Cambridge Society of Paris

Via Luce - Mozart at Christmas
2019-12-10 20:30 - 22:00 (Europe/Paris) | Eglise Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 3 Place Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, 76006, France
The Via Luce Orchestra, directed by Peter Vizard (Gonville & Caius) and the Cantoria Nova Romana choir are performing Mozart’s Coronation Mass KV 317 and Solemn Vespers for a Confessor KV339.
The concert is at the Eglise Saint-Germain-des-PrÃ©s, 3 Place Saint-Germain-des-PrÃ©s, 75006 Paris at 8:30pm.
Discounted tickets of â‚¬25 for 1st Category (public price â‚¬30) and â‚¬15 for 2nd Category (public price â‚¬20) are offered to members of CamSoc. Tickets for those under 25 are â‚¬10.
Discounted tickets cannot be purchased directly on the Via Luce website so, to book your tickets, send an email to contact@vialuce.fr indicating that you would like to benefit from the discount offered to members of the Cambridge Society of Paris.

UK Alumni Groups' Christmas Drinks
2019-12-11 18:30 - 21:30 | British Council, 9 rue Constantine, Paris, 75007, France
Reserve now for the UK Universities inter-alumni Christmas drinks on 11th December!
Following our very successful Christmas party last year, the UK Universities inter-alumni network is again organizing festive drinks and finger-food at the British Council on Wednesday 11th December 2019.
This year, we are asking our membersÂ for a five euros fee to help with the catering expenses.
To encourage you all to get into the Christmas spirit, the prize-winner in this yearâ€™s competition will be the person who looks the most Christmassy, and, like last year, weâ€™ll wrap up the evening with a Christmas carol sing-along!
Booking is now open on Billetweb at https://www.billetweb.fr/uk-alumni-christmas-party-2019.
Spaces are limited, so tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis.
When you are reserving, youÂ mustÂ mention First name, Last name &Â University. Please also note that this event is exclusively reserved for alumni of the UK Universities community.
The party will begin at 6.30 and finish at 9.30 pm with the Christmas carols.
We look forward to seeing you there!
The inter-alumni coordinator team

Via Luce - Bach at Christmas
2019-12-15 16:00 - 17:30 | Eglise Saint Ignace, 33 rue de SÃ¨vres, Paris, 75006, France
The Ensemble Via Luce, directed by Peter Vizard (Gonville & Caius), will be performing a number of Bach Cantatas and the Bach Concerto for Oboe d’Amore at 4pm on Sunday 15th December at the Eglise Saint Ignace, 33 rue de SÃ¨vres, 75006 Paris.
Entry is free, but their will be a voluntary collection. No booking is required.

Carols at the Travellers
2019-12-16 18:30 - 20:00 | The Travellers Club, 25 avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris, 75008, France
We are sorry, but this event is now sold out. You can register to be put on the waiting list. If places become available, we will let you know.
Â Annual Carol Singing at
â€œThe Travellersâ€
25, avenue des Champs-ElysÃ©es, Paris 8’eme
From 6:30 PM on Monday, 16th December, 2019
Vin chaud and mince pies will be served prior to the singing
Numbers are limited to 100 in total. Places will be allocated on a â€œfirst come, first servedâ€ basis
Please apply by booking through the “Tickets” section below. Cost per person is â‚¬20.
NB: Please note that the Travellers Club
requires gentlemen to wear jackets and ties

