One of the best nights I’ve had at Cambridge was speaking at the Union. I remember standing in that packed chamber of 350 people crammed into the benches, either side of it, and peering intently over the balcony. I was chosen to debate against a contentious motion on the legacy of the British Empire and the atmosphere in the chamber was obviously, palpably tense. Baroness Chakrabarti was sat next to me, whilst prop speaker Dr Masani had become increasingly irate throughout the evening, dealing with an audience unpersuaded by his apologism for British imperialism. It felt madly surreal when I came up to speak. My frenzied mess of post-it notes and last-minute amendments that accompanied the preceding ten minutes dissipated, as I began to speak and found power in the tense atmosphere of this chamber.
The Union is often touted as giving you the right to speak, but I think that’s a rather imprecise way of thinking about this place; indeed, you can exercise your right to speak yelling into the ether of an empty desert. In that moment, I realised the Union had given me something even more important, the opportunity to be heard – heard in equal measure to someone like Baroness Chakrabarti. No matter how many Cabinet positions a leading politician has held, how many books a leading academic has written, how recognisable a face making the speech, they are restricted to the same time constraints and subjected to the same scrutiny as any student speaker. In that hour-and-a-half there is no hierarchy. It is incumbent on even our most extraordinary guests to persuade an audience, which is the ultimate arbiter of their success or failure when voting takes place at the end of the evening. This is the radically democratic, electrifying space of the Union.
I like to think we have a term which embraces this spirit of the Union. And what a term of debates we have. These debates invite us to contest new radical visions of the future - if the future lies in a country called Europe, whether technological advancement will kill liberal democracy and inquire21st century of abundance and digital interconnectivity could create a future fit for Marxism. We have debates to challenge us to think existentially about the world around us – whether satirically poking fun at the system really has any power and if human life can be quantified. We have debates tackling uncomfortable injustices on a global scale; from exploitation of the world’s most impoverished, our post-Oppenheimer world of potential nuclear annihilation, the complicity of arms companies in indiscriminate massacre, and where we may stand in relation to this all.
You will have the chance to challenge and hear from an eclectic mix of fascinating speakers. There is no other place on earth where Marco Pierre-White, Al Sharpton, Robbie Lyle from Arsenal Football Club TV will greet the same venue. What do all these speakers have in common? Absolutely nothing, apart from the fact all of them will have you on the edge of your seat. Michael Sandel has 370 million views on a single online lecture and Jeffrey Archer has sold over 300 million books – the speakers we have invited have shaped the conversation.
We have an eclectic mix of social events. Those invited to our chamber will be battling it out with their fists, as well as their words this term, with the Town and Gown Boxing Matches at the Union chamber – back after over almost two decades absence. It promises to be one of the most hotly anticipated events of term. Debate is only one of a multiplicity of mediums for free speech, which is why we’re making the Union a flourishing space for the arts. Radical, thought-provoking and meaningful expression is the essence of the Union, whether that through painting (at our art show in February), drama (in our production of King Lear) and fashion (our collaborative cultural fashion show); all have the power to make your voice heard. We have fascinating Equalities panel discussions on working class representation in politics, race and technology, post-colonial legacies as well as a debate on feminism’s relationship with the West. Identity, politics and memory will intersect in a fascinating way.
However, a pre-requisite of being heard in our chamber is being able to afford the Union membership. I love this place but for too long the Union has been unaffordable for students who can least afford it. There has been institutional apathy on change here. Lowering access memberships from £130 to £90 for lifetime membership is aimed to tackle this issue. The right to free speech is cheapened once you attach an inordinate price tag to it. We are driving forward our attempts to find new scholarships and have set up an Affordability Committee to make sure breaking down financial barriers to access are prioritised in the long term. There is a long tradition of socialist Presidents of the Union, stretching back to 1925. As a former Labour Co-Chair, I’m proud to be part of this left-wing tradition here.
Never forget this is your place, where you can stand as an equal to any speaker, no matter how prominent. You, as members, are not spectators, but shape our events. I invite you to embrace this challenge, step up to our dispatch box, make yourself heard. We merely provide the platform for you to make your passionate, moving, intellectually incisive voice heard – you make this place extraordinary.
Nick Davis | Homerton President, Lent Term 2024
Date to be confirmed
We are thrilled to announce the return of our Treasurer’s Treats! These exclusive deals with local businessess across Cambridge are a key part of our drive to make sure you get the most out of your membership. We hope to continually grow this list, so keep your eyes out for more exciting announcements over the course of the term. If you have any queries do reach out to treasurer@cus.org.
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Tickets are now just £4 and include a free shot!
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Most university-level competitive debating is done in the British Parliamentary (“BP”) format:
- There are 4 teams, each with 2 speakers, with 2 teams proposing the motion (the “Government” teams) and 2 teams opposing the motion (the “Opposition”)
- Each side has an opening and a closing team (e.g. Opening Government (“OG”) and Closing Government (“CG”))
- Teams are given 15 minutes to prepare once the motion is released, and each speaker will be given 7 minutes to present the most compelling, impactful, and substantiated argument for their side
Training Streams:
The most direct way to get involved is to join one of our training streams. We have two training streams: Novice and Advanced. For each stream, we have dedicated trainers who will run weekly workshops and debates to help you improve your public speaking and critical thinking skills.
Novice | Tuesdays, 6pm to 8pm
Advanced | Wednesdays, 6pm to 8pm and Thursdays 6pm - 10pm
External Competitions:
You can also sign up to represent Cambridge at external competitions, which includes the opportunity for subsidised travel abroad! These tentatively include the LSE IV, Oxford IV, and the Vietnam World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC).
Internal Competitions:
You can also get involved by volunteering at competitions organised by Cambridge. In Michaelmas, we will be hosting the Cambridge Intervarsity, one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious BP debating competitions, and the Cambridge Wom*n’s and Gender Minorities. You can help by judging debates, volunteering to help with logistics, and hosting international debaters from around the world who will be competing.
Keeping in Touch:
To stay up to date with all our latest activities, opportunities, and achievements, you can join the Cambridge Debating Facebook group and follow us on Instagram (@cambridgedebating).
Contact Information:
Marcus Choy: marcus.choy@cus.org
Wei Kang Lee: weikang.lee@cus.org
Marcus and Wei Kang: debating@cus.org
There are a huge number of ways to get involved with running the Union, with varying levels of commitment. Whether you're interested in inviting speakers, organising debates, publicity, press liaison, or improving access and diversity, there's something for everyone!
Elected Positions:
Elected roles comprise President, Debates Officer, Speakers Officer, Equalities Officer, and Social Events Officer. To run for election, you must satisfy a few criteria that can be found in the Union's constitution on our website.
Sub-Committees:
The Debates Committee formulate speaker line-ups for the debates they are most passionate about. Speakers Committee members invite high-profile speakers in fields ranging from politics and academia to media and entertainment. The Equalities Committee is comprised of several officers who each represent a marginalised group. The Soc-Ents Committee is an ideal opportunity for members to help run the Union's Social Ents, from weekly Ents to some of the biggest and best parties in Cambridge, like the Union’s annual Winter Ball!
Debates:
Our weekly debates offer our members a chance to speak alongside and debate with these figures themselves. Every week, we host auditions for one or two of the six spaces in thecheck emails, our member’s Facebook group to stay up to date on when auditions open. New debaters are always encouraged to apply. Alternatively, you can make a floor speech or point of information during a debate! Floor Speeches are short speeches given after each pair of speakers. They are given in either 'proposition', 'opposition', or 'abstention'. Points of Information are short comments or questions accepted at the Speaker's discretion.
Events Management:
As an EM, you will manage the queues and doors at busy events and hand out microphones to students who wish to speak at events. prior to events. With no previous experience necessary, this is one of the best ways to start getting involved with the Union.
Guest Liaison:
Guest Liaisons are vital for managing events. As a Guest Liaison, you will act as host for our high-profile guests, organising taxis for them and ensuring that they have a great experience during their time at the Union.
AV Team:
The AV Team comprises the camera operators and sound engineers for our events. They manage the sound, lighting and video quality of all our events as they happen, to ensure they are of a suitable quality for both guests in the chamber and those who view our content on YouTube.
Publicity Team:
Publicity Officers manage the social media output of the Union by designing posts, advertising events and working to maximise engagement with the Union’s Online events.
