Somerville College holds inaugural J S Mill Lecture

On May 20^th 2016, John Stuart Mill’s 210^th birthday, Somerville College celebrated with the inaugural John Stuart Mill Lecture delivered by distinguished speakers Alan Ryan and Frank Prochaska.

Alan Ryan’s lecture “Drudges, Blue-Stockings, and Fallen Women:John Stuart Mill on Sex, Suffrage and Education”

In front of an audience of over 100 Mill enthusiasts, we heard about Mill’s feminist commitments and his  views on democracy in America.  Fittingly for Mill, whose writings are still so relevant over a hundred years after he produced them, both lectures were highly topical as well as engaging.   The text of both lectures will be made available in the Friends Newsletter appearing in July/August.

Display commemorating the gift of the John Stuart Mill Library to Somerville College in 1905

The audience also had the opportunity to join the Friends of the John Stuart Mill Group to support future events, to stay in touch with JSM research and perhaps most importantly, to create a fund for preservation work on the marginalia in coming months and years.

Dr Frank Prochaska’s Lecture

If you’d like more information about the Friends group please see our web page for a brochure and payment form