What are Study Days?

Starting at 10:00am and finishing at 3:00pm, Study Days provide three one-hour lectures, linked to a chosen theme. Coffee is served between the morning sessions, and a three-course lunch before the afternoon session. Study Days are held in Oxford at Rewley House in Wellington Square, the home of the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education. The lecture theatre has up-to-date audio/visual equipment, including a hearing loop, and there is lift access.

The next Study Day

We are very pleased to announce that our next Study Day will be held on Friday 3rd May.

The topic will be Tragedy and triumph: the story of polar exploration by Mark Cottle.

Mark is an experienced and popular Arts Society lecturer. He gave us the very well-received lecture on The Wilton diptych and the roof of Westminster Hall in December 2021, and this study day topic on polar exploration has been warmly recommended to us by a neighbouring arts society as one of the best they have had.

There will be three lectures:

Session 1: Searches for the North-West Passage and the North Pole. From Frobisher and Davis in the 16th Century to Roald Amundsen and Wally Herbert in the 20th century, numerous expeditions took up these challenges – some tragic, others eventually triumphant.

Session 2: Robert Scott, Roald Amundsen and the Race to the South Pole. With the help of the evocative photographs of Scott’s photographer, Herbert Ponting, and some of Edward Wilson’s water colours, this session focuses on the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, in particular, the journeys by Scott and his rival, Amundsen, to be first at the South Pole.

Session 3 : Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition. This lecture focuses on one of the most dramatic escapes from disaster in polar history. Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, got trapped and eventually crushed in the pack ice. With the help of the expedition’s photographs by Frank Hurley, we will follow the saga of survival against the odds.

 

How can I book?

Full details of the Study Day are emailed to members, and those on the waiting list, six to eight weeks before the event. Booking is through TicketSource, via an application link contained in the email.  The 69 tickets will be sold on a first-come first-served basis.

Previous Study Days

To read about our previous study days click here

How do I contact the organisers?

Study Days are organised by Sue Hine and Bridget Watkins. If you would like any more general information, please email them at tasoxford@gmail.com

Wyvern Area Study Days

We are part of The Arts Society Wyvern Area and our members, and those on the waiting list, are welcome to take part in Wyvern area events. Further details click here