Meeting Minds goes global - and digital

Whilst it is disappointing we can't invite alumni to join us in Oxford this year, we are thrilled to bring Meeting Minds to the world virtually in 2020, and all for FREE! Our usual alumni weekend has grown into an alumni week, as going digital allows us to bring you an engaging programme of events from 7-12 September 2020. Each day of Meeting Minds Global will bring you a wide range of content from all around the University including panel discussions, Q&As, virtual tours, musical performances and much more! You only need to register once to access all content throughout the week and you can find full registration details at the bottom of this email. Most importantly you will need your Oxford Number to register. REGISTER HERE World-class speakers and topical themes Meeting Minds Global will offer the usual line-up of expert and engaging academic and alumni speakers. Our line-up so far includes: Professor Sir John Bell giving an insight into Oxford’s Covid-19 research Professor Bernie Hogan discussing how to manage your social media presence A panel of distinguished alumni celebrating the 100th anniversary of the PPE degree Dr Lena Fritsch taking you behind the scenes of her exhibition at the Ashmolean An audience with the Vice-Chancellor who will be taking your questions And as always, we will hear from our venerable Chancellor who, with the help of distinguished guests, will examine the role of Britain’s soft power.

Join Vice-Chancellor Louise Richardson in conversation with Professor Richard Cornall

Join us this Friday 22 May, 1-2pm (BST), for a webinar featuring Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Louise Richardson and the Head of the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Professor Richard Cornall, to talk about the University's research into the COVID-19 virus. Professor Cornall will discuss Oxford’s contribution to the management of this crisis through the work of our researchers, particularly the pioneering work on a potential vaccine, developing therapeutics to treat the disease. Join the webinar

Thursday 21 May (11.45am-12.15pm BST)

Join our weekly online talks from several of the University's leading academics. You can hear short presentations on their work, and have a chance to ask questions.

JOIN

Sunday Stargazing with Chris Lintott We don't want people to stop learning... and so we've created Meeting Minds Online. Our Meeting Minds events bring together alumni from all over the world and we want to continue that with a selection of curated online webinars to keep you and your families learning through this time.   Reach for the stars - from your living room! Join Chris Lintott, Professor of Astrophysics and lead of the Zooniverse.org project at Oxford’s Department of Physics, for a live ramble around the night sky. No telescope will be necessary, just head into the garden, onto the balcony, or look out of the window to follow along. The session will include plenty of time for Q&A, so come equipped with space-related questions. Date: Sunday 26 April Time: 8.30-9.30pm BST   Find out how to join

“What are prisons for?  Recent events in England reviewed”.  Professor Padfield will discuss the UK Government’s current plans in the light of recent events, exploring the purposes of sentencing and of the prison system.

Professor Nicola (Nicky) Padfield was the Master of Fitzwilliam College 2013-19, and remains Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice in the Law Faculty.  She is an Hon QC, and actively involved in the life of the Middle Temple, where she is a Bencher.  She has taught in Cambridge since 1991 and is an Honorary and Life Fellow of her College.  Her research focuses on sentencing and its implications: particularly parole and recall. She has also been involved in Learning Together, the prison education programme which suffered the tragic murder late last year of two alumni of the Institute of Criminology, one a member of staff at the time of his death.

LE ZIMMER
1 Place du Châtelet
75001 Paris

After the war of 1870, some wealthy families from Alsace wanted to remain French Citizens. To do so, they moved to Paris and founded brasseries. The Zimmers were amongst them, and their restaurant remains as one of the finest Belle Epoque restaurants in Paris, recently decorated by Jacques Garcia. Formerly the stamping ground of Sarah Bernhardt, Richard Strauss, Emile Zola, Picasso, and Toulouse Lautrec, Le Zimmer remains a symbol of Le Belle Epoque.
 

Aperitifs will be served from 7pm and we will sit down to dinner at 7:45pm

Ticket Application Tickets are €55 per person for members of the Cambridge Society of Paris and the Oxford University Society in Paris and their guests. A discounted price of €35 per person is offered to members and guests under 30. To apply for tickets for the Dinner, please go to the CamSoc website and make your booking.

Title: Nature-balanced Society
Date: 17th March 2020 7pm to 9.30pm
Location: The British Council, 9 Rue de Constantine, Paris
Registration link: https://www.billetweb.fr/environmental-conference-series-a-nature-balanced-society

Summary: Reports by the UN, scientists across the world and other sources, show there needs to be some major shifts in our society to restore the natural balance. Becoming carbon neutral and regenerating our eco-systems is only part of the equation; a mind-set is needed to cultivate long-termism. This evening draws together speakers from different backgrounds who will provide some windows into the society level actions taking place. They will discuss the situation with the audience.

