Beyond Determinism and Submission

Dr Margaret Heffernan is coming to Kellogg College on Wednesday 28 October for a lecture titled Beyond Determinism and Submission. It's her inaugural address as the college's newest Bynum Tudor Fellow, so it's a bit of a homecoming for her as she takes up the post.

Heffernan is an author, entrepreneur and former CEO who's built a reputation as a thinker on leadership, uncertainty and human agency. She's a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath and has written seven books, including Wilful Blindness, Uncharted and Embracing Uncertainty — the last one looks at how the drive for prediction and control can end up constraining creativity, adaptability and agency. Her TED Talks have been viewed by millions worldwide, and in 2021 she was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.

Drawing on her recent work, the lecture challenges the assumptions that encourage passivity and dependence. She asks how we might recover human agency in a world where technology increasingly shapes our choices, rather than simply submitting to forecasts. There's a drinks reception afterwards that opens the floor, so you'll have a chance to ask questions and talk it through with the room once she's finished.

The lecture runs from 5:30pm to 6:30pm at The Hub, Kellogg College, 62 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6PN, with tea and coffee available from 5pm if you want to arrive early and settle in. Entry is free.