The 2020 Boat Race - cancelled
2020-03-29 16:00 - 19:00 | The Bowler, 13 rue d'Artois, Paris, 75008, France
Sun 29th March from 16:00Â â€“ The 2020 Boat Race
The 2020 Boat Race on the Thames has been cancelled, in the light of the current situation relating to Covid-19, as is of course our viewing in Paris at the Bowler.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Dinner with Professor Nicola Padfield - cancelled
2020-04-01 19:00 - 23:00 | Le Zimmer, 1 Place du ChÃ¢telet, Paris, Paris, 75001, France
in the light of the current situation relating to Covid-19 in Paris, we have, regretfully, decided to cancel the dinner that had been planned on Wednesday 1st April with Professor Nicola Padfield as our speaker.
We are sorry that we will miss out on what was to be a most interesting and topical talk and we hope that we may be able to re-plan this event later in the year or perhaps next.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Surprising differences at work between UK and France
2020-06-26 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
This online event will enable each attendee to share personal experiences and anecdotes relative to the two countries unique work cultures: from meetings, interviews, negotiations and business lunch/dinner to what is expected of “The Boss”.Â
It will be a light hearted and highly interactive discussion and also a great opportunity to learn from each other.
The event is free to attend, duration 1 hour from 6pm to 7pm on Friday 26th June and will be led by Nicolas Nouvel, a member of the Society’s Committee.
It will be hosted on Zoom, which is free to use. An meeting link will be sent to all registered attendees so if you would like to take part, please send anÂ email to admin@camsocparis.com.

30th Cambridge University Alumni Festival
2020-09-17 08:00 - 2020-09-26 17:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
We are delighted to advise that booking is now open for the 30th Alumni Festival. From Thursday 17 September to Saturday 26 September 2020 you can explore ideas, discover new interests and reconnect with Cambridge, wherever you are.
Join us for lively Q&A sessions with the worldâ€™s foremost thinkers, from academics delving deeper into our past, to fellow alumni engineering a sustainable future. This yearâ€™s offerings are more diverse than ever, featuring discussions on race, gender, Brexit, climate change, and even genetically modified mutant worms. Youâ€™ll find an overview of whatâ€™s on offer on the â€˜Programmeâ€™ page, including sessions across the Schools and Colleges of Cambridge.
The programme continues to grow with new events added almost daily. Keep an eye on the programme page for updates.
This year’s digital Alumni Festival is free of charge.

The Society's AGM and presentation by Louis Klee - Wednesday 23rd September
2020-09-23 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The Society’s Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 23rd September at 7pm and will be followed by a presentation by Louis Klee, a beneficiary of the Trevor Brown Bursary in 2019 on a topic related to his research into the influence of Walter Benjamin & W.G. Sebald on French Surrealism & Culture.
Due to the current situation relating to Covid-19, and the ongoing increase in infection rates, we are not able to hold the meeting “in person”. The AGM will therefore take place on Zoom at 7pm, with Louis Klee’s presentation expected to start at around 7h45pm.
The “formal” notice of meeting and other papers relating to the AGM were sent to members towards the end of August. An updated set with the link to joint the Zoom meeting will be provided to all members in mid-September
To facilitate management of the Zoom meeting, please register using the form below if you would like to take part.

Hot Topics for Top Minds
2020-10-21 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The Society’s third quarterly virtual meeting to debate topics considered to be of interest by the participants, proposed in advance, will be held on Wednesday 20th January 2021 from 7pm to 8pm. Places will be limited to a maximum of 20 so everyone is able to have their say on each topic.
The critical thing is to have a range of interesting topics, which is down to you please. The topics can be on almost any subject â€“ topical, scientific, philosophical, serious or amusing, it is up to you to suggest what you would like to discuss. Having thought of ideas, please send your contributions directly to Terry Quinn on president@camsocparis.org. Terry will then compÃ¨re the event.
This event will be hosted on Zoom. A meeting link will be sent to all registered attendees two or three days in advance of the event. Since numbers will be limited to 20, you are encouraged to register early

Entrepreneurship and Building a Better World
2020-11-26 18:00 - 19:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The Cambridge Society of Paris is launching a series of events, currently on Zoom, aimed at those who are involved – or just interested – in all aspects relating to being an Entrepreneur.
Led by Committee Member Nicolas Nouvel, a series of forums will be held in which a selected panel of Deep Tech entrepreneurs will have an opportunity promote their business, increase their visibility and potentially get some support towards success. By Deep Tech entrepreneurs we mean people who own some specific patent or know-how in Clean Technologies, hence they will have some innovative and inspirational ways of building a better world by driving the adoption of cleaner technologies in essential yet highly polluting industries.
The first event will take place at 6pm on Thursday 26th November, on Zoom, and is expected last about 90 minutes.
The first half will be a panel discussion, followed by Q&A in the second half.
Please sign up using the ticket application box below. The link to the Zoom meeting will be sent to registered participants a couple of days before the event.