This House Believes
The United Kingdom faces a bitter general election this year, 5 years after losses in working class areas doomed Labour to its worst result since 1935. Currently leading the polls is Labour, led by Keir Starmer, aggressively moderating the stance of the party and even suspending its former leader, Corbyn, has greatly improved the poll standing and is broadly tipped to win. But this approach has not been without its consequences, with many accusing Labour of failing to represent workers on picket lines as NHS workers go on strike or abandoning its key ideological principles. Adding to these difficulties, working class voters, who the Tories carried by 15 points in 2019, may still be unpersuaded on key issues such as immigration. With international surges for right wing parties among working class supporters from America to the Netherlands observed in recent year, can Labour still represent working class voters? Or has it sold out the working class for electability among the middle classes?
Thursday18th of January, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Felix Esche and Naomi Cray
Following an intense atomic race between Nazi Germany and America, the Second World War ended in an atomic cloud of ash and glass. Through the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan capitulated to America, and an intense atomic race kicked off between the Soviet Union and the United States. Yet millions did not die in a war between the USSR and the USA; despite a 40-year duel, the USSR dissolved without war. Fukyama’s dream did not come true; however, history has not ended, and nuclear proliferation with a rising China, an unstable USA and a recalcitrant Russia, the thin balance between deterrence and annihilation is once again on show. Are nuclear weapons preventing direct conflict between superpowers and saving us from the fate of those in the 1910s or 30s, or are we sleepwalking towards atomic annihilation?
Thursday 25th of January, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Ivan Ampiah and Gabriel Rubens
Professor Hew Strachan is a noted military historian and scholar, as well as a fellow of the British Society and the British Academy. A long-time professor both at Oxford and now at St Andrew’s, Professor Strachan’s main work has concentrated on the First World War, but he has written on an extensive range of military historical subjects, including on the Napoleonic Wars and Waterloo.
Paul Schulte is a nonresident senior associate in the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program and at Carnegie Europe, where his research focuses on the future of deterrence, nuclear strategy, nuclear nonproliferation, cyber security, and their political implications. He previously served as director of proliferation and arms control for the UK Ministry of Defence, and as UK commissioner on the UN commissions for Iraqi disarmament, UNSCOM and UNMOVIC.
Ward Wilson is a Senior Fellow and director of the Rethinking Nuclear Weapons project at the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), a think tank focusing on nuclear disarmament. Mr Wilson has worked extensively with the United Nations to highlight risks of nuclear conflict, including through his book, Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons, which was published to widespread acclaim in 2013.
Florian Eblenkamp is the advocacy officer for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a group that won the Noble Peace Prize in 2017. With an academic background in complex statistics, Mr Eblenkamp has worked throughout his life on campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weaponry, including advocacy at the European Commission.
Rebecca Johnson has been a lifelong campaigner against nuclear weapons. A member of the Greenham Common Camp which protested nuclear weapons in the 1980s, Ms Johnson has devoted her life to opposing nuclear weaponry, including by founding the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and co-founding the International Campaign to Abolish nuclear weapons. She is also an author on the threats of nuclear weaponry.
As modelling and technological capacity improves, an old problem on morality is rearing its head, especially as we all were confronted with the grim graphs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Is morality and human life calculable, a hedonic calculus of pleasure or pain, and can we theoretically get there? New movements, such as the Effective Altruism Movement, are strongly arguing yes, arguing for a revolutionary new approach to modelling where all impacts can be measured, fulfilling the vision of Bentham and allowing us to more precisely target policy and charity. Others strongly propound that they are chasing the impossible, and that such an attitude can result in dangerous policy making decisions that put the will of the majority over the needs of the minority.
Thursday 1st of February, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Imran Hassan and Cara Naidoo
Dr Nadia Sweis
Dr Nadia Sweis obtained her PhD in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012. Her research interests lie primarily in the fields of Health Economics, International Business, Economic Impact analysis and Modelling. She teaches Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and Managerial Economics. She currently works in the Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan.
Professor Hillary Greaves
Professor Hillary Greaves of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Her research interests span moral philosophy, with publications in ethics include work on foundational issues in consequentialism) "cluelessness", interpersonal comparisons of well-being, population ethics, uncertainty, healthcare prioritisation, climate change and existential risk.
VMark Fabian
Mark Fabian is an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Warwick in the department of politics and international studies (PAIS) and an affiliate researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at Cambridge University. His work, especially A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing, seeks to define what wellbeing is and how it can be measured, and how to factor in the role of lived experience in these decisions.
Professor Alice Crary
Alice Crary is a Professor of Philosophy and also Visiting Fellow at Regent's Park College, University of Oxford. Professor Crary is a distinguished novelist and scholar on ethics, Wittgenstein as well as on animal rights and ethics; her publications include Inside Ethics and Animal Crisis: A New Critical Theory.
Professor Nicholas McBride
Professor Nicholas McBride is the Director of Studies for Law at Pembroke College, Cambridge, as well as a life fellow of All Soul’s College in Oxford. In his legal work, Professor McBride has taken a particular interest in legal philosophy, especially through his book Great Debates in Jursiprudence.
From the 17th Century to the 20th Century, global economic systems were often forged from imperialistic structures- in its first wave, the exploitation of the Americas and the expansion of slavery, and in the second wave, the vast scramble for African and Asian territory for resources and markets. In the aftermath of the Second World War, empires crumbled, and in its place, a new set of “Bretton Woods” institutions, including the World Bank and the IMF, designed to create a new set of rules for the global economy. But with allegations such vast international loans are leveraged to undermine national sovereignty, and as geopolitical tension hots up, are we still in a fundamentally imperial era? Or are we not giving the vast improvements in the standards of living, life and welfare in the developing world enabled by free trade enough credit?
Thursday 8th of February, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Rangimarie Puttick and Rebecca Yang
Éric Toussaint is a historian and political scientist. He is spokesperson for the CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt) – formerly called Committee for the cancellation of Third World debt – international network, of which he is one of the founding members, and he took part in the process that launched the World Social Forum in 2001. His recent work on Greece, There Was an Alternative, has been particularly popular in light of the reassessment of the impact of internationally imposed austerity guidelines on Greece.
Dr Chandni Dwarkasing
Chandni Dwarkasing is a Lecturer in Economics at SOAS University of London. Her work is focused on environmental economics and carbon footprints, but she takes a keen interest in the intersection between environmental politics and the interactions between the global north and south. This is especially the case with her works on Just Transition models and environmental justice.
VDame Gillian Tett
Dame Gillian Tett is the Provost of King’s College Cambridge and the US editor-at-large for the Financial Times. Starting her career working on the former Soviet Union and then at the Tokyo bureau, her work covering the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08 received extensive media attention for its prescient coverage of the financial instruments that led to the crisis, especially of the culture inside JP Morgan.
Professor Jonathan Haskel is a professor of economics at Imperial College London and an External member of the Monetary Policy Committee for the Bank of England. In this role, Jonathan has served from 2018 to 2024 witnessing the global financial effects of COVID-19 and the subsequent surge in inflation and interest rates. In his other pursuits, he has worked for the UK Statistics Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Professor Meredith Crowley is a Professor of Economics at St John’s College, Cambridge. She speciailises in analysing and discussing systems of international trade, especially on the recent trade war between China and the United States and the risks of global tension on trade systems.
From Have I got News for You to Private Eye to Saturday Night Live, political satire has enjoyed something of an renaissance. Since the grotesque portrayals of the 18th century pioneered by Gilray and images that floated on the streets of Paris, Satire has often be an instrument of political subversion and dissent. But is there perhaps another side to this? Many satirical programmes, and comedic appearances, have been used to humanise politicians, such as Boris Johnson and Trump, and propel their careers. And in an era of increasingly outrageous behaviour from our politicians and truth sometimes stranger than fiction, satirical programmes have struggled to keep up; the new spitting image was a shadow of the programme that terrified the politicians of Thatcher’s era. Is there still a role for revolutionary political satire? Or has it completely lost its saliency? This debate is done in conjunction with the art show being held at the Union this week.
