Ethical inquiry has never been more pressing and important. Accelerated climate change, the rapid emergence of AI, the risk posed by nuclear weapons alongside the stalling of global democratisation and growing distrust of science – these are just some of the major global challenges facing our generation. Moreover, ethical considerations permeate every facet of our personal and professional lives, be it in the realms of business, medicine, politics, or the media. This is something increasingly recognised by universities and professional organisations – and is very much an inter-disciplinary concern.
Oxley College envisions a dynamic, inclusive, and enlightened learning community, where critical thinking and ethics form the bedrock. This vision aligns with the College’s status as a Round Square School—a global network championing ideals such as internationalism, democracy, environmentalism, leadership and service.
Oxley is committed to delivering an ambitious program of events for both our students and the local community in the Southern Highlands. These events will feature distinguished speakers and leaders from diverse fields, including philanthropy, higher education, non-governmental organisations, and industry.
We warmly invite you to join us in our inaugural year.
Dr Jeremy Hall, Head of Philosophy and Ethics
There is a question everyone has to ask and answer – in fact, has to keep on asking and keep on answering. It is ‘How should I live my life?’, meaning ‘What sort of person should I be? What values shall I live by? What shall I aim for?’ The great majority of people do not ask this question, they merely answer it unthinkingly in conventional ways.
This is the ‘Socratic Question’, challenging us to examine the philosophy of life we live by. Everyone has a philosophy of life, but most people do not know that they have one, because they imbibed it unconsciously from society, parents, schools, friends. What are the assumptions of that unconscious philosophy, and the reasons for living according to it? Do these assumptions and reasons survive scrutiny? If one really thought about one’s life and the philosophy that underlies it, what changes would one make?
In this talk, Professor Grayling traverses love, death, grief, ageing, friendship, and art in the quest to understand what matters.
“… I believe as strongly now as I ever did that Socrates’ question is the most important anyone can be asked to answer” (A.C. Grayling)
Professor A.C. Grayling CBE MA DPhil (Oxon) FRSA FRSL is the Principal of Northeastern University London, and its Professor of Philosophy. He is also a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. He is the author of over thirty books of philosophy, biography, history of ideas, and essays. He was for several years a columnist on the Guardian, the Times, and Prospect magazine. He has contributed to many leading newspapers in the UK, US and Australia, and to BBC radios 4, 3 and the World Service, for which he did the annual ‘Exchanges at the Frontier’ series; and he has often appeared on television. He has twice been a judge on the Booker Prize, in 2014 serving as the Chair of the judging panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Vice President of Humanists UK, Patron of the Defence Humanists, Honorary Associate of the Secular Society, and a Patron of Dignity in Dying.
WHEN: Wednesday 22 May, 2.00 – 3.20 pm
WHERE: Oxley College, Burradoo
WHERE: Oxley College, Burradoo
COST: $15 (free admission for students)
*Please note this event is only available for Oxley College students and their parents and carers.
BOOKINGS: https://www.trybooking.com/CQSOW
CENTENNIAL SUPPER CLUB: If you are unable to make this event you can also see AC Grayling speak at the Bowral Bookshop Centennial Supper Club
From award-winning journalist Julia Baird, author of the acclaimed national bestseller Phosphorescence, comes Bright Shining, a luminously beautiful, deeply insightful and most timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace.
Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found, in part, when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection with each other, building on our shared humanity, being kinder, bigger, better with each other. If, in its crudest interpretation, karma is getting what you deserve, then grace is the opposite: forgiving the unforgivable, favouring the undeserving, loving the unlovable.
But we live in an era where grace is an increasingly rare currency. The silos we consume information in are dotting the media landscape like skyscrapers, and the growing distrust in media, politicians and public figures, have in some ways choked our ability to cut each other slack, to allow each other to stumble, to forgive one another.
So what does grace look like in our world, and how do we recognise it, nurture it in ourselves, and express it, even in the darkest of times?
Julia Baird is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author based in Sydney. She hosted The Drum on ABCTV and writes columns for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the New York Times. Her writing has appeared in a range of publications including Newsweek, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Guardian, the Good Weekend, The Sydney Morning Herald, the Sun-Herald, The Monthly, Time and Harper’s Bazaar.
Baird spent several years working in the US. In 2005, she was a fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press and Public Policy at Harvard, researching the global response to American opinion in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Shortly afterwards she was appointed senior editor at Newsweek, where she was responsible for cover stories on such subjects as the hidden world of surrogacy, the history of climate science denial, the science of hate and the way gender impacts voting in American politics. She became a columnist there, as well as at the Philadelphia Inquirer.
She has had a wide-ranging career in print and broadcast journalism both in the United States and Australia. Her work has earned her four Walkley Our Watch Awards, (including the Gold) for her reporting on domestic violence, a Walkley Award for team election reporting, and two further Walkley nominations, for analysis and commentary and for Victoria: The Queen.
Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase Julia’s books and personally meet her for a signed copy. Our sincere appreciation to The Bookshop Bowral for their support.
WHEN: Thursday 20 June, 6.30 pm
WHERE: Oxley College, Burradoo
COST: $15 (free admission for students)
BOOKINGS: https://www.trybooking.com/CQSPO
One of Australia’s most loved and respected journalists, Leigh Sales will talk about what she has learned regarding human nature, life and leadership in her thirty years at the frontline of journalism. From ordinary people in extraordinary situations to the world-famous celebrities Leigh has met, her reflections on resilience, self-doubt and transformation will spellbind and entertain any audience.
Leigh Sales is a multi-award-winning author and journalist at the ABC and anchors the much-loved Australian Story program. Before that, she presented the network’s prime-time current affairs program, 7.30, for 12 years. She has been the face of the ABC’s major events coverage, including federal election and budget nights. She has interviewed every living Australian Prime Minister and innumerable world leaders and celebrities from Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair to Paul McCartney and Elton John.
Leigh is the author of five books, including the national bestseller Any Ordinary Day, Well Hello, and her latest Storytellers – a fascinating insight into the vital and much-misunderstood profession of Journalism. She also co-hosts a wildly popular podcast with Annabel Crabb called Chat 10 Looks 3.
Leigh has held numerous roles at the ABC, including as Washington Correspondent, and is a three-time winner of Australia’s highest journalist prize, the Walkley Award. In 2018, she was awarded the Order of Australia for her services to Journalism. She has a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master of International Relations and was awarded Deakin University’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase Leigh’s books and personally meet her for a signed copy. Our sincere appreciation to The Bookshop Bowral for their support.
WHEN: Thursday 1 August, 6.30pm
WHERE: Oxley College, Burradoo
COST: $15 (free admission for students)
BOOKINGS: https://www.trybooking.com/CQSPX