Christmas Baking - Making the perfect mince pie from A to Z
2020-12-05 16:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Making the perfect mince pie from A to Z – a tutorial with demonstrations by Sky Quinn
Sky, our Presidentâ€™s 14 year old London-based grandson, is an enthusiastic cook. He has taken twoÂ courses at Prue Leith’sÂ School of Food and Wine in London. Last year he got into the last 30 of the BBC junior Bake Off but was told he would be more suitable for the adult competition when he is old enough. He has made a good income for pocket money by cooking full dinners for his parentsâ€™ friends and neighbours. He is very interested in and knowledgeable about the history of food and recently made for his family a Mince Pie from a 16th century recipe (with real meat).
Aware that lockdown has prevented many of us from going over to the UK for our usual seasonal shopping, we hope this will give you the tricks and tips you need to make your own mince pies to enjoy on Christmas Day.
The demonstration will be shown on Zoom at 4pm on Saturday 5th December. The access link to join will be sent to registered participants a couple of days before the event.
Book now to avoid disappointment.

Christmas Quiz
2020-12-17 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Join us for a topical quiz in the run-up to Christmas.
Test your knowledge of traditional – and not so traditional – aspects of the season.
The quiz will be held on Zoom at 7pm on Thursday 17th December. The access link to join the quiz will be sent to registered participants a couple of days before the event.
Book now to avoid disappointment.

Oxford and Cambridge Paris Poetry and Prose Reading
2021-01-06 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Developing the theme of the Play Readings that were organised for the enjoyment of members of both the Oxford and Cambridge Societies in Paris, we have organised a Poetry or Prose reading evening, on Wednesday 6th January 2021 at 7pm.
This date has been chosen both as it coincides with the First Wednesday in 2021, and so we hope will help compensate for the continued absence of Monthly Drinks evenings, and also it is Epiphany which might offer a theme, if you choose to adopt it, for your reading.
The Cambridge Society has kindly agreed to lead the event, which will be hosted on Zoom.Â A meeting link will be sent to all registered attendees two or three days before of the event.
Each participant will be invited to select their choice of readings, in English, ideally each up to three minutes long. For the more adventurous, you can of course write your own. We expect you will have the opportunity of reading at least twice.

Third Cambridge Cutting Edge Lecture
2021-01-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
THIRD CAMBRIDGE CUTTING EDGE LECTURE
PROFESSOR PASCALE COSSARTÂ Â
â€œTHE EVOLVING SITUATION OF COVID-19 AND RECENT ADVANCES IN DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION OF VACCINESâ€
7pm Tuesday 12th January 2021
Presentation on ZOOM
the meeting link will be sent to registered participants on Friday 8th January
Professor Pascale Cossart, of the Institut Pasteur, is one of France’s leading biologists. The recipient of many national and international awards, she is SecrÃ©taire perpÃ©tuel pour la division Sciences chimiques, biologiques et mÃ©dicales, et leurs applications de l’ AcadÃ©mie des sciencess and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London.

Hot Topics for Top Minds
2021-01-20 20:00 - 21:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The Society’s third quarterly virtual meeting to debate topics considered to be of interest by the participants, proposed in advance, will be held on Wednesday 20th January 2021 from 8pm to 9pm. Places will be limited to a maximum of 20 so everyone is able to have their say on each topic.
The critical thing is to have a range of interesting topics, which is down to you please. The topics can be on almost any subject â€“ topical, scientific, philosophical, serious or amusing, it is up to you to suggest what you would like to discuss. Having thought of ideas, please send your contributions directly to Terry Quinn on president@camsocparis.org. Terry will then compÃ¨re the event.
This event will be hosted on Zoom. A meeting link will be sent to all registered attendees two or three days in advance of the event. Since numbers will be limited to 20, you are encouraged to register early

Entrepreneurship and Building a Better World - Our second panel discussion
2021-01-28 18:00 - 19:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
We are delighted to confirm the participation of three great panelists for the second Cambridge Society of Paris “Entrepreneurship and Building a Better World” Panel Discussion. This time, we will be at the interface between Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, with the focus on â€œInnovative collaboration models to grow sustainability-driven communitiesâ€.

