QE 2 - Entertainment and Enrichment Programs

June 3, 2005 – June 9, 2005 Southampton to New York Literature, Film and Language This series will offer fresh insights into literature, language and cinema. Why did Victorian novels resemble soap operas? What tends to happen when novels become movies? The key concept for this series is cultural adaptation - the often surprising ways in which literature and language are modified to meet new circumstances. Past and present, novels and films, succeed in speaking to one another. The final talk explores the ways in which Britons and Americans do so, too. Speaker: Dr David Grylls Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford, Director of the Literature programme at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education, where he teaches a range of courses from Shakespeare to the present day. He reviews for The Sunday Times and Times Literary Supplement.

June 3, 2005 – June 9, 2005 Southampton to New York Literature Today Peter Kemp takes you through a selection of literature from JK Rowling's Harry Potter novels to modern detective fiction and he discusses what makes a book popular. Speaker: Peter Kemp Fiction Editor of the Sunday Times and its Chief Fiction Reviewer. He was theatre critic for the Independent and also broadcasts regularly for the BBC, now contributing most frequently to Radio 4's Front Row, Saturday Review and Open Book, and Radio 3's Night Waves.

June 3, 2005 – June 9, 2005 Southampton to New York Peter Kemp/David Grylls Debate With the help of video excerpts to illustrate their points, David Grylls and Peter Kemp will debate how novels are successfully transferred to the cinema. They invite the audience to take part in a debate and share their own thoughts and impressions. Speaker: Peter Kemp Fiction Editor of the Sunday Times and its Chief Fiction Reviewer. He was theatre critic for the Independent and also broadcasts regularly for the BBC, now contributing most frequently to Radio 4's Front Row, Saturday Review and Open Book, and Radio 3's Night Waves. Speaker: Dr David Grylls Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford, Director of the Literature programme at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education, where he teaches a range of courses from Shakespeare to the present day. He reviews for The Sunday Times and Times Literary Supplement.

June 3, 2005 – June 9, 2005 Southampton to New York Catastrophes to Come: A Guide to the End of the World: Everything you Never Wanted to Know Modern society has developed during a time of geological and climatic calm, but this can't last. A number of global geophysical events (GGEs or gee-gees) are queuing up in an attempt to bring our civilisation to its knees. Here I will address volcanic super-eruptions, asteroid and comet impacts, giant tsunami, economy-busting earthquakes, and devastating climate change. Speaker: Bill McGuire Benfield Professor of Geophysical Hazards at University College London and Director of the university's Benfield Hazard Research Centre – Europe's largest academic hazard research centre. He is a much called-upon TV and radio pundit whenever a natural catastrophe strikes. His credits include the Horizon blockbusters, Supervolcano and Megatsunami, and he was the focus of the ITV programme: Disasterman.

June 9, 2005 – June 15, 2005 New York to Southampton Surrender in Reims -Victory in Europe After five years and eight months of war, the humbled, defeated, and mostly destroyed German war machine surrendered unconditionally to General Dwight D Eisenhower. He refused to meet with the enemy, saying "Daily as it progressed there grew within me the conviction that as never before in a war between many nations the forces that stood for human good and men's rights were this time confronted by a completely evil conspiracy with which no compromise could be tolerated. Because only by the utter destruction of the Axis was a decent world possible, the war became for me a crusade in the traditional meaning of that often misused word.” Speaker: Tom Hatfield Dean of Continuing and Extended Education, University of Texas at Austin

June 26, 2005 – July 2, 2005 Southampton to New York Passion, Power and Politics: Theatre throughout the Ages Far more than mere entertainment, theatre sprang from deeper religious and civic impulses—an urgent mass media of its day. Where, when and how did theatre begin, and how do those origins continue today? Speaker: Ben Cameron Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group (TCG) in New York City

June 26, 2005 – July 2, 2005 Southampton to New York Adventures in Poetry: The Original Travel Literature Billy Collins sees the poem is an imaginative journey to an unforeseen destination. With this focus in mind, the question of what does a poem mean is replaced by a curiosity about where a poem goes. Speaker: Billy Collins US Poet Laureate from 2001-2003, he is the author of five books of poetry.

