At the time of the 2008 global credit crunch, I participated in Oxford's online debate on whether the economic crisis sounded the death knell for laissez faire capitalism. I argued it did, not because I was naive enough to think that laissez faire policies would be abandoned, but because they should be, and until and unless they are, a repeat of the credit crunch and the resultant global recession hangs over us. In this talk I will review the record of the past five years, and consider prospects for the future. Economist Professor Jonathan Michie is Director of the Department for Continuing Education and President of Kellogg College.

Department for Continuing Education Open Day 2013

Britain's economic problems and prospects

This session will look at the history of coalition government in British politics over the past 200 years and discuss some of the constitutional implications of the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat government under David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Professor Angus Hawkins is Director of Public and International Programmes.

Party games: coalition government in British politics

Philosophy deals with the BIG questions of life: does God exist? How should we live? What is truth? What are numbers and do we need them? Does space come to an end or is it infinite? NO SOUND FOR FIRST 3 MINUTES. In this 45 minute slot Marianne Talbot will take participants on a romp through the nature of philosophy for complete beginners. Philosopher Marianne Talbot is our Director of Studies in Philosophy, and is well-known as an author and the creator of two hugely popular Philosophy podcast series.

Philosophy in 45 minutes!

With the recent resurgence in interest in F. Scott Fitzgerald following Baz Luhrmann's imaginative film adaptation of Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby have come the inevitable cliches of the 'lost generation' and the 'American dream'. But who was the writer of The Great Gatsby, and how does his most famous novel resonate with, or even against, his other works? How similar is the novel to its most recent adaptation, and what can this tell us about the iconography surrounding Fitzgerald and his book in comparison with the text itself? In this talk Tara Stubbs will consider The Great Gatsby in light of the rest of Fitzgerald's works - focusing particularly on his novels The Beautiful and Damned (1922) and Tender is the Night (1934) - to shed some light on the ways in which Fitzgerald's motifs and techniques were developed before and beyond his most well-known work. Dr Tara Stubbs is a University Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing.

Fitzgerald beyond Gatsby

Vienna around 1900 witnessed a vital and anxious surge in art, design, literature and music. This creativity also inspired psychological investigations into the inner self and dreams, most famously by Sigmund Freud. The old Imperial city was transformed into a modern metropolis encircled by the cafes and cultural institutions of the new tree-lined Ringstrasse and beyond new elegant suburbs. As the acclaim surrounding Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes and the forthcoming National Gallery exhibition attests, the paintings of Gustav Klimt and the exquisite interiors of the Wiener Werkstätte designers resonate with the delights and dilemmas of our own age. Dr Claire I R O'Mahony is University Lecturer in the History of Art and Course Director for the MSt in the History of Design and the Undergraduate Diploma in the History of Art.

Gustav Klimt and secessionist Vienna

In 1900, pure mathematics had the smug air of a finished product. We thought we knew what it was and we thought we knew how it was done. Then Bertrand Russell came along with an analysis that has the feeling of a childhood paradox, and blew the smugness away, perhaps forever. In this short talk I shall describe the pre-Russell situation, and go through his paradox in a way that you will find accessible. After that, I shall attempt an informal account of what happened next before ending with some of the work of Alan Turing. Dr Bob Lockhart is Director of Studies in Computing and Mathematics and Course Director of our Undergraduate Advanced Diploma in Data and Systems Analysis.

Surprises - for you and for mathematics

In this short lecture we will consider what the internationalisation of higher education means, and the global implications of international mobility - on the students, on their 'receiving' countries and on their places of origin. In 2011 there were 4.3 million students pursuing university education outside of their home country. The majority of international students come from China, India and Korea, and they have a huge and unprecedented impact upon universities, economies and societies around the world. Dr Johanna Waters is a University Lecturer in Geography and the Environment.

International education: the transformative effect of student migration

Imagine a world without music. No music on the radio, no concerts, no musical instruments. No background music in films and television. No music at our weddings, funerals, religious worship or sporting events. Even to conceive of such a world requires an enormous leap of the imagination. Music is all around us, intimately woven into the fabric of our lives and there is no known society on earth that has not developed some form of it. In this talk Jonathan Darnborough will explore some of the properties of music that might hold the key to its power. Jonathan Darnborough is our Director of Studies in Music.

Why music matters in your life

The Oxfordshire floods of 2007, 2008 and 2012 caused enormous disruption to homes, agriculture and local businesses, but what were the consequences for wildlife? This presentation will unravel some of the key environmental impacts of summer flooding, explores the on-going ramifications for local wildlife and highlights the importance of a landscape conservation approach to alleviate potential future impacts of climate change upon wildlife.

Where's all the wildlife? Flooding and the importance of landscape conservation

Some film and tv adaptations of Jane Austen's novels might give the impression that the stories are little more than Mills and Boon-type romances in empire-line frocks. This talk will introduce fictions whose representations of the path to marriage is anything but starry-eyed and rosy-coloured, and an author who is anything but 'dear sweet Aunt Jane'. Dr Sandie Byrne is a University Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing.

What's so great about Austen? Isn't she just bonnets and balls?

Aristotle's 'Poetics' is regarded as the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory. How much notice do Goldman, Godard, Bertolucci or indeed Tarantino pay to his classic tenets of drama? Is a screenplay just a radio play with pictures? How do I make a career as a screenwriter? If they know so much why do authoritative writers on the subject of screenwriting have so few film credits themselves? These and many other questions may or may not be satisfactorily answered in this entertaining session. Victor Glynn is a working film producer and screenwriter who teaches on our Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing.

Too many words? An irreverent guide to screenwriting

The regulation of labour immigration is among the most important and controversial public policy issues in high-income countries. How many migrant workers should be admitted, how should they be selected, and what rights should migrants be given after admission? Who are the winners and losers from opening our borders to more migrant workers from lower-income countries? Drawing on economics and politics, this lectures identifies major trade-offs in international labour migration and discusses the implications for national and global public policy debates. Dr Martin Ruhs is a University Lecturer in Political Economy and the author of The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration (Princeton University Press 2013)

Who needs migrant workers? Controversies in international labour migration

There is a story behind every map. Generation after generation, we have imprinted ourselves on the land we live upon. Our depictions of that land, in maps, have recorded social attitudes and social change like no other source. This lecture will trace a very personal history of England through some of its most fascinating and beautiful maps, showing how the landscape, local history, and cartography can illuminate the very nature of England. Dr Jonathan Healey is a University Lecturer in English Local and Social History.

A history of England in five and a half maps

Find out about how archaeologists uncover the past using a range of techniques, including excavation, survey and scientific analysis. We will also have the opportunity to discuss the programme of archaeology courses on offer here at the Department for Continuing Education. Dr Alison MacDonald is a Departmental Lecturer in Archaeology.

Spotlight on Archaeology

Ritual celebrations were at the heart of life in medieval communities. The passage of time was articulated by the cycle of the seasons, the exigencies of husbandry and of trade, all inextricably bound up with religious holidays and anniversaries. Great households, religious houses, towns, and village communities fasted in season and looked forward to times of feasting and pageantry. In this lecture, we look at the ways in which beliefs were celebrated, events were remembered, and local identities were forged by the shared experiences of celebration. Local Historian Dr Elizabeth Gemmill is Director of the Certificate in Higher Education and the Weekly Classes Programme.

Anniversaries, feasts and commemoration in the Middle Ages

The Department welcomed members of the public by the hundreds to this year's Open Day, 26 September. Guests attended 40 events - short lectures, workshops, informational sessions and walking tours - all free of charge. Here is a selection of the events that happened on the day.

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Department for Continuing Education Open Day 2013

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