Mansfield College

Professor Lord (David) Alton of Liverpool gives the 2017 John Milton Lecture. Member of the House of Commons from 1979-97 and Independent Crossbench Peer since 1997; Chair and a founder of the All Party Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief who has authored reports on North Korea, Sudan, Tibet and Pakistan; a founder of the Jubilee Campaign; author of twelve books including Building Bridges: Is there Hope for North Korea? with Rob Chidley (2013).

Author and expert on Russia; producer several of feature films and books including the prize-winning Epics of Everyday Life (1990) and Lost and Found in Russia (2009); nonexecutive director and founder of openDemocracy and editor of openDemocracy Russia.

The Annual Hands Lecture is a very important moment in Mansfield's calendar, held to honour Guy and Julia Hands and their generous and continued support of Mansfield College. Year after year, it has attracted distinguished speakers, including Sir Bob Geldof, The Rt Hon. the Lord Blunkett and President Jimmy Carter.

Lord Browne is presently Chairman of L1 Energy, the Chairman of Trustees of both the Tate and the QEII Prize for Engineering, and Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

In his talk, he covered the politics, values, responsibilities and the technological advances of the energy industry, describing it as "an industry for polymaths."

Raoul Martinez gives a talk for Mansfield College. Writer, artist and award-winning documentarian whose paintings have been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery; author of Creating Freedom: Power, Control and the Fight For Our Future (2016), which explores freedom through the lens of economics, philosophy, political theory and neuroscience and is a call for a better politics. Bruce Waller, a leading voice in the area of freedom and responsibility described Martinez' book, Creating Freedom (2016) as:

'A superb book; it is not only beautifully written, vigorously argued and remarkably researched, it is a unique contribution to a subject - discussed for more than two millennia - where unique contributions are rare indeed. There is nothing in the literature that places the issues of freedom and responsibility in such a broad and enlightening context, enriching familiar debates surrounding punishment and the justice system but also going far beyond. Indeed, the discussion of markets, the media, political and corporate power, and global degradation - in close connection with the undermining of freedom and the damaging effects of belief in moral responsibility - is a singular contribution to these vitally important issues. No one has examined the issues of freedom and moral responsibility in such an extensive and fascinating context, or done more to show that these issues are not ivory tower debates but absolutely life and death issues for individuals and quite possibly for our species.'

LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell gives a lecture for Mansfield College. Leading campaigner for human rights and LGBT freedom since 1967; member of OutRage! Through the Peter Tatchell Foundation he campaigns for human rights in Britain and internationally; author of six books, including The Battle for Bermondsey (1983) and We Don't Want to March Straight - Masculinity, Queers and The Military (1995).

Professor Margaret MacMillan's Lecture, Varieties of Resistance was held at Mansfield College, Oxford on the 19th of November 2015 and was introduced by the Principal of Mansfield College, Baroness Helena Kennedy. Professor MacMillan is a distinguished Historian having published works such as Women of the Raj and Peacemakers: the Paris Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to Make Peace. She is the Warden of St Anthony's College, taking on the post in 2007. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and sits on several not-for-profit boards and the editorial boards of International History and First World War Studies.

The seventh in our lecture series for Hilary Term 2015, given in the JCR at Mansfield College by Julia Hobsbawm -- Entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and broadcaster. Founder of the 'knowledge networking' business Editorial Intelligence.

The sixth in our lecture series for Hilary Term 2015, given in the JCR at Mansfield College by Mikael Strandberg -- Explorer, lecturer, writer and filmmaker.

The fifth in our lecture series for Hilary Term 2015, given in the JCR at Mansfield College by Rachel Holmes - Writer and historian.

The fourth in our lecture series for Hilary Term 2015, given in the JCR at Mansfield College by Karen Armstrong -- Author and commentator.