Introducing the Principal’s Discussion Series
The Principal’s Discussion Series is a new initiative at Somerville College from October 2026.
The concept of the Principal’s Discussion Series is to create a forum for interdisciplinary discussion organised around core themes of interest to the Somerville and Oxford community. Each series will take on a single theme and offer participants unparalleled access to specialists working in that field. Conceived as a bridge between academic study and praxis, the Principal’s Discussion Series is ideally suited to graduate students and anyone wanting to follow an eclectic, intellectually stimulating programme.
Series One: Applied History
Co-organised by Somerville College Principal and former ambassador Catherine Royle and former Chief Historian of the FCDO Gill Bennett, the first in our Principal’s Discussion Series will explore the theme of Applied History. There has been increasing academic interest in this field since 2016, when the term was coined by Graham Allison and Niall Fergusson. Writing in their Applied History Manifesto, they defined Applied History as ‘the explicit attempt to illuminate current challenges and choices by analyzing historical precedents and analogs’.
Somerville’s Applied History seminars will seek to offer an introduction to this field rooted squarely in real-world experience. Helping Catherine and Gill elucidate how history can be applied to real world problems will be some of the most seasoned diplomats, historians and civil servants of this century.
Sessions will include:
- Lord Ricketts, former Permanent Under-Secretary of the FCO and Chair of the National Security Council, on the use of history in policy and diplomacy;
- Sir David Omand, former Director GCHQ, and Lord Waldegrave, government minister 1981-97, on disinformation and propaganda;
- Lord Butler, Chair of the Butler Review on Weapons of Mass Destruction, on the role of reviews and enquiries.
Please note: to create a seminar experience, we invite current graduate students to join the programme as participants who will share a round table with our speakers. Other audiences are invited to join us as guests.
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