Monday 12th of February, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Dalya Droste
Kathryn Lamb is a cartoonist and satirist. She has been published in Private Eye since 1979, and has illustrated many of its famous sections, including Pseud’s Corner, a feature that makes fun of the pompous and the pretentious. Kathryn Lamb has illustrated a variety of books, ranging from Spike Milligan’s poetry in 'Condensed Animals' to a series of Arab proverb books. Most recently in 2021 she illustrated 'The Authority Gap' by Mary Ann Sieghart. She is an active member of the Professional Cartoonists Organisation and has recently donated two drawings for their fundraising effort in aid of refugee children.
Giselinde Kuipers is Research Professor at the Centre for Sociological Research at KU Leuven University. She is the author of Good Humour, Bad Taste: A Sociology of the Joke, as well as numerous articles in English, Dutch, French and Italian. In her work, she analyses how cultural standards are shaped, for instance in humor, beauty, fashion, media, cycling and translation; and how such standards impact social inequalities, identities and interactions. Giselinde also curates the Culture and Inequality Podcast.
Kathryn Lamb
This House Would Be
Freedom of speech and expression, especially on campus, has not ceased to be a hot button topic this decade. The line between hate speech, incitement to violence and legitimate exercise of our democratic rights to express ourselves has been a subject of consternation and bitter protest. Some believe that campus radicals have put freedom of speech under profound crisis, choosing to prioritise the lessening of offence, and that only a fullthroated embrace of free speech can save our democracy. Others argue that a buccaneering approach, termed “free speech absolutism” by Elon Musk as he loosened moderation restraints on twitter, is merely a one way track to a morass of disinformation, discrimination and dereliction of democracy. In an era where we have moved to pamphlets to millions of pieces of information on our phones, do we need to fight back against wannabe censors and embrace free speech unequivocally, or is it a carte blanche for discrimination and hate speech?
Thursday 15th of February, 7:30pm
This is a student only debate. Debate slots will be prioritised for those who have not spoken before!
STUDENT SPEAKER
STUDENT SPEAKER
STUDENT SPEAKER
VSTUDENT SPEAKER
STUDENT SPEAKER
STUDENT SPEAKER
The vision of a United Europe has long been a dream of visionary philosophers and thinkers, from Leibniz to Lafayette. Successive empires seemed close to uniting Europe- Napoleon chief among them- before they crumbled into oblivion. It was only after the carnage of the World Wars that such a dream could move closer to reality with the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, followed by the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993. Now trade flows in a free single market and people and goods can move across, with some 27 member states representing some 450 million people. But is ever-closer union, and a European superstate, achievable or desirable?
Proponents argue that as America falters and threats build, Europe needs stronger unity and proper federalisation now more than ever; buts its opponents point to the inherent problems in European bureaucracies, the vast strife between members states, and nationalism and the surge in far right parties across Europe. Is a United Europe a dream of peace, or a Byzantine nightmare of bureaucracy?
Thursday 22nd of February, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Alex Mitchell and Meg Celiku
Francesca Romana D’Antuono is co-president of Volt Europa, the first party to be founded specifically as a pan-European party to push for European integration. The party has seats from Bulgaria to the Netherlands. Ms D’Antuono has been a particularly vocal activist for European integration and the formation of a workable European army. Outside of politics, she is an author and has been a notable critic of gender biases in the medical sector.
Brendan Donnelly
Brendan Donnelly is a former MEP and founder of the Rejoin EU Party, a party that seeks to pressure for the UK to re-join the European Union. He was elected as an MEP for the Conservative Party in 1994, before quitting the party due to increasing euroscepticism within the party. Most recently he stood for election to the London Assembly and in the Chesham and Amersham by-election and continues to be a fierce advocate for Britain’s participation within Europe.
Julie Ward
Julie Ward served as a Labour MEP for NW England from 2014 to 2020. She was a member of various European Parliament's Committees including on the economy and women’s rights. She was also a member of the delegation for relations with Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo. Prior to being elected Julie worked in the creative and cultural industries and returned to this field subsequent to Brexit.
Alan Sked is an academic, politician and is most well-known as the founder of UKIP. Alan Sked set up the Anti-Federalist League in 1991, which became UKIP in 1993. Following poor results in the 1997 election, Alan Sked stepped down after internal pressure lead by Farage and became a fierce critic of the party after his resignation, describing Farage as a “dim-witted racist”. Sked remains an opponent of European integration, founding Prosper UK in 2018 as an alternative to UKIP.
Pia Kjærsgaard is a notable Danish politician for the Danish People’s Party from 1995 to 2012 and Speaker of the Danish Parliament Between 2015 and 2019. Ms Kjærsgaard split from the centre-right Progress Party in 1995. Her prominence rose during Denmark’s 2000 referendum on the Euro, where she successfully spearheaded the campaign to reject the currency in the country. The party grew in prominence, becoming the second largest in parliament, which is broadly seen as presaging similar events in the UK, France and the Netherlands years later.
Sir John Redwood is the MP for Wokingham, having served in that position since 1987. Sir John Redwood started his career as an academic, becoming an Examination Fellow of All Souls’ between 1972 and 1979. Sir John Redwood became a prominent Eurosceptic critic of Major’s government, resigning from his cabinet in 1995 and unsuccessfully challenging him for the leadership. He campaigned for Brexit in 2016 and a prominent parliamentary organisation for a harder Brexit during those years of parliamentary chaos.
Professor Marta Lorimer
Marta Lorimer is a LSE Fellow in European Politics. Prior to joining the European Institute, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Exeter. Her upcoming book, Europe as Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far Right Legitimation in France and Italy, presents a novel argument that rather than providing as a liberal bulwark against the far right, European integration has helped normalise and spread these ideas.
Dave Nellist is a long time Marxist political activist. An MP for Coventry Southeast between 1983 and 1992, he was expelled from the Labour Party in 1991. Since then, he has continued to be a long time socialist activist, playing a leading role in the foundation of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and heavily backing Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaigns in 2015 and 2016.
Aaron Bastani is a writer, journalist and socialist. Bastani played a leading role in the coordination of the 2010 student protests and founded the left wing media company, Novara Media, in 2011. Bastani is particularly famous for the popularisation of the term “Fully Automated Luxury Communism”, a concept he fleshed out in a 2019 book, which argues a mixture of Marxist praxis and technological improvements can reach a communist, postscarcity society.
Judy Cox is a lifelong socialist writer and speaker. Now a teacher in East London, Judy was on the editorial board of International Socialism and has written amongst other things on Marx’s theory of alienation, Rosa Luxemburg’s economic theory, William Blake and Robin Hood. Ms Cox wrote The Women's Revolution re-appraising the male-centred narratives of the Russian Revolutions and highlighting the contributions of female revolutionaries.
Professor Richard Wollf is a famous academic and prominent socialist activist. Wolff’s parents immigrated from Europe to escape the Nazis, and he built a career as an economics professor in the 70s and 80s. Professor Wollf founded the journal Rethinking Marxism and has published many books on Marxist economics throughout his life. Professor Wollf has found particular stardom on the internet in recent years, with his talks regularly drawing millions of viewers.
VDan Hodges is a political commentator for the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator and the Daily Mail. He previously worked for the GMB trade union and as a Labour Party researcher at the House of Commons. A supporter of David Miliband in the 2010 leadership election, he make increasingly sceptical of Labour under Ed Miliband.
Professor Matthew Goodwin is a professor at the University of Kent and a notable conservative commentator. His columns and research focus heavily on the realignment of the British politics away from class towards education levels, and he argues strongly that left wing politics is insufficient for the populist trends of the 21st centuries. He was a notable keynote speaker at the 2023 National Conservative Conference.
This House Believes
The role and relevance of the West today in contemporary feminism is often hotly debated. Does the feminist cause internationally still need Western ideology and influence, particularly when combating practices brushed under cultural relativism? Or are non-Western and indigenous voices the priority for the future of feminism?
Monday 4th of March, 7:30pm
Organised by the Equalities Sub-committee
Jasvinder Sanghera CBE is a survivor of forced marriage and the founder of Karma Nirvana, a national award-winning charity that supports men and women affected by honour based abuse and forced marriage. Her memoir ‘Shame’ was a Times Top 10 Bestseller and her work is recognised as instrumental towards the creation of a specific UK forced marriage criminal offence in 2014.
