For historians of the book, the case of modern China offers much to challenge and embellish prevailing narratives of the field. The Mao era was a particularly extraordinary period, when one of the world’s most populous and powerful states turned its attention to the dissemination of print on an unprecedented scale. In this talk, Dr…
‘The Arkenstone and the Ring: wilful objects in Tolkien’s The Hobbit’
A series of seminars to commemorate the death of J. R. R. Tolkien, to be held in 2023/2024 in the University of Oxford. The talks present an introduction and further background to Tolkien’s life, work, and legacy. They have an academic approach, but they are also aimed at those who have read Tolkien’s work but…
A cobra effect in a greening world: can Earth scientists find the antivenin?
The planned energy transition signed by world’s nations in the Paris agreement sets the target to phase out fossil fuels by mid-century. This “green reset” requires a build-up of fossil fuel-free energy capacities (in production, end-use, and storage) which will entail on an unprecedented demand in mineral resources. While the Earth crust hosts such resource…
Panel discussion: ‘Post-COP28 debrief: Does the agreement go far enough?’
COP28 closed with an agreement, that for the first time in three decades, includes oil and gas. But what does the agreement mean in real terms? And is keeping the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach. Join us as our panel of academics share their thoughts after attending COP28 and look forward to what…
If you do not change your behaviour: preventive repression in Lithuania under Soviet rule
Who is targeted by preventive repression and why? In the Soviet Union, the KGB applied a form of low-intensity preventive policing called prophylactic. Citizens found to be engaging in politically and socially disruptive misdemeanors were invited to discuss their behaviour and to receive a warning. Using novel data from Soviet-occupied Lithuania in the late 1950s…
Can This Platform Survive? Governance Challenges
papers.ssrn.com Can This Platform Survive? Governance Challenges for the Fediverse 8 A paper on the Fediverse by Thomas Struett, American University – School of Communication, Aram Sinnreich, American University – School of Communication, Patricia Aufderheide, American University – School of Communication, Rob Gehl, York University. Interesting #mainstreaming look, that bypasses the grassroots it’s actually talking…
Mess making is a breakdown in communication – ideas please
Interesting #mainstreaming look, that bypasses the grassroots it’s actually talking about, this is a common issue with academic writing, am at Oxford this winter so have every day “organic” expirence of this. For governance, we have a widely discussed project on this forum that is “native” to address all the issues outline in the article…
Official launch of the special issue on “Change in Armed Conflict”
Join the Minerva Global Security Programme for the official launch of the special issue on “Change in Armed Conflict,” as featured in the International Political Science Review.This publication establishes a new agenda in the examination of change in armed conflict. It approaches the theme as a dynamic social phenomenon, employing a shared conceptual framework that…
Best not to go down this path
I have been in Oxford for the last month, attending university talks and seminars on subjects of interest. And I am seeing the normal issues of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannerism this is an “art” way of expressing the issue but it’s a good description of much inward looking thinking. Their answers when questioned on this are https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Panglossianism#English in…
Cyber capacity and strategic advantage: resilience, influence, and control
Julia Carver is a DPhil candidate in International Relations at the University of Oxford and Nuffield College. Her work explores cyber-foreign policymaking and strategic thinking in the current era of great power competition, particularly the relationship between digital infrastructure, capacity building, and strategic advantage. In 2021, she founded the Changing Character of War Centre’s Cyber…
Why the Russian constitution matters: the dark arts of constitutional law
Professor Partlett’s forthcoming book challenges the conventional view that Russia’s Constitution is a sham. It will show instead that this constitution is a critical foundation of Russian authoritarianism today that carries important broader lessons for the world. In the ruins of the Soviet Union, President Boris Yeltsin—with the full backing of the West—dabbled in the…
Know Your World: Climate Change & Human Health
Climate change is the biggest threat to human health. Medical issues from eco-anxiety and stress to heat exhaustion, infectious diseases and pollution related cancers and ultimately from starvation, drought, displacement and war threaten to overwhelm us as a species. A review of the top to toe medical matters arising from a host of climate change…