News & Events
Mount Holyoke European Alumnae Symposium
Brain Power: Build it, Use it, Keep it
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Preliminary Programme
Friday, 25th September
12:30 – 6 PM Registration
St. Anne's College, Oxford
2:30 PM Bodleian Library Tour (This tour is now FULL)
Arranged through the offices of Susan E. Whyman ’59, a specially conducted visit to Oxford's world famous Bodleian Library. This tour includes visits to Duke Humfrey's Library, the Reading Rooms and the legendary book stacks beneath the city's streets. The tour will take approximately one hour and is limited to 26 people. Registrations will be accepted through the registration form and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
6-7:30 PM Opening Reception
Natural History Museum, Parks Road (home of the famous Dodo from Alice in Wonderland) This venue is a short walk from St. Annes. Transportation will be provided where necessary.
Speakers: Carol Hoffman Collins '63 and Dr. Jim Kennedy, Director of NHM
Saturday, 26th September
Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre, Ruth Deech Building
9 AM Introduction and Welcome by Carol Hoffmann Collins '63 followed by Keynote Address
“Brain Power: Build It”
Is the brain we're born with the one we're stuck with?
Keynote Speaker: Francis G. Szele, Fellow and Tutor in Developmental Neurobiology, St. Anne’s College, Oxford
Chair: Ann Callender Barker, 1968
9:50 - 10:30 AM Workshop Sessions
Led by Francis Szele, Ann Calender Barker and Ann Lindsay Cashmore
10:30 - 11 AM Coffee Break
11 AM Panel Discussion
“Brain Power: Use It”
What's the difference between a math brain, a humanities brain,
a business brain, a creative brain?
Speakers:
Barbara A. Cassani (Mount Holyoke, 1982) Executive Chairman of Jurys Inns and Founder of the low cost airline Go
Donal B. O'Shea, Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs & Elizabeth T. Kennan Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, Mount Holyoke College
Susan J. Smith (St. Anne's, 1974) Geography Professor and Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, September 2009
Eleanor Updale (St Anne's, 1972), Author and Broadcaster
Chair: Ann Lindsay Cashmore MHMA
12:15 – 12:45 PM Workshop Sessions
Led by Donal O'Shea, Susan Smith, Barbara Cassani
12:45– 1 PM Report Back session
Chair: Ann Callender Barker
1– 2:30 PM Lunch in Dining Hall
2 PM Bodleian Library Tour (This tour is now FULL)
Due to a fast growing waiting list for the Friday afternoon tour, a second tour of the Bodleian Library has been arranged. As on Friday, this tour includes visits to Duke Humfrey's Library, the Reading Rooms and the legendary book stacks beneath the city's streets. The tour will take approximately one hour and is limited to 26 people. Registrations will be accepted through the registration form and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
2:30 -6 PM Free Afternoon
6-6:30 PM Special Session
Wobble, Warbles and Fish: the brain basis of dyslexia
Speaker: John Stein, Professor of Neuro-Physiology in the University of Oxford; Chairman Dyslexia Research Trust
Chair: Eleanor Updale
6:30 PM Drinks Reception
7:30 PM Dinner in Hall
Welcome address by Cynthia L. Reed '80, President of the Alumnae Association
Guest speaker: Joanne V. Creighton, President of Mount Holyoke College
Sunday, 27th September
9:30 AM Panel Discussion
“Brain Power: Keep It”
How to make your brain go on working long after your paid working life
Speakers:
Anne Lonsdale, CBE (St. Anne's 1958), Chairman, Camfed International; former President, New Hall, Cambridge)
John Stein, Professor of Neuro-Physiology in the University of Oxford; Chairman Dyslexia Research Trust
Lord Oxburgh, Rector, Imperial College London, 1993 – 2001; Chief Scientific Adviser at the Ministry of Defence 1988 – 93; President, Queens' College, Cambridge, 1982 -89
Chair: Elizabeth Allen Wilson, 1972
10:30-11 AM Workshop Sessions
11-11:30 AM Coffee
11:30 AM-1 PM Closing Session and Discussion
2:30 PM Guided Tour of the Historic University of Oxford Botanic Garden
The oldest botanic garden in Great Britain, and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world, was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research. Today it contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 hectares (4½ acres). It is one of the most diverse yet compact collections of plants in the world and includes representatives from over 90% of the higher plant families. (Description courtesy of Wikipedia.org.)
A minimum of 15 people are needed for the tour. Registration for the tour is available on the Symposium registration form.
Special Notes
The planners are looking for volunteers to:
- Help on reception and registration: Friday, Sept. 25
- Offer to chair sessions/breakout groups: Saturday, Sept 26, Sunday 27
For questions about the program or to volunteer, please contact cochairs Gillian Reynolds GS’58 (avyx83@dsl.pipex.com) and Carol Hoffmann Collins ’63 (Chcworldly@aol.com).
For questions about registration, please contact Maya D'Costa (mdcosta@mtholyoke.edu).