Claire is the CEO and Co-Founder of Haven Studios, an extended reality platform working to close the mental health gap. She was previously Executive Director of UN Women UK, where she received an Innovate UK 'Women in Innovation' award for her virtual and mixed reality tool to help train institutions and communities to prevent sexual harassment and assault. Claire chairs the board of Our Streets Now, a youth-led movement to end sexual harassment in the UK and previously led work on gender equality at McKinsey.Dr Orzala Nemat
Dr Orzala Nemat is an Afghan scholar and activist and formerly served as director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation, an internationally-recognised research think tank in afghanistan. Dr Nemat has experience living as a war refugee and founded a humanitarian organisation in Pakistan which provided health and educational support to women and children between 1999 and 2007. She has supported various grassroots, national and international organisations, including serving as a trustee for Afghanaid, a British Charity working in Afghanistan.
All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”. That was Marx’s grim assessment of the steaming pace of modernisation and industrialisation, which he thought spelled doomed for liberalism. It did not- but new challenges emerge. How can systems, documents and ideas, formulated in 18th Century salons and coffee houses, hope to stand up to the power of AI, a world where denizens are hunched over cell phones, and a world where tyrants can influence news cycles at the click of a button? The growing sense of oblivion for liberal democracy is being compounded by the 2024 US Election, which Trump, often using these distinctly modern tactics, seems to be pulling ahead. But are we perhaps being clouded too much by pessimism, and ignoring the accountability and knowledge realised by the internet and our technological lives? Or has technological change doomed liberal democracy to oblivion?
Thursday 7th of March, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Helena Trenkić and Krisztina Sinkovics
Alex is a senior research associate in the Digital Society Initiative leading efforts on digital public infrastructure, open source sustainability and articulating, measuring and advocating for an internet compatible with democracy. He was until June 2022 interim research director at Demos, and director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, during which time he authored more than a dozen major reports on digital election integrity, content moderation practices, digital regulation and the intersection between tech and politics. He led the Good Web Project and is a fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
Dr Milly Zimeta
Dr Mahlet (Milly) Zimeta is Head of Public Policy at the Open Data Institute.. Milly was previously Programme Manager at the Alan Turing Institute, Britain’s national institute for data science and AI, where she managed the Turing’s research partnership programmes in Health and in Finance/Economic Data Science. She has also worked at the Medical Research Council, and served on an Advisory Group at Chatham House. She holds degrees in philosophy from Oxford, Cambridge and York.
Dr Ana Valdivia
Ana Valdivia is a Departmental Research Lecturer in AI, Government & Policy at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). Ana investigates how datafication is transforming political, social and ecological worlds. Building on her experience as a mathematician and computer scientist, her interest lies in investigating power relationships in algorithmic governance and how AI is impacting on local communities, borders and territories. In her research, Ana aims to examine the eco-political impact of algorithmic systems by understanding its life cycle from natural resources extraction to electronic waste dumps and how it could jeopardise fundamental rights.
VOli Dugmore
Oli Dugmore is the head of news and politics at Joe.com. The website gained prominence during the 2017 election cycle, with a mixture of commentary and humour. Its adept use of social media has gained Poltiicsjoe, and Mr Dugmore’s commentary, a large audience, with over 270,000 followers on Instagram alone and regular streams of viral videos.
Colin Mortimer
Colin Mortimer is the founder of the Centre for New Liberalism. The centre aims to revive and promote liberalism for newer generations, and is particularly active on questions of employment, science, education and housing. Prior to that, Colin was a consultant at Bates White Economic Consulting focusing on healthcare antitrust. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2019 with degrees in Economics and Mathematics-Statistics.
Professor Victoria Nash
Vicki Nash is Director, Associate Professor and Senior Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) at the University of Oxford. Drawing on her background as a political theorist, her research centres on the governance challenges of digital technologies, with a particular focus on online safety, content moderation and platform regulation Prior to joining the OII in 2002, Vicki was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy Research.
The British Arms Industry may lead the way commercially, but it is not without controversy. £12bn worth of arms exports flowed from Britain in 2022 alone. Some of this export has been the subject of more positive news, such as those to Ukraine. But there are many who believe the British Arms Industry have serious questions to answer. Britain’s exports to states such as Saudi Arabia and Israel has been under growing scrutiny. The exports to Saudi Arabia have been of particular concern in recent years, with human rights groups strongly protesting the UK government’s sales and determination that human rights violations in Yemen were “isolated incidents”. Should the continuing production, sale and profiting from these weapons be deemed a warcrime and should those responsible face jail time? Or are we demonising an industry, that whilst perhaps unsavoury, is necessary to our national defence and are we misusing the language of war crimes for political ends?
Thursday 14th of March, 7:30pm
Debate Co-Ordinators: Iman Sami and Joshua Lim
Andrew Feinstein is former member of the South African Member of Parliament. He was born in Cape Town to Viennese Holocaust survivors Josef Feinstein and Erika Hemmer, 9 members his mother's family were murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp. These experiences shaped his views and led him into being a passionate defender of human rights and opponent of the excesses of the arms industry. Andrew Feinstein resigned in protest from the ANC given the lack of transparency over a multi-billion dollar arms deal agreed in 2001. He is currently Executive Director of Shadow World Investigations (formerly Corruption Watch UK) and an investigative writer, broadcaster, campaigner and speaker.
Ara Marcen Naval leads global advocacy for Transparency International Defence & Security, working towards raising awareness of the nexus of corruption, conflict and insecurity. Ara is a human rights specialist who previously work as Deputy Director for Global Issues at Amnesty International, where she headed up the organisation’s global research, campaigning and advocacy on issues including the arms trade, torture trade, policing weapons, and the use of inhumane weapons around the world and other disarmament related issues.
Nick Davis is the president of the Cambridge Union, having been elected to that position in October 2023 and taken office in November. Nick personally selected this motion due to his long history of activism against the British arms trade, especially relating to the conflict in Yemen and the supply of weaponry to Egypt. Nick previously served as Debates Officer from April 2023 to June 2023.
John Bolton is an American diplomat and politician, serving both as UN Ambassador from 2005 to 2006 and as National Security Advisor to President Trump between 2018 and 2019. John Bolton has been known for his hawkish foreign policy stance throughout his career, especially on Iraq, Iran and Cuba. Bolton wrote the Book The Room Where It Happened in 2020, which fiercely criticised President Trump and played a role in the senate trial for his first impeachment in 2020. Bolton is also publicly considering running for president in 2024.
León Castellanos-Jankiewicz is Senior Researcher at the Asser Institute for International and European Law in The Hague, and supervisor of the International Law Clinic on Access to Justice for Gun Violence at the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law. Currently, he focuses on the human rights implications of irresponsible arms trade. Previously, he was Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, and held visiting positions at Harvard Law School and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge. He holds a PhD in International Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute.
Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University. His books--on justice, democracy, ethics, and markets--have been translated into more than 30 languages. He has been described as “a rock star moralist” (Newsweek) and “the world’s most influential living philosopher.” (New Statesman) Sandel’s books include The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?; What Money Can’t Buy; Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?; The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering; and Democracy’s Discontent: A New Edition for Our Perilous Times. Sandel’s free online course “Justice” has been viewed by tens of millions. His BBC series “The Global Philosopher” explores the ethical issues lying behind the headlines with participants from around the world. Sandel has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford, and served on the President’s Council on Bioethics. His lectures have packed such venues as St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), and an outdoor stadium in Seoul (S. Korea), where 14,000 people came to hear him speak.
Monday 15th of January, 2pm
Mr. Ali Sabry was appointed as Minister of Justice of Sri Lanka. Upon taking office, The Minister’s justice sector reform programme is currently in the process of amending and introducing over 100 laws. In 2021, Mr. Ali Sabry was invited to speak at an event at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in recognition of his efforts at reforming the Sri Lankan justice sector. Mr Sabry was appointed Finance minister in 2022. As the Finance Minister he headed the Sri Lankan delegation comprising of officials from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Finance to Washington D.C., USA for key negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Mr Sabry is now the incumbent Minister fo Foreign Affairs.
Tuesday 23rd of January, Time TBC
Sabrina is a high energy theoretical physicist and advocate for women in STEM. Throughout her adolescent years in Chicago, she was fascinated by aerospace engineering, building and flying her own single-engine plane as a teenager, before switching to physics during her undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She earned her PhD from Harvard University, where her early work resulted in the discovery of the "spin memory effect," which may be used to detect or verify the net effects of gravitational waves. She went on to a PCTS Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University before joining the faculty of the Perimeter Institute. As the founder and principal investigator of Perimeter’s Celestial Holography Initiative, she is leading a team of amplitudes, mathematical physics, and quantum gravity researchers to jointly tackle this problem of encoding our universe as a hologram, and serves as a deputy director of the newly formed Simons Collaboration on Celestial Holography.
