discussing the latest developments to the PacBio® technology including highlighting the dramatic results of genome sequencing using 99.9% accurate (QV30) >10kb reads. You’ll learn how this revolutionary approach boosts yields, streamlines analysis and allows for simultaneous SNV, InDeL and SV detection with phasing all on a single platform. He’ll also delve into how these changes affect full length isoform sequencing and targeted (amplicon) approaches.
Surveillance of avian influenza is crucial for early detection of outbreaks in bird populations. Although virulent phenotypes are complex traits, several molecular determinants of virulence have been well characterised, such as a polybasic proteolytic cleavage site within the Hemagglutinin (HA) protein that allows a systemic spread of the infection. We hypothesise that the parallel evolution of highly pathogenic viral lineages from low-pathogenic ancestors may have been facilitated by permissive or compensatory secondary mutations occurring anywhere in the viral genome. We developed a computational method to detect mutations associated to an evolving trait within a given phylogeny (in this case, virulence) and applied it to a phylogenetically informed sample dataset of H7NX viruses (n>300). A panel of over 30 sites strongly associated with the HP phenotype were detected. This panel may function as an early detection system for transitions between LP to HP avian viruses.
Written with Chaoran Chen (National University of Singapore), and Diego Restuccia (University of Toronto and NBER)
Medical research is a very intense, focused activity, and career planning can take a back seat. Yet the reality is that those who engage early tend to make happier and smoother moves into the next role. Booking an appointment with a Careers Adviser is a great way to begin exploring your ideas for after the DPhil or postdoc, get some practical input on applications, or simply to take a moment to pause and think ‘where am I, and where might I want to go next….?’ We will help you identify some achievable next steps and to understand how the Careers Service can support you as you proceed. These include a huge variety of events to help you meet people working in sectors where research skills are valued, hands-on programmes to develop your core employability skills and workshops to help you hone your written application skills and interview techniques. Appointments are offered to DPhil students and contract research staff (grade 6 and above), including postdocs, at The Careers Service, 56 Banbury Road every week and can be booked using your CareerConnect account (accessed via www.careers.ox.ac.uk). We are also offering appointments at a Headington venue, as per the below. Time slots available: 12:30 x 1 13:00 x 1 13:30 x 1 14:30 x 1 15:00 x 1 15:30 x 1 To book an slot, please phone reception at the Careers Service on 01865 274646
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-faith reading where people of all faiths gather and reflect on short passages from their scriptures together. There is sometimes overlap between texts where different faiths share their Scriptures. It is a worldwide movement www.scripturalreasoning.org and this is the major meeting in Oxford. We spend time with texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, and discuss ancient, medieval, and modern interpretations of Scripture, modern day practices which reflect these texts, and what they mean personally for individuals and faith communities. Free, simple kosher snacks may be provided.
This 2-hour session is designed to equip history graduates with key information skills in order to make best use of electronic information and discovery resources. A range of databases, e-journals and web portals will be explored as well as advanced features in SOLO and tools for literature searches. Time for hands on practice will be included. PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP FULLY CHARGED UP. Allow enough time to get yourself set up and on WiFi.
This 2-hour session is designed to equip history graduates with key information skills in order to make best use of electronic information and discovery resources. A range of databases, e-journals and web portals will be explored as well as advanced features in SOLO and tools for literature searches. Time for hands on practice will be included. PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP FULLY CHARGED UP. Allow enough time to get yourself set up and on WiFi.
Whether sanctioned by a society, made into law, or simply tolerated, gender-based abuse and discrimination against women occurs in virtually every country throughout the world. Under religious movement in a time of war, through the information of women’s dialogue, this study seeks to explore the relationship between cross-cultural nature of violence against women and religious practices that are often used to legitimize its existence. Women under Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, an example of religious fundamentalism, they are exploited through trafficking for sex slavery. This study attempts to illustrate how patriarchal values are reinforced through religious, cultural, and political structures under Islamic State. A year after the Ezidi genocide in Iraq, many women fled from ISIS. Each of the women who managed to escape has a different history of persecution. This research was conducted to examine the problems, which these women faced on a daily basis—problems occurring after experiencing sexual violence, persecution, and forced migration to Europe. The costs of forced migration, which is the consequence of the armed conflict, are enormous. Women in the diaspora remain attached to, and empowered by, a “home” culture, fundamental values of propriety, and religion. Women who were victims of violence or abuse developed trauma, which consequentially led to the psychological disorder of post-traumatic stress. This research presents preliminary results of a current pilot study, based on narrative interviews of refugees’ life experiences in their home country, their reasons for leaving, and the obstacles witnessed during their flight, including short-term refuge in Kurdistan and their first experiences in Germany. The research presented is paramount for the study of the trafficking of women by a group defined by religious fundamentalism. The Convention’s preamble specifically recognizes that trafficking can lead to slavery. This study aims to focus on hardships trafficking imposes on survivors kept in captivity by IS in Iraq. women are forced to leave their countries of birth because of personal or national trauma, war, genocide, sexual violence. This research explores the experiences of trafficked survivors during the process of being trafficked, their life in captivity, and challenges they encountered while fleeing back to Iraq. What is the manufacturing meaning of a religious idea in IS ideology that impacts on women and how this idea causes religious repression on forced migration? What is the impact and consequences of Forced Migration and displacement on Women? It can be asked how host countries in general deal with the resettlement of these women refugees?
Are we living in a post-truth society? What is the current status of “facts” and “expertise”? In this talk, I will discuss recent psychological theorizing around fake news, attitude polarization, motivated cognition, and misinformation. I’ll start by presenting a series of experimental studies examining the crucial role of expert consensus in how people form judgments about contested societal issues across the ideological spectrum. I will illustrate that such perceptual judgments are easily distorted by misinformation, which can spread much like a viral contagion. By combining data from the lab and the field, I’ll then demonstrate that it is possible to cognitively inoculate (“vaccinate”) people against fake news. I’ll end the talk by showcasing an online educational game we developed to help citizens recognize and resist unwanted attempts to influence and mislead.
How can researchers use social media data responsibly? How can we make sure that we collect, collate, analyse and publish data from platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. in ways that are in keeping with best ethical practice? I am a Senior Researcher in the Human Centred Computing theme at the Department of Computer Science. I work on projects that explore the social impacts of innovation and my research frequently involves the in-depth, qualitative analysis of social media data. In this presentation I will draw on two recent projects – Digital Wildfire (on the spread of harmful content on social media) and UnBias (on the user experience of algorithm driven Internet platforms) - to highlight the range and depth of ethical issues that researchers face when working in this area. I will focus in particular on a case study concerning the publication of Twitter data in order to describe how these issues crystallise around fundamental principles such as informed consent, anonymisation and the minimisation of harm. I will argue that constructive debate across academic fields is necessary in order to take a proactive approach towards good research practice.
St John Damascene’s On the Orthodox Faith has, between his account of the dOctoberrine of God and his Christology, a long section on creation. Hitherto, attention has mostly been directed, if at all, to his account of what it is to be human, which leads into his dOctoberrine of the Fall, redemption through Christ, and his Christology. The section of six chapters on the visible creation begins by asserting the God created out of nothing the five elements (sky, fire, air, water, earth), and then devotes a chapter to each. The lecture will have two concerns: firstly, to explore why John finds all this so interesting, but secondly, in a more systematic vein, to explore the place of the elements in our experience of the world, and what can survive of this in the worldview of modern physics with atoms, electrons… and strings!
Considering responses to refugee mobility in the UK, a focus on the practice of care for refugees, has centred on the effects of displacement and the vulnerabilities this exposes, both for citizens and non-citizens. A wide range of organisations at both national and local levels, have sought to welcome and support refugees in various ways, with an ethic of care at the heart of many of these responses. Critically, however, care itself often falls short of an articulation of solidarity, read as a political interruption into (shared) vulnerability. In this sense, solidarity asks not simply how suffering may be alleviated but under what conditions suffering flourishes. With this tension in mind, this paper focuses on the work of the Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS), a refugee-led organisation that supports refugees across Northern Ireland. In examining the recent work of NICRAS to investigate the housing conditions of asylum seekers and refugees across Belfast and to hold accommodation providers to account, the paper illustrates the forms of labour, learning, and collaboration that produce acts of solidarity. By exploring the shared labour of NICRAS in producing collaborative reports, challenging local authorities, and articulating claims to political visibility to the devolved Northern Irish Assembly, the paper discusses how acts of solidarity are both produced by, and productive of, relationships of learning and vulnerability.
All are welcome to join us for the Bynum Tudor Lecture, which will be given by Dr Ralph Walter. The lecture is entitled, 'Managing People, Money, and 'Corporate Culture' - Some Reflections'. The lecture will take place in the College Hub. Refreshments will be served at 17:00 and the lecture will start at 17:30.
Following unprecedented violence in 2007/8, Kenya introduced two classic transitional justice mechanisms: a truth commission and international criminal proceedings. Both are widely believed to have failed, but why? And what do their performances say about contemporary Kenya; the ways in which violent pasts persist; and the shortcomings of transitional justice? Using the lens of performance, this book analyses how transitional justice efforts are incapable of dealing with how unjust and violent pasts actually persist. Gabrielle Lynch reveals the story of an ongoing political struggle requiring substantive socio-economic and political change that transitional justice mechanisms can theoretically recommend, and which they can sometimes help to initiate and inform, but which they cannot implement or create, and can sometimes unintentionally help to reinforce.
For almost two centuries, Shakespeare had no biography. Neither did he have the structure of a biography (a chronology), nor the materials for one (an archive). And his canon did not include the Sonnets (his only work written in the first person). In sum, the mainstays of modern Shakespeare criticism were simply not there. Does this mean that Shakespeare was not valued or understood until after 1800? Each of these four lectures will focus on one of those critical absences, not as an empty place holder for what eventually is to come, but as evidence that other viable priorities were once at work. It is ironic that the work by Shakespeare that expressly aspires to immortality should itself have come so close to extinction. The “eternal lines” of the 1609 Sonnets were out of print for over a century and not fully incorporated into the canon until almost another had passed. During that long stretch, the sonnets were ensconced in an eclectic miscellany, John Benson’s 1640 Poems. Though discredited as spurious and corrupt by 1800, the sonnets in the 1640 format endured longer than in the authentic 1609 quarto. What gave the sonnets in their 1640 remake their power to endure? Certainly it was not the promise of access to the life of the poet. Through its distancing and generalizing rubrics, the edition rendered them quite impersonal. How then did Benson’s Poems secure, at least for a time, a future for the sonnets? How did they capture what the Sonnets themselves presume: the literary attention of “ages yet unborn”?
Note: joint meeting with the Irish History Seminar, in the Old Library, Hertford at 5pm)
In this one-day course we will explore Web Mapping and show you how to use a variety of different tools to display and communicate spatial information. We will have a recap of the basics of spatial data and focus on how we get a variety of different types of data into web mapping platforms. We will review some of the different platforms available and spend most of the time looking at the MapBox platform. For more information please visit: https://www.cdrc.ac.uk/events/web-mapping-london/ No experience of using spatial data is needed for this course, but some experience would be beneficial. No experience of coding is needed for this course.
Radiology: Prof Fergus Gleeson -- Psychological Medicine: "STROKE (I63.3) OR NOT (F44.4)? What is WDZZ22", Dr Luke Solomons and Dr Ursula Schulz -- Chair: Prof Hugh Watkins
Abstract: Measuring the gains from trade and their distribution is challenging. Recent empirical contributions have addressed this challenge by drawing on rich and newly available sources of microdata to measure changes in household nominal incomes and price indices. While such data have become available for some components of household welfare, and for some locations and periods, they are typically not available for the entire consumption basket. In this paper, we propose and implement an alternative approach that uses rich, but widely available, expenditure survey microdata to estimate theory-consistent changes in income-group specific price indices and welfare. Our approach builds on existing work that uses linear Engel curves and changes in expenditure on income-elastic goods to infer unobserved real incomes. A major shortcoming of this approach is that while based on non-homothetic preferences, the price indices it recovers are homothetic and hence are neither theory consistent nor suitable for distributional analysis when relative prices are changing. To make progress, we show that we can recover changes in income-specific price indices and welfare from horizontal shifts in Engel curves if preferences are quasi-separable (Gorman, 1970; 1976) and we focus on what we term “relative Engel curves”. Our approach is flexible enough to allow for the highly non-linear Engel curves we document in the data, and for non-parametric estimation at each point of the income distribution. We first implement this approach to estimate changes in cost of living and household welfare using Indian microdata. We then revisit the impacts of India’s trade reforms across regions. Download the paper at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8dal4fvv0k0qasq/Engel_GFT_AFFG.pdf?raw=1 Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eYzLT2DsbTivOvrVx3OGaE4alXvBO_ALCow3yV_fW8o/edit#gid=0
https://www.facebook.com/events/2256879954546641/
Obesity has reached alarming levels in the UK. According to a government report, one in four adults are obese in the UK. Medical and dietary interventions are often ineffective at inducing weight loss and the best outcomes are obtained after weight loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery). These surgical procedures were initially thought to work mechanistically through stomach restriction and lower calorie absorption through the shortened intestine. However, recent evidence has challenged this concept and it has been suggested that changes in the gut microbial flora could affect metabolism contributing to weight loss and increased insulin response. Gut flora is beneficial to the host in many ways, contributing to for example, nutrient absorption and a healthy immune system. Abnormalities in the composition of the gut microbes are thought to contribute to the pathology of certain diseases, including obesity and diabetes. The aim of this project is to find out how altered host and microbial functions affect weight loss and metabolism after bariatric surgery. Understanding more about the microbial flora and how this impacts patient’s health will hopefully make way for new approaches in the treatment of obesity and diabetes.