A chance to mingle and discuss afterwards with drinks and snacks will be provided.

A daring reworking of Shakespeare’s magisterial tragedy focuses on a family of women dealing with the mental and moral disintegration of the head of the household. produced by Cygnet Theatre, Paris

Dates: 11, 12, 18, 19 March 2020

Venue: Théâtre de Verre, 12 Rue Henri Ribière, 75019 Paris

Early onset Alzheimer’s provides the context for Cygnet Theatre’s radical approach to its latest production of Lear. This adaptation takes William Shakespeare’s great tragedy King Lear - the story of a royal family on the brink of self-annihilation, and turns it on its head by recasting the elderly, domineering monarch as the matriarch of a powerful, noble family. 

Director and Cygnet Theatre company member, Joshua Stretton is responsible for crafting this thoughtful departure from the classic presentation of this immense play, which deals with power struggles, the redistribution of wealth, psychological manipulation, emotional abuse, family discord and mental deterioration. He explains what motivated him to take on such a well-known play. “Age is at the heart of Lear. We all know we shall grow old; many of us hope to get there and, on the way, make peace with our ultimate end.

We are reimagining this moment occurring in the body of a younger woman  faced with the dramatic acceleration of her end. Early onset Alzheimer’s can take hold in people as young as 30, with many symptoms emerging before the sufferer notices something is wrong. Our Lear faces a conscious end, with the years of her life stretching before her. The decision must be taken about what to do about the time that is left.”

The cast will be stripped-back to include eight performers with one actor performing the key roles of Cordelia and The Fool. Major characters and plot lines have been sacrificed, all in service to the themes at the heart of the story – family and loyalty. Stretton has been heavily influenced by the style of epic theatre, a technique associated with celebrated theatre practitioners Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht. “I intend to use epic theatre aesthetics to retain the structure and style of Shakespearean theatre, while allowing the actors to investigate the inner workings of their characters and present the complex play of emotions hidden in each scene,” says Stretton.

The production will be performed at the edgy Théâtre de Verre, a venue popular amongst the artistic community, in the up-and-coming neighbourhood of Place des Fêtes in the 19^tharrondisement, which offers affordable rehearsal and performance space, a rarity in Paris.

Cygnet Theatre was founded in 2019 by a group of enterprising international creatives who are dedicated to producing the highest quality classical theatre – in English– in Paris. Thanks to their successful summer productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing they have established themselves as the unofficial artists-in-residence at the Jardins des Arènes de Montmartre, an outdoor amphitheatre which lies just beneath the Basilica of Sacré Cœur. 

Lear is the company’s first winter production and the first to be performed in a traditional theatre setting. However, this is not theatre aimed exclusively at the Anglophone community. Cygnet Theatre work is also intended to appeal to the French community. Although Lear will be presented in the original English, projected French surtitles will make the piece as accessible as possible.  

Please contact www.cygnettheatreparis.com for tickets

_Lear poster.pdf

The 12th century temples of Angkor are the biggest religious monument in the world, a recreation of Hindu cosmos, covered in exquisite carvings. It highlights the brilliance of Khmer architects and bas-reliefs of the Hindu epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The lecture concludes with contemporary Cambodia and the living arts, especially classical dance wit performers re-enacting sacred dances in front of the temples.

Additional details sent via email.

This event will be held at Theatre du Ranelagh (5 rue des Vignes, 75016 Paris)

PADFAS memebers free, non-PADFAS members €15, payable at the event, no registration required

Reserve now for our UK Universities inter-alumni Christmas drinks on 11 December! 

Following our very successful Christmas party last year, the UK Alumni Network is again organizing festive drinks and finger-food at the British Council, (near Les Invalides, 9 rue de Constantine,75007 Paris), on Wednesday 11th December 2019 from 6:30 to 10pm.h

This year, we are asking our members for a five euros fee to help with the catering expenses.

To encourage you all to get into the Christmas spirit, the prize-winner in this year’s competition will be the person who looks the most Christmassy, and, like last year, we’ll wrap up the evening with a Christmas carol sing-along! 

Spaces are limited, so tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis. 

When you are reserving, you must mention First name, Last name & University. Please also note that this event is exclusively reserved for alumni of the UK Universities alumni community.

We look forward to seeing you there! 

The inter-alumni coordinator team

The registration link to the event can be found on Billetweb (event coordination platform): https://www.billetweb.fr/uk-alumni-christmas-party-2019.

Please also note that the ticket sale has been programmed to come online on Monday 11 November at 9am (one month before the event) and will close a few days before 11 Dec.