Our three panelists are:
Domini Hogg, Founder of Tried and Supplied, linkedin.com/in/domini-hogg-éƒæ€¡ç³-56286441
Dr. Simon Engelke, Founder & Chair of Battery Associates, linkedin.com/in/simonengelke
Rudradeb Mitra, Founder of Omdena,Â linkedin.com/in/mitrar
They are deploying innovative collaboration models and building sustainability-driven communities in their own respective fields! Three inspirational people to look forward to spending part of your evening with on 28th January 2021.

UK Alumni Network Speed Networking Event 2021
2021-02-19 18:30 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Welcome to the first online event organised by the Joint UK Alumni in France Network – a virtual business networking session for meeting like-minded professionals in a fun â€œspeed networkingâ€ setting.
If you came to the in-person speed networking session at the British Council two years ago, welcome to the online version!
We will meet up via Zoom and go into individual video chats with other participants. Each round of “speed networking” lasts for 6 minutes, that is 3 mins for each of you. There will be a timer to remind you the time left with your partner. We will pair you up with other participants throughout the session. There will also be opportunities for small group discussions with the alumni from your own university and for certain industries. We will have a small virtual aperitif break in the middle of the session so make sure your wine / beer / fruit juice / water is ready and chilled on the day.
ðŸŒŽ Mingle with other UK alumni
ðŸ¤ Make relevant and truly meaningful contacts in different domains
ðŸ—£ Practice your elevator pitch again and again
ðŸš€ Have a great time together
This is a professional networking event. Please make sure that you’re comfortable with video. Please change your Zoom name to “Name – Uni – Your Profession” for the event. Have your LinkedIn profile and contact info handy to facilitate exchange of contact info during the individual sessions.
To register, please use one of these links:
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/events/jointukalumnifrancecommunity-vi6758022214852988928/
GoogleForm – for those who are not on LinkedIn
https://forms.gle/h4LRFzrnzu6pukfJA
We look forward to welcoming you on 19th February!
Your coordinators 🙂

Achievements and Challenges in Weather Forecasting
2021-02-22 20:30 - 22:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Advances in weather modelling have been driven as much by technological development as by improvements in weather science. The most notable of these are the rapid increases in supercomputer power and improvements in Earth observations from space. Rapidly improving modelling capability enabled by this technology has led to 3-day weather forecasts today being as accurate as 1-day forecasts were 20 years ago.

Dr Vicky Pope (Girton) will outline some of these improvements and where further improvements are still needed. Vicky is an honorary Professor at the Science Technology Engineering and Public Policy Institute at University College London. She had a long and varied career in the Met Office. She worked for many years on climate change. She led the development of some of the best climate models in the world and later ran the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme, acting as the interface between scientists and government and other key stakeholders including the media.

Oxford and Cambridge Paris Poetry and Prose Reading
2021-02-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Following the successful experiment in January, OUSP and CamSoc Paris propose to hold another joint virtual prose and poetry reading on Wednesday February 24th. It will take place on Zoom.
This event is open & without charge to all members of both societies. Please register on the Oxford or Cambridge web site to participate.
Each reader should plan to come with one modern and one classical reading, each of 3 to 5 minutes (maximum) long. Anything written in the last 50 years will qualify as â€œmodernâ€.
Thus, in the 90 minutes available, you can expect to read both pieces. We would like, this time, to focus on the readings themselves, and avoid too much comment around them. This will help keep the rhythm brisk & hopefully interesting to all. Paul Tracy (Oxford) will act as moderator for the evening.
We look forward to seeing you then.