Obesity has reached alarming levels in the UK. According to a government report, one in four adults are obese in the UK. Medical and dietary interventions are often ineffective at inducing weight loss and the best outcomes are obtained after weight loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery). These surgical procedures were initially thought to work mechanistically through stomach restriction and lower calorie absorption through the shortened intestine. However, recent evidence has challenged this concept and it has been suggested that changes in the gut microbial flora could affect metabolism contributing to weight loss and increased insulin response. Gut flora is beneficial to the host in many ways, contributing to for example, nutrient absorption and a healthy immune system. Abnormalities in the composition of the gut microbes are thought to contribute to the pathology of certain diseases, including obesity and diabetes.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in its manifestations Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect all parts of the digestive tract. Environmental factors, genetic predisposition and an abnormal function of the immune system are thought to cause IBD. Standard therapies aim at controlling intestinal inflammation and prolonging the time between disease flare-ups. Although significant progress has been made over the last decades, a high proportion of patients still do not respond to these anti- inflammatory therapies, or become resistant during the course of treatment. Failure to therapeutically control chronic inflammation can lead to severe complications in IBD patients, such as fibrosis, which requires surgical intervention. Fibrotic changes in the intestine are driven by an activation of a particular cell type, the fibroblast. The aim of this project is to find out whether IBD patients that go on to require surgery display an activation of fibroblasts, and which changes in the tissue are associated with this activation. For this, differences in the way the surgically removed fibrotic tissue is programmed will be compared to the programming of non-inflamed ‘normal’ tissue. We believe that certain alterations in this programming, which is controlled by a network of signals, can lead to changes that are specifically associated with inflammation and the requirement for surgery. Differences in the networks of signals which make up this program of inflamed and non-inflamed tissue will help us identify novel, fibroblast-targeting, therapies which will disrupt the inflammation program and hopefully reduce the requirement for surgery.
TBC
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in its manifestations Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect all parts of the digestive tract. Environmental factors, genetic predisposition and an abnormal function of the immune system are thought to cause IBD. Standard therapies aim at controlling intestinal inflammation and prolonging the time between disease flare-ups. Although significant progress has been made over the last decades, a high proportion of patients still do not respond to these anti- inflammatory therapies, or become resistant during the course of treatment. Failure to therapeutically control chronic inflammation can lead to severe complications in IBD patients, such as fibrosis, which requires surgical intervention. Fibrotic changes in the intestine are driven by an activation of a particular cell type, the fibroblast. The aim of this project is to find out whether IBD patients that go on to require surgery display an activation of fibroblasts, and which changes in the tissue are associated with this activation. For this, differences in the way the surgically removed fibrotic tissue is programmed will be compared to the programming of non-inflamed ‘normal’ tissue. We believe that certain alterations in this programming, which is controlled by a network of signals, can lead to changes that are specifically associated with inflammation and the requirement for surgery. Differences in the networks of signals which make up this program of inflamed and non-inflamed tissue will help us identify novel, fibroblast-targeting, therapies which will disrupt the inflammation program and hopefully reduce the requirement for surgery.
This session will provide insights into the ways and means through which museums and heritage organisations communicate with their audiences. Speakers will address the challenges of translating nuanced content to non-specialist audiences and how to engage a range of stakeholders – from visitors to policy makers – with a museum or heritage organisation’s core messages and values.
In articles published since the 1970s, I have gradually pieced together what remains of a royal choirbook of the 1420s. New fragments have turned up periodically, including some so far unpublished. Where the fragments could be related to book bindings which inadvertently ensured their survival, the binder was the early-16th-century Cambridge stationer Nicholas Spierinck. There are now 18 leaves or partial leaves, with parts of 32 or 33 compositions. The main criteria for linking them were the presence of one of two principal scribes, and the unusual high-quality monochrome initials, some with human or animal figuration, including lions and an antelope favoured by the Lancastrians, which point to royal patronage, possibly by the younger brothers of Henry V: John Duke of Bedford or Humphrey Duke of Gloucester or their stepmother Queen Joan. Some pieces were copied into the main body of the manuscript directly from additions to the Old Hall manuscript, probably while that book was still in use in the chapel of the infant Henry VI, because the new copies were made before corrections were made to the Old Hall versions. Considerable overlaps with Old Hall, and a very similar overall arrangement, also point to a royal provenance. I will assess the repertory, which gives some prominence to Dunstaple, who is present in Old Hall only as an anonymous later addition. I will show how the fragments are linked, including some later additions, and suggest a possible route for the manuscript’s final destination in Cambridge. I will also revise my proposed dating of Old Hall, to which the fragmentary choirbook gives some context.
Alan Knight, former Professor of Latin American History at Oxford University, is an Emeritus Fellow of the Latin American Centre. His chief interest is twentieth-century Latin American history, with a focus on Mexico, agrarian society, state-building and revolutions. He is the author of The Mexican Revolution (2 vols, Cambridge, 1986) US-Mexican Relations, 1910-40 (San Diego, 1987); of the chapter on Mexico, 1930-1946, in The Cambridge History of Latin America (Vol. VII, 1990); and of two volumes of a three volume general history of Mexico, Mexico: From the Beginning to the Conquest, and Mexico: The Colonial Era (Cambridge, 2002). He has written several articles dealing with aspects of twentieth-century Mexico (state-building, popular movements, education and culture, current politics) and co-edited The Mexican Petroleum Industry in the 20th Century (1992). He previously taught at the University of Essex and the University of Texas at Austin, where he held the C.B. Smith Chair, and in 1986 was a visiting fellow at the Center for US-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the Order of the Aztec Eagle from the Mexican government. In 1986 he was awarded the Albert Beveridge Prize and in 1987 the Bolton Prize from the Conference on Latin American History for his two-volume work on the Mexican Revolution
This is a joint lecture with The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School Governments, businesses and NGOs are developing new metrics and tools to value and measure social, environmental and economic change in the context of Sustainable Development Goals and planetary health. Current approaches face limitations in addressing temporal and spatial dimensions of natural capital value. This talk will address emerging methodologies to measure natural capital and enable us to assess and measure ecological services and benefits more fully in economic analysis. The speakers will bring perspectives from the ecological science and economics.
Craig Muldrew, The Economy of Obligation: The Culture of Credit and Social Relations in Early Modern England (1998), part 3 (esp. ch. 9); Richard W. Ireland, ‘Theory and Practice within the Medieval English Prison’, The American Journal of Legal History 31/1 (1987), 56–67; Steve Hindle, The State and Social Change in Early Modern England, 1550–1640 (2000), ch. 6
In some of the world’s rivers, an incoming high tide can arrive as a smooth jump decorated by undulations, or as a breaking wave. The river reverses direction and flows upstream. Understanding tidal bores involves · analogies with tsunamis, rainbows, horizons in relativity, and ideas from quantum physics; · the concept of a ‘minimal model’ in mathematical explanation; · different ways in which different cultures describe the same thing; · the first unification in fundamental physics. Michael Berry is Emeritus Professor of Physics, H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol 5.15pm Mathematical Institute Oxford Please email external-relations@maths.ox.ac.uk to register. Watch live: facebook.com/OxfordMathematics https://livestream.com/oxuni/Berry Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
Drinks will be served after the lecture
Modern cynicism is generally understood as an eccentric challenge to moral thought: an explicit casting of doubt on the motives that guide right conduct. The styling of speech and writing along cynicism’s non-conformist lines assumes, and potentially generates, a strongly libertarian ethos: fearless in self-expression, reckless of the consequences of dissent. This paper will explore the role cynicism has played since the late 19th century, and continues to play now, in contesting norms of morality and public self-expression within modern cultural criticism and modern (primarily critical) philosophy. Like others who have taken up this topic in recent years, I am drawn to the questions cynicism raises about the nature and limits of normative thinking about public morality, public values, social commitments and shared tastes, and the extent of any individual’s capacity to take up a position of distance on ‘the common currency’ of ideas and values in a society (including ideas about the limits of free speech). The paper will also reflect on the connections and disconnections between modern psychology and philosophy as they have put the concept of ‘cynicism’ to ethical work. Speaker: Helen Small FBA is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. Research interests: The value of the Humanities, literature and philosophy, public intellectuals, literature and history of science, history of the book. In 2013 Professor Small published a study of the defences for the humanities that have been most influential in the 19th and 20th centuries and still exert some persuasive power. The book, The Value of the Humanities (Oxford University Press) received widespread acclaim. Among other highlights, her career in Literature so far has seen her win the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism (for The Long Life, 2007). She is currently working on a book-length study of modern cynicism.
Saïd Business School is pleased to welcome Freya Stewart, Fine Art Group’s in house lawyer on Art and Law – provenance, title and all various things that come with that.
t is no coincidence that Constance Markiewicz, the first woman elected in 1918, was an Irish republican who had campaigned on an explicitly feminist and socialist platform. Feminism was a more vibrant force in Irish political life than is usually allowed and it engaged in important and direct ways with key political debates over the revolutionary period, helping to shape some vital nationalist ideas and strategies. When the vote finally came, Irish women were already well organised, politically mobilised and able to exercise considerable influence over the election campaign and its outcome. Certainly, feminist activism took place around, within and often despite the sometimes crushing influence of nationalism in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland. The Irish women’s suffrage movement was at times overshadowed by the national question and subject to internal debates about tactics and allegiances as a result of competing political priorities. But its unique ability to negotiate some of these cleavages was key to its success in securing the vote, while the vibrant political context in which Irish women organised prepared them exceptionally well for political citizenship and activism. This radical feminist impulse within Irish nationalism soon faded, but for a time it promised a truly exciting radical unprecedented form of egalitarian citizenship. Registration: 17.30-18.00 Lecture: 18.00-19.30 Reception: 19.30-20.30
*PATHWAYS TO IMPACT* Research and Innovation (R&I) impact assessment offers much more than an after-the-fact accounting of outcomes – it is a transformational approach to value co-creation, capture, and communication that sets the stage for successful implementation. You will join experts, peers, and practitioners in an interactive session focused on realizing the full potential of aligning assessment frameworks and research translation for optimal impact. *WHY PARTICIPATE?* * Increase your understanding of leading approaches, frameworks and tools to optimize impact * Contribute to funders’ and researchers’ efforts to advance practice towards an impact “commons” * Join this vibrant community of practice through networking in a dynamic inspiring environment *WHO WILL BENEFIT?* Research funders, program managers, researchers, health practitioners, knowledge translators, evaluators, policy-makers and other professionals in the research and innovation system.
*Abstract:* Many promising technological innovations in health and social care are characterized by nonadoption or abandonment by individuals or by failed attempts to scale up locally, spread distantly, or sustain the innovation long term at organisation or system level. This talk will present a new evidence-based, theory-informed, and pragmatic framework which was developed to help predict and evaluate the success of technology-supported health or social care programmes. *Biography:* Trish Greenhalgh is an internationally recognised academic in primary health care and trained as a GP. She leads a programme of research at the interface between social sciences and medicine, with strong emphasis on the organisation and delivery of health services. Her research seeks to celebrate and retain the traditional and humanistic aspects of medicine while also embracing the unparalleled opportunities of contemporary science and technology to improve health outcomes and relieve suffering. She was on the main Medicine panel in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) and is on the sub-panel for Primary Care for the 2021 REF; she has extensive experience in both writing and assessing impact case studies.
In this one-day course we will consider how data from different social media platforms could be used for spatial analysis. With social media now generating significant volumes of data it is a great resource for research in a wide range of different social science areas. We will primarily focus on Twitter data explore what spatial elements there are within the data and discuss how best to show and analyse these in a GIS. We will also cover a quick recap on spatial data. For more information please visit: https://www.cdrc.ac.uk/events/using-spatial-data-from-social-media-london/ Some experience of working with spatial data is needed for this course. No experience of coding is needed for this course, but some experience would be beneficial.
*Abstract:* Mentioning ‘impact’ in a room full of researchers, while perhaps not guaranteeing panic, usually results in a flavoursome series of discussions. Add to this pressure from public agencies to justify taxpayers’ investments in research, and a perennial challenge of how to ensure society has a meaningful role in the delivery of science, and you have the makings of a richly-fruited challenge. Research funding organisations – as custodians of public investments in research – clearly have a role to play in addressing this challenge. Many are shouting ‘impact’, but few are taking a methodical approach to explore what impact means to their wider constituents. Fewer still are reflecting and reporting on these explorations in a transparent and open fashion. This talk will provide a fly-by account of efforts undertaken by one of the UK’s major public funders of health and care research, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), to cast its net wide when considering its role in funding research for impact. Told through the lens of a researcher-in-residence working within NIHR’s nascent impact team, it promises to serve up slices of ‘what works’ from four funders taking a cooperative approach to impact. While not promising the ultimate answer (nor, even, the ultimate question) to the meaning of impact, it ought to provide several beacons – and the occasional warning foghorn – to help those charting a course towards a more enlightened approach to impact, on behalf of their organisations. *Biography:* Adam Kamenetzky is a Research Fellow at the Policy Institute at King’s College London and Researcher-in-Residence at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)’s Central Commissioning Facility. His early work as a science communicator in the not-for-profit sector prompted questions around whose research story could/should/ought to be told. This led to his interest in the emerging field of ‘science of science’ as a methodical series of approaches to explore research policies and practices. His research residency with NIHR focuses on questions around how it supports, assesses and evidences impact.
