Events

University or College events, which are open to everyone, are listed here.

If you're thinking about applying for an undergraduate degree at Oxford, please also see the information on open days, events and visiting for potential undergraduates.

Online and part-time courses at the University, as well as weekly classes, are offered at the Department for Continuing Education. Please see the course listing for more information.

Image depicting the high risk of business decision making and risk analysis with an individual looking at computer generated graphics of risk charts

Risk, security and democracy: A public conversation

Wednesday 7 June

Criss-crossing the disparate realms of healthcare and global finance, war and national security, climate and personal safety, the language and logic of risk have become pervasive in the 21st century. This public conversation invites the panel of speakers to consider the relationship between democratic governance and risk as a form of social and political rationality. Examining attempts to manage risk in the contexts of healthcare, national security, science and technology, finance, and human sustainability, each speaker will ask: What challenges does the 'risk society' present to democratic governance? How might shared risks be truly mitigated, rather than offloaded to those with less structural advantage? And what might a democratic theory of risk management look like?

Underwater seascape, sunlight through water surface with coral reef on the ocean floor

Bridging the divide between our oceans and society: Why should we care?

Friday 9 June

The oceans are a mystery, as foreign to us as outer space but crucially intertwined with all life on Earth, playing a pivotal role in climate regulation and food production. Yet there has long been a divide between humans and the world beneath the sea surface — a chasm that is not merely physical but emotional and psychological as well. This perceived distance between our existence and the oceans has made urgent policy decisions such as the protection of ocean ecosystems and the regulation of fishing practices less attainable. How can the scientific community, policymakers and media professionals committed to exploring and understanding the importance of our oceans, help bridge that gap in perception? To make the ocean deep as tangible as our gardens and forests?

Picture of Charles Darwin from Meyers Lexicon books

The Evolution of Darwin and the Great Debate

Friday 30 June

In 1859, Darwin published On the Origin of Species, introducing the world to the Theory of Evolution. A few months later, a contentious public debate was hosted at Oxford University Museum of Natural History to discuss Darwin's revolutionary ideas. Newspapers reported the event to be as sensational as anticipated, with onlookers shouting and even fainting. Biologist Thomas Huxley championed Darwin, and flamboyantly demolished the anti-evolutionary opinions of Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. Meanwhile, Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, sat clutching his bible, regretting allowing Darwin to join him on the five-year voyage that spurred his theories. Join historian Diana Preston, in the very same venue, as she whisks us back to reflect on the 'Great Debate'.