Mansfield Public Talks

Held each Friday from 5.30pm during Oxford University term time, Mansfield's lively and engaging series of public talks are free and open to all, with current students, alumni, colleagues and interested members of the public all warmly welcomed and encouraged to attend.

Mansfield Public Talks are convened by College Principal, Helen Mountfield QC, and platform leading figures from varied fields, with previous guest speakers including former President of the Supreme Court, Baroness (Brenda) Hale of Richmond, composer, Errollyn Warren CBE, and poet, Ben Okri OBE.

To kick-off our series of Mansfield Public Talks this year, we are delighted to welcome Alastair Campbell and Fiona Millar to give our first talk: 'How I (and we) learned to live better with depression.' As with all our talks this term, will be held online. Details on how to register for this event can be found, here: https://www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk/event/public-talk-how-i-and-we-learned-live-better-depression

Our first Mansfield Public talk on Friday 22 January, will explore some of the themes covered in Alastair's recent book, Living Better: How I Learned to Survive Depression, in which he lays bare his quest to understand depression.

The importance of mental health, of looking after ourselves, and of being kind to others, is something that we try to think about and openly talk about at Mansfield- particularly as we support our students through the Covid crisis.

One of the more creative ways we offered support to current students last term, was workshops with our writer in residence, Kate Clanchy. Some of the poems that have been created as a result of these have been enjoyed and shared by thousands on Twitter; we are pleased, this has helped support others through this incredibly difficult time.

Mansfield is the college that leads the way for access to the University of Oxford. We are proud that, of our UK undergraduates, we have the highest number of students from state schools (usually around 95%); the highest number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds (40%); and the highest number of students who are the first in their families to go to university (25%), of any Oxford college. Whether affected by the A Level results fiasco of last year; having to isolate in a new city; or family financial hardship, students have been particularly hard hit by Covid.

We hope you enjoy our first Mansfield Public Talk, which is free and open to all. If you would like to make a donation to support students at Mansfield, please click here.