SINGLE CELL SEMINARS - WELLCOME CENTRE FOR HUMAN GENETICS Friday, November 16, 2018 CCMP2 10:30 -12:00 Hannah Chen for info, please email curion@well.ox.ac.uk
*Abstract:* Research translation stalls in the ‘valleys of death’ between research to implementation and impact. Impact assessment can bridge these valleys by systematically uncovering translational challenges including diverse stakeholder values and the attribution and contribution of research on system impacts. Alberta Innovates (AI) is a Canadian-based publicly funded provincial organization mandated to improve the environment, health, and socio-economic well-being of Albertans through research and innovation. For the last decade AI has used the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) impact framework to implement numerous “fit-for-purpose” health-related impact assessments. In Canada, grass roots initiatives to co-develop and co-implement impact frameworks with key stakeholders are underway to address ‘gap’ challenges. These initiatives expand on the CAHS framework by identifying different pathways to translate research while identifying ‘what works and does not’ under ‘what conditions’ at a system level as well as enabling stakeholders to develop fit-for-purpose assessments to demonstrate, measure, and communicate impact. The Canadian Health Services and Policy Research Alliance (CHSPRA), a group of organizations fostering collaboration, coordination, and strategic investment to advance health services and policy research, provides a case illustration of co-developing and implementing a shared framework focused on policy and practice decision-making. This presentation will provide an overview of the CHSPRA Informing Decision-Making Impact Framework, including: its relationship to CAHS; pathways to impact, key performance indicators, and communication tools; and a six-block protocol for planning, monitoring, and evaluating impact. A discussion about how this framework challenges conventional thought on the time lags from implementation to impact will follow. *Biography:* Dr. Maxi Miciak is the inaugural Cy Frank postdoctoral fellow in impact assessment at Alberta Innovates. Her focus has been developing frameworks to assess research impact on informed decision-making and the scale and spread of research and innovation in the healthcare system. Most notably she has worked on a pan-Canadian initiative with multiple health services and policy research stakeholders to co-develop and implement a research impact framework for informing decision-making in health services and policy. Maxi’s research probes the factors that influence person-centered practice and quality of care from social (e.g. therapeutic relationship) and systems (e.g. care models) perspectives. Maxi completed her doctoral studies in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Alberta in 2015. Her clinical experience as a physical therapist has been instrumental in informing her research interests.
*Abstract:* For the last ten years Alberta Innovates (AI) Health has implemented numerous “fit for purpose” impact assessments using the Canadian Academy of Health Services impact framework (CAHS, 2009) as a guide. The international six block protocol (ISRIA, 2018) was used to plan, implement and manage these impact assessments. Using a common framework that traces the translation of research to practice and impact is useful for creating a shared vision and having common language and tools. Although significant advances have been made in research translation, comparatively less attention has been paid to providing clear strategies and practical decision-making tools for broader scale-up/down and spread of effective health interventions for achieving health impact. To address this gap a Partnership for Research and Innovation for the Health System (PRIHS) between Alberta Innovates and Alberta Health Services was created. The presentation describes the underlying philosophy of this initiative and use of strategic clinical networks as “diffusers of innovation”. In addition, an overview of the assessment approach and implementation of decision making tools will be provided (e.g. impact plan, pathways to impact, stage gate approach to reviewing projects, economic model, new data capture and review processes, etc.). The presentation will end with progress to date and lessons learned in advancing both the science and practice of scale up/down and spread: shared vision of impact, leadership commitment, champions, effective integrated business processes, implementation science capacity and continued trust among partners. A peer to peer discussion about promising implementation practices, emerging tools and meaningful measures will follow. *Biography:* Kathryn is a co‐founder of the International School on Research Impact Assessment and was Director of the School when it was hosted in Banff in 2014. She is the Executive Director of Performance Management and Evaluation at Alberta Innovates, a Canadian‐based publicly‐funded provincial health research and innovation organization. She has over 20 years of strategic evaluation experience in health care and health research and innovation. Her expertise is in developing performance management, evaluation and impact assessment strategies as well as implementing measurement frameworks for various systems, organizations and programs. She and her team customized the implementation of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2009) research impact assessment framework. Kathryn is an adviser on numerous national and international committees that focus on the assessment of research and innovation and invited to present nationally and internationally.
This presentation will make three points. First, at the margin relaxation of the current constraints on the mobility of low skilled labor produce more gains for the poor (and hence more gains to human welfare) than any other in situ individualized interventions--but orders of magnitude. Second, these constraints on labor mobility in rich countries are not driven by economic considerations (the gains are positive for rich countries) but by more narrowly political considerations. Third, a Goldilocks "just right" approach to international cooperation on labor mobility based on a pluri-lateral coalition of the willing may create space to move forward on this issue that could succeed in expanding labor mobility where "too hot" (pushing for binding reciprocal multi-lateral agreements) and "too cold" (the existing multi-lateral efforts) would fail. If this is so (and only the last point is really debatable) then this would make investing in the "public good" of the Goldilocks approach a high priority for global philanthropy.
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition: ‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
Since the discovery of macrophages in adipose tissue, many laboratories have focused their effort on understanding the contribution of these immune cells to metabolic diseases. Despite great progress in characterizing obesity as a state of low-grade inflammation, very little is known about the multiple phenotypes and functions of macrophages in metabolic tissues. The lack of methods to carefully investigate cell-to-cell variability in macrophage phenotype and to manipulate gene expression in a cell-specific manner has delayed answering these crucial questions. Our lab takes advantage of sophisticated methods, such as next generation sequencing, CytOF and gene silencing in a cell specific manner, to investigate macrophage subpopulations and their function in obesity-associated metabolic complications.
*Abstract:* *Abstract:* In 2016, the first Strategic Plan on Health Research (PERIS) was approved by the Catalan Parliament and subsequently allocated funding from the Department of Health until 2020. The System of Health Research Assessment (SARIS) is one of the key instruments of the Strategic Plan. SARIS has been developed together with the stakeholders as a system for the promotion and enhancement of the social contract between PERIS beneficiaries and the Department of Health. SARIS is a ‘responsible assessment system’ in a way that it shares responsibility for the production of knowledge with relevant stakeholders. Stakeholders were engaged in the development of the assessment indicators, promotion of impactful actions, and the analysis of ongoing funding streams. This presentation will cover examples of how impact assessment contributes to impactful health research. Some examples relate to the promotion (and assessment) of patient engagement in PERIS, the engagement of PERIS beneficiaries in the design of the impact indicators, the engagement of ex-ante panel reviewers in the development of research calls, and the analysis and promotion of gender balance. *Biography:* Head of Research at the Agency of Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia. Co-founder of the International School on Research Impact Assessment (https://www.theinternationalschoolonria.com/) and former economist at the OECD. Completed a PhD in Economics at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.
Few years ago, judicial councils composed primarily of judges were viewed as a panacea to virtually all problems of court administration in Europe. The burgeoning literature on judicial councils has shown that this is not necessarily the case. This paper goes further and argues that it is high time to look beyond judicial councils and to study the role of judges in court administration (judicial self-government) more holistically. To that end, this paper conceptualizes judicial self-government (JSG) and identifies crucial actors within the judiciary who may engage in judicial politics (such as judicial councils, judicial appointment commissions, promotion committees, and court presidents). Subsequently, it shows that both the forms and rationales of JSG have varied across Europe. So have the effects. Finally, this paper argues that the introduction of a new JSG body inevitably leads to political contestation with the existing bodies involved in court administration and may even result in a backlash against the new JSG body as well as against the idea of JSG itself. This, in turn, may put pressure on the new JSG bodies and create new channels of politicization of the judiciary.
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyNu-tHHJ15Se57I0BMvTVqYV0-Yxx6WShyLXVviqlg/edit#gid=0
*Abstract:* Since 1927, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded grants to public research institutions. The Foundation supports research within biomedicine, biotechnology, general practice and family medicine, nursing, and art history. In 2015, the Foundation established an impact assessment group that has earned a department status in September 2018. The aim of the new ‘Department of Impact Assessment’ is to understand how research works and how outcomes and impacts are realized through a variety of translational chains and knowledge exchange channels. We track the Foundation’s payouts for research, education, innovation and other purposes that lead to the production of knowledge and other activities and outcomes such as changes to clinical and treatment guidelines; development of new research methods, diagnostic tools, or interventions; as well as activities that may influence other researchers, the public sector and private companies and may eventually contribute to economic growth and the health and well-being of people. *Biography:* Gert Vilhelm Balling, PhD, CBA, RTTP is Senior Scientific Officer Manager at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Denmark since 2014. He is responsible for the implementation and continuous development of impact assessment in the Foundation as well as presentation of impact results to internal and external stakeholders. He has a seat in the Researchfish Steering Board and the NIHR External Reference Board on impact assessment and was selected as school director for The International School of Research Impact Assessment in 2017. Gert has a job background in technology transfer, evaluation and organization build-up on a national and international scale, and has on more occasions acted as an independent expert on commercialization of research results by the EU Commission. In his spare time Gert is also active in outreach activities and has received more nominations and awards for science dissemination projects, i.e. the Genius Award from the Danish science journalist and a nomination for the EU commission’s Descartes Prize.
*Abstract:* Being an effective innovation catalyst can be difficult in fields where successfully influencing the adoption of solutions, policies and practices can be contextually complex, challenging, and fraught with a multitude of barriers. The health sector is one such field where knowledge of how to enable receptiveness of new ideas, embed solutions into complicated systems and processes, and un-tap the underlying culture, is essential if achieving impact is your key goal. Understanding the interdependent effects of the context, content and processes facing researchers, alongside those of various stakeholders, intensifies the complexity in trying to plan for, and deliver, positive impacts. Yet, too many times we still see researchers approaching the delivery of outcomes as simply tossing their scientific and technological solutions over the output fence line, assuming stakeholders will instinctively know how to pick up their “babies”, utilise them efficiently and effectively, to produce large scale, positive benefits to end-users. There appears to be a continual lack of awareness and application of the well-defined determinants for establishing valuable connections vital for impact generation. Drawing upon a number of health sector case studies, this presentation will provide practical insights and examples of how Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is working to build the capacity of its staff, across all areas of the organisation, to plan, monitor and assess the effectiveness, authenticity and collaborative nature of relationships which underpin the ability to achieve uptake and adoption of high impact research. *Biography:* Dr Anne-Maree Dowd, Executive Manager Planning, Performance & Evaluation, CSIRO. Dr Dowd is an Executive Manager in CSIRO, responsible for all required planning and performance reporting for the organisation as well as implementing and tracking progress of Strategy, Investment Decision Making and Impact. She holds a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from the University of Queensland and has 16 years of experience in scientific research in public awareness and acceptance of energy technologies (at the international level), behaviour change, and transformational adaptation decision making across Australian Primary Industries.
*Abstract:* Impact is a small word with many meanings. It can be overwhelming for someone starting out, or even for seasoned experts, to navigate the challenges of evaluating impact. The impact coffee club is a friendly group of people who gather every couple of months to network, share knowledge and keep up-to-date on new developments. In-between meetings, members stay in contact and share resources through a LinkedIn hub. The club was first conceived when directors of health funding agencies, universities, NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups came together for an AMRC/NIHR impact forum in the spring of 2016. It became clear that a shared language around impact needed to be developed and an informal forum seemed like the best environment for this to succeed. The first coffee club meeting was held in June 2016 and the membership continues to grow. *Dr Jocelyn LeBlanc* joined the AMRC in August 2017 as the team’s impact officer. Her aims are to demonstrate the impact of the medical research charity sector as a whole and to support AMRC members in optimizing collection, analysis and communication of their own impact data. Jocelyn has a background in medical research. After earning her PhD in neuroscience from Harvard Medical School, she spent several years as a research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital studying brain development. Her work with patients and families affected by neurodevelopmental disorders inspired her to pursue a career in the medical research charity sector. *Dr Claire Vaughan* is an Impact Lead at the NIHR. Claire’s work focuses on supporting, building capacity and embedding impact within the organisation. She also coordinates a research impact assessment training programme for NIHR staff in collaboration with The Policy Institute at King’s. Prior to taking on the Impact Lead position, Claire worked in the NIHR infrastructure team overseeing the management of a portfolio of initiatives. A microbiologist by training, before joining the NIHR, Claire worked in the evaluation team at the Wellcome Trust and before that as an evaluation officer at the Health Research Board in Ireland.
Karl is an architect, satirist and commentator on the Middle East. He is the author of And Then God Created the Middle East and Said ‘Let There Be Breaking News’ and Style: In defence of Islamic Architecture and co-author of Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture. He has practised architecture in London and Beirut, and taught for five years at the American University of Beirut. Karl has written for a number of international publications such as Foreign Policy, The Atlantic and The Los Angeles Review of Books. He blogs at Karl reMarks. He has spoken on a range of issues such as satire, art, architecture, urbanism and politics. He presented his argument for open borders in a TedX talk in London in 2011 and taken part in several BBC broadcasts. He wrote and presented the ‘simple one-sentence explanation for what caused ISIS’, a short video produced with Channel 4. His idea for a ‘1000 Mile-City’ along the East Mediterranean coast was broadcast on the BBC’s This Week’s World as part of the ‘Think Again’ strand, exploring radical ideas for the future. Joint event with the Oxford Arab Society.
