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Shaun Maguire – Refounding Democracy: Free Speech and Information Warfare

To Be Confirmed Oxford

‘We invested $800M into X. This has given me a front row seat in the battle playing out for freedom of speech: some of the modern tactics being used to a) silence people and b) manipulate the narrative.’

In this special Pharos event, Sequoia Capital’s Shaun Maguire will speak about investing in democratic renewal in the face of information warfare, censorship and institutional cowardice.

Dr Shaun Maguire is a Partner at Sequoia Capital. At Sequoia, Shaun led their investments into SpaceX, X, The Boring Company, Foundry and many others. Prior to Sequoia, Shaun co-founded a cybersecurity company called Expanse, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks. He was a partner at Google Ventures, and he worked at DARPA. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of DARPA's mission there. He has a PhD in physics from Caltech, a Masters degree in Statistics from Caltech, and he has been to about 100 countries.

Free

Jonathan Sumption & Catharine Titi – Pharos Conversations: The Elgin Marbles

To Be Confirmed Oxford

In the first ever Pharos Conversation, a range of distinguished scholars, intellectuals, and commentators will debate the future of the Elgin Marbles.

Jonathan Sumption KC is a distinguished historian and one of Britain's leading jurists, serving on the UK Supreme Court (2012-2018) after a prodigious career as a barrister. He is also the author of a five volume history of the Hundred Years' War, and a prominent commentator on legal issues. His inaugural Pharos Lecture is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiM1EYlQgzg .

Catharine Titi is a professor at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Her specialisms include public international law, the settlement of international disputes, international investment law, international arbitration, and cultural heritage law. Her latest book is The Parthenon Marbles and International Law, which was published by Springer in 2023.

Tiffany Jenkins is a British sociologist and writer, who currently serves as the culture editor for the journal Sociology Compass. She has written extensively on the controversies surrounding the Elgin Marbles and wider issues around the restitution of cultural heritage. Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums – and Why they Should Stay There was published by Oxford University Press in 2016.

Alexander Herman is the Director of the Institute of Art and Law. He has written, taught and presented on an array of topics in relation to art, law, and cultural property, often appearing in the national press and international journals. His most recent book is The Parthenon Marbles Dispute: Heritage, Law, Politics, published by Hart in 2023.

Mario Trabucco della Torretta is a classical archaeoloist trained in Sicily and in Athens. His expertise covers classical Greek architecture and sculpture, Ancient Athens, and the Elgin Marbles. He is a prominent commentator and contributor to many journals, and tweets at @Marrio_Trabucco.

Nigel Spivey is Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Classics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and a leading authority on Greco-Roman art - particularly of the Etruscans. He is the author many works, including Etruscan Art (1997), Enduring Creation: Art, Pain, and Fortitude (2001), and Greek Sculpture (2013).

Free

David Starkey – Renaissances: Past, Present, & Future

To Be Confirmed Oxford

Historian & Broadcaster

“The Renaissance” (or “Rebirth”) is conventionally defined as the two centuries, from about 1350 to 1550, which saw a comprehensive re-engagement with the culture of the Graeco-Roman world: with its philosophy, literature, art, architecture, history, science and politics. The movement started in Italy. But it was a much-travelled Englishman, Geoffrey Chaucer, who first captured its essence.

For out of old fields, as men saith,
Cometh all this new corn from year to year;
And out of old books, in good faith,
Cometh all this new science that men learn.

This idea, of the old fructifying the new, is also the definition of a Classic. In these lectures, I want to argue that the Classic, in both its senses of an age and of specific works, is the key to Western Civilisation. And that its Twentieth Century rejection in the form of Modernism is the cause of our present discontents.

Born in Kendal, David Starkey read history at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he completed his PhD on Henry VIII's household under the supervision of Geoffrey Elton, before teaching at Cambridge and LSE. His many publications include seven major studies of the Tudor period, most recently Henry: Model of a Tyrant, which was published by Harper Collins in 2020. Dr Starkey redefined public history in the 1990s and 2000s, including the landmark series Monarchy, commissioned by Channel 4 in 2002, and has been a frequent commentator in the media. He was awarded a CBE in 2007.

Free