David Willetts - The Past and Future of Universities
2021-03-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS is the President of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit.
David Willetts will begin by setting out the very different histories of universities In France and England, especially the pre-eminence of Oxbridge to explain some of the very significant and continuing differences between higher education in the two countries. He will reflect on his relations with French ministers during his time as Minister for Universities and Science. Then after explaining the controversial changes he brought in he will speculate on future trends shaping higher education in both countries.Â
David Willetts has written widely on economic and social policy. His book â€œA University Educationâ€ is published by Oxford University Press. A second edition of his book on the Boomers and the young generation â€œThe Pinchâ€ was published in November 2019.
David Willetts is a visiting Professor at Kingâ€™s College London, a Board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a Board member of Surrey Satellites and of the Biotech Growth Trust. He is Chair of The Foundation for Science and Technology, an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society and the Chancellor of the University of Leicester.

How can business benefit from the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement? Opportunities and Challenges
2021-03-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement was hailed as the resolution to the long-running negotiations between Britain and the EU just before Christmas. But how should my business be using it? Is it as effective as businesses would like in the key areas that affect them? How can my business seize any opportunities?
These questions and many more are at the front of our minds as everyone tries to work out what the Agreement really means.
We are delighted to welcome two eminent experts in the field to a Forum on how business can deal with the Agreement, Catherine Barnard from Cambridge University and Paul Taylor from the Department for International Trade at the British Embassy in Paris. They will cover the key aspects of the Agreement, but above all we hope to cover those issues your business is facing and answer your questions. When you register, you will be invited to let us know what topics interest you and what your questions are. There will also be the opportunity to ask your questions during the Forum.
Catherine Barnard

Catherine Barnard is Professor of EU law and Employment Law and senior tutor and fellow of Trinity College.Â She is the author of EU Employment Law (Oxford, OUP, 2012, 5th ed.), The Substantive Law of the EU: The Four Freedoms, (Oxford, OUP, 2016, 5th ed), and (with Peers ed), European Union Law (Oxford, OUP, 2017, 2nd ed) . She is currently a Senior Fellow in the UK in a Changing Europe (http://ukandeu.ac.uk/) project. This is an authoritative, non-partisan think tank which does research and provides information about all aspects of Brexit. Part of its remit is to make that information accessible to the general public. So it does a lot of public engagement, especially with the media.Â She has appeared extensively on the main media channels – BBC, ITV and Sky – as well as some of the more specialist programmes such as Law in Action, Woman’s Hour and the Briefing Room. She has also written for the Guardian and the Telegraph. She has given evidence to numerous select committees on the legal issues connected with Brexit, immigration and the European Union (Withdrawal) Act.
Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor took up the role of Chief Operating Officer, Department for International Trade, at the British Embassy in Paris in May 2016. Immediately prior to his arrival in France, Paul spent five years in Prague as Regional Director for Trade & Investment with Central and South Eastern Europe. Paulâ€™s Government career encompasses both the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Trade. Previous responsibilities in Whitehall include managing bilateral relations with South America and, subsequently, the Middle East & North Africa; while other overseas experience includes diplomatic postings to the British Embassies in Mexico City, Santiago and Madrid.

