Tag: universityofoxford

Living a Fear-Free Life

“There is no room for fear: only faith, and light, and dreams of a better tomorrow.”

Our Secretary, Ali Arsalan Pasha, delivered a thoughtful and emotional TEDx Talk, about his journey from Turkey, to the United Kingdom, and now on to Canada.

He describes living through the 2016 attempted coup d’état in Turkey, waiting in fear for the next explosion, as government and insurrectionist forces battled in the streets.

He discusses his decision to give up the life he had built in Turkey, to seek safety in the United Kingdom.

He gives an account of overcoming fear to apply to Oxford, and afterwards, to emigrate to Canada at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The common thread of his talk is the imperative to live a life without fear.

“There is no room for fear: only faith, and light, and dreams of a better tomorrow.”

TEDx Talks are local events, organised by independent groups, following the model of global TED Talks.  Ali’s talk was hosted by TEDxHECMontreal.

Oxford’s Newest Alumni

OUS Ottawa welcomes the latest generation of Oxford alumni.

The University’s 2023 graduands and graduates gathered at Oxford Town Hall for this year’s Leavers’ Fair, as a springboard into life after studies.

OUS Ottawa was delighted to contribute a video to the event, on the benefits of remaining connected to the University community through the alumni group network.

OUS Ottawa is part of a global network of more than one hundred fifty Oxford Societies, spread across most of the countries of the world. Together, we enable Oxonians to sustain the friendships from our University days, across time and geography.

We are always eager to welcome Oxonians who live in or visit Canada’s National Capital Region, but we are especially keen to include the University’s newest alumni.

Russia’s online disinformation campaign over Ukraine and how Canada is countering it

With Philippe-André Rodriguez, Deputy Director of the Centre for International Digital Policy

We were delighted to welcome Philippe-André Rodriguez (Exeter College), the Deputy Director of the Centre for International Digital Policy at Global Affairs Canada, at our April webinar.

He discussed his work trying to thwart the misuse of social media to spread disinformation and to undermine democracies, particularly in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dr Rodriguez drew a capacity crowd, with five-hundred attendees from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America gathering to hear his views and put questions to him.

His conversation with Oxonians addressed one of the most pressing global challenges of our time, and did so in a lively and engaging way.

Climate Change and Global Finance

The third of the North American Three Capitals Webinars

The third instalment of our Three Capitals Webinars series was a conversation with Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

More than three-hundred Oxonians and friends of Oxford from around the world came together, to hear Mr Carney’s views and to question him on how the international financial architecture could work for climate action, rather than against it.

This webinar series is joint project of the Oxford University societies in Mexico City, Ottawa, and Washington DC. This event was moderated by our chapter.

Climate change is a notoriously incendiary subject, one at the conjunction of science and politics, where the burdens and benefits of action and inaction are bitterly contested. We are grateful for Mr Carney for offering his views to us, with warmth and thoughtfulness.

Human Mobility and COVID-19

The second of the North American Three Capitals Webinars

The second instalment of our Three Capitals Webinars series examined how physical mobility has affected the spread of coronavirus, and what public policy measures have succeeded and failed to contain the pandemic.

Our guest speaker, Dr Moritz Kraemer, joined us directly from Oxford. He is attached to both the University’s Department of Zoology and the Oxford Martin Programme on Pandemic Genomics.

This webinar series is joint project of the Oxford University societies in Mexico City, Ottawa, and Washington DC. This event was moderated by our colleagues in Mexico.

The struggle against coronavirus is one that involves the peoples of every country, and we were delighted to welcome audience members from across the world.

The Oxford College Arms

The first of the North American Three Capitals Webinars

Our inaugural collaboration with our colleagues at the Oxford University Societies in Mexico City and Washington DC was a great success, attracting more than one-hundred Oxonians from across North America.

Dr John Tepper Marlin entertained us with stories of how the College coats of arms came into being, and what their symbols tells us about their times and character.

This was the first instalment of our new series, the Three Capitals Webinars. The Oxford University Societies in each of the North American capitals will take it in turn to host an online event. We hope our series will strengthen the bonds of friendship between Oxonians on this side of the Atlantic, and enable us to draw on the depth of knowledge and insights of our peers across our continent.

Our next Three Capitals Webinar will be hosted by Mexico City, on Thursday 20 August 2020, and will discuss Oxford’s role in tracking the spread of coronavirus and developing a vaccine against the disease.