Annie Machon is a former MI5 intelligence officer, whistleblower, author, and public speaker. Educated in classics at Girton college, she was recruited to the MI5 as a graduate during her application to the foreign office. Six years later (in 1996) she resigned from the MI5 alongside David Shyler; revealing widespread and illegal spying on government ministers prior to elections, secret MI5 files held on the government ministers responsible for overseeing the intelligence services, and an attempted secret intelligence service assassination of Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. The first story broke in the Mail on Sunday, revealing the extensive files held on 'so-called subversives' in Government (including Peter Mandleson), and eventually foreknowledge of the 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing and IRA's city of London bombing. Shyler and Machon went on the run around Europe for a month, and returned to face arrest in London - although Machon was not (and has never been) charged. She has since adressed the 'European Parliament Committee on Civil liberties, Justice and Home Affairs' on the topic of electronic mass surveillance of EU citizens, spoken at the Belmarsh Tribunal (2021) in opposition to the US request to extradite Julian Assange, and continues to address audiences on the topics of security and intelligence, the failed war on drugs, international politics, and the need for transparency and accountability.
Wednesday 31st of January, 4pm
Vuk Jeremić is the President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), a global public policy think-tank, and Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine Horizons – Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development. Mr. Jeremić was directly elected by the majority of world’s nations to be the President of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in the first contested vote since the end of the Cold War. During his term in office, he played a leading role in steering the UN towards the establishment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As President of the General Assembly, he facilitated the adoption of the breakthrough Arms Trade Treaty, the first legally-binding instrument in UN history to establish common standards for international transfer of conventional armaments. Mr. Jeremić initiated several high-level thematic debates in the UN on a range of critical issues. Mr. Jeremić served as Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012. During his tenure, he paid official visits to over 100 countries, and addressed numerous international summits and conferences. In 2011 and 2012, Mr. Jeremić led Serbia’s successful campaign for the Chairmanship-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for the year 2015.
Wednesday 31st of January, 6pm
Named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in the World by the Financial Times, Oleksandra Matviichuk is a renowned Ukrainian human rights lawyer leading the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv. In 2022, Oleksandra and her team were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - the first Ukrainian citizens ever to receive any Nobel Prize. The Center for Civil Liberties has been defending human rights since 2007. Their work has included documenting cases of unlawful imprisonment in the socalled Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics and war crimes against civilian populations perpetrated by Russian soldiers in the occupied areas of Ukraine. Ms Matviichuk will deliver a lecture on human rights at the Cambridge Union at 5:30 pm on February 2, 2024. Marking the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion and the tenth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, Ms Matviichuk will speak on Ukraine and the defence of human rights in the 21st century. The lecture will be open to everyone and will be followed by a Q&A session. This event was organised by Cambridge Ukrainian Studies and Centre for Geopolitics, with the support of the Cambridge Union and Cambridge University Ukrainian Society.
Friday 2nd of February, 5pm
Murray Matravers is lead vocalist of the band formerly known as Easy Life. Formed in 2017 and experiencing a rapid rise to the forefront of British alternative music with their debut EP Spaceships, Easy Life received acclaim for their laid-back but perceptive music addressing the complexities of 21st-century life with humour and introspection. Since then, they have released two full-length albums and multiple mixtapes, and won NME’s best new British act 2020. In October 2023 it was announced that the EasyGroup conglomerate were suing the band for their name, with CEO Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou calling Mr Matravers a ‘brand thief.’ Easy Life released their last single trust exercises on the 13th of October. They remain, as it stands, a band without a name.
Friday, 9th of February, 6pm
Marco Pierre-White is one of the world's finest chefs, who is a restaurater and TV personality. At just 24, Marco became Head Chef and joint owner of Harvey’s with chefs such as Gordon Ramsey, Heston Blumenthal and Thierry Basset under his management. At 33, he became the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. He has iconic restaurants across the UK with different brands. He since took up role as leader of the kitchen in ITV's Hell's Kitchen. Other TV appearances include Marco Pierre White's Kitchen Wars and Master Chef Australia: The Professionals.
Tariq Ahmadzai is a passionate advocate for addressing the crisis in Afghanistan, with a focus on education and emergency response. As the founder of Help Build Tomorrow (https://hbt.org), his commitment is evident in tackling the generational impacts of inadequate education, particularly in remote Afghan areas. Eager to share insights, Tariq sees opportunities, like the one at Cambridge, to shed light on the overlooked issues of poverty and education in Afghanistan, urging European governments to pursue effective policies for meaningful assistance.
Tuesday 20th of February, 5:30pm
Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chorley since 1997. Before his election as Speaker, he was a member of the Labour Party. As a Labour MP, Hoyle served as Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker to John Bercow from 2010 to 2019, before being elected as Speaker on 4 November 2019. Hoyle was unanimously re-elected as Speaker five days after the 2019 general election on 17 December.
Friday 23th of February, 5pm
Reverend Sharpton is an internationally renowned civil rights leader and founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN). As head of NAN, Rev. Sharpton has taken the teachings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and applied them to a modern civil rights agenda. He was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States in 2004 and host on MSNBC. He has been a tireless advocate for social justice on issues from healthcare reform and education quality, to taking action against police brutality and draconian voter ID laws.
Rhun ap Iorwerth is the leader of Plaid Cymru and the member of Senedd for Ynys Môn. He was first elected to the Senedd in 2013, following an almost two-decade long career working as a journalist and presenter for the BBC. In his time in the Senedd, Rhun has held the health, finance and the economy portfolios for Plaid Cymru, whilst also serving as the chair of the Senedd’s branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Rhun became the leader of his party in June 2023.
Wednesday 28th of February, 6pm
Professor Sir John Curtice is Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, and Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Social Research and the ESRC’s ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’ initiative. He has written extensively about voting behaviour in elections and referendums in the UK, as well as on British political and social attitudes more generally. He has been a co-editor of NatCen’s annual British Social Attitudes reports series for over twenty years, and is a regular contributor to British and international media coverage of politics in the UK, including as co-host of the ‘Trendy’ podcast. Curtice is Chief Commentator at two websites, whatscotlandthinks.org and whatukthinks.org/eu, that provide a comprehensive collection of materials on public attitudes towards (i) how Scotland should be governed, and (ii) the UK’s relationship with the EU. He is also President of the British Polling Council, which promotes and regulates standards of transparency in the polling industry. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Academy of the Social Sciences and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and the Market Research Society
Wednesday 6th of March, 5pm
Robbie is perhaps best known for being the face of AFTV (previously known as Arsenal Fan TV), which is just one of many Global Fan Network channels that also includes DR Sports, a channel that takes on the issues of the day in a multitude of global sports such as Boxing and Formula 1. Robbie has single-handedly built Global Fan Network from scratch. His approach has been to build his channels ‘socially’, in the truest sense of the word. He has always described, and delivered, his channels as being fan-first. His approach, he says, was to take ownership of the pre and post-match conversation from broadcasters, with views from genuine, passionate fans. Robbie is one of the most prominent black voices in UK sports media and is one of the only black personalities to own a successful media company in UK sport. Robbie has frequently appeared on BBC, ITV and Talksport. In 2018, Robbie produced the fan popular ‘Real Football Fan Show’ for Channel 4, and in March 2020 he hosted and narrated the ITV documentary ‘Under Their Skin’ which focused on racism in football, and the experiences of black football supporters in the UK. Robbie is also extremely active in his community. He delivers insightful talks at educational institutions, such as TedX talks at Warwick University and presentations at Westminster school, Bristol University, Eton and the Oxford Union.
Sunday 10th of March, 6pm
Jeffrey Archer has topped the bestseller lists around the world, with sales of over300 million copies in 115 countries and 49 languages. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction. He gained a Blue in Athletics at Oxford, was President of the University Athletics Club, and went on to run the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds for Great Britain in 1966. Jeffrey served five years in the House of Commons and thirty-one years as a Member of the House of Lords. His latest novel, Traitors Gate, is the sixth of the William Warwick novels and was published in September 2023. Jeffrey is an art collector and amateur auctioneer, conducting around 10 charity auctions a year, and has raised over £51m in the last 30 years for good causes. He has been married to Dame Mary Archer DBE, former Chair of Cambridge University Hospitals and the Science Museum Group, for 57 years. They have two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons.