Join us for a fantastic late-night projection and sound show onto the original Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford! Calling all families, couples, young peeps - everyone welcome to join in the Light Night Festival in the courtyard! Come and watch the live 3D projection onto the 3-storey building TORCH and researchers from the ‘Diseases of Modern Life' Project have teamed up with the award winning Projection Studio (https://theprojectionstudio.com/) for a fantastic late-night projection and sound installation onto the original Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. See what the Victorians thought about the 'speed of life'.... There will be games, stalls, and performances by researchers throughout the night! Refreshments available to purchase - hot drinks, snacks and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
The Being Human Festival is here again! FREE and all welcome! Join us for a fantastic late-night projection and sound show onto the original Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford! Calling all families, couples, young peeps - everyone welcome to join in the Light Night Festival in the courtyard! Come and watch the live 3D projection onto the 3-storey building TORCH and researchers from the ‘Diseases of Modern Life' Project have teamed up with the award winning Projection Studio (https://theprojectionstudio.com/) for a fantastic late-night projection and sound installation onto the original Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. See what the Victorians thought about the 'speed of life'.... There will be games, stalls, and performances by researchers throughout the night! Refreshments available to purchase - hot drinks, snacks and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks Image: Ross Ashton
As an MBPhD graduate (Cambridge University & University College London) and Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology (London Deanery), I have been lucky enough to receive training in basic research as well as clinical medicine. I have thoroughly enjoyed both and am committed to pursuing a joint clinical and research career in neuroscience. However, I am fully aware that the gap between clinical realities and basic research can be hard to bridge. During my PhD I investigated the role of a specific signalling system, purinergic signalling, in skeletal muscle development and regeneration under the supervision of Professor Geoffrey Burnstock (University College London). Using techniques such as cell culture, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, I was able to dissect out the role of an individual signalling pathway. I demonstrated that activation of the P2X5 receptor for ATP potentiated muscle stem cell differentiation and that this process was dependent on activation of the p38 MAP kinase pathway. Since my PhD the advent of high through-put microarray and sequencing-based technologies have made it possible to take a systems approach and so have the potential to provide exciting insights into complex neurological diseases. With this is in mind I have sought to develop new skills in biomedical informatics and currently hold an MRC Post-doctoral Training Fellowship in Biomedical Informatics. This fellowship has given me the opportunity to pursue my interest in the pathophysiological basis of risk genetic loci for neurodegenerative diseases and that is the focus of my current research.
All human events occur in real time. So nationally representative surveys of individuals’ and households’ use of time provide, potentially, uniquely comprehensive and revealing evidence of social conditions. Historical sequences of such surveys provide the clearest of evidence of social change. The ESRC Centre for Time Use Research, currently based in the Oxford Sociology Department, has been collecting and analysing this sort of data for several decades. It currently holds, in the form of the Multinational Time Use Study, over 100 such datasets, harmonised to promote comparative analysis, with more than a million-and-a-half days of data, and time-use sequences for 20 countries covering up to 65 years of modern history. This talk will discuss a range of examples of the use of the MTUS evidence to examine issues of social differentiation, the impacts of technical change, processes of accumulation of embodied capitals, and the determination of social structure.
Rebel courts are often justified by rebels in the interest of securing law and order, states’ perceptions are more negative, especially the territorial state concerned. This raises questions under international humanitarian law, human rights law and international criminal law on the legality of such courts and of fair trial guarantees. In a recent case a court in Sweden ruled on the individual criminal responsibility of a soldier for carrying out sentences issued by a rebel court, a first for any court worldwide. The dilemma of rebel courts reveals opposing interests in international humanitarian law and international criminal law and raises important policy considerations.
The late eighteenth century was a pivotal era in the history of ideas about venereal disease in the British Empire. The slow death of the Atlantic slave trade put new pressures on British doctors to cultivate sexual health among enslaved women in the British Caribbean in order to ensure their fertility, and at the same time the extensive engagement of the British military in the Caribbean raised new concerns about the sexual health of British soldiers and sailors. This paper will discuss how these pressures unfolded and how they shaped the circulation of medical knowledge about venereal disease. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between African and British healers, and especially the engagement of the Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces, John Hunter, with ideas about venereal disease that were generated in the Caribbean through the interaction of white and black healers.
4.30-5.30 Seminar: Law in Books v Law in Practice: Housing Possession In conversation with Turpin & Miller LLP, who run the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme in Oxford, Lisa reports on research into the housing possession procession that looks at both the legal rules and their operation in practice. Lisa explains how important it is to invest knowledge of the law with an awareness of its social significance, and considers how empirical legal research can achieve research ‘impact’. 5.30-6.00: Refreshments 6.00-7.30 Workshop: Setting up a Clinic on Evictions and Repossessions at Hull This workshop brings together the ’academy’ and ’practice’ to explore new ideas on how to support those threatened with homelessness. Lisa reports on a trial project, known as the ‘Clinic on Evictions and Repossessions’ (CLEAR), which is based at the University of Hull and funded by the Ferens Education Trust. CLEAR aims to provide advice to occupiers at risk of losing their home and has the support of members of the local judiciary, debt advisors, and landlords. Biography: Lisa is a Reader in Law at the University of Hull. With Professor Susan Bright, she has investigated the housing possession process with a particular focus on the information available to the court, and the availability of advice and representation to those threatened with eviction. Their earlier findings are available here. To register please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-ivory-tower-a-case-study-in-housing-tickets-50589374180
Despite contrary research findings, many lay people still claim that starting second language (L2) instruction early yields linguistic advantages. This assertion is again undermined by a five-year longitudinal study conducted in Switzerland testing English language skills of 636 secondary-school students, who had all learned Standard German and French at primary school, but only half of whom had had English from age 8, the remainder having started English five years later. The results suggest that age-related attainment effects are overshadowed by other effects, yielding diverse outcomes according to individual differences, and contextual effects mediating L2 outcomes. An earlier age of onset (AO) proved beneficial only for children reared as biliterate simultaneous bilinguals receiving substantial parental support, as opposed to monolinguals and non-biliterate bilinguals (simultaneous or sequential); these latter failed to profit from their earlier AO. These issues require studies which explore what underlies SLA age effects and investigate how learning contexts shape processes of L2 development.
Social enterprise and climate justice fit remarkably well together, and their collision is both bountiful and diverse when it comes to creating solutions to tackle climate change. If you are interested in learning what comes out of the aftermath of this collision, the common pitfalls facing enterprise in this sector and stories from two leading start-ups then make sure you make it to this event. We are looking forward to hearing from Miguel Modestino of Sunethics, a start-up set on revolutionising the chemical industry, and a leading entrepreneur of Bulb, a B-corp green energy company taking the UK by storm. Thought ethical business was impossible? Come and test your theory!
This presentation has two aims. Firstly, to discuss the prevalence rates of PTSD within the UK military with comparison to statistics from US military populations. Secondly, to focus on treatment seeking UK veterans seeking support from Combat Stress to discuss their mental health presentations and current areas of research.
Abstract: Individuals interact strategically with their network neighbors. A planner can shape incentives in pursuit of an aggregate goal, such as maximizing welfare or minimizing volatility. We analyze a variety of targeting problems by identifying how a given profile of incentive changes is amplified or attenuated by the strategic spillovers in the network. The optimal policies are simplest when the budget for intervention is large. If actions are strategic complements, the optimal intervention changes all agents’ incentives in the same direction and does so in proportion to their eigenvector centralities. In games of strategic substitutes, the optimal intervention is very different: it moves neighbors’ incentives in opposite directions, dividing local communities into positively and negatively targeted agents, with few links across these two categories. To derive these results and characterize optimal interventions more generally, we introduce a method of decomposing any potential intervention into principal components determined by the network. A particular ordering of principal components describes the planner’s priorities across a range of network intervention problems. Full details of this seminar series are available at the following link: http://www.davidronayne.net/lgn-seminar
Orna Sasson-Levy serves as the head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, as well as an associate professor at the Program of Gender Studies at Bar-Ilan University. Her main research focuses on the field of gender and militarism. Her most recent publication is Women Soldiers and Citizenship in Israel: Gendered Encounters with the State, with Edna Lomsky-Feder, (2018), Routledge.
Please sign up for meeting using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eTUvKW-onEzp681ri-yQa8KSWOYRJC81y_6GEmwQTp0/edit#gid=0
Protein folding is tightly regulated by molecular chaperones and other protein quality control mechanisms such as the ubiquitin proteasome system and autophagy to ensure the integrity of the proteome. However, these systems can fail to prevent protein misfolding, leading to protein aggregation and amyloidosis. They are underlying reasons for many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or Huntington’s disease. Interfering with protein quality control systems and modulating posttranslational modifications of proteins can reduce aggregation, ameliorate amyloidosis and can have profound effects on the immune system.
This research is motivated by two stylized facts: (i) the weak relationship between income and nutritional status in developing countries, and (ii) the increased prevalence of noncommunicable diseases; in particular, cardiometabolic diseases among normal weight individuals, with economic development. Our unified explanation for these stylized facts is based on a nutrition trap: a growing biomedical literature posits that there exists an epigenetically determined set point for each individual’s body weight, with metabolic and hormonal adjustments defending the set point in response to variation in energy intake (food consumption). Consumption within a range of the set point thus fails to change nutritional status, but once consumption crosses a threshold, the body can no longer defend the set point and the resulting metabolic imbalance increases the risk of cardiometabolic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac disease). The set point in a given population is partly determined by conditions in the pre-industrial economy, allowing us to explain variation in the income-nutritional status relationship and the BMI-diabetes relationship across broad regions of the world. To establish that a set point does indeed exist, we develop a model that generates predictions for the cross-sectional relationship between current income and both nutritional status and cardiometabolic diseases when a nutrition trap is present. These predictions are tested with microdata from India, Indonesia, and Ghana. Estimation of the model’s structural parameters allows us to quantify the impact of the nutrition trap, which turns out to be substantial, explaining approximately 40% of under-nutrition in India. Written with Anu Alexander (Christian Medical College, Vellore), Nancy Luke (Pennsylvania State University), and Swapnil Singh (Central Bank of Lithuania).
Another indispensable EQUATOR workshop for early career biomedical and clinical researchers led by Prof Gary Collins Practice dealing with the kind, the fair, and the seriously challenging. Gary Collins is Professor of Statistics at CSM and Deputy Director of the UK EQUATOR Centre. As feared and revered methods reviewer for the BMJ “hanging committee”, what Gary doesn’t know about spotting fatal flaws in statistical methods, analysis and reporting isn’t worth knowing. This free workshop is open to University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes staff and students, but we do request that you book a spot. For notification of booking opening and announcement of other EQUATOR courses in Oxford, please join our mailing list by sending a blank email to equator-oxford-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk or email Caroline Struthers (caroline.struthers@csm.ox.ac.uk).
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-faith reading where people of all faiths gather and reflect on short passages from their scriptures together. There is sometimes overlap between texts where different faiths share their Scriptures. It is a worldwide movement www.scripturalreasoning.org and this is the major meeting in Oxford. We spend time with texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, and discuss ancient, medieval, and modern interpretations of Scripture, modern day practices which reflect these texts, and what they mean personally for individuals and faith communities. Free, simple kosher snacks may be provided.
Free Lunch Provided
Drop-in session for you to see the RSL's 3D printers in action and try out VR equipment. For more information on our 3D and VR services, please see http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/3dprintingscanning and http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/VR
Stuart Schwartz, ‘Cities of empire: Mexico and Bahia in the sixteenth century’, Journal of Inter-American Studies 11:4 (1969): 616-637; Alejandra B. Osorio, Inventing Lima: Baroque modernity in Peru’s South Sea metropolis (2008), Ch. 2 ('Lima es corte: The viceroy as cultural capital', 57-80) Catarina Madeira Santos, ‘Luanda: A colonial city between Africa and the Atlantic, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries’, in Liam M. Borckey (ed.), Portuguese colonial cities in the early modern world (2008) 249-272.
Talks by Oliver Daddow, University of Nottingham and Christopher Gifford, University of Huddersfield
About the speaker: After completing an MA at the California State University, Sacramento in 2010, Dr Craig-Norton left a secondary teaching career and came to Southampton University to begin a PhD in 2011, researching the Kindertransport under the supervision of Professor Tony Kushner. She completed her doctorate in 2014 and is currently serving a three-year term as a British Academy Post-doctoral Fellow at Southampton University as a member of the Parkes Institute. Her research project, “‘The right type of refugee’: Jewish Domestics and Nurses in Britain 1933-1948’, examines the lives of the over 20,000 Jewish women who came to the UK in the 1930s to serve as servants in British homes and the thousand or so who arrived as student nurses. In addition to research, she is involved in teaching and supporting the Parkes Institute in its outreach and public engagement activities. https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/events/the-kindertransport
Venue TBC. Please RSVP to Christine.Baro@ouce.ox.ac.uk.
