Mark Thompson, former Director General of the BBC, will deliver a series of lectures this November in his role as Humanitas Visiting Professor, before crossing the Atlantic to take up the reins of the New York Times.
Thompson will deliver his lectures at St Peter’s College, focusing on the importance of language in modern political debate. He will also take part in a symposium with Andrew Marr, David Willetts, Polly Toynbee and Gus O’Donnell, to discuss the ways in which language shapes and influences political discourse.
Thompson enthused, ‘These lectures spring from an abiding interest in language and argument but also from my more than three decades as a journalist and public service broadcaster wrestling with the challenge of how best to help the public understand and engage with the big policy questions of the day.’
He emphasised his attachment to the university, adding, ‘As an Oxford humanities graduate, it means a great deal to me to be asked to become the university’s first visiting professor of rhetoric and public persuasion.’
One PPE fresher said, “This news just reinforces my excitement at coming to Oxford. It has a worldwide brand that is able to draw big names in a way no other UK university can.”
One third year English student disagreed, complaining, “This is just another boring gimmick from a university that sometimes seems keener on attracting celebrities than true academic heavyweights.”