June 26, 2005 – July 2, 2005 Southampton to New York Transatlantic Religion Jane Shaw explores the distinctive place of religion, especially Christianity, in America from its earliest days as a country, and the continued religious links between Britain and America from the seventeenth century to the present. It will also attempt to understand why religion is so important in the USA, in the light of the separation of church and state, and the contrasting situation in Britain. Speaker: Dr Jane Shaw Dean of Divinity and Fellow of New College, Oxford. She teaches in the theology and history faculties of Oxford University, and is also a chaplain of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

July 5, 2005 – July 11, 2005 New York to Southampton Transatlantic Religion Jane Shaw explores the distinctive place of religion, especially Christianity, in America from its earliest days as a country, and the continued religious links between Britain and America from the seventeenth century to the present. It will also attempt to understand why religion is so important in the USA, in the light of the separation of church and state, and the contrasting situation in Britain. Speaker: Dr Jane Shaw Dean of Divinity and Fellow of New College, Oxford. She teaches in the theology and history faculties of Oxford University, and is also a chaplain of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

July 5, 2005 – July 11, 2005 New York to Southampton Discovering the Universe Geoffrey Thomas investigates how is it that, starting with simple observations of the stars of the night sky, we have arrived at this extravagant picture of the universe? He will illustrate some of the steps along the way, by showing how careful study of individual stars has led to our understanding of the scale of the cosmos. Speaker: Dr Geoffrey Thomas Founding Presidentof Kellogg College and Director of the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

July 5, 2005 – July 11, 2005 New York to Southampton The Special Relationship in the 21st Century Justin Webb demonstrates that this is more than a political question: it involves our hugely different cultures as well. He will argue (using examples from interviews and more anecdotal evidence as well) that Britain and America are growing apart. In attitudes to religion, sexual morality, and "world view" we are increasingly distant. Speaker: Justin Webb BBC Radio's Chief Washington Correspondent and occasional presenter of the Today programme on Radio Four.

July 11, 2005 – July 17, 2005 Southampton to New York Andre Bishop Speaker: Andre Bishop Artistic Director, Lincoln Centre Theatre, New York

August 3, 2005 – August 9, 2005 Southampton to New York How to be Happy A course of lectures revealing the latest psychological research on happiness, motivation and personal fulfilment. Speaker: Dr Raj Persaud Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer at the Maudsley Hospitals and Institute of Psychiatry in London. He has chaired prestigious panels and became known as the Psychiatrist Doctors turn to when they themselves develop mental health problems. He writes for The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent and also contributes regularly to The Times Higher Educational Supplement and New Scientist.

August 3, 2005 – August 9, 2005 Southampton to New York Our Amazing Universe Roger Davies expounds that our Universe abounds with objects of spectacular beauty. Starting with a whistle-stop tour of our Universe he will take us from our local neighbourhood: the Solar System to the most distant reaches of space and the beginnings of time. We'll explore the origins and fate of stars and galaxies and discover that we are all made from star dust. Speaker: Professor Roger Davies Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University.

August 3, 2005 – August 9, 2005 Southampton to New York America and the Middle East Farhang Jahanpour explores various aspects of East-West relations in religious, political, and social fields. He explains that the history of the past few years has been marked by hostility and suspicion between the West and the Middle East. The future of civilisation depends on how the East and the West, especially the United States and the Islamic world, can resolve their differences and can remove the wall of mistrust between them. Speaker: Dr Farhang Jahanpour Lecturer at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as teaching online courses for Oxford, Yale and Stanford. He has also spent many years as Editor for Middle East and North Africa at the BBC Monitoring Service.

August 3, 2005 – August 9, 2005 Southampton to New York The Special Relationship in the 21st Century Justin Webb demonstrates that this is more than a political question: it involves our hugely different cultures as well. He will argue (using examples from interviews and more anecdotal evidence as well) that Britain and America are growing apart. In attitudes to religion, sexual morality, and "world view" we are increasingly distant. Speaker: Justin Webb BBC Radio's Chief Washington Correspondent and occasional presenter of the Today programme on Radio Four.

August 9, 2005 – August 15, 2005 New York to Southampton America and the Middle East Farhang Jahanpour explores various aspects of East-West relations in religious, political, and social fields. He explains that the history of the past few years has been marked by hostility and suspicion between the West and the Middle East. The future of civilisation depends on how the East and the West, especially the United States and the Islamic world, can resolve their differences and can remove the wall of mistrust between them. Speaker: Dr Farhang Jahanpour Lecturer at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as teaching online courses for Oxford, Yale and Stanford. He has also spent many years as Editor for Middle East and North Africa at the BBC Monitoring Service.