In order to mark the beginning of the national Disability History Month (22nd November -22nd December), the History Faculty will run a workshop to promote the study of Disability History in the university. Four speakers will reflect on the important and diverse research already underway in the field within Oxford, and will consider the future of Disability History at all academic levels. Each session will provide plenty of opportunity for discussion, and we hope that the workshop will inspire further events in the field. PROGRAMME 9.00-9.20am Registration (Tea/Coffee) 9.20am Welcome by John Watts, Chair of History Faculty Board 9.30am Session 1: Researching Disability History William Whyte (St. John’s): 'The Trouble with Words: Writing a History of Dyslexia' Sloan Mahone (History Faculty): 'Epilepsy in Africa: Combining History, Activism, and Health Provision' 11.00-11.30am Tea/Coffee 11.30am Session 2: Embedding Disability History in the Curriculum Sian Pooley (Magdalen): 'Learning and Teaching through Histories of Disability: Bodies, Minds, and the Curriculum' Kathryn Jones (Balliol): 'Tracking Mental Health through History: An Undergraduate Dissertation in Sadness' 1pm Close
TBA
Amyloid and Tau pathology progress along distinct anatomical networks before they overlap in the course of Alzheimer’s disease. As a consequence, both pathologies are likely to affect different functional brain networks and related cognitive functions in the early course of AD. To dissect pathology-specific impact on cognition, we utilize recent insights into the fine-grained architecture of functionally and anatomically separated pathways that support episodic memory, notably different hippocampal-cortical pathways for the mnemonic discrimination of object and scene information. I will give an overview of the early network distribution patterns of amyloid and tau pathology in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease and will present recent biomarker and neuroimaging data from fMRI and PET studies (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, DZNE and UC Berkeley) and will relate pathology to object- and scene-pathway dysfunction. I will discuss how these types of insights could benefit early assessment, trajectory monitoring and interventional stratification in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
Tropical Medicine: -- Tropical Medicine: -- Chair: TBA
TBC
Please sign up for meetings using the schedule below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RGiVMwMBw0NPXh9BF6ooO6HJA1J56wqf_en2deCi-ZY/edit#gid=0
This is a joint lecture with The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School A concern for planetary health reflects the fact that global health outcomes are unlikely to be sustainable if they are achieved at the expense of the integrity of the very ecosystems human societies depend on. Indeed, the modern economy appears to treat global health and natural systems as substitutes: as we achieve more of the first, more of the second deteriorates. But there is also a different, under-explored, framing. Ecosystem integrity can be complementary to human health: under specific conditions, investing in the first can lead to improving returns on investments in the second. This is the thesis behind the idea of natural infrastructure. Investing in ecosystems for the purposes of achieving societal objectives, including global health, that can prove to be a good deal for both. For example, some 2.1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe, readily available water at home, severely undermining health outcomes. With a growing share of the population also facing the effects of environmental degradation, integrated solutions that simultaneously advance nature conservation, water provision, and health would be a critical component of any solution. If these solutions then had the additional property of representing better value for money, they would represent attractive investment opportunities. Thus, including natural infrastructure in the narrative of planetary health requires proving that it is a viable, investable option to address both conservation and health objectives. There are promising examples that give hope. The challenge is to understand how public and private sector investment can fully value the potential of complementarity, and how to design coherent investment strategies that take full advantage of this opportunity at scale.
The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School brings you a series of talks on understanding the interconnections between environmental and human health.
‘Preaching in the Early Jacobean Chapel Royal: Critiquing a New Regime’ : Peter E. McCullough, Sermons at Court: Politics and Religion in Elizabethan and Jacobean Preaching (Cambridge, 1998), ch. 3. ‘“But nowe adayes I see fewe hunt the harte as he ought to be hunted”: The Social and Economic Contexts to Changes in Hunting in Seventeenth-Century England’: James Williams, ‘Sport and the Elite in Early Modern England’ Sport in History 28/3 (2008), 389-413.
Vera Candiani. A native of Argentina, Vera S. Candiani teaches early modern Latin America as well as landscape and material culture literacy at Princeton University. Her first book, Dreaming of Dry Land: Environmental Transformation in Colonial Mexico City (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2014), won the Conference for Latin American History’s Elinor Melville Prize for best book in Latin American environmental history. Her current projects are comparative – one examines the relationship among commons, peasants and colonization in the early modern French, English and Spanish Americas; the other, wetland desiccation and enclosure in France, England and Mexico.
https://www.facebook.com/events/266644767320410/
This lecture offers an opportunity to reflect on how, by whom and for whom history is produced. It examines the teaching of public history in higher education, acknowledging the recent powerful calls for new kinds of curricula focused on ‘decolonisation’. The development of policy-oriented applied history is critically assessed, and despite opposition, the present day emerges as a period of unprecedented opportunity for very diverse forms of historical production that are informed by feminist principles and which extend the public profile of the history of feminism. Lucy Delap is a Reader in Modern British and Gender history at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Murray Edwards College. She has published widely on the history of feminism, gender, labour and religion, including the prize-winning The Feminist Avant-Garde: Transatlantic Encounters of the Early Twentieth Century in 2007, and Knowing Their Place: Domestic Service in Twentieth Century Britain in 2011. She is currently working on a history of modern feminism titled Feminism: a useable history (Penguin), and collaborates with a team on a Leverhulme-funded project, The Business of Women’s Words, on feminist publishing and enterprise in late twentieth century Britain. She is a senior associate of History & Policy, and won the Royal Historical Society Public History (Public Debate and Policy) Prize in 2018 for her work with Prof Louise Jackson and Prof Adrian Bingham on the history of child sexual abuse. Lecture: 18.00-19.30 Reception: 19.30-20.00
Dr Patricia Fara (University of Cambridge) discusses the pivotal roles of women scientists during the First World War, and how their efforts contributed to the war outcome and the Votes for Women movement.
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition: ‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
This seminar brings together experts from the United States, Australia, and China to discuss the legal protection of vulnerable migrants, particularly children and persons with disabilities. With unprecedented numbers of children on the move in search of safety, the editors/authors of Protecting Migrant Children explore the complex legal and human rights issues that arise when children cross borders as migrants. They critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of international and domestic laws with the aim of identifying best practice for migrant children. In their new book, published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Professor Benson and Professor Crock have brought together an interdisciplinary and multinational group of experts to assess the nature and root causes of child migration in different parts of the world, featuring national and comparative case studies in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. In this seminar, the book editors (Benson & Crock) and contributor (Zou) examine the many challenges experienced and posed by young people who cross borders in search of protection or a better quality of life. Identifying the many universal issues facing states who play host to these children, they look at the new paradigms in law, policy and practice that are emerging in the reception and management of child migrants, refugees and victims of trafficking. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Neurons that are specifically tuned to binocular depth were discovered in seminal work published 50 years ago by Horace Barlow, Colin Blakemore and Jack Pettigrew in the Journal of Physiology. Their study in the primary visual cortex opened up the era of understanding the physiology of 3-D perception. Thanks to more recent work, we now know that large areas of the extrastriate visual cortex are involved. Sites where binocular stereoscopic depth is integrated with other visual information can be identified and physiological signals related to active perceptual decisions about depth can be isolated. At some sites, a causal role of physiological signals for the perception of depth can be demonstrated by showing that weak electrical microstimulation of the cortex can alter behavioural reports of depth perception. However, there seems to be no single brain module that is responsible for computing stereoscopic depth. This lecture will trace these paths of discovery in human and animal studies. Andrew Parker will show how a better understanding of the physiology of depth perception changes our view of how the brain constructs a representation of the space around us. Findings from this neurophysiological research have implications for the growing popularity of 3-D cinema and immersive virtual reality.
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyNu-tHHJ15Se57I0BMvTVqYV0-Yxx6WShyLXVviqlg/edit#gid=0 We develop a new model of addictive behavior that takes as a starting point the classic rational addiction model of Becker and Murphy, but incorporates uncertainty. We model uncertainty through the Wiener stochastic process.This process captures both random events such as anxiety, tensions and environmental cues which can precipitate and exacerbate addictions, and those sober and thought-provoking episodes that discourage addictions.We derive closed-form formulas for optimal (and optimal expected) addictive consumption and capital trajectories and examine their global and local properties. Our theory provides plausible explanations of several important patterns of addictive behavior and has also novel policy implications.
Free sandwich lunch with the speaker after Head of Department (HoD) Seminar Series
We have elsewhere defended the view that, if you are going to give to charity, and all other things are equal, you ought to give to the charities that would use your gift to do the most good. Thomas Sinclair has recently challenged both this view and our arguments. He holds that the view has counterintuitive implications, and that our arguments presuppose a controversial, broadly consequentialist moral framework. We here respond. We argue that the counterintuitive implications of the view are not reasons to reject it, and that our arguments can be revised in ways that should make them acceptable to everyone, consequentialists and non-consequentialists alike.
Tony Juniper - author of “Rainforest: Dispatches from Earth's Most Vital Frontlines”
OCTF and Biodiversity Network seminar followed by drinks - all welcome Speaker: Tony Juniper CBE, Executive Director of Advocacy and Campaigns, WWF-UK and author of Rainforest: Dispatches from Earth's Most Vital Frontlines Join Tony Juniper CBE for this seminar where he will speak about the state of the world’s tropical rainforests and what is being done to conserver them. His talk will also explore some of the ways in which positive impacts have been achieved for conservation and set out some of the ways in which we might achieve more in future. Tony Juniper is a campaigner, writer, sustainability adviser and a well-known British environmentalist. For more than 30 years he has worked for change toward a more sustainable society at local, national and international levels. From making the case for new recycling laws, to orchestrating international campaigns for action on rainforests and climate change, his work has sought change at many levels. Tony is the Executive Director for Advocacy and Campaigns at WWF-UK. He began his career as an ornithologist, working with Birdlife International. In 1990 he began a long period working at Friends of the Earth, initially leading the campaign for the tropical rainforests and in 2003 becoming Executive Director. Tony is the author of many books, including the multi-award winning 2013 best-seller What has Nature ever done for us? His latest book, Rainforest – dispatches from Earth’s most vital frontlines, was published in April 2018. Juniper was the first recipient of the Charles and Miriam Rothschild conservation medal (2009) and was awarded honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the Universities of Bristol and Plymouth (2013). In 2017 he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to conservation. On joining WWF in January 2018 Juniper remained a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and President of the Wildlife Trusts.
Dr. Marwan Bishara is a political sociologist and the senior political analyst for Al Jazeera network. He is the author of The Invisible Arab, Palestine Israel: Peace or Apartheid, and other works focusing on the US foreign policy and the Middle East. Dr. Bishara is currently working on US Patron-Client relations in the Middle East.
Across the millennia darkness occurring due to physical phenomena such as solar and lunar eclipses has been a source of fascination and awe, and as astronomical knowledge developed it was discovered that there was a dark side of the Moon never visible to the Earth. With a deepening understanding of the field of cosmology, black holes were first predicted and then experimentally discovered. More recently theories of both dark matter and dark energy have been postulated to explain effects observed in the Universe caused by the presence of such unseen matter and the Universe's expansion. This conference will examine these different strands of the dark side of physics across the ages.
Across the millennia darkness occurring due to physical phenomena such as solar and lunar eclipses has been a source of fascination and awe, and as astronomical knowledge developed it was discovered that there was a dark side of the Moon never visible to the Earth. With a deepening understanding of the field of cosmology, black holes were first predicted and then experimentally discovered. More recently theories of both dark matter and dark energy have been postulated to explain effects observed in the Universe caused by the presence of such unseen matter and the Universe's expansion. This conference will examine these different strands of the dark side of physics across the ages. Registration to attend this conference is free, but must be confirmed using the Conference booking form by midday on Friday 16th November 2018. Confirmed speakers currently include: Professor Andrew Coates (University College London) - Darkness on Earth: Solar and Lunar Eclipses Through Time Professor Manuel Grande (Aberystwyth University) - The Dark Side of the Moon and Is It Really Dead? Professor Carole Mundell (University of Bath) - Big Bangs and Black Holes: From Thought Experiment to Technological Revolution Dr Gianfranco Bertone (University of Amsterdam) - The Quest for Dark Matter Professor Timothy Sumner (Imperial College London) - A Universe Dominated by Dark Energy? There will be a conference dinner at St Cross in the evening following the end of the conference with an after-dinner talk by Asif Khan (architect of the Vantablack Pavilion at the 2018 Winter Olympics) on his design of the darkest building on Earth. Although the conference itself is free of charge, the dinner carries a cost of £35 to attend - booking a place for dinner (only for confirmed conference attendees and their guests) can be done here until the booking/cancellation deadline of midday on Friday 16th November 2018.
Transactions involving medicines are typically asymmetric: although neither buyer nor seller has complete information about a product’s quality and efficacy – particularly in settings like Ghana with weak regulation – the uncertainty and risks are most pressing for the buyer. Drawing on in-depth interviews (N=220) and observations of medicine transactions, plus interviews with regulators (N=20), we explore how people in Ghana negotiate this uncertainty. In contrast with prevailing literature that emphasises the role of trust in managing healthcare, our data suggest that distrust may be an equally important departure point. Starting from a position of underlying distrust, most of our interviewees took precautions, scrutinising the medicine, and the outlet and retailer, before making a purchase. Where buyers acted on trust (taking no precautions), this was underpinned either by necessity or by deeply embedded social relationships between seller and buyer that render precaution-taking both unnecessary and counter-productive. However, trust embedded in social relationships cannot eliminate risk, because of the dispersed and under-regulated nature of wider supply chains.
This paper explains the revision of the asset indicator of the updated global Multidimensional Poverty Index (global MPI), which was launched just before the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018. The joint decision of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) to revise the global MPI in 2018 to align it with the Sustainable Development Goals and to best monitor progress towards “Leaving No One Behind” provided the opportunity to assess the statistical validities of the assets indicator contained in the Original MPI, jointly designed by OPHI and UNDP HDRO in 2010, and an asset indicator included in an Innovative MPI, which was developed by UNDP HDRO in 2014. Further, considering the improvements of many Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey and selected national surveys in recent years from which the global MPI is constructed, the revision also offered an occasion to assess whether the inclusion of additional assets would add value to a revised asset index for the updated global MPI 2018. Taking into account a blend of inputs including statistical test results, public consultations, normative reasoning and substantive trial measures of possible asset indices as outlined in detail in this paper, the revised assets indicator maintained the structure of the Original MPI, but added computer and animal cart as additional items. Here we explain the reasons and delineate the many decisions that were taken along the way.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is struggling at every level of its operations in Africa - in terms of its investigations, prosecutions, and relations with domestic governments, judiciaries and affected communities. This raises key questions about whether, after 16 years of consistent shortcomings and mounting frustration even among some of its most ardent supporters, the Court can survive. A central cause of the ICC's travails is its remoteness from the societies in which it operates. The Court's conceptual and practical 'distance' from the places where crimes are committed greatly undermines its effectiveness and requires a major rethink about how international criminal justice is conducted, especially in the Global South. This presentation lays out the main arguments of my new book, Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics (Cambridge University Press), and draws on 20 months of fieldwork in central Africa and The Hague since 2006, including 650 interviews with ICC officials, domestic political, legal and civil society actors, and local communities.
