Headlines
University statement on Palestine Solidarity encampment affirms right to protest, outlines investment policy
The University today released an official response to the pro-Palestine encampment organised by Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) in an email sent to all students and staff from Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey.
Tracey’s email reiterated the university’s commitment to freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest, while acknowledging that the protests have resulted in some members of the University and the public “feeling fearful or uncomfortable.” She further reminded students and staff that “xam season is, of course, upon us and it is imperative...
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Features
Making Art in the Age of Generative AI
When they told us that AI is coming for people’s jobs, most of us didn’t think that they were talking about artists. Our popular imaginings of artificially intelligent futures often seem to bracket the...
Flights to Rwanda? Navigating political, economic, and moral turbulence
“Batshit crazy”, was how one cabinet minister (James Cleverly) described the Rwanda policy. In his former role as chancellor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was characteristically more reserved, saying “it won’t work”. Human rights organisations...
Sharron Davies, the Oxford Literary Festival, and the place for transgender athletes in professional sport.
The bell chimed for 2 o’clock on Thursday the 21st of March and the doors closed for the Oxford Literary Festival’s most controversial talk: ‘Sharron Davies, Unfair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport.’ I...
2024: The year of elections
In his classic 19th-century work Democracy in America, the politician-cum-philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville looked to the democratic system in America with deep envy. In this system, he perceived a largely egalitarian society in which the virtues of industry and social cooperation contributed to America’s functional democracy; a state which...
“Diesmal schweigen wir nicht!” (“We won’t be silent this time”)
Germany’s right-wing factions push forward
In another spectacular repeat of European history, a group of right-wing politicians met with an Austrian neo-Nazi last November in a small German town called Potsdam, known for being the seat of residence of Prussian kings and the German Emperor until 1918 The meeting ignited...
Oliver Twist, a Sceptical 9th Grader, and an Orthodox Monastery: The Making of a New Generation in Northern Kosovo
Eager hands reach toward the ceiling as children at the Ismail Qemali school in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, desperately try to attract the attention of an author who has come to talk to the pupils about her new book. They want to know more about the central character - a...
Profiles
‘Theatre is, at it’s best, one of the most democratic of the arts’
I had the chance to sit down with Gregory Doran, Oxford University’s Cameron Mackintosh visiting professor and the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, to talk all things Shakespeare, contemporary theatre and the importance of accessibility in the Arts.
Greg Doran is Oxford University’s Cameron Mackintosh visiting professor...
An interview with Federico Enciso, Paraguay’s First Openly Gay Politician
I am not going to lie. I myself was pretty much oblivious to Paraguay’s existence before being introduced to the documentary, 108: Cuchillo de Palo. Set during Stroessner’s dictatorship, it goes in search of the truth surrounding the director’s uncle, a gay ballet dancer who was found dead in...
Culture
The Oxford Fashion Gala: A stellar display of talent
Wednesday evening brought a show that transcended the limitations of space and time in a beautiful portrayal of Oxford University’s talent. The Fashion Gala returned in a whirlwind of incredible designs, modelled by Oxford’s finest. We truly ascended in the lunar eclipse theme, which brought a shower of metallic,...
Film around the world: Germany’s The Lives of Others
I’m sure that those of us who studied A-Level German back in the day (not so long ago, if you’re a first-year reading this) will be familiar with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s 2006 film The Lives of Others (or Das Leben der Anderen, to give it its German title)....
Life
The great outdoors: Oxford’s best green spaces
As the sun emerges from its miserable winter enclave, so do students from their rooms, shedding the weighted blankets and hot water bottles of the colder months to enjoy the sun. As we flock to revel in these warmer months, here are some of the best natural spaces around...
Byte-sized buzz: The craze for short-form media
It feels essential to state that ‘short-form’ media, in its clips and images, is inevitably never a short-term experience. We’ve all opened our phones searching for some momentary respite, only to look up after what feels like seconds to see the hours have flown by, a deadline has been...