Date TBC
The Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP served as Home Secretary between September 2022 to November 2023, appointed by both Prime Ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Beforehand, she served as Attorney General and has been the Conservative MP for Fareham since 2015. She studied law at Queens College Cambridge. Called to the Bar in 2005, Suella specialised in public law and judicial review. From 2010-2015 she was on the Attorney General’s Panel of Treasury Counsel. She has defended the Home Office in immigration cases, the Parole Board in challenges by prisoners and the Ministry of Defence in matters relating to injuries sustained in battle
Date TBC
Indermit Gill is Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. Before starting this position on September 1, 2022, Gill served as the World Bank’s Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, where he helped shape the Bank’s response to the extraordinary series of shocks that have hit developing economies since 2020. Between 2016 and 2021, he was a professor of public policy at Duke University and non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Global Economy and Development program. Gill led the World Bank’s influential 2009 World Development Report on economic geography. His work includes introducing the concept of the “middle-income trap” to describe how countries stagnate after reaching a certain level of income. He has published extensively on key policy issues facing developing countries—among other things, sovereign debt vulnerabilities, green growth and natural-resource wealth, labor markets, and poverty and inequality. Gill has also taught at Georgetown University and the University of Chicago. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.
Date TBC
Despite the prevalence of chronic conditions affecting reproductive and menstrual health, with an estimated 1 in 10 women living with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Endometriosis, awareness and support for these conditions is alarmingly low. This panel brings together a range of voices to raise attention to these conditions, difficulties in diagnosis and reasons why these conditions are often overlooked, as well as the work being done to combat this stigma.
22nd January 2024, 6pm
Location: Library
This panel event is organised in collaboration with The Cambridge Period Project and Cambridge Reproductive Rights Society.
Emma Cox is the CEO of Endometriosis UK, a leading UK charity supporting those living with endometriosis. Emma joined Endometriosis UK in February 2016 and has previously volunteered with Diabetes UK, NUS and the Chartered Quality Institute.
Rachel Morman is the Chair of Verity, the UK’s only charity for those living with PCOS since 2006, shortly after being diagnosed with PCOS herself. Outside her volunteer role at Verity, she is Head of Social at media agency PHD Global.
Professor Harbinder Sandhu is a Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Warwick and a consultant Health Psychologist, chief investigator and co-investigator on a range of studies funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). Her research focuses on designing and testing complex behaviour change interventions in chronic pain and other long-term conditions and she is a medical ambassador at the Endometriosis Foundation.
Dr Nighat Arif is a GP specialising in women’s health, family planning and menopause care with over 15 years of experience in the NHS and runs her own private practice. She is the resident doctor on BBC Breakfast and ITV This Morning, as well as being a health content creator working with YouTube Health and the WHO Fides programme.
Charlotte is a lifestyle, fashion and travel influencer and hosts the podcast It’s Your Life (and this is mine). Charlotte experiences chronic menstrual pain and has struggled with a lack of treatment or official diagnosis. She is known for her body positivity content and openly talking about menstruation on social media.
Partition and the impacts of colonialism have deeply affected numerous countries, often marked with conflict and political division. This panel brings together international speakers from a range of backgrounds to speak on this issue and the victims of partition and colonialism and aims to highlight the commonalities of their experiences.
29th January, 6pm
Location: Chamber
Vikram Doraiswami has been India's High Commissioner to the UK since September 2022 and was previously High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh. He has spent over 30 years in the Indian Foreign Service, with foreign assignments in New York (at the Indian Mission to the UN), and Johannesburg in South Africa, where he was India's Consul General. In India, he has served in the Prime Minister's Office, including as Private Secretary to the Indian Prime Minister.
Dr Humera Iqbal is Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Psychology at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, University College London. She uses arts and film-based methods in her research and is Principal Investigator of the international AHRC funded study ‘Partition of Identity: An exploration of Belonging in Bengalis in Pakistan, 1971- present'.
Ian Jeffers has recently been appointed as the CEO of the all-Ireland peace and reconciliation charity, Co-operation Ireland, which has worked across Ireland for 45 years to engage marginalised communities in peace building work. He has previously worked as Deputy Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust and Commissioner for Victims and Survivors of the conflict in Northern Ireland and has worked with victims from all sides.
Professor Peter Shirlow is the Director at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies. He was formerly the Deputy Director of the Institute for Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast.He is the Independent Chair of the OFMDFM Employers' Guidance on Recruiting People with Conflict-Related Convictions Working Group and has undertaken conflict transformation work in Northern Ireland.
Christos Karaolis is President of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, which has 80 member organisations and represents the community to the governments of the UK and Cyprus. He is also a member of the President of Cyprus’ ‘Overseas Cypriots Advisory Committee.’
As the first of our two panels in celebration of LGBT+ History Month, this panel will focus on amplifying the voices of trans and non-binary activists, their experiences and work in raising awareness to issues facing members of the trans community and in combating rising prejudice and disinformation.
6th February, 6pm
Location: Chamber
Helen Belcher OBE is a councillor for Wiltshire and Corsham Town and standing to be an Liberal Democrat MP at the next General Election. She is a co-founder of Trans Media Watch, a charity working to increase media coverage of trans and intersex issues. She is also currently Managing Director of Trans Actual UK, an organisation which counters misinformation about trans and non-binary people’s lives, amplifies their voices and advocates for them.
Dr Jack López
Dr Jack López is an associate professor and associate Dean EDI at the University of Bradford, trained as a social and medical psychologist and specialising in intimacy, personhood, and sexual reproductive health. He is a member of the health strategy working group for Trans Actual UK and an academic consultant for the Inclusion Crowd, which helps organisations further DE&I.
Melz Owusu is a queer, transmasculine and non-binary former-activist and scholar. They are the founder of the Free Back University, a project that offers radical courses of study to Black Communities, and have been organised in movements including Black Lives Matter U.K., Decolonising the Curriculum and LGBTQ+ visibility. They are currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Cambridge.
LGBT+ history is often neglected in mainstream academic study and curriculums, and this panel will spotlight leading experts in the field who have documented, researched and compiled LGBT+ stories and experiences. This is the second of our two-day events in celebration of LGBT+ history month and will look at the work these activists and scholars have done in amplifying LGBT+ history and the need to study it.
7th February, 6pm
Location: Library
Dr Molly Merryman
Dr Molly Merryman is an associate professor in the Kent State University’s School of Peace and Conflict Studies and serves as research director for Queer Britain, the UK’s first dedicated LGBTQ+ museum. She was involved in the establishment of the first LGBTQ+ Studies program in Ohio and also serves on the advisory board of the UK’s Outing the Past conference.
Dr Justin Bengry
Dr Justin Bengry is Director of the Centre for Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London where he convenes the world’s first MA in Queer History. He was lead researcher on Historic England’s Pride of Place project, which mapped England’s LGBTQ+ heritage, and recently co-edited Locating Queer Histories: Places and Traces Across the UK.
Marc Thompson is co-director of The Love Tank, a not-for-profit organisation promoting the health and wellbeing of under-served communities. He has been involved with leading HIV activism for over 30 years, including co-founding PrePSTER, which works to educate and increase access to PrEP. He has recently curated the digital archive and podcast series ‘Black and Gay, Back in the Day’ documenting Black LGBT+ life in Britain since the 1970s.
Whilst creating new platforms for activism and increasing access to information, the technological revolution raises concerns about freedom and privacy. This panel brings together different actors to spotlight how technology can be used to suppress the rights of minority groups, discussing the reality of algorithmic biases in Artificial Intelligence technology and the usage of surveillance technology on Uyghurs in China.
13 February, 5:30pm
Location: Library
Professor Arshin Adib-Moghaddam is Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS University of London and the Co-Director of the SOAS Centre of AI Futures, as well as Fellow of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence and human security and he most recently authored ‘Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? The Ethics of AI and the Future of Humanity.’