Robert W Hanning - Stories for an Uncertain World
2021-04-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The social fabric of human communities is woven primarily from the creation, transmission, and reception of stories.Â Is it merely an accident that Western Europeâ€™s two greatest tale collections originated within a long generation of each other, or is there something important we can learn about the culture of late medieval European civilization from a comparison of Giovanni Boccaccioâ€™s Decameron (1350s) and Geoffrey Chaucerâ€™s Canterbury Tales (1380s-early 1390s)?Â In fact, for all their differences, the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales frequently align in telling â€œstories for an uncertain worldâ€â€”a world shown to be challenged by radical uncertainties of knowledge, perception, and strategy, and lacking the serene comfort of faith in Divine Providence so often thought to characterize the medieval centuries. Â A comparison of passages, and stories, from both collections suggests instead that the necessary and proper response to their world is to deploy skills of calculation and deliberation that generate deeds, and supporting words, designed to control, as much as is possible, lifeâ€™s ever changing circumstances.Â Seen from this perspective, the frequent goal in these wonderfully told tales is not salvation but agency, Â and the appropriate virtue, rather than holiness, is a modified version of what Aristotle called â€œpractical wisdomâ€ (phrÃ³nesis) and we, following Cicero, call prudence (prudentia). Â
*******
Robert W. Hanning, Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, holds degrees from Columbia and Oxford.Â Recipient of Guggenheim, ACLS, NEH, and Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships, he gave the New Chaucer Societyâ€™s Biennial Chaucer Lecture in 1998 at the Sorbonne.Â He has published three books on classical, medieval, and Renaissance subjects and has co-translated two major medieval French texts.Â His monograph, â€œStories for an Uncertain World: Agency in Boccaccioâ€™s Decameron and Chaucerâ€™s Canterbury Tales,â€ is to be published by Oxford University Press.

Hot Topics for Top Minds
2021-04-21 20:00 - 21:00 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The Society’s fourth quarterly virtual meeting to debate topics considered to be of interest by the participants, proposed in advance, will be held on Wednesday 21st April 2021 from 8pm to 9pm. Places will be limited to a maximum of 20 so everyone is able to have their say on each topic.
The critical thing is to have a range of interesting topics, which is down to you please. The topics can be on almost any subject â€“ topical, scientific, philosophical, serious or amusing, it is up to you to suggest what you would like to discuss. Having thought of ideas, please send your contributions directly to Terry Quinn on president@camsocparis.org. Terry will then compÃ¨re the event.
This event will be hosted on Zoom. A meeting link will be sent to all registered attendees two or three days in advance of the event. Since numbers will be limited to 20, you are encouraged to register early

Katie Derham - The Great Silence... the power of music during the pandemic
2021-04-27 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The face of theÂ BBC Proms, Katie has been presenting the BBCâ€™s coverage of the yearly musical extravaganza for the past eleven years. With a career in broadcasting spanning over two decades, Katie has collected an impressive number of credits, working as an award winning journalist and presenter in both radio and television. She regularly presents the drive time show, In Tune, on BBC Radio 3, interviewing the biggest names in music and the arts, and in 2019 joined forces with Radio France Musique for a unique broadcasting exchange.
Katie joined ITV News as Media and Arts Correspondent in 1998 and, as a 27-year-old, became the youngest newscaster on British national television and the youngest in ITN history. Always up for a challenge, Katie learned how to conduct on the BBC reality series Maestro, dusted off her violin for the Sky Arts series First Love, and danced her way to the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2015. She runs her own production company, Peanut and Crumb.Â

The ups and downs in the life of a top civil servant close to the heart of Government
2021-05-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
We invite you to join us in a presentation by Jonathan Slater, former Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education in London until summer 2020, when Boris decided to make a change. He is now now visiting Professor at Kingâ€™s College and at Queen Mary University, London

Oxford and Cambridge Poetry and Prose Reading
2021-05-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
We are pleased to announce the third Oxford and Cambridge virtual prose and poetry reading on Tuesday 25th May at 7pm. It will take place on Zoom.
This event is open & without charge to all members of both Societies. Please register on the Cambridge website to participate.
This month, we have decided that we need to anticipate the end of the restrictions on our movements we have endured on and off for over a year now, but in particular in April when we were pretty much limited to a circle of 10 kms around our homes. This means that the theme of the readings is â€œTravellingâ€. Each reader should plan to come with two readings, each of 3 to 5 minutes (maximum) long.
Thus, in the 90 minutes available, you can expect to read both pieces. Paul Tracy (Oxford) will again act as moderator for the evening.

