Lincoln Leads in Politics

What are the limits of the law? Dr Barbara Havelková (Shaw Foundation Fellow in Law), alumna Shabana Mahmood (MP for Birmingham Ladywood), and Lincoln MCR student Lukas Wagner, discuss the limits of the law in this engaging finale to the 2018 Lincoln Leads seminar series.

Material Culture: The Power of the Image? In this Lincoln Leads session we consider the power of the image. Our panel, composed of Dr Joshua Thomas (Lavery-Shuffrey Early Career Fellow in Roman Art and Archaeology), Sarah Bochicchio (2016, MSt in British and European History) and Robert Kerr (1971, Former Executive at Burberry), transverse the humanities as they discuss everything from archaeology and fashion, to history, diplomacy and advertising.

Economics: Should money make the world go round? This week our panellists, Professor Ian Crawford (Professor of Economics, Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College) and Jessica Milligan (2015, DPhil in Economics), discuss whether money should make the world go round. We learn more about experiments in altruism through the Human Sociality Project, as well as behavioural economics and how to predict change from policy intervention.

The Lincoln Leads engineering panel discuss 'how is technology shaping the future?' We look to the future in this Lincoln Leads session as our panellists consider the question 'how is technology shaping the future?' Dr Paul Stavrinou (Fellow in Engineering Science), Nicola Shaw CBE (Executive Director at National Grid), and DPhil student Holly Hathrell (Chromosome Biology), all bring their experience and expertise to the table and we learn how laser technology is shaping developments in engineering science, how the emergence of renewable energy shapes the operations of the National Grid, and how developments in AI and automation are themselves shaped by moral philosophy.

Lincoln Leads seminar in History.

Philosophy: 'Should there be limits on free speech?' For the first time since its inception, 'Lincoln Leads' explores Philosophy. Our panellists, Dr Alexander Prescott-Couch (Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy), Ian Brownhill (2003, Barrister at No 5 Chambers), and Benjamin Musachio (2017, MPhil in International Development) tackle the question of whether there should be limits on free speech. In this lecture, we learn about the conceptual significance of free speech in the canon of western philosophy, the policing of speech by the State and the Self, and the debates surrounding no-platforming on campus. 'Lincoln Leads' is a seminar series designed to foster conversation between Lincoln's common rooms and alumni, as well as to showcase the exceptional research taking place in the College.

Lincoln's medical breakthroughs: The past, present and future. Lincoln has a history of pioneering medical research, particularly in relation to developing penicillin and researching cell biology. In this Lincoln Leads session, Dr Eric Sidebottom (an authority on Oxford's medical history and former student of Lord Florey) takes us on a journey back in time to chart Lincoln's longstanding connection with the Dunn School and to take a closer look at some of the most famous Lincoln scientists - from John Radcliffe to Howard Florey and Norman Heatley. Returning to the present day, Professor David Vaux discusses his current research, which focuses on the nuclear envelope and its associated disease states. The nuclear envelope is the barrier between the nucleus and the rest of the cell, and his team study the roads and tunnels that carry molecules deep into or through the nucleus. If that wasn’t enough, the other team in his lab study how diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and motor neuron disease work on the cellular level. Finally, after nearly a century of pathology-slanted studies, the Dunn School has begun turning its face to modern cell biology. Mustafa Aydogan will be addressing the present and future of this transition through the lens of his observations at the Dunn School, as well as the type of research he does in the laboratory on a daily basis.

This week, our 'Lincoln Leads' panellists discuss whether or not misogyny should be crime. In 2016, Nottinghamshire Police made the decision to record misogyny and harassment against women as hate crimes. In this 'Lincoln Leads' session, our panellists debate the controversial question 'should misogyny be a crime'. Shaw Foundation Fellow in Law, Barbara Havelková specialises in gender legal studies and feminist jurisprudence, equality, and anti-discrimination law. She also acts as an advisor to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic on issues of gender and law. She is joined on the panel by Zoe Williams, a leading journalist at The Guardian and New Statesman, who frequently writes on feminist issues including 'The glass ceiling: a metaphor that needs to be smashed' and 'Does the hard-left have an 'old-fashioned misogyny' problem?', as well as doctoral candidate and graduate teaching assistant, Patricia Jimenez Kwast. Patricia has previously worked as an international arbitration associate at a Buenos Aires law firm, as lecturer in international and European law at Utrecht University, and as assistant-attaché at the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to the United Nations in New York.

This Lincoln Leads instalment asks the question: 'For the sake of knowledge: Why do scientific research?' Eminent chemist and author, Professor Peter Atkins, joins this Lincoln Leads panel to discuss why we do scientific research. He is joined by our current Fellow in Physics, Professor Cigdem Issever, who considers the internationalism of CERN and the way in which it acts as a model for peace and collaboration, and by D.Phil student Max Jamilly, who shares his thoughts on the social benefits of science. 'Lincoln Leads' is a seminar series designed to foster conversation between Lincoln's common rooms and alumni, as well as to showcase the exceptional research taking place in the College.

This Lincoln Leads instalment debates a long standing historical inquiry: 'Is revolution always about religion?' Our panel discussion starts with Dr Sam Brewitt-Taylor (Lincoln Derby Fellow), a historian focused on the 1960s Cultural Revolution in Britain, whose first article on the role of Christians in inventing 'secularization', won the 2012 Duncan Tanner Prize. George Artley (3rd year DPhil) approaches the question by looking back to the Glorious Revolution, and the role of religion in the political upheavals in Britain during the 17th Century. Finally we hear from alumnus Richard Spencer (1984, Middle East Correspondent at The Times) who has travelled extensively in the Middle East as a correspondent for The Telegraph and now The Times. He discusses Aleppo as the connection between social change and sectarianism in the war in Syria. 'Lincoln Leads' is a seminar series designed to foster conversation between Lincoln's common rooms and alumni, as well as to showcase the exceptional research taking place in the College.