Rewley House Lecture Series

Free public lectures at Oxford University

Join us in Oxford or online

The Rewley House Lecture Series is an opportunity to experience the extraordinarily diverse research interests of academics from across and beyond Oxford Lifelong Learning, and to participate in multidisciplinary debate.

Lectures are free and open to all.

Free Trinity term 2026 hybrid lecture

Thursday 16 June 2026, 5.30pm (17:30 BST)

Schrödinger’s Trucker: Presence and Absence in Mobile Freight Work

This free lecture from Dr Debbie Hopkins uses 'Schrödinger’s Trucker' as a metaphor to describe the ways through which mobile workers are simultaneously present and absent in discourse, policy and practice.

Drawing on a decade’s empirical research in the UK road haulage industry, including the ESRC 'Trucking Lives' project, Dr Hopkins will use visual and textual storytelling to depict the everyday experiences of UK lorry drivers, showing how the presence–absence dynamic has material consequences: shaping working conditions, influencing policy blind spots, and reinforcing the invisibility of critical labour. By making these dynamics visible, we invite a broader reconsideration of how we recognise and value mobile work in contemporary society.

Find out more and book your place >

About the speaker

Dr Debbie Hopkins is an Associate Professor in Human Geography jointly appointed between the School of Geography and the Environment, and the Sustainable Urban Development programme at Oxford Lifelong Learning. She is also an Official Fellow of Kellogg College, and an International Research Affiliate of the Centre for Sustainability at the Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou/ University of Otago. 

Past lectures

The British Imperial Way of Warfare

The British Imperial Way of Warfare

This free lecture from Professor Yasmin Khan will think about British warfare from the other end of the telescope by considering Asian non-combatants and camp-followers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Navigating the Tightrope of a UN Independent Mandate

Navigating the Tightrope of a UN Independent Mandate

Join Professor Nazila Ghanea on 28 May 2024 for this free hybrid lecture, part of the Rewley House Lecture Series.

A repression of things past: reflections on the memory of pandemics in the wake of covid

A repression of things past: reflections on the memory of pandemics in the wake of covid

Join Dr Nicholas E. Bonneau for this free hybrid lecture, part of the Rewley House Lecture Series.

Data Science and Identifying COVID-19 Risk Factors

Data Science and Identifying COVID-19 Risk Factors

Join Dr Daniel Wilson as he explores the role that data science has played in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Free lecture, part of the Rewley House Lecture Series.