Martin Rees - The World in 2050 - and Beyond
2021-06-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow,Â OM, FRS, FREng, FMedSci, FRASÂ is aÂ BritishÂ cosmologistÂ andÂ astrophysicist. He has beenÂ Astronomer RoyalÂ since 1995Â and wasÂ MasterÂ ofÂ Trinity College, CambridgeÂ from 2004 to 2012 andÂ President of the Royal SocietyÂ between 2005 and 2010.
Martinâ€™s field is astronomy where he has achieved many important results, and recently Martin has founded the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, where he studies the fundamental threats and risks to humanity.
In his book, “On the Future: Prospects for Humanity” published in 2018, he demonstrates that humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomesâ€”good and badâ€”are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, Martin argues that humanityâ€™s prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow.

Dr Peter Hicks - Napoleon and the British, before and during St Helena
2021-06-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
The first ever biographies of Napoleon were written not in French but in English, the only serious biographies of the Consul and later Emperor were written in the same language and during his lifetime. During both of his abdications and exiles, â€˜Boneyâ€™ was frequently the subject of book, newspaper articles, etc. The exile on St Helena was to provide for the springboard for an obsession in the English-language world that lasts to this day. My talk will discuss this little-known, British part in the telling of the Napoleon story.

Peter Hicks is an historian of the Napoleonic period and International Affairs manager at the Fondation NapolÃ©on, Paris. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Bath (UK) (2008-2018) and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, Florida State University, USA. He also is ChargÃ© de cours at the Institut Catholic des Etudes SupÃ©rieures (ICES) La Roche sur Yon. His recent books include â€“Â (ed.), Emmanuel de Las Cases, Le MÃ©morial de Sainte HÃ©lÃ¨ne: Le manuscript retrouvÃ©, critical edition, with presentation and commentary with Thierry Lentz, FranÃ§ois Houdecek and Chantal Prevot, Perrin 2017, (ed.) La bataille de Waterloo : symbole de victoire, de dÃ©faite et lieu de mÃ©moire/Battle of Waterloo : Introductions to the Lectures and After-Thoughts â€“ in English, (Les Ã©ditions de la Belle alliance, 2015) and The Napoleonic Empire and the New European Political Culture, with Michael Broers and Agustin Guimera, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). His current publication projects include: joint-editor of volume 3 of Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars, (CUP 2020), a selection of British witnesses to Napoleon on St Helena (Perrin 2021). He also a musician. Recent Napoleonic projects include the creation, organization and performance of a week-long Festival of Napoleonic and Georgian music on the island of St Helena (May 2019) (concerts, recital, singing day) and a concert of Napoleonic music, HÃ´tel des Invalides, Paris, 24 May 2018 (choir, soloists and orchestra). His upcoming Napoleonic musical projects include: a Napoleonic recital (piano and voice), Lucca, Italy, August 2021 (covid permitting, but it is open airâ€¦), and the creation, organization and Â conducting of two concerts of famous and rare Napoleonic music, HÃ´tel des Invalides, October 2021 (choir, soloists and orchestra).

Peter Elliott - The â€˜artâ€™ of self-publishing: a view by a Trinity lawyer, an escapist into history
2021-09-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Zoom meeting, Your location, France
Peter will tell a story of a Cambridge Law tripos student, who should have read history, but devoted a career to law, and then in retirement switched back to his first love, history.
From his rustic base in the Languedoc, far from sophisticated libraries, Peter carries out most of his research remotely. He will cover:

use of archives, libraries, databases;
building a network relating to the subject and topic; –
combining text and image to tell a story;
he art of self -publishing, and in particular use of the KDP Amazon self-platform.

Peter Elliott:

After leaving Â school in South Africa, and gaining a first degree at Cape Town University, Peter Elliott won a national scholarship to Cambridge in 1971, where he read law at Trinity (1971-1974). After graduating he qualified as a solicitor and pursued a legal career in England, in private practice and in industry. After retiring at the end 2011, he and his wife Maddy moved to the Languedoc, France, where they live surrounded by vines, in a landscape not unlike parts of the Western Cape.
Peterâ€™s lifelong interest in history Â drew him to biography. He has researched and published five titles, Â all with some focus on his country of origin, South Africa. Two are distinctly art biographies, but also tell a social and political history.
