Alumni Weekend

Cities are epicentres of creativity and innovation but are also easily locked into patterns of infrastructure and behaviour that may not serve them best. The Co-Director of the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities looks at these phenomena and considers ways to enhance the ability of cities to adjust to changes in their natural, political and financial environments.

Using 2012 as a starting point, Dr Tim Stanley goes back into history and considers the different ways that Hollywood has influenced US elections.

Professor Margaret Esiri, Professor of Neuropathology and Fellow of St Hugh's, will talk about the pivotal role Oxford has played in neuroscience - where the words neuron and cell were coined - and the relevance of this history today. The Thomas Willis Brain Collection is at the centre of research into finding out more about the underlying causes and potential treatments of conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and related cases such as epilepsy. Find out why organ donation is critical to research and why you may want to consider donating your brain to Oxford.

John Stein gives a talk for the 2012 Oxford Alumni Weekend.

Niko Pfund, President of Oxford University Press (USA), discusses the ways in which technology affects reading, scholarship, publishing and even thinking.

In his keynote lecture at Alumni Weekend 2012, Lord Patten of Barnes attempts to shed light and his particular perspective on whether "the West has had it". He draws on his experience as an Oxonian Alumnus, politician, diplomat, policy maker and current Chair of the BBC Trust to investigate this provocative question.

Professor Adrian Hill gives a talk for the Oxford Alumni Weekend 2011 on the past, present and future of vaccines against diseases.

Sir Brian Unwin (New College) is Honorary President of the European Investment Bank with a longstanding interest in the Napoleonic period. He has pursued his research into the subject over several decades. From the Oxford European Reunion in Paris, 6-8 May 2011 at Les Invalides, Musee de L'Armee.

From the Oxford European Reunion in Paris, 6-8 May 2011. This session charts Europe's role in a changing, globalised world. Our panel of regional specialists consider factors such as the rise of China and India, the alleged 'decline' of the US, France's ambitions under Sarcozy, whether the EU can shape the way international relations evolve and the relative strength of Europe in a global context.

The keynote lecture from the Oxford European Reunion in Paris, 6-8 May 2011 on the European Union and its future.