August 9, 2005 – August 15, 2005 New York to Southampton The Stately Homes of England In a series of lectures covering four centuries of great English architecture, Adrian Tinniswood explores the nation's most spectacular and inviting mansions and palaces - their stories, their splendours, the architects who built them and, above all, the men and women who lived in them and made them their homes. Speaker: Adrian Tinniswood Former consultant to the National Trust on educational matters, he has lectured extensively at universities in Britain and America on social and architectural history.

August 27, 2005 – September 2, 2005 Southampton to New York Creative Writing: The Life and Work of a Novelist P D James will talk about her own writing career and her novels, concentrating on the detective stories. The lecture will cover the choice of detective, how a novel begins, research, setting, characterisation, plot and theme. Speaker: P D James Author of sixteen crime novels and two non-fiction books. In 1991she was created a life peer as Baroness James of Holland Park.

August 27, 2005 – September 2, 2005 Southampton to New York Discovering the Universe Geoffrey Thomas investigates how is it that, starting with simple observations of the stars of the night sky, we have arrived at this extravagant picture of the universe? He will illustrate some of the steps along the way, by showing how careful study of individual stars has led to our understanding of the scale of the cosmos. Speaker: Dr Geoffrey Thomas Founding Presidentof Kellogg College and Director of the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

September 2, 2005 – September 8, 2005 New York to Southampton Creative Writing: The Life and Work of a Novelist P D James will talk about her own writing career and her novels, concentrating on the detective stories. The lecture will cover the choice of detective, how a novel begins, research, setting, characterisation, plot and theme. Speaker: P D James Author of sixteen crime novels and two non-fiction books. In 1991she was created a life peer as Baroness James of Holland Park.

September 8, 2005 – September 14, 2005 Southampton to New York Learning to look at Modern Art These sessions will aim to try and answer some of the questions most commonly asked about Modern Art. Why does it appear so different from art of the past? How should we approach it? What were the changing ideas which were intended to alter our view of what a work of art could be? Why is craftsmanship apparently a thing of the past? Speaker: Mary Acton BA Hons in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, London University. Course Director of the Undergraduate Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses in the History of Art at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education.

September 8, 2005 – September 14, 2005 Southampton to New York The Atlantic World Today Sir John Johnson addresses the relationship between the countries of North America and Western Europe. New threats to security and tensions between the allies will be analysed. We will look at the United States and the United Kingdom, two countries linked by history and geography, and the world as seen from London. Speaker: Sir John Johnson H.M. Diplomatic Service 1966-90. Former director of Oxford University's Foreign Service Programme and Associate Director for Diplomatic Training, specialising in European Union and North Atlantic Studies

September 8, 2005 – September 14, 2005 Southampton to New York Anglo-American attitudes:How we see, satirize, and stereotype each other Since the beginnings of transatlantic travel by sailing packet, steam ship, and ocean liner, Americans and Brits have voyaged to each other's countries in search of a heritage or a paradise, as literary pilgrims, cultural explorers, tourists, travel writers, and novelists, But often their accounts of their travels have revealed much more about their own fantasies, countries, and values than about those of the places they visited. In these four lectures, illustrated with film and video clips, we'll be looking at the high points of this long history of mutual admiration and comic misunderstanding. Speaker: Professor Elaine Showalter Professor Emeritus of English and Avalon Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University.

September 14, 2005 – September 20, 2005 New York to Southampton Public Service Broadcasting How TV, radio and online news shape our political world. Recording, reporting and rewriting history as it happens. Speaker: Dame Ruth Deech Fellow and Tutor in Law at St Anne's College from 1970 until she was elected Principal of the College in 1991. She has published in the fields of Family Law and Property Law.

September 14, 2005 – September 20, 2005 New York to Southampton Course – The Victorian Humourists Speaker: Philip Healy Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford, Director of Public Programmes at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education

September 26, 2005 – October 8, 2005 Splendours Of The Fall A Biologist Abroad: The highs and lows of exploration George McGavin shares his adventures as a biologist abroad, including fascinating insights into the insect world, the natural history of dung and the implications of biodiversity. Speaker: Dr George McGavin Acting Curator of Entomology in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and an Oxford University Research Lecturer. He is the scientific consultant for a forthcoming BBC landmark series, Life in the Undergrowth, to be presented by David Attenborough. George eats insects regularly and appeared on the Richard and Judy Show as the guest chef. He has three insect species named in his honour and hopes they survive him.

