An Evening with the Elders

One of the many things I love about Oxford is that there is always a plethora of fascinating lectures and discussion to attend.  Tonight we were lucky enough to attend an Evening with the Elders held in the Sheldonian Theatre

The Elders in attendance were Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations;  Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, Hina Jilani, International Human Rights Defender from Pakistan, and Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States.

The moderator was Dr. Farhan Nizami, Director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies

 The discussion was entitled: Conflict, Dialogue and Peace: Speaking Truth to Power.  I was so impressed with how articulate and brilliant each of the speakers were, especially Mary Robinson and Jimmy Carter.

The Elders are a group of independent leaders, brought together by the late Nelson Mandela in 2007, who use their collective experience and influence for peace and human rights worldwide. 

Across the theatre from where we were sitting was a familiar face -- Sir Richard Branson

Since 2007, the Elders have worked to help build peace and heal divisions in the Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Palestine, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Sudan and South Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe. They also work to address the impact of climate change, encourage sustainable development, the equality of girls and women, and ending child marriages.


The evening was a fascinating question and answer session with thought provoking and challenging questions asked by members of the audience. It was an evening of hope and at times discouragement, of inspiration and leadership by example.

My favorite quotes from the evening:

Hina Jilani: "We don't just want to preserve Nelson Mandela's vision of peace and justice, we want to expand it."

President Carter: "Even a small group of proactive students can have a huge impact on society. Though maybe not on U.S. Congress."

Kofi Annan: "We all believe in the Universal Declaration of HumanRights. And even if we don't, we all want it applied to us!"

President Carter: "It worries me that the ethnic origins of current prisoners in US reflect our socio-economic inequalities."

President Carter: "The number of prisoners today in the US is 5 times higher than at the end of my presidency."

President Carter: "Money has become more important than people."

Dreaming Spires

On a lovely summer day in July I went to the top of the Sheldonian theatre, a prominent  building in Oxford built by Christopher Wren. From the top, there are excellent views of the city.  Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university buildings. When you get a birds-eye view of Oxford, you can see why Arnold referred to the "dreaming spires" -- there are spires everywhere.

The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library.  I've been told that the Bodeleian Library has at least on copy of every book ever published in Great Britain. 

The Radcliffe Camera is one of the iconic buildings of Oxford. It was designed by James Gibbs in the English Palladian style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.  Today is it used as a reading room for students and faculty.  It is not open to the public.

This is the Tower of the Five Orders. The Tower is so named because it is ornamented, in ascending order, with the columns of each of the five orders of classical architecture. 

This is looking down Broad Street toward Balliol College which was founded in 1263. 

The top of the Clarendon Building, which used to house the Oxford University Press, and now is office space for the Bodleian library. The statues on top are the Muses (I think).

Hertford Bridge, popularly known as the Bridge of Sighs, is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane.  It was copied after the style of the Bridge of Sighs and the Rialto Bridge in Venice.  It is another popular city landmark.