Built in Greenwich, the Royal Observatory (f. 1675) was situated outside the capital but was deeply enmeshed within its knowledge networks and communities of practice. It was deeply reliant on London’s instrument makers, engaged with, and often produced, its teachers of navigation and mathematics, was an off-shoot of one government board and took a leading role on another, and was overseen by a Board of Visitors selected by the city’s Royal Society. This paper explores the extent to which the Observatory can be considered a London institution or, in its early years, as an institution at all. In particular, it considers ways in which its knowledge and practice were shared within and beyond its walls and argues that the Observatory’s proximity to London and its relationships with London institutions shaped its governance and the development of a particular, and ultimately influential, approach to astronomical and mathematical practice.
This paper surveys a number of recently reported judgments referred to collectively as the ‘radicalisation cases in the family courts’. These cases offer a family law approach to the phenomenon of ‘child terrorists’: those children who are suspected of attempting to travel to join Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (or who are at risk of being taken by their parents to Syria and Iraq for the same purpose); children who are at risk of being radicalised in the family home; and children who are at risk of being involved in terrorist activities either at home or abroad. The paper locates these cases within the two other approaches adopted by the state to deal with children suspected of terrorism: criminal prosecutions and the government’s flagship deradicalisation programme Channel. The paper argues that these three different approaches pose a series of challenges to the rule of law and raise interesting avenues for future research.
Tan Ying Jia, Wesleyan University: ‘Envisioning Integrative Development: TVA and Sino-American Technological Diplomacy, 1941-1948’ Xiu Guangmin, Sichuan University: ‘How the UK Gained External Support During the Malayan Emergency’
The highest performing education systems across OECD countries exhibit both high quality and equity. Among them are Hong Kong and Singapore. Yet both systems report huge income disparities between rich and poor. How can educational equity and quality co-exist within a highly unequal society? Employing Bourdieu’s logic of practice, I argue that cultural habitus and structural contexts account for this phenomenon. Paradoxically, structural reforms to increase equity and quality simultaneously exacerbate injustices and inequity. The cases of Hong Kong and Singapore may well resonate in other parts of the world.
One week before delegates from around the world assemble in Poland for the 24th UN Climate Conference, we want to take stock of how the world’s currently doing in the fight against climate change. For this, we are bringing together one leading climate scientist, one leading economist, and one expert on the politics of international climate action, to discuss how much progress the world has made in the fight for a safe climate, and what needs to happen next. With Myles Allen (Lead Author of the IPCC’s 1.5°C Special Report), Ben Caldecott (Founding Director, Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme) and Thomas Hale (Associate Professor, Blavatnik School of Government).
It is obviously true that the nature of a journey depends on where it began, and on the places visited along the way. Thus cognitive function is shaped by factors operating across the whole of the life course, with implications for the accumulation of cognitive reserve and risk of cognitive impairment. These factors begin with genes but include the uterine environment and the highly malleable stage of infancy; they then appear through the school years and during transition into the adult word of work and lifestyle choices; finally, they are still evident in later life, when the effects of normal and abnormal brain ageing are increasingly important. Behind these influences, cognitive function itself tracks across the life course, although it is not always clear whether level of prior cognition influences rate of cognitive decline in later life, or simply the level from which such decline begins. Nevertheless, to the extent that cognition does track, it follows that influences on cognition at any stage of the life course are capable of indirectly influencing cognitive functioning at subsequent stages. This talk will offer a broad overview of this framework and key supporting evidence.
About the speaker: Nasir Uddin is a cultural anthropologist based in Bangladesh, and Professor of Anthropology at Chittagong University. He studied and carried out research at the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), University of Chittagong (Bangladesh), Kyoto University (Japan), the University of Hull (UK), Delhi School of Economics (India), Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany), VU University Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Heidelberg University (Germany), and the London School of Economics (UK). His research interests include refugees, statelessness, and citizenship; deterritoriality of identity and transborder movements; indigeneity and identity politics; notions of power and the state in everyday life; borderlands between Bangladesh and Myanmar; the Rohingyas; the Chittagong Hill Tracts; and South Asia. His latest edited books are Life in Peace and Conflict: Indigeneity and State in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Orient BlackSwan, 2017) and Indigeneity on the Move: Varying Manifestation of a Contested Concept (Berghahn, 2017 [co-edited with Eva Gerharz and Pradeep Chakkarath). His forthcoming books are Deterriotorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia (Springer, 2018 [co-edited with Nasreen Chowdhory) and The Rohingyas: A Case of “Subhuman” (Oxford University Press, 2019)
Brian is a cardiologist and genetic epidemiologist who was educated and trained at Harvard, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He graduated from Yale Medical School, and trained in clinical epidemiology and genetic epidemiology at Yale. He then trained in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Harvard Medical School where he also completed the Program in Clinical Effectiveness at Harvard School of Public Health, and was an NHLBI Cardiovascular (Genetic) Epidemiology Fellow. He is currently Director of Research in Translational Therapeutics, and Head of the Centre for Naturally Randomized Trials in Cambridge having moved from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit where he was Clinical Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Genomic Research Centre. His research focuses on using Mendelian randomization to design ‘naturally randomized trials’ to generate evidence that can be used to improve the drug discovery and development process; inform the optimal design of trials; fill evidence gaps when a randomized trial is not possible or practical; and define the practice of precision cardiovascular medicine.
Coming soon
Brian Klug Brian Klug is senior research fellow and tutor in philosophy at St. Benet's Hall. He is also an honorary fellow of the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton and fellow of the College, Saint Xavier University, Chicago. He is the author, among many works, of Being Jewish and Doing Justice: Bringing Argument to Life and Offence: The Jewish Case.
Coming soon
The term Ars Nova taken in a larger sense is often used to label the European professional music of the fourteenth century, separating it from the music of the previous period, the so called Ars Antiqua. The notion Ars Nova perfectly fits the music of the fourteenth-century French composers, but it becomes fairly problematic in attempts to apply it to the Italian contemporary music. In Italy were practically absent the most salient characteristics of the French Ars Nova music, as for the genres, the musical techniques and the use of the verbal text. For that reason, in order to define the Italian music from the 1340s to the first three decades of the fifteenth century, the term Trecento is in use, even though formally the phenomenon in question is not precisely coinciding with the temporal limits of the fourteenth century. French Ars nova motets and French theoretical treatises, which discussed the new art of composition and notation, were well known in Italy, as several examples of them transmitted in Italian manuscripts testify. However, neither the theory nor the compositions by themselves prompted the Italians to adopt this style as a model to follow. The French isorhythmic technique, however, was used in two madrigals: Lorenzo da Firenze’s Povero zappator and Francesco Landini’s Sì dolce non sonò [col lir Orfeo]. Evidently, Landini’s madrigal honours Philippe de Vitry, so that the use of the isorhythmic technique in it is conceptually well justified. What then could have been the reason to use the isorhythmic technique even in a more sophisticated way in the madrigal Povero zappator, written by Lorenzo da Firenze, or Lorenzo Masini, the elder colleague of Landini in the St. Lorenzo church in Florence? The poetic text of this madrigal, unlike that of Landini’s Sì dolce non sonò, tells about a lone sailor in tempestuous sea. It did not attire much attention of scholars. However, as we will see, this text, which at first glance appears to be an ingenuous poem typical of the Trecento musical madrigals, is not only the clue about the understanding of Lorenzo’s intentions, but in a larger perspective it discloses the perception by the Italian Trecento musicians of the musical thinking of their transalpine colleagues.
This talk will describe the background, purpose and methodology of the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa Project. It will highlight many of the issues surrounding such a project, based in the University (with partners in Leicester, Durham and Southampton Universities). These include the nature of threats to the cultural heritage– not least in conflict zones, the impact of looting and trafficking, and the less obvious but equally damaging impact of food production, dam building and urban expansion. It will be presented in such a way to stimulate debate on why we seek to protect the heritage, why the EAMENA project exists, and why is it important now.
This course will introduce the participants to the nascent field of Geographic Data Science using the industry standard, the Python programming language. We will cover the key steps involved in solving practical problems with spatial data: design, manipulation, exploration, and modelling. These topics will be explored from a “hands-on” perspective using a modern Python stack (e.g. geopandas, seaborn, scikit-learn, PySAL), and examples from real-world spatial and tabular data. We will start with an overview of the main ways to access and read spatial data formats such as shapefiles or GeoJSON from disparate sources. Then we will move on to techniques to visualise (e.g. choropleths) and summarise your data, including exploratory spatial data analysis techniques. From there we will cover traditional as well as explicitly spatial unsupervised learning (clustering). The course is intended to provide practical support to researchers and practitioners by introducing them to useful strategies to learn more from their spatial data. There will be time for self-directed learning using data from the CDRC data store. For more information please also visit: https://www.cdrc.ac.uk/events/introduction-to-python-liverpool/
Experimental evolution of a mouse-specific retrovirus in various host genotypes reveal increases in fitness and virulence by 50- and 20-fold respectively. The virus adapts to specific host genotypes as indicated by its’ reduced ability to infect other host genotypes, including those that differ only at histocompatibility loci. Three round serial passages where the host genotype is alternated once, dramatically reduces viral fitness and virulence. Full genome sequencing of these evolved viral lines reveal surprising results where no mutations have become fixed despite strong selection operating over 240 generations.
‘The hacker’ is the epitome of a cybersecurity threat and the embodied misuse of the Internet and associated technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). Portrayed as being both a state, semi-, and non-state actor, hacking and corresponding communities carry a strategic role in the political interactions and practices on cybersecurity. However, in recent years the term has begun to change. Concepts such as hackathons, white hat hackers, and ethical hackers became prominent and made hacking a mainstream concept. Leonie Tanczer will draw on her extensive research on hackers and hacktivists to discuss the shifting state of one of the most prominent cyber(in)security notions and identities that populate the computer security space. Leonie Maria Tanczer is Lecturer in International Security and Emerging Technologies at University College London’s (UCL) Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP). She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Open Rights Group (ORG), affiliated with UCL's Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR), and former Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) in Berlin. She tweets at @leotanczt.
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) is a practice of inter-faith reading where people of all faiths gather and reflect on short passages from their scriptures together. There is sometimes overlap between texts where different faiths share their Scriptures. It is a worldwide movement www.scripturalreasoning.org and this is the major meeting in Oxford. We spend time with texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, and discuss ancient, medieval, and modern interpretations of Scripture, modern day practices which reflect these texts, and what they mean personally for individuals and faith communities. Free, simple kosher snacks may be provided.
Talk by Tim Bale, Queen Mary University of London
Isaac of Nineveh lived through the turbulent seventh century, and has left a substantial body of ascetic writings. He belonged to the Church of the East, formerly called 'Nestorian,' but owing to the early translation of his works, he was read very widely throughout the Orthodox world. He is a great spiritual writer, and is known for his strong emphasis on God's love for all creation. The subject of this seminar will be a homily Isaac wrote on the Cross. It is a striking work, in which Isaac describes the Cross as a new Ark and the dwelling place of God's Shekhina. We will explore some of these ideas, with a particular focus on Isaac's ecclesial context and his place in the late-Sasanian world.
About the speaker: Dr Kieran Oberman is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the University in September 2013 from University College Dublin where he was a Teaching Fellow. He obtained his DPhil in Politics from Oxford University and has since held positions at the University of Louvain, Stanford University and the Asian University for Women. At Edinburgh, Kieran plays an active role in both the Just World Institute and the Political Theory Research Group. He has written articles for public forum websites such as OpenDemocracy and the Just World Institute. These articles seek to apply ideas from political philosophy to contemporary public affairs.
Dr Ray will be drawing on her recent experiences as Web Curatorial Officer for The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700-1200. All are welcome, but please RSVP to julia.walworth@merton.ox.ac.uk
This project examines the production and reception of the early issues (1665-1700) of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London by studying the movement of visual material produced for the journal. The research approaches the complicated printing history of the Philosophical Transactions by examining the placement of the plates within copies of the journal to better understand how readers (and binders) created relationships between text and image. Admission to the Weston Library is only by University card or Bodleian Reader’s ticket* via the Readers’ Entrance on Parks Road Please check bags in the Reader lockers provided (£1 coin returnable) Food and drink are not allowed through the entrance barriers (*NB: If you don’t hold a University card or Bodleian Reader’s ticket, you must confirm attendance by emailing at least 48 hours in advance: bookcentre@bodleian.ox.ac.uk, using subject line “Bodleian Fellows Seminar”)
For postgraduate students, how do you spot unintentional plagiarism in your work? Submit a piece of your own into Turnitin! This one-hour session is aimed at postgraduate students and provides support in learning how to avoid unintentional plagiarism. You will have a chance to put a piece of your own writing through Turnitin and interpret the results. (Note that specialist discipline-specific guidance is not provided)
The OUCAGS Forum is a space for sharing research findings, ideas and know-how. It is organised by the Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School (www.oucags.ox.ac.uk). It currently consists of half-day events, usually with a lunchtime seminar and short presentations from a range of clinical academic trainees and DPhil students from different specialties. (February 2018 seminar and presentations tba.) The Forum is an excellent networking opportunity, as well as a chance to find out about current research which is ongoing around Oxford.
