Leadership, globalisation, free speech, and lessons for life - a lively term at Rhodes House
A lively term of inspiring speakers and discussions at Rhodes House has seen many Rhodes Scholars engage in recent weeks with leading public figures and major issues - global, national, and personal.
Events have included:
- an informal lunch with the Governor-General of Australia, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, who spoke warmly of the contribution of Rhodes Scholars, and challenged Scholars to tackle such issues as Indigenous disadvantage, and to make the most of their Oxford opportunities
- the Global Scholars Symposium, a two-day conference organised by Scholars which brought together overseas postgraduate students on various scholarships to debate key global issues under the theme 'Think Global: connecting scholars to face the world's challenges'
- a seminar at the Rothermere American Institute by John R. Price (Iowa & Queen’s 1960), who worked at the White House with Daniel Patrick Moynihan on urban policy in the first Nixon administration, on 'Richard Nixon: last of the moderate Republican Presidents'
- a discussion led by Hans-Paul Bürkner (Germany & St Catherine’s 1976), the global head of the Boston Consulting Group, on 'Making globalisation a win-win'
- a lecture by F W de Klerk, the former President of South Africa who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, on 'Leadership in South Africa's transition', followed by candid questions-and-answers after the lecture and continued over afternoon tea with Scholars
- a conversation with Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter (Director of Planning in the US State Department, 2009-11) on 'Juggling Family and Foreign Policy'. Many Scholars also attended the inaugural Fulbright Memorial Lecture on International Relations given by Professor Slaughter, honouring Senator J. William Fulbright (Arkansas & Pembroke 1925).
- a dinner-table discussion with 2010-11 Eastman Professor Edward A. Fisher, professor of cardiovascular medicine at New York University, on careers in the biomedical sciences, including hard choices about clinical practice, research, and teaching
- a talk by Patrick Pichette (Quebec & Pembroke 1987), Chief Financial Officer at Google, drawing lessons from 'My life at Google - the unconventional CFO, in an unconventional company', and
- a discussion with Russ Feingold (Wisconsin & Magdalen 1975), who represented Wisconsin in the US Senate from 1993 to 2011, addressing 'Citizens United and Its Implications for the American Political Scene' - concerning the right to free speech and the role of corporations in US election campaigns, arising from the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission.
Social activities so far this term have included a start-of-term 'Meet and Mingle' party, and the 2011 Rhodes Ball on a James Bond theme.
Rhodes Scholars have had many opportunities to engage with students on other scholarships - in the Global Scholars Symposium, with Weidenfeld Scholars during the visit of Mr F W de Klerk, and on various occasions involving students from the University of Canterbury in earthquake-hit Christchurch, New Zealand, who are visiting Oxford this term and who have been made welcome at Rhodes House.
To read about events at Rhodes House during the second half of term, click here.
Please enjoy some of the images from the first four weeks of term:
