The Veritas Forum has been a presence in Oxford for several years, hosting discussions on topics such as secularism and faith in the public square; friendship, community and social media; Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the public square; colonialism and missionary legacies in Africa; issues surrounding world poverty; and what it means to be human in an age of science.
In 2013, Veritas team was pleased to host the 2013 Veritas Forum at Oxford on the theme of just war and humanitarian intervention, with two distinguised speakers:
Professor Nigel Biggar (Christ Church, Oxford)
The Rt Hon Clare Short (Former UK Secretary of State for International Development)
The forum was held at 7.30 pm Thursday 14 November 2013, Garden Auditorium at St John's College
In 2012, The Veritas Forum hosted Senior Representative at IMF and former Senior Policy Advisor to the UK Treasury Paul Mills as keynote speaker in “Losing Interest? Imagining a Financial System without Debt”. Jenny Corbett, Reader in the Economy of Japan, and Prof Colin Meyer of the Saïd Business School, responded with their perspectives in a moderated discussion.
In 2011, The Veritas Forum at Oxford explored friendship, community and social media in “The Social Net(works?)”. Philosophical theologian Prof Graham Ward, evolutionary anthropologist Prof Robin Dunbar and Head of Strategic Marketing at IMVU Jenny Rutherford, brought their faith, research and experience to bear on the question.
In 2010, philosopher Prof John Haldane and author and journalist Christopher Hitchens debated the question of whether secularism or a faith-based worldview provides a superior philosophy for the public square in “We Don’t Do God?”
In 2008, The Veritas Forum at Oxford arranged a panel discussion titled “Blessed are the Poor” with church minister Rev Cyprian Yobera, economist and Pro Vice Chancellor at Oxford Andrew Dilnot, and Director of Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Sabina Alkire. There was also “Blessed are the Poor: A Young Development Practitioners’ Forum” with Director of St Paul’s Institute Edmund Newell and a “Rich/Poor Dinner” with Tearfund Leadership Team Member, David Westlake.