Hermann Bondi was a promoter of the open mind, free debate and solutions based on facts. He welcomed a challenge. So should we. In this stimulating talk, Sir John Boyd examines the rise of Asia and our understanding, sense of history, objectivity and policy balance in responding to this challenge. He considers how we can help the next generation embrace the skills needed to deal with a radically changed world and the role universities should play. Sir John Boyd was the master of Churchill Colleg...
Nov 06, 2013•40 min
Nationalism has been one of the most dynamic yet dangerous ideologies in modern history. Politicians encourage us to think that national frontiers are firm and unchanging, central to our identity. But in this session, members of the History Faculty reflect on the porous nature of borders. With Professors David Reynolds, Chris Clark and Dr Joya Chatterjee. THE BALKANS AND THE LEGACIES OF 1914 Prof. Chris Clark (St Catharine's) Professor of Modern European History Until recently, a bronze plaque i...
Nov 06, 2013•1 hr 24 min
The Government's welfare reforms are starting to bite, but are they radical enough, given projected demographic changes, or do we need a complete rethink of our social values? With Rory Meakin, Professor Simon Szreter, Bill Davies, Jeff Miley and chaired by Gaby Hinsliff. Rory Meakin is Head of Tax Policy at the TaxPayers' Alliance. He has contributed to projects on a variety of subjects from local government spending to an influential paper on simplifying taxes on income called Abolish National...
Nov 06, 2013•1 hr 7 min
Times have never been better for single women. Then why is it still so hard? Four women, experts on relationships and sex, share their insight and suggestions. The s word- spinster - has been virtually outlawed, and ladies of all ages are encouraged to seek out the sex and relationships that suit them online or in person. Being single is all about being free, having fun, doing things your way or the highway...or is it? This event brings together four experts on relationships and sex to discuss t...
Nov 01, 2013•55 min
Today's bookshops are helpfully categorised - crime, biography and memoir, fiction - and we rarely venture into unknown territory. Some writers are breaking down the barriers, but are publishers increasingly pushing their writers to write books with the same 'DNA' and will the digital revolution make any difference? Panel discussion with authors MJ Hyland and Trevor Byrne, digital publisher Daniel Franklin and literary agent Rachel Calder.
Nov 01, 2013•52 min
Using specialist techniques, the Language Research Team at Cambridge University Press unpick the patterns of scholarly English as they explore the journey of academic writing: from sixth form students to published professors.
Oct 31, 2013•46 min
Humans are social creatures using communications that are ‘regulated’ by trust, ethics, social systems and law. Our world of interactions and networks is increasingly complex and automated. What happens when events and decisions become too fast for us to perceive, let alone control? Professors Huw Price and Murray Shanahan join Dr Jonathan Cave and Dr Hermann Hauser.
Oct 30, 2013•36 min
How should we allocate positions of power in today’s corporate sector? Aristotle argued that ‘the best flutes should be given to the best flute players’. Such thinking might lead us to reject the EU’s recent draft Directive calling for all listed companies to give at least 40% of their board memberships to women. Certainly, the proposal has been met with fierce opposition from the UK government on the grounds of efficiency as well as justice. Drawing on various perspectives from the field of pol...
Oct 30, 2013•40 min
Is creating a more inclusive society vital for a country's economic development or does economic development need to come first? Speakers include journalist Richard Dowden, Dr Kamal Munir (Judge Business School), Dr Sharath Srinivasan (Department of Politics and International Studies) and Brita Fernandez Schmidt (Women for Women International). Chaired by Dame Barbara Stocking. Four leading experts in the fields of social change, innovation and human rights will discuss this question, debating t...
Oct 30, 2013•1 hr 1 min
Join us for an afternoon of poetry readings and discussion as Gillian Clarke, Imtiaz Dharker, Sean Borodale and Jo Shapcott talk about their recent experience as poets in residence with the Thresholds project in the University of Cambridge Museums and collections. The poets will be in conversation with Professors Isobel Armstrong and Steven Connor. Poets Sean Borodale, Gillian Clarke, Imtiaz Dharker, Jo Shapcott in conversation with: Steve Connor, Grace 2 Professor of English in the University o...
Oct 29, 2013•54 min
Football meets French philosophy. Albert Camus was a goalkeeper. Sartre preferred boxing. After his stint at Paris Saint-Germain, is it possible that David Beckham has become an existentialist? Andy Martin, lecturer in French, explores the links between the ex-captain of England and France’s left-wing thinkers. Writer, teacher, surfer, Andy Martin is currently researching FBI files on French philosophers. He is the author of ‘The Boxer and the Goalkeeper: Sartre vs Camus’, ‘Waiting for Bardot’ a...
Oct 29, 2013•42 min
Professor Ian Roberts will explore how languages shape human culture and human thought. Some languages have shaped our world more than others and some of them are not as obvious as you might think. This talk offers a sample of those languages, from Sanskrit to Singlish, via French and Esperanto, with one or two real surprises along the way.
Oct 29, 2013•40 min
Join Georg FK Höhn who will talk about interactions between attitudes to language and the creation and maintenance of identities in the current age of the nation-state.
Oct 28, 2013•47 min
What can patterns of history and business teach us? Join a discussion with: Dr Victoria Bateman, Lecturer and Fellow in Economics; Alan Turner, Managing Director, Global Head of Debt and Co-Head of Product at Barclays; and Aditya Chakrabortty, Economics leader writer at the Guardian, to explore turbulence in the UK economy across centuries and the balance sheets of more recent times. Sponsored by Barclays
Oct 28, 2013•47 min
Join Dr Miranda Griffin, College Lecturer in medieval French literature, in her fascinating investigation of medieval tales of transformation, exploring the way in which the Middle Ages imagined the frontiers between the human and the animal.
Oct 28, 2013•46 min
ord Byron’s death on 19 April, 1824, ‘in Greece, and for Greece’, created a legend that is still with us. Professor Roderick Beaton traces the real story behind Byron’s mission to help the Greeks in their revolution against Ottoman Turkish rule and shows its effects are still with us. Roderick Beaton is Professor of Modern Greek & Byzantine History and Director at the Centre of Hellenic Studies at King's College, London. He is also Chair of the Academic Committee overseeing the International Byr...
Oct 28, 2013•44 min
Writer and influential political commentator Owen Jones talks about his strong opposition to Government cuts and proposes a fight-back alternative to austerity. Owen Jones is a columnist, author and influential commentator associated with left-wing politics, he appears regularly on Question Time, Newsnight and in newspapers. In this talk, he examines the alleged failings of the current Government's austerity measures and proposes what some might consider a radical alternative. Owen Jones was bor...
Oct 28, 2013•30 min
The problem of violence against women and girls has been prominent in media coverage with many distressing cases coming to light over the last year and more. What steps are being taken through legal processes, by organisations and academia to tackle the issues involved? Speakers include Norah Al-Ani of Cambridge Rape Crisis centre.
Oct 25, 2013•55 min