October 14, 2005 – October 20, 2005 Southampton to New York Britain and America: Two Cultures or One? Professor Stead grew up in South Wales very aware that in cultural terms he was as much American as British, something that was confirmed when he went to live in the States. In his talks he looks at the roles played in their respective cultures by British and American films, sport, photography, travel writing and crime fiction. He identifies the particular charm and joy of these cultural forms, and then traces the transatlantic influences, rivalries and invaluable cross-currents. Speaker: Professor Peter Stead Writer, broadcaster and cultural historian. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Glamorgan, having previously lectured in History at the University of Wales Swansea.

October 14, 2005 – October 20, 2005 Southampton to New York Tales from an historic library David Vaisey's richly-illustrated lectures introduce many of the treasures in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It first opened its doors for the first time in 1602 and can claim to be the first English national library. Ever since then it has been collecting books, manuscripts, maps, music, and ephemera of all ages and in all subjects. In England now it is second only in size to the British Library which was founded over a century and a half later in 1753. Speaker: David Vaisey Former Director of the Bodleian Library, Oxford and Keeper of the University Archives and now Bodley's Librarian Emeritus.

October 20, 2005 – October 26, 2005 New York to Southampton Astronomy with a Smile An informative and witty series of talks on some exciting topics in contemporary Astronomy. Prominent features: audience participation; private in-depth discussions. Speaker: Sir Arnold Wolfendale Former Astronomer Royal.

October 26, 2005 – November 1, 2005 Southampton to New York Cool Britannia? Angus Hawkins explores the dramatic changes that British society is currently undergoing. This is affecting historic institutions such as the monarchy and the House of Lords, as well as the role and power of the prime minister. Speaker: Dr Angus Hawkins Director of International Programmes in Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education, Vice-President of Kellogg College, Oxford and a member of the Oxford Modern History faculty.

October 26, 2005 – November 1, 2005 Southampton to New York Pheromones and the scent of attraction We may not think smell is important in our lives but it could be the key to falling in love and choosing a partner, remembering our families, and a clue to early diagnosis of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Paradoxically we spend billions of dollars on perfumes (and deodorants!). Smells are important. We are not alone - smell is turning out to be the key sense for most of the animal kingdom, whether it's dogs sniffing at a lamppost or moths finding each other in the dark. Most animal communication is not by songs but by smells. Speaker: Tristram Wyatt University's Director of Distance and Online Learning, based in the Department for Continuing Education and a fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. He is a zoologist fascinated by the ways animals (and humans) communicate with smell.

October 26, 2005 – November 1, 2005 Southampton to New York From the Inside: Behind the Scenes at the New Museum of Modern Art A four-part slide-illustrated look at the recently reopened and expanded Museum of Modern Art in New York, one of the world's premiere collections of modern painting, sculpture, design, architecture and photography. Speaker: Richard Turnbull Teaches art history at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and the Museum of Modern Art and lectures regularly at both MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has written articles about contemporary photography and Islamic art and architecture and is currently preparing two books for publication, one on contemporary artists in New York and one on pop music and nostalgia.

November 1, 2005 – November 7, 2005 New York to Southampton Britain and America: Two Cultures or One? Professor Stead grew up in South Wales very aware that in cultural terms he was as much American as British, something that was confirmed when he went to live in the States. In his talks he looks at the roles played in their respective cultures by British and American films, sport, photography, travel writing and crime fiction. He identifies the particular charm and joy of these cultural forms, and then traces the transatlantic influences, rivalries and invaluable cross-currents. Speaker: Professor Peter Stead Writer, broadcaster and cultural historian. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Glamorgan, having previously lectured in History at the University of Wales Swansea.

November 20, 2005 – November 26, 2005 Southampton to New York Whatever will strike this writer next? The diverse nature of a writer's life. Her lectures will include how the novel, Landgirls came about, and then became a feature film. Speaker: Angela Huth Writer. Two of her earlier novels “Virginia Fly is Drowning” and “Sun Child”, she adapted for the BBC, and Land Girls was made into a feature film. She describes herself as an "old-fashioned" writer who details the lives of ordinary people in "small corners of England." Her novels, frequently called tragicomedies, are poignant yet humorous explorations of the frustrations and disappointments of love. Besides her career as a novelist she has worked as a journalist, photographer and television reporter.