This term, EAS will produce information cards on each of their speakers. They will appear here about a week before the talk, so make sure to check back often! Alternatively, you can subscribe to the RSS feed, join the mailing list or join the Facebook group.

A PDF of Trinity Term’s Termcard will be available soon.

JEAN JACQUES DORDAIN has been the Director General of the European Space Agency since 2003. Previously he was head of the General Physics Directorate of the French National Aerospace Study and Research Agency, investigating ground and in-flight anomalies and failures. He was awarded the French Legion d’Honneur and the Ordre National de Merite for his work.

His speech will address the relationship between the European Space Agency and the European Space Policy.

This event is free to EAS members, £2 for non-members.

WHERE: Lecture Room B, Queen’s College
WHEN: 1pm, FRIDAY 8TH WEEK
WHAT: “THE ESA AND EUROPEAN SPACE POLICY”.

Update: This talk and the start of M. Dordain’s third term were covered by the BBC, here.

Professor Justin O’Brien has worked as a news journalist with the BBC and editor of television current affairs at UTV. In August 2006, he was appointed Professor of Corporate Governance in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the Australian National University.

O’Brien was chosen by the Economic and Social Research Council to examine the global impact of legislation introduced in the aftermath of the economic crisis, and his speech will address these issues.

This event is free to EAS members, £2 for non-members. If you would like to have dinner with the speaker, then please email me (catherina.yurchyshyn@queens.ox.ac.uk) by 6pm on Sunday 13th June.

WHERE: LECTURE ROOM B, QUEEN’S COLLEGE
WHEN: 7.30pm, MONDAY 8TH WEEK
WHAT: “SNARING LEOPARDS? Tracking the Efficacy of Financial Reform in the Aftermath of the Crisis”

Update: Mr O’Brien’s paper “Snaring Leopards: Tracking the Efficacy of Financial Reform in the Aftermath of the Crisis“ is available here (PDF).

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sitkovetsky went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory, before emigrating to the United States in 1977. He has performed as a violin soloist with a number of the world’s leading orchestras including Berlin, London Symphony, New York and LA Philarmonic. Over the past few years, Sitkovetsky has developed a flourishing conducting career. He is Principle Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Ulster Orchestra, with whom he has toured extensively to cities including Madrid, Amsterdam, Munich, Stuttgart, and to Hong Kong for a 6-concert residency.

Following his long-established international career, Mr Sitkovetsky will give a talk on “Musical Legacies: cultural and social differences in attitudes to performance in Russia, UK and USA”.

This event is free to EAS members, £2 for non-members. If you would like to have dinner with the speaker, then please email Cat by 6pm on Sunday 6th June.

WHERE: SASKATCHEWAN ROOM, EXETER COLLEGE
WHEN: 7.30pm, MONDAY 7TH WEEK
WHAT: “Musical Legacies: cultural and social differences in attitudes to performance in Russia, UK and USA”

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James Sherr is the head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London. He has published extensively on the foreign policy of the Russian Federation, NATO, and the energy relationship between Russia, Ukraine and the EU. Among his most recent publications are ‘Ukraine: Democratic Dangers‘, The World Today, January 2010 and ‘Russia: Managing Contradictions‘ in R Niblett (ed) America and a Changed World: A Question of Leadership, Wiley-Blackwell/Chatham House, 2010.

The recent presidential elections in Ukraine have been seen by many as a reversal of the changes brought about by the Orange Revolution in 2004. Mr Sherr will discuss the impact of Mr Yanukovych’s victory on both Ukraine and Russia’s foreign policy, and the resulting rapprochement between the two countries.

This event is free to EAS members, £2 for non-members.

WHERE: SASKATCHEWAN ROOM, EXETER COLLEGE
WHEN: 7.30pm, THURSDAY 5TH WEEK
WHAT: “Russia and Ukraine – back to square one?”

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Duncan Freeman is a Research Fellow at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies. His research on China’s economy focuses on trade and investment and he is the author of a number of publications on business in China, including a guide for Chinese companies doing business in Europe.

Mr. Freeman will discuss the development of outward foreign direct investment by Chinese companies, following China’s success in attracting large volumes of inward foreign direct investment over the last thirty years. The vast majority of investments are taking place in Asia, but Mr Freeman will focus on the comparatively small percentage making their way into the European Union.

