News
Friday, 24 June 2011
In Support of the Arts and the Humanities - Oxford Inspires’ Cultural Platform
Oxford Inspires' Cultural Platforms have, over the years, played host to many great speakers. The 14 June 2011 Platform was unique in that it featured not one but two distinguished speakers, Professor Janet Beer, the Vice Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and Professor Andrew Hamilton, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
The timing of the event coincided with Universities Week 2011, a national campaign demonstrating the benefits of universities within UK society. The campaign highlights the impact universities in the UK have on the individual, the local community, its businesses and the future of the UK, to name just a few.
Professor Janet Beer, Vice Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to contribute to the excellent work of Oxford Inspires and take part in its Cultural Platform.
“Oxford Brookes has been involved in a number of initiatives for Universities Week and I believe it is important that people are aware of the significant contribution that cultural learning and practice provides.
“We absolutely value the importance of cultural influences and our Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences courses play a major role in our success as a leading university. Although we are facing significant changes in the university sector in the coming years, Oxford Brookes will ensure this remains a priority and continue to have a positive cultural and economic effect on our local and wider community.”
Professor Janet Beer was admitted as Vice Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University in 2007. She is a graduate of both Reading and Warwick Universities and has also held a fellowship at Yale University. Between 1983 and 1989 she worked for the Inner London Education Authority, and has fulfilled academic and leadership roles at Warwick, Roehampton and Manchester Metropolitan. In addition, Professor Beer also has an established record of research in late nineteenth and early twentieth century American literature and culture and contemporary Canadian women’s writing.
Professor Hamilton also spoke of the importance of culture and in particular about the contribution it makes in Oxford. He said “The University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University each make a vital contribution to the cultural life of the city of Oxford, through their members – staff, students, and alumni - and the activities of their members.
“One has only to think of events such as Oxford Open Doors, the Oxfordshire Science Festival, Artweeks, and the summer Shakespeare season, providing theatrical entertainment in just about every open space in the city."
Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, took up post in 2009. He is a graduate of the University of Exeter, the University of British Columbia and Cambridge University, where he was awarded his PhD in 1980. After completing a post-doctorial period at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, Professor Hamilton went on to take up roles at the University of Pittsburgh and then later Yale, where he served as Provost, Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry and as Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.
Oxford Inspires Cultural Platforms take place twice a year and offer the chance for distinguished speakers to share personal perspectives on contemporary cultural issues with an invited audience of leaders from business, the public sector, the arts, regional agencies and the academic community.