Jenner Institute: "Therapeutic Vaccines", Prof Adrian Hill -- Silver Star: "Baby, you take my breath away: A presentation on breathlessness in pregnancy", Dr Samantha Chessell, Dr Lauren Green and Dr Charlotte Frise -- Chair: Prof Hugh Watkins
William is an academic neonatologist, who graduated with first class Honours in Cambridge. He has a globally recognised record of translational research via international multicentre RCTs and cohort studies in >30,000 patients and >200 neonatal units worldwide. Having trained in neonatal medicine in the UK, he moved to Sydney in 1999 as inaugural Chair of Neonatology at Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney and Director of Neonatology. He has been a strong advocate of large multicentre neonatal and perinatal studies to answer key clinical questions and has conducted multiple landmark collaborative studies such as the International Neonatal Immunotherapy Trial, the ECSURF Study, the UK Neonatal Staffing Study, INIS, BOOST II Australia, the Australian Placental Transfusion Study (APTS) of delayed cord clamping and the NeOProM Collaboration of oxygen saturation. Each has contributed to evidence that is likely to save millions of lives in coming years. This raises a new challenge: “In the next decade, can parents, patients, professionals, researchers, policymakers, providers, funders and the public collaborate to embed international trials in routine care that are ten times larger and faster, at one tenth the cost?”
This 2-hour session is designed to equip history graduates with key information skills in order to make best use of electronic information and discovery resources. A range of databases, e-journals and web portals will be explored as well as advanced features in SOLO and tools for literature searches. Time for hands on practice will be included. PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP FULLY CHARGED UP. Allow enough time to get yourself set up and on WiFi. Second year undergraduates are also welcome to join the session.
This visit to one of the world’s leading social history museums will provide an opportunity to experience how sites must balance curatorial and commercial imperatives with the need to ensure a memorable visitor experience.
TBC
Abstract: More educated individuals are more likely to migrate to another region. There is a wide range of explanations for this stylised fact, most of which centre around differences in expected gains from migration. This paper demonstrates that, alongside differences in expected gains, the ease of finding a job in another region matters too. I establish a new stylised fact that shows that not only do the less educated move less, they are also significantly more likely to migrate speculatively, without a job lined up. In order to analyse whether these two stylised facts are related, I use data from a US panel to estimate a discrete choice model in which workers choose jointly their optimal location and employment. I also let worker’s job offer probability vary with the recruitment practices in their industry and occupation. The results show that individuals prefer to migrate into employment, which is why the relative lack of job offers from other regions for the less educated translates into their lower overall mobility. To evaluate the size of these cross-regional job search frictions, as well as to quantify their importance relative to the existing explanations, I develop a structural model of frictional job search across regions. The estimates of this model show that around a half of the migration propensity gap between the more and the less educated can be attributed to the differences in cross-regional opportunities. They also show that while search across regions is difficult for all unemployed alike, it is the ease of finding distant job offers when employed that generates most of the migration differences.
Matthew Neufeld, The Civil Wars after 1660: Public Remembering in Late Stuart England (2013), introduction; David Appleby, ‘The Restoration county community: a post-conflict culture’, in J. Eales, A. Hopper eds, The County Community in Seventeenth-Century England and Wales (2012), 100-24.
Smart water’ (data capture, transmission and analysis in real time) is changing the way the water cycle is managed. How may this in turn change the management of water utilities? About the speaker Dr David Lloyd Owen runs Envisager, a strategic consultancy advising governments, multilateral institutions, financiers and companies on water and wastewater market, policy, regulatory, environmental and management drivers. He has followed the water sector since 1989, originally as an equity analyst at BNP Paribas and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Pictet Water Fund. He read Environmental Biology at Liverpool, with a DPhil in Applied Ecology at Oxford and is a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators. David has written nine books on water finance, and management including ‘Smart water technologies and techniques: Data capture and analysis for sustainable water management’ (John Wiley, 2018), ‘The Sound of Thirst: Why urban water for all is essential, achievable and affordable’ (2012) and 14 editions of the Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook (1999-2012) along with InDepth, for Arup in 2016 and is a columnist for Global Water Intelligence.
Ana Maria Mauad is a Full Professor at the Fluminense Federal University, where she is also a researcher at the Laboratory of Oral History and Image (LABHOI) and serves as the coordinator of the History Graduate Program (since 2013). She has been a senior research fellow at the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) since 1996, a “Fellow Researcher of the State of Rio de Janeiro” since 2013 and Celso Furtado Visiting Fellow at St. John’s College, Cambridge University for the year 2018. She has coordinated several collective projects with the participation of professors and researchers from different universities from Brazil and abroad, and has directed numerous doctoral dissertations, master’s thesis, and undergraduate research projects. The author of dozens of articles and essays, as well as the autor/editor of several books, Mauad’s current research work focuses on the concept of public photography. Recent publications: “Que História Pública Queremos?/ What Public History Do We Want?” (with Ricardo Santhiago and Viviane Borges) (Letra & Voz, 2018); “Fotograficamente Rio: a cidade e seus temas” (FAPERJ/LABHOI, 2016); “História Oral e Mídias” (Letra & Voz, 2016); “História Pública no Brasil: Sentidos e Itinerários” (with Ricardo Santhiago and Juniele Rabelo) (Letra & Voz, 2016); “ Fotografia e Historia en America Latina” (with John Mraz) (CdF, 2015)
The climate regime has been gradually moving toward a facilitative logic, welcoming the engagement of a multiplicity of nonstate and substate actors – cities and regional governments, businesses and civil society organizations, and others. While steps toward low-carbon, climate resilient, and sustainable transformations are still falling short, this shift presents enormous potential. And while the challenges are vast and stubborn, they are neither determinate nor insurmountable. But if effectiveness is possible, where and how should it be pursued? How should it be conceived? Much depends on acknowledging the transnational initiatives from the ground up, and understanding needs, challenges of a diverse range of actors. And yet, canonical approaches to world politics and regulation of global commons are not of much help in navigating transformations. In her book, Political Theory and Global Climate Action, Idil Boran looks beyond the global commons paradigm in search for a research agenda that makes a changing transnational public sphere central to its field of vision. Empirical investigations on what does and does not work in transnational initiatives, and how these findings can support systematic examination of inequities arising from uneven and incomplete transformations, will be the focus of this presentation.
How to use WebLearn to support your teaching, and support your students. WebLearn is a web-based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which provides tools to support teaching and learning, assessment, collaboration, communication and sharing of resources. This course is at a basic level, aimed at users with little or no experience of the system.
Uncertainty – here defined as lacking knowledge about what outcome will follow from what choices – is a pervasive challenge that we face when making decisions. While past research has focused on the role of uncertainty in individual decision-making, where our choices have outcomes only for ourselves, we know much less about how uncertainty shapes social decision-making, where our choices have outcomes not only for ourselves but also for others. Exploring uncertainty’s role in these decisions is important because the social domain is characterised by high levels of interdependence, complexity, and subjectivity – features that make it more difficult to predict how our decisions will affect others. Besides high levels of uncertainty, many social decisions involve trading off personal and social interests that come with high stakes, ranging from others’ physical or mental well-being to the subsistence of social institutions that rely on cooperation. This talk will discuss results from two lines of research which suggest that uncertainty in social decisions leads people to err on the side of caution. In particular, taking a comparative approach, we observe less risk seeking and pronounced indecision in social compared to individual decisions under uncertainty. We also show that uncertainty about the impact of our actions on others’ well-being reduces selfishness, at the benefit of prosociality.
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition: ‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
Joint Seminar with the Dunn School Environmental stresses experienced during development (early-life) exert both short and long-term influences upon health and disease. In most cases, however, the underlying biological response mechanisms remain mysterious. The goal of our research is to understand the molecular nuts and bolts of how early-life environmental stresses alter gene expression, metabolism and physiology. Much of our research uses the powerful genetics of the fruit fly Drosophila, together with analytical techniques such as metabolomics and mass spectrometry imaging. Using this combined approach, we identified molecular mechanisms that protect neural stem cells in the developing CNS from the immediate harmful effects of malnutrition and hypoxia. For example, we found that hypoxia induces lipid droplets in the local microenvironment (niche) of the neural stem cells. Droplets function to protect neural stem cells from lipid peroxidation damage, likely by sequestering potentially vulnerable polyunsaturated fatty acids in their core. We have also begun investigating the longer-term impact of early-life stresses upon longevity. Recent work shows that developmental exposure to mild oxidative or nutritional stress can, in some cases, extend rather than shorten lifespan. I will discuss the surprising mechanisms that account for stress-induced longevity and the degree to which they may be conserved between flies and mammals.
Please sign up for meetings using the below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyNu-tHHJ15Se57I0BMvTVqYV0-Yxx6WShyLXVviqlg/edit#gid=0
https://www.facebook.com/events/2195662390705260/
The Palestinian History Tapestry illustrates the history of the Land of Palestine, from the Neolithic era to the present. It has been made by Palestinian women within and outside Palestine, many of them in refugee camps across the Middle East . The Palestinian History Tapestry is an expression of 'sumud’ (steadfastness) and solidarity. It draws attention to the history and heritage of the Palestinian people and their land, and to their internationally confirmed right to return to the homes from which they were expelled in 1948. The Tapestry is probably the largest embroidered collection of illustrative work ever produced by Palestinian embroiderers.
This workshop is being offered across the University to parents/carers who have recently returned to work after a career break. The goal is to provide recent returners with the information, tools, support, and networks they need to ensure a successful and smooth return to work. The workshop will be open to all who have recently returned or will be returning to work after taking a break for caring responsibilities, with a particular focus on those returning to work following a period or periods of parental leave, paternity leave, maternity or adoption leave” Over the half-day workshop, you will: * Learn about relevant HR policies and practices, and have your questions answered by an HR team member and the Head of Childcare Services; * Get an overview of the core skills needed to communicate with confidence and practise some of those skills in a supportive environment; * Hear from a panel of returning carers (academics, researchers, and professional and support staff) who will share their tips on time management and balancing home and work demands; * Network and meet other recent returners from around the University over lunch; * Tea/coffee and lunch will be provided.
Health care is a carbon-intensive industry; in the UK, it is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the public sector and has a carbon footprint larger than that of some medium-sized European countries The single largest component of the carbon footprint of mental health care is pharmaceuticals, followed by medical equipment and clinically related travel. Psychiatrists need to engage in designing and implementing less carbon-intensive care pathways. The Lancet Commission and WHO have both stated that climate change is the largest threat to human health in the 21st century. This threat extends to mental illness, with increasing evidence that unstable weather patterns—a direct consequence of climate change—can have harmful effects on mental health. Limiting the environmental effects of mental health care are crucial to the sustainability of mental health care, both in the UK and worldwide.
Coming soon
The Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics (Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach/MFO) was founded in late 1944 by the Freiburg mathematician Wilhelm Süss (1895-1958) as the „National Institute for Mathematics“. In the 1950s and 1960s the MFO developed into an increasingly international conference centre. The aim of my project is to analyse the history of the MFO as it institutionally changed from the National Institute for Mathematics with a wide, but standard range of responsibilities, to an international social infrastructure for research completely new in the framework of German academia. The project focusses on the evolvement of the institutional identity of the MFO between 1944 and the early 1960s, namely the development and importance of the MFO’s scientific programme (workshops, team work, Bourbaki) and the instruments of research employed (library, workshops) as well as the corresponding strategies to safeguard the MFO’s existence (for instance under the wings of the Max-Planck-Society). In particular, three aspects are key to the project, namely the analyses of the historical processes of (1) the development and shaping of the MFO’s workshop activities, (2) the (complex) institutional safeguarding of the MFO, and (3) the role the MFO played for the re-internationalisation of mathematics in Germany. Thus the project opens a window on topics of more general relevance in the history of science such as the complexity of science funding and the re-internationalisation of the sciences in the early years of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Coming soon
Dani Linton has coordinated box checks looking for bat roosts rather than bird nests across Wytham Woods for over a decade, amassing a dataset of over 2500 day roosts, containing seven species and c.18,000 bat occupations. This talk will provide an introduction to her research on the social organisation, breeding ecology, and population dynamics, of woodland bats. Please see http://www.anhso.org.uk for more information about the Society.
Crossing Boundaries showcases the breadth and forms of multidisciplinary research employed to strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Keynote speakers will introduce participants to a range of key methodologies and issues from across the spectrum of health systems research. The event is an ideal opportunity to learn about health systems research, network, find collaboration opportunities, and showcase your work by submitting an abstract. Abstract submissions for rapid oral/poster presentations are invited from early career researchers and DPhil students. Those with accepted abstracts will present two slides to the plenary audience and present their poster at a special poster session. Submissions must include your name, department/school/group, telephone number, and a 250 word structured abstract, including background, methods, results, and conclusion. To submit, email abstracts to: crossingboundaries@ndm.ox.ac.uk (subject heading 'Crossing Boundaries 2018 - Abstract). Submissions must be received by 30 October 2018. Registration is open to general conference delegates. Registration will close at 12pm on 30 November. Early registration is advised; first come, first served.