Dr Kanta Dihal is Lecture in Science Communication at Imperial College London and Associate Fellow of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the stories we tell about artificial intelligence across cultures, and how they help us think about ethics and bias in new technologies. She has advised organisations including the World Economic Forum and United Nations on perceptions of AI.
Aziz Isa Elkun is a poet and academic born in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and currently based in London. He has published poems, stories, and research articles in both Uyghur and the English language, including on the use of technology. He has served as Secretary of the PEN International Uyghur Centre for many years. His short documentary film, ‘An Unanswered Telephone Call’, focused on his personal experiences after China blocked international telephone calls between Uyghurs at home and abroad.
Professor
Professor Sam Shah is Chief Medical Strategy Officer for Numan, the online men's health provider. Professor Shah was previously National Director of Digital Development for NHS England and NHSX, where he worked on a number of projects, including on digitising urgent care and the digital development of the health ecosystem.
In 2022, it was reported in the Guardian that just 7% of MPs were from a working-class background, despite 34% of all UK working-age adults being working class. This panel brings together representatives from social enterprises and politicians to raise attention to the need for working class voices in politics and to hear from their own experiences getting involved in politics or in increasing political engagement.
27th February, 6pm
Location: Library
Mete Coban MBE is Chief Executive of My Life My Say, a youth-led, non-partisan movement working to increase voting and political engagement in young people in the UK and across Europe. He is best known for increasing turn-out in young people in recent general elections and is the youngest ever elected Councillor for the London borough of Hackney.
Matteo Bergamini MBE is the Founder and CEO of Shout Out UK, a non-partisan social enterprise that provides impartial political and media literacy training in order to campaign disinformation online, working with young people across the UK. He is currently on the NewsGuard’s Board of News Literacy Advisors and has previously organised London Voter Registration Week with the Greater London Authority and been on Europe’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.
Chloé Hawryluk is a councillor for Wythall Parish Council and a final year BA politics student at the University of Liverpool. She is particularly passionate about the inclusion of young people in politics and the community and fighting against sexual harassment, founding Our Voice Matters a cross-party campaign to address sexual harassment in political parties.
Rainbow Murray is a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London and was formerly the first Senior Diversity Lead at the university. She was previously co-editor of the European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook. Her research focuses on diversity and representation within political institutions.
This term has one of the best social events calendars in a decade, from a revival of the cellars to puppy therapy and the return of the union play we have a wide selection of social events for every single member to enjoy.
We are also offering for the first time discounted tickets to Wednesday Revs at all of our after dark events, making the union one of the best spots to start a big night out throughout Lent term!
We are also expanding on some of the hits from Michaelmas! From a cocktail making class every 2 weeks, to bigger and better after darks featuring House and Garage DJs.
I want to thank my subcommittee for ironically enough destroying their own social lives for your own benefit, and I hope the union is able to become a true social hub for you all!
Szymon Sawicki | Christ Social Events Officer, Lent Term 2024
If you are one of our many postgraduate members, you’ll be excited to hear that this term is kicking off with a drinks and music social in the Library for postgraduates from all degrees!
Date: 19th of January
Time: 8pm - 9:30pm Location: Library
Whether you're a seasoned Mario Kart pro or a casual player, this tournament promises intense races, heartstopping moments, and the chance to lob funny coloured shells at your friends. The bar will be open, and prizes are available!
Date: 23rd of January
Time: 8pm - 10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Week 5 certainly isn’t easy. When you aren’t in the middle of an essay crisis or rushing to prepare for a supervision, come to the Library and enjoy our Puppy Therapy, kindly provided by Student Minds Cambridge!
Date: 19th of February
Time: 1pm - 2:30pm
Location: Library
Once known as the ‘Footlights Cellars’, the Cellars used to host a wide variety of comedy and other student acts. This Lent Term, we’re bringing that back for the night, with members able to perform their skits, music, poetry, and anything else that comes to mind!
Date: 24th Feb
Time: 8pm - 10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Date: 14th February
Time: 8pm - 10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Act: Clare Jazz Band
Date: 21st February
Time: 8pm - 10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Act: walker b2b wilko
This term, we’ve put together bigger, music events in the Cellars than traditional ‘Jazz After Dark’ house and garage music in the student DJs! Tickets to Wednesday at a discount with tickets
bigger, better and more diverse than ever before! Alongside our Dark’ events, we’re also hosting the cellars played by excellent Wednesday Revs will be sold online tickets for every ‘after dark’!
Date: 24th Jan + 6th March
Time: 8pm - 10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Act: gravy.e (24th Jan), Oskar Walker (6th March)
Date: March 13th
Time: 8pm - 10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Act: Clare Jazz Band
In our two days of events celebrating LGBT+ History Month, we will be hosting a karaoke social in the Union cellars after our first panel. Come to socialise, chill and sing along to your favourite songs!
Date: Tuesday 6th February
Time: 8-10:30pm Location: Cellars
Act: Izzy Wilkinson, Collaboration with Social Events. Get ready for an exciting DJ night in the Union cellars after our second LGBT+ History Month panel!
Date: Wednesday 7th February Time: 8-10:30pm
Location: Cellars
Join us on the 10th of February for a silent disco with all your favourite Bollywood and South Indian hits, AfroBeats and classic pop music to celebrate Galentine’s, with Brown Girl Link Up and Black Girl's Space.
Date: Saturday 10th February
Time: 8-11pm
Location: Cellars
OrganisedbytheEqualitiesCommittee
International Women’s Day KaraokE
Don’t miss our karaoke social for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month! Join us to belt out and dance to classic feminist tunes in a lively event to celebrate ending term.
Date: Sunday 10th March
Time: 8-10:30pm
Location: Cellars
A group exhibition at The Cambridge Union Fairfax Rhodes Room and Keynes Library
Opening Night: 11th of February, 7-9pm
Fairfax-Rhodes:
Date & Time: Friday 19th January and Friday 26th January,5-6pm
Workshop Description: Come along to one of our introductory workshops (content will be the same for both) to find out more about some of the key opportunities at the Union. From sub-committees to auditioning for debates, come along if you’re looking to get more involved or have any questions!
We are running three targeted debating workshops this term: the debating for beginners workshop for those looking for a chance to develop their public speaking skills and practise with other beginners, and our women and non-binary and BME debating workshops which are intended to create a safe space for those looking to learn and practise. Please come along and ask any questions!
