On Saturday 25 April 2026, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities opened to the public and launched its first-ever cultural programme, featuring talks by three noted Somervillians.
Professors Emma Smith, Colin Phillips and Samantha Sebastian
12,000 people visited the building to attend the free day-long Open House festival, featuring concerts, dance performances, talks and exhibitions.
Alongside world premieres of new music and the unveiling of new art installations, guests enjoyed talks by three Somervillians.
Honorary Fellow and Professor of Shakespeare Studies, Professor Emma Smith (1988, English) gave a talk on ‘When Shakespeare met Trump’, highlighting the analogies between contemporary and Shakespearean demagogues.
Later that day, our Professorial Fellow in Linguistics and current Chair of the Linguistics Faculty, Professor Colin Phillips, spoke about his latest research in a talk entitled ‘Linguistic illusions: now you say it, now you don’t’.
Finally, visitors were able to hear about ‘A lullaby in three journeys’, in which our Tutorial Fellow in Music, Professor Samantha Sebastian, discussed her continuing work on the personal and social resonance of lullabies.
The event brought ‘town and gown’ together for a delightful afternoon, and we look forward to many more such collaborations in the future.
The interior of the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities during the inaugural ‘Open House’. Credit: University of Oxford/Oxford Atelier