Digest Week 1 Michaelmas Term 2023

Call For Playwrights to Participate in a Workshop Conducted by Eastman Professor, Anna Deavere Smith

“Causing a Scene or Scene - ing a Cause”

This is a call for playwrights (and aspiring playwrights) who are exploring controversial matters and/or matters for which it is difficult to find words. To be eligible, playwrights must be students (undergraduate or postgraduate) of the University of Oxford in any subject who are on course in Michaelmas term 2023. Candidates for participation should submit an outline of a proposed scene. The scenes need to have the potential to provoke conversations on more than one side of an issue. In other words, we are looking for dialogue rather than polemics. We will select two playwrights.

Participants will need to be available for two 6-hour workshops, one to be held on Friday October 20th and another to be held on Friday November 3.

In the first workshop session, scenes will be read and discussed at length with a group of actors who will portray the roles. The playwrights will then revise the scenes in the intervening weeks. The second workshop session will include a morning of rehearsal and an afternoon reading presentation before an audience.  The presentation will be followed by a moderated discussion.

The director of the workshops is Eastman Professor, Anna Deavere Smith.

Deadline: Candidates for participation should submit an outline of a proposed scene by TUESDAY (week 1) 10 OCTOBER 12 noon.  The outline submission should be no more than four pages single-sided and double-spaced A4 minimum font 10. Playwrights shortlisted may be asked to have a short online conversation with Anna Deavere Smith as part of the selection process. If selected, playwrights can choose to work on either one or two scenes, but the total pages will be limited to ten, and make use of no more than four actors.

Submissions should be sent to english.office@ox.ac.uk and sent from your University of Oxford email address as your contact. Any enquiries before the deadline should be sent to the same email address.

Eligibility: Applicants must be students (undergraduate or postgraduate) of the University of Oxford in any subject who are on course in Michaelmas term 2023. No previous experience in playwrighting is required.

Philosophy Undergraduate Welcome Lecture

'Ethics in AI and Cooperative AI’ 

by Professor Vincent Conitzer, Computer Science

For all Mathematics & Philosophy, Physics & Philosophy, and Computer Science & Philosophy Undergraduates.

Taking place on Wednesday 11 October at 5.30pm in Lecture Theatre 2 at the Mathematical Institute.

Afterwards there will be a drinks reception in the South Mezzanine.

Hegel Reading Group

We shall be meeting Wednesdays 6-7.30 pm on Skype; please email louise.braddock@philosophy.ox.ac.uk or susanne.herrmann-sinai@philosophy.ox.ac.uk for the Skype link. This term we are reading texts by other authors discussing passages and problems of Hegel’s Anthropology, in the ‘Philosophy of Mind’ (translation is by Wallace and Miller) but we will work from the Michael Inwood revision (OUP 2007). Texts are shared via dropbox link and to be read in advance. Updates are posted on hegelinoxford.wordpress.com.

Practical Ethics and Law Lecture

Should Doctors Disobey Abortion Bans?

Date: Friday 13 October between 15:00 – 16:30

Speaker: Professor Kimberley Brownlee (Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political & Social Philosophy at the University of British Columbia)

Respondent: Dr Alberto Giubilini (Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics & Wellcome Centre for Ethics and the Humanities)

In-person: The lecture will take place in Suite 1, Oxford Uehiro Centre, Littlegate House, 16-17 St Ebbe’s Street, Oxford OX1 1PT (buzzer 1).

Zoom webinar: For participants not in Oxford, please contact Binesh.hass@philosophy.ox.ac.uk to request the registration link in advance

Booking: not required.