Debating for Beginners Workshop:
Date & Time: Wednesday 14th February, Fairfax-Rhodes, 5-6pm
Women and Non-binary Debating Workshop:
Date & Time: Wednesday 21st February, Fairfax-Rhodes 5-6pm
BME Debating Workshop:
Date & Time: Wednesday 6th March, Fairfax-Rhodes 5-6pm
Treasurer
Equalities Officer
President Vice President
Nick Davis | Homerton
Liliana Walker | Homerton
Johan Nerlov | Pembroke
Anoushka Kale | Sidney Sussex
Communications Officer
Mark Wadey | Pembroke
Speakers Officer
Alessio D'Angelo | Jesus Debates Officer Sammy McDonald | St John's
Social Events Officer Szymon Sawicki | Christ
Competitive Debate Officer Competitive Debate Officer
Wei kang Lee | Hughes Hall Marcus Choy | Magdalene
Easter Committee:
President elect: Neha Pauly
Debates Officer elect: Felix Esche
Speaker Officer elect: Louis Davidson
Equalities Officer elect: Jess Spearman
Social Events Officer elect: Josh Lim
Vice President designate: Leonas Pausch
Treasurer designate: Alesia Laci
Communication Officer designate: Esha Patel
Events Management
Department:
Head: Alex Mitchell
Julia Skoloska
Cormac Hoare
Nicola Craciun
Marina Woods
Gabrielle Apfel
Imran Hassan
Oliver Howes
Hasan Akiel
Damsith Wilmalesema
Manal Ahmed
Laura O’Connor
Phoebe Qui
Guest Liaison
Department:
Head: Dom Love
Deputy: Karina Reed
Olivia Anery
Izzy Wilkinson
Alexandra Defterios
Sid Fenton
Lucie Weberman
Nick Papanicolaou
Aliya Adebowale
Carter Patton
Ayushman Nath
Alfie Cason
Callum Kennedy-Mann
Inaaya Salim
Tanvi Rao
Saqif Chowdhury
Senior Members:
Secretary: Lauren Tucker
Librarian: Miz Rahman
Chief of Staff: Josh Shortman
Publicity Department:
Head: Penelope Slater
Deputy: Katie Marshall
Kerrie Portman
Freya Thompson
Diti Gupta
In-Person Publicity: Suren Pahlevan
Rena Rawanchaikal
James Hardy
Maxim Knowles
Christopher Lorde
Juan Diago Albin
Graphics and Design:
Franci Tafilaj
Jack Owen
Welfare:
Claire Gao
Izzy Wyatt
Audio Visual Team:
Head: Oscar Beechy-Newman
Ewan Woods
Oliver Brownjohn
Speakers Sub-Committee:
Aditya Mishra
Ella Brigg
Theo Larsen
Louis Davidson
Esha Patel
Suren Pahlevan
Martha Dacombe
Isaac Stephenson
Aliya Adebowale
Alex Defteiros
Aradhya Soneja
Karry Jiao
Syed Farah
Tamara Lake
Jiaru Wu
Avvya Sharma
Helena Trenkic
Zaver Dhanani
Gabrielle Apfel
Sam Hui
Julia Sokolska
Damsith Wimalasena
Josh Newton
Phoebe Qiu
James Hyde
Social Events Sub-Committee:
Izzy Wilkinson
Oliver Howes
Cormac Hoare
Ewan Woods
Felix Esche
Francisc Vladovici Poplauschi
Lauren Tucker
Lucie Weberman
Madison Sinclair
Sam Spiri
Debates Sub-Committee:
Ivan Ampiah
Joshua Lim
Krisztina Sinkovics
Mari Puttick
Meg Celiku
Naomi Cray
Olivia Arney
Rebecca Yang
Alex Mitchell
Cara Naidoo
Felix Esche
Gabriel Rubens
Helena Trenkic
Dalya Dst
Hugo Tay
Iman Sami
Imran Hassan
Ivan Ampiah
Joshua Lim
Equalities Sub-Committee:
Women and Non-Binary Officer:
Jessica Spearman
BME Officer: Rayya Manzoor
Class Act Officer: Kerrie Portman
LGBT+ Officer: Christopher Lorde
Disabilities Officer: Syd Radford
Speakers and Socials Officer: Ebru Gurbuz
Debates and Panels Officer: Ritu Patel
Collaborations Officer: Joanne Yau
Photography:
Flo Tawns
Jakob Salovius
Nordin Catic
Timothy Lambden
William Blakesley-herbert
Staff:
Bursar: John Brown
General Manager: Joe Burman
Accounts Manager: Patience Tilbury
Sales & Marketing Executive: Ben Keen
Events Coordinator: Giuliana Berman
Business Development Manager: Adam Ganczakowski
Membership Secretary / Office Supervisor: Justyna Macoch
Accounts Assistant: Ella Cairns
Office Administrator: Christina Freeman
Audio and Visual Manager: Chris Izatt
Review Committee:
Joshua Blanchard Lewis (Chair)
Alex Forzani
Nick Wright
Sam Longton
Rachel Tustin
Freddie Dyke
Imran Mateo
Alasdair Donovan
Alycia Leach
Calum MacDonald
Trustees:
Dr. Mohamed El-Erian (Chair)
Ms Rachel Green
Mr Nick Davis
Mr Philip Harrison
Mr David Branch
Mr David Robinson
Ms Liliana Walker
Sir Christopher Greenwood QC
Mr. Nick Heath FRICS
The Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Ms Sarah Nathan
There are so many people to thank and to whom I am immensely grateful. Firstly, to Francis, whose Herculean efforts have resulted in the production of this brilliant term card in what has been an extraordinarily intense week to reach the finish line. To Jack Owen, for producing the elegant, front-cover of this term card – I’m proud your work will be the first thing members see when they pick this term card up.
I wanted to thank my Debates Officer, Sammy. Prior to being elected, you had already proved yourself as one of the most formidably eloquent orators in our chamber. Now, you have proven yourself as an excellent, innovative Debates Officer. You have chosen debates which push members and are thoughtfully contentious. With outstanding and diverse speakers, from Rebecca Johnson to John Bolton, Jamie Driscoll to Andrew Feinstein, I have no doubt the full potential of these exciting debates will be realised. Your Sub-committee were absolutely superb, and I am glad that each of them have been recognised in this term card for making these debates happen.
Thank you to Alessio, my Speakers Officer. The Ven diagram of people with whom I have gotten regularly hammered and sat with in the Fairfax Rhodes for hours sending Union emails, is a small one - but you are most certainly one of them. You have produced an excellent set of speakers who will challenge, excite, grip and move our audience. Your enthusiasm and boldness in embracing the broadest possible perspectives and driving home the importance of inviting international speakers has been more than delivered. From Al Sharpton and Tariq Ahmadzi, to Vuk Jeremic and Ali Sabry, this is a global term card.
Thank you to Szymon, my social events officer, for putting on brilliant social events. You have been incredibly creative – with events from coffee mornings to ‘house’ after dark, to the King Lear Play. You have not been defined by set and prescribed formulas of what a typical socials term card looks like and these events will attract a large, new swathe of members. Thank you to Anoushka, my Equalities Officer. You have tackled the most difficult of topics utterly superbly, from the legacy of post-colonial borders to technological complicity in ethnically driven totalitarianism. This reflects your attention to detail, which is second to none. Over Christmas in particular, the work you put in was extraordinary.
A big thank you to John for all your advice and support, as well as your immense role in bringing boxing to the Union. In addition, thanks to Ellen, Freddie, Joe, Ben and Guili for their dedicated service; this place would fall apart without you and your management - your professionalism has taught me a lot. Thank you to the trustees for all they have done for the Union and in particular, to Dr Mohammed El-Erian for his support and warm welcome.
I want to thank the people who have brought me to this point at the Union. To Josh Shortman, you are one of the most brilliantly reflective people I’ve met. Your debate in Michaelmas 2022 on ‘the right to offend debate’, (which everyone should watch) was wittily, eloquently subversive. You’ve been crucial in the work to break down financial barriers and push for radical change in how we do things here. You are one of the best people I’ve met at this university, and I am eternally grateful for the fact you were willing to spend £28 on that bloody harmonica.
Thanks to Lauren Tucker – both of us have been a bit addicted to student politics from first year. Having your advice on everything, from key policy decisions to term-card design and motion choices, I am incredibly grateful to you. You were a brilliant Co-Chair and will be an amazing secretary.
Thank you to Sal Widdicombe – you are one of the most resolutely determined people I’ve ever met and the most effective campaigner the Union has seen. Every step of the way you were there, gave more hours than anyone else and put simply, I could not have done this without you. You have changed the Union for the better. Sal, Lauren, Josh - I am extraordinarily grateful for your unwavering support, I am lucky to call all you remarkable people, my friends.
I want to thank other members of my presidential campaign team. Thank you to Miz for being with me through the election-that-never-was and through the maddest of its twists and turns. To Felix, for his support in those long hours at the Christ’s buttery. To Jyothi, for putting in an enormous shift with my campaign publicity. You all went above and beyond. To Penelope, Nick, Dom, Jack, Rob, Louis, Jason, Ollie, and all the others who came through for me and believed in this campaign.
Thank you to the ballot box’s best friend, James Hardy. In extraordinarily difficult circumstances, you had the courage to uphold the integrity of the election.
To JA3 – you’re an elusive riddle of a man, but a remarkable hack whose advice meant an enormous deal. No doubt in my mind, you will end up in the Cabinet (albeit for the wrong side).
Thank you to my VP – Liliana Walker. The statistical odds of us being household neighbours in first year, and us ending up as President and VP of the Union are extraordinary. You possess a consistently cool-head, fair mind and are committed to making this place far better. Mark Wadey, you are a one-man publicity machine and I admire your efficiency and commitment to the Union.
Thank you to the best sister in the world, Christianna, for your endless support - despite your utter contempt for student politics.
Finally, thank you to the members – you made me President. There is no Cambridge Union without you. Your passion, intellectual engagement and critical, inquiring scrutiny typifies the very best of this university. Don’t ever let them off the hook.
Best wishes
Nick Davis | Homerton President, Lent Term 2024
Term Card for Lent Term 2024:
Term Card Designed by FRANCI TAFILAJ
Cover Page Designed by JACKSON OWEN
