The final Senior Societies of the half term were led by Environmental Awareness Society, Classics Society, Afro-Caribbean Society and Music Society.
Dr Amir Ghalamzan spoke to Environmental Awareness Society on the role of Agri-food Technology in combatting climate change. Although it has a fair share of worrying stats and figures, the field of climate science also poses a lot of promising solutions. Dr Ghalamzan spoke about his experience in Agri-food Technology, specifically Agri-Robotics, and how they could be essential in lowering environmental impact. As an Associate Professor of Robotics at the University of Lincoln, Dr Ghalamzan recently presented a ‘strawberry-picking robot’ in COP26’s Green Zone – an example of ‘precision agriculture’ that could ensure less agricultural waste.
Classics Society were delighted to welcome Professor Armand D’Angour a Classics tutor at Oxford whose areas of research include ancient music, Socrates and innovation. Professor D’Angour spoke about his research into Socrates’ mentor Aspasia. Aspasia was a classical-era Metic Philosopher and was described by Plutarch as one of the most influential thinkers of her time. The talk was an incredibly insightful look into an often misunderstood historical and Philosophical figure. In keeping with Classics Society’s theme of Classics Week, ‘Women in the Ancient World’, Professor D’Angour’s was very enlightening to anyone interested in Classics, Philosophy and the lives and representation of women in other historical periods.
Afro- Caribbean Society were joined by Dr Karyn Sansom. Dr Sansom is a STEM Ambassador and IET Education Officer and was the winner of the 2021 Institute of Engineering and Technology’s Core Values Award for Excellence. During her talk she spoke about her experience as a black woman in STEM and her career as an engineer.
Finally, the Music Society held an exciting session where they explored songwriting through different genres and the various lyrical interpretations of the same chord structure. Following a talk, there was then an opportunity for all those in attendance to try out some songwriting for themselves!