This event is free to EAS members, £2 for non-members. If you would like to have dinner with the speaker, please email Cat by 6pm on Monday 17th May.

To receive updates, join the Facebook event. You can see Mr Freeman’s slides here.

Catherine Zena Bearder is a Liberal Democrat politician and MEP for South East England. She is the Director for Campaigns in Europe and has worked in promoting the “one parliament” campaign and the modernisation of the EU. Her other areas of expertise are social justice, homelessness and cross border crime. She will address the issues surrounding people trafficking across Europe, those involved, and its effects.

Catherine’s speech will be followed by a presentation and reception from the Oxford branch of the YOUNG EUROPEAN MOVEMENT, a youth organisation promoting the discussion of European issues. This will be a great opportunity to find our more about the YEM and how to get involved.

WHERE: NORTH LECTURE ROOM, ST JOHN’S COLLEGE
WHEN: 7.30 pm, FRIDAY 3RD WEEK
WHAT: “People for Sale: Trafficking across Europe”

This event is free.

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Topic: Carbon Markets – European Leadership in delivering environmental change

Speaker: Patrick Birley, CEO of European Climate Exchange

Patrick Birley was appointed Chief Executive of the European Climate Exchange in July 2007. Patrick’s previous positions include CEO of LCH Clearnet Limited, the London based multi-asset class clearing house and Director of Operations at FTSE Group.

This event is free for members, £2 for non-members.

If you would like to have dinner with the speaker, do email Cat at president@oueas.net by Wednesday morning.

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The Powerpoint presentation from the talk is available here.

Topic: “Europe and its age of anxiety”

Who: BBC Editor (Europe) – Gavin Hewitt

Gavin Hewitt – BBC Europe Editor – an experienced correspondent, Hewitt has covered many major events from the Soham murders and Potters Bar rail crash in the UK to the Kashmir disputes and recent United States elections.  He joined the BBC’s Panorama programme in 1984 as a presenter and was in East Berlin when the Berlin wall came down.  Whilst at Panorama, Hewitt made a programme which led to the largest ever investigation into police corruption in the UK, as well as programmes about the Kosovo crisis and about how student leaders were smuggled out of China following Tiananmen Square.

Meanwhile, in 2000 Gavin Hewitt became a Special Correspondent and in 2001 he won the Television Society Award for his coverage of the Oldham riots and, also won the Broadcast Award for England’s Shame, an investigation into England’s football hooliganism at Euro 2000.  Since then, Gavin has covered the war in the Middle East in 2006 in Israel and Lebanon – narrowly escaping a missile attack in Lebanon, has toured with Obama in Europe and the Middle East as well as Hurrican Katrina, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the London bombings.

For more information please see the information card on Gavin Hewitt here. To find Mansfield College see this map. For Gavin’s BBC blog, see here.

Topic: “Should we tax the bankers”

Sven Giegold is a current Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party. Within the parliament he is a member of the “Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis” and the “Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs ,“ as such he has a firsthand insight into the work of the European Parliament concerning European wide regulations of the financial sector.

Giegold is a founding member of one of Europe’s largest NGOs “Attac” (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens). Having joined politics only in 2008, he has kept his vision for a better Europe. In a recent press statement Giegold claimed “the EU can go it alone on financial transaction tax.” In his speech he will elaborate on why that is the case and is very much looking forward to engage in a discussion with students about their ideas and thoughts concerning the crisis and financial regulations.

Life

In 2008 he became a member of The Green Party in Germany and took part in elaborating the report “Green New Deal” as a policy proposal to tackle climate change, the current financial crisis, and peak oil. Within the party his fields of expertise are economic crisis, taxation, tax havens and ecological issues.
Before starting his political career within the Green Party he was a cofounder of Attac Germany  as well as initiator of the ‘Tax Justice Network’ which is an independent organisation that aims to encourage tax reform at both the national and global levels through high-level research, analysis and advocacy in the area of tax research.  Giegold engages with the network in attempting to prevent capital flight.  With such a wide-ranging, wealth of experience surrounding the financial system and regulation of it, Giegold will be able to provide a stimulating discussion when he answers the question of whether or not we should tax bankers.
Giegold studied politics and economics, he got a Master of Social Science in economic policy and economic development. He also studied different aspects of globalization and international macroeconomics.

For more information please see the Wikipedia article and join the event on Facebook. You can see an information card on Sven Giegold here. To find Trinity College see this map.