TBA
Another indispensable EQUATOR workshop for early career biomedical and clinical researchers led by NDORMS Communications Manager Jo Silva Extend the life and reach of your article after publication by working with your communications team and engaging with potential readers through social media. Jo is responsible for communications at NDORMS and raises awareness about the incredible research done at the department and how the work of our researchers is shaping healthcare and changing lives. She is also responsible for internal communications, the Department's websites, media relations, social media and branding. She provides communications support to the musculoskeletal theme of the Oxford Biomedical Research Unit and works closely with the University's Press Office and communications colleagues within the Medical Sciences Division. This free workshop is open to University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes staff and students, but we do request that you book a spot. For notification of booking opening and announcement of other EQUATOR courses in Oxford, please join our mailing list by sending a blank email to equator-oxford-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk or email Caroline Struthers (caroline.struthers@csm.ox.ac.uk).
Prime numbers have intrigued, inspired and infuriated mathematicians for millennia. Dr Vicky Neale (University of Oxford) explores the very different ways in which prime number breakthroughs are made.
Combined Medical-Surgical Grand Round Renal Chair: TBA
Amanda Jewell will take you on a tour of our exhibition: ‘Contrasting Arabia' A contemporary photographic and film journey through the Zaatari Refugee Camp photographed by Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane - filmed by Mais Salman and Zaid Baqaeen in contrast with the mid 20th century photographs of Wilfred Thesiger"
This is for anyone who is considering having or being a public co-applicant in a funding application for health research. There will be talks, followed by discussions based on the draft NIHR Guidance on public co-applicants and our questions will be used to further develop that document.
Coming soon
Coming soon
This workshop will mark the culmination of the Wellcome Trust funded Oxford New Parents project, which investigated the impact of austerity on the caring practices and everyday lives of first-time parents in the city of Oxford. The workshop will start with a brief presentation from the project team sharing their findings, and then will feature two interactive panels, debating wider issues of austerity, care and everyday life in the city.
Dr. Scholz is a Neurologist and Neurogeneticist specialized in movement disorders. She received her medical degree from the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. Following graduation, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Neurogenetics (NIA) under the supervision of Drs. Andrew Singleton and John Hardy. She obtained a Ph.D. in Neurogenomics from the University College London, UK in 2010. She then moved to Baltimore to complete her neurology residency training at Johns Hopkins. In 2015, Dr. Scholz received the McFarland Transition to Independence Award for Neurologist-Scientists. She is an Assistant Clinical Investigator within the Neurogenetics Branch (NINDS). Her laboratory focuses on identifying genetic causes of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy, and frontotemporal dementia.
As a new international academic society, ISBS seeks to develop the study of Bhutanese culture, life and nature. The society will endeavour to encourage, inspire and motivate interest in lesser known aspects of Bhutanese society, as well as to promote and strengthen areas of existing scholarship. The conference will feature papers on a range of topics from linguistics to history to natural science to Buddhism to economics and business. As the ISBS seeks to support Bhutanese scholars, both junior and established, this conference will feature their voices alongside international scholars.
Another indispensable EQUATOR workshop for early career biomedical and clinical researchers led by Dr Jen de Beyer Create the perfect professional biography for your website, then convert it into a short conference bio. Jen de Beyer is CSM’s science writing, dissemination, and publication specialist. She’s here to help your research reach its full potential through clear, complete writing that targets the right audience. She develops resources on how to write fantastic health research articles and teaches science writing skills through the UK EQUATOR Centre. This free workshop is open to University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes staff and students, but we do request that you book a spot. For notification of booking opening and announcement of other EQUATOR courses in Oxford, please join our mailing list by sending a blank email to equator-oxford-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk or email Caroline Struthers (caroline.struthers@csm.ox.ac.uk).
Cardiology: -- Acute General Medicine Firm B: -- Chair: TBA
AICU: -- Oncology: -- Chair: TBA
Coeliac disease is a common immune condition where susceptible individuals develop inflammation of the gut in response to gluten, a protein in wheat. Whilst genetics play an important role in the development of coeliac disease, there is evidence that an environmental trigger is required for coeliac disease to develop. Circumstantial evidence has suggested that viral infections in childhood could be that trigger, but definitive proof remains elusive. A recent study has suggested that reovirus, a virus affecting the gut that generally causes no symptoms, can trigger a condition like coeliac disease in mice under experimental conditions, however it remains unclear if this infection is associated with coeliac disease in humans. The discovery of infections that can trigger coeliac disease could have a profound impact on the prevention of the development of coeliac disease, as well as on the prevention of diseases associated with it, such as Type 1 Diabetes. We will test the association between reovirus, along with a number of other viral infections that affect the gut, and the development of coeliac disease by using stored samples from a recent study of diagnostic methods of coeliac disease in children. This large, well-described, cohort of children with and without coeliac disease provides an ideal group in which to test for an association between viral infection and coeliac disease. We will perform tests to measure antibody responses to these viruses in children with and without coeliac disease.
Coeliac disease is a common immune condition where susceptible individuals develop inflammation of the gut in response to gluten, a protein in wheat. Whilst genetics play an important role in the development of coeliac disease, there is evidence that an environmental trigger is required for coeliac disease to develop. Circumstantial evidence has suggested that viral infections in childhood could be that trigger, but definitive proof remains elusive. A recent study has suggested that reovirus, a virus affecting the gut that generally causes no symptoms, can trigger a condition like coeliac disease in mice under experimental conditions, however it remains unclear if this infection is associated with coeliac disease in humans. The discovery of infections that can trigger coeliac disease could have a profound impact on the prevention of the development of coeliac disease, as well as on the prevention of diseases associated with it, such as Type 1 Diabetes. We will test the association between reovirus, along with a number of other viral infections that affect the gut, and the development of coeliac disease by using stored samples from a recent study of diagnostic methods of coeliac disease in children. This large, well-described, cohort of children with and without coeliac disease provides an ideal group in which to test for an association between viral infection and coeliac disease. We will perform tests to measure antibody responses to these viruses in children with and without coeliac disease.
Horton Hospital: -- Rheumatology: Dr Lorraine O’Neill -- Chair: TBA
A Drinks Reception will follow this lecture at 6pm in the North School All are welcome to attend
Day 1 of the course meets the requirements for the HEE TV Train the Trainer (Educational Supervisor) certification for consultants. Once you have completed this day, you will have the opportunity to go on to compile a portfolio, which with successful grading by OLI, will qualify you for the "fast-track" membership of the Academy of Medical Educators and gain the SEDA PDF Supporting Learning (accredited university/higher education level teaching award).
Geratology: -- GU Medicine: Dr Emily Lord and Dr Huda Fadzillah -- Chair: TBA
Infection/Microbiology: -- Renal: -- Chair: TBA
Respiratory: -- Gastroenterology: Dr Anthony Croft and Dr Satish Keshav -- Chair: TBA
Palliative Care: -- Neurology: Dr Michele Hu -- Chair: TBA
Emergency Medicine: -- Clinical Biochemistry: -- Chair: TBA
Combined Medical-Surgical Grand Round Chair: TBA
Wildlife is threatened by challenges that are global in scale. These challenges are influenced by geopolitical relationships between countries, and their multiple, sometimes conflicting but often overlapping interests. Understanding and addressing the role of geopolitics in wildlife conservation requires diverse forms of expertise. The objective of this ground-breaking conference is to spark a scholarly and practically-minded conversation around Conservation Geopolitics – how it shapes global trends that threaten wildlife, and how it might work as a site of intervention for conservation futures. The forum will assemble leading figures from multiple disciplines, alongside conservation practitioners and policymakers, early career researchers and civil society groups. Through an innovative mix of plenary sessions, specialist paper sessions, workshops, agenda-setting processes and forum sessions, it will develop a conversation that transcends disciplinary boundaries.
The Creative Power of Metaphor https://www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk/about/events/creative-power-metaphor #creativemetaphor 29th – 30th March 2019 at Worcester College, Oxford, UK Join us for a 2-day conference on the nexus between Metaphor, Linguistic Diversity, and Creativity. The conference will be structured around four themes. Each theme will be introduced in a keynote lecture, and developed in a plenary round-table discussion featuring selected panelists (see Call for Panel Participation below). Panelists will address general questions (see Research Questions below) as well as questions raised by the audience. Moreover, two extensive Poster sessions will be dedicated to present specific studies related to the four themes (see Call for Poster Presentations). The output of the conference will consist of a series of edited videoclips featuring the debates, which will be broadcasted on the Creative Multilingualism website and disseminated on relevant video channels and social media. For queries and clarifications please contact the organisers. Themes: 1. Metaphor and Linguistic Diversity Keynote speaker: Lera Boroditsky 2. Metaphor and Emotion Keynote speaker: Zoltán Kövecses 3. Metaphor and Communication Keynote speaker: Gerard Steen 4. Metaphor and Creativity Keynote speaker: Rachel Giora Call for Panel Participation (plenary discussion, 4 panelists per panel) Each panel is a round-table discussion designed to explore issues related to the theme opened by the preceding keynote lecture, elucidating current thinking on areas relevant to the theme, and debating matters of controversy. We invite expressions of interest in participation. Your submission should include the following: • The panel in which you wish to participate • Your name, affiliation and, if relevant, the URL for your web profile • What you consider to be the most burning questions concerning the theme (max. 150 words) • Your relevant expertise and research (max. 150 words) • Your main relevant publications. Call for Poster Presentations We invite abstracts (max. 300 words) for poster presentations that are relevant to one or more of the four themes of the conference. Your abstract should include the following: • The theme or themes of the conference your poster will address • Your name, affiliation and, if relevant, the URL for your web profile • Your relevant research • Your research methods • Your findings and/or theoretical advances. Submissions We welcome submissions from early career researchers to the panels and posters. Please send submissions as email attachments to the following address: creativemetaphor2019@gmail.com DEADLINE: 31ST OCTOBER 2018. Registration Conference fee: £90 Reduced fee for students: £50 Registration will open in early November. The Organisers Professor Katrin Kohl Dr Marianna Bolognesi Dr Ana Werkmann Horvat The conference is part of the multi-institutional research programme Creative Multilingualism (www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Our research group is a large cross-disciplinary team of academics working on the nexus between linguistic diversity and creativity. The conference is being organised by Strand 1 of Creative Multilingualism: Embodying Ideas – the Creative Power of Metaphor: https://www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk/research/metaphor. The event is also endorsed by RaAM, the international Network for Researching and Applying Metaphor. We look forward to welcoming you in Oxford! THEMES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS Research questions on the four themes include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Metaphor and Linguistic Diversity • What is the significance of linguistic diversity for metaphor theory? • How does linguistic diversity in metaphorical expression affect and interact with thought? • Is a unified metaphor theory that can account for the variability in linguistic data possible? • How are cultural differences actualized in metaphorical expressions? • Do truly universal metaphors exist? 2. Metaphor and Emotion • What is the connection between metaphor and emotion? Is it systematic across languages? • Are emotions more likely to be expressed using figurative language? • Is there a correlation between expression of emotion and creative use of metaphor? If so, is this universal or culturally specific? • To what extent are metaphors that are used to express emotions universal? Is there a systematic difference by comparison with other areas of expression? • How does multilingual competence relate to the interaction between metaphor and emotion? Does the expression of emotions using figurative language differ depending on whether the speaker is using a native language or a non-native language? 3. Metaphor and Communication • Is the use of metaphors favoured as a persuasive communicative device across languages or are there languages/cultures/cultural contexts in which metaphors are avoided for such a purpose? To what extent are creative and deliberate metaphors used in communication (e.g., in political speech) affected by cross-linguistic and cross-cultural variability? • Does the use of metaphor to change attitudes and opinions correlate with the conventionality/creativity of the chosen metaphors? • How and why does resistance to metaphor develop? • What is the role of figurative language use in multilingual settings and does this differ from such use in monolingual settings? 4. Metaphor and Creativity • Is metaphor an area of language that offers more scope for creativity than other areas of language? Is any correlation universal or culturally specific? • What are the differences in understanding creative vs. non-creative figurative language? • How are creative figurative expressions perceived by speakers and listeners? • What constitutes a good metaphor in terms of creativity? • Are speakers of different languages creative in different ways in metaphor use?
More details to follow
Day 1 of the course meets the requirements for the HEE TV Train the Trainer (Educational Supervisor) certification for consultants. Once you have completed this day, you will have the opportunity to go on to compile a portfolio, which with successful grading by OLI, will qualify you for the "fast-track" membership of the Academy of Medical Educators and gain the SEDA PDF Supporting Learning (accredited university/higher education level teaching award).
Infection/Microbiology: -- Acute General Medicine Firm D: -- Chair: TBA
Clinical Immunology: -- Dermatology: -- Chair: TBA
Oncology: -- Gastroenterology: Dr Tom Thomas, Dr Holm Uhlig and Dr Simon Travis -- Chair: TBA
Clinical Genetics: -- Clinical Ethics: -- Chair: TBA
Renal: -- Respiratory: Dr Rachel Hoyles -- Chair: TBA
Haematology: -- Psychological Medicine: -- Chair: TBA
Radiology: -- Cardiology: -- Chair: TBA
Medical Director's Office: -- Stroke Medicine: -- Chair: TBA
Neurology: Prof David Beeson -- Acute General Medicine Firm C: -- Chair: TBA
Combined Medical-Surgical Grand Round OCDEM Chair: TBA
Celebrating 25 years of ECM. SoGE and Somerville College, Oxford. Booking will open in July 2019.
Our departmental programme, including our annual Herbertson Lunch. Speakers TBC. Booking will open in late June 2019.
Celebrating 50 years since matriculation. Booking will open in May 2019.
