The Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub programme for Trinity Term 2023 has been announced, and promises a diverse range of digitally-themed events that explore research, teaching, creativity and music in the digital age.
The innovative term-time programme is curated by Jesus College’s SOUTHWORKS Career Development for the Digital Hub, and begins on Friday 19th May with the return of Immers-eXpo 2023, a showcase of the newest developments in mixed reality technology and their potential in research, teaching and outreach. The event programme combines a series of short talks, opportunities to browse stalls, network with industry and academic leaders, as well as explore the latest technologies. Immers-eXpo is hosted in partnership with the Oxford X-Reality Hub, and this will be the second time the showcase has been held at the College.
The SOUTHWORKS Career Development Fellow for the Digital Hub curates a wide range of events, talks, conferences and workshop on learning and research in the digital age each academic term.
On Thursday 25th May, the Digital Hub comes alive with the sounds of West African music and the flavours of traditional West African food at Africa Day 2023: An Afro-Futuristic celebration with Jally Kebba Susso. Susso is a musical and cultural ambassador for Gambia in the UK, and an Afro-futurist kora player and composer who is expanding the boundaries of the griot tradition while keeping its heart and soul intact. In celebration of Africa Day 2023, and with his unique ability to seamlessly blend traditional West African sounds with electronic effects and beats, Susso will be sharing insights into his musical journey, and leading an interactive experience where the audience will have the opportunity to participate. The College is delighted to be working in collaboration with the Oxford University Africa Society on the event, which will also offer guests the chance to enjoy a range of West African ‘chops’ after Susso’s performance.
Jally Kebba Susso is a musical and cultural ambassador for Gambia in the UK, and will be performing in the Digital Hub on Thursday 25th May in celebration of Africa Day.
Creative Machine Oxford (Tuesday 30th May, by invitation only) is a symposium and showcase of the latest creative and research applications of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality and robotics. It has been developed by Goldsmiths, University of London, in partnership with Jesus College, and is generously supported by the Alan Turing Institute. Across the day there will be a range of talks by leading experts from globally-recognised organisations and institutes, including DeepMind, King.com, Oxford Computational Neurosciences, MIT Technology Review, Nuffield Clinical Neurosciences, Spotify, the Victoria and Albert Museum and UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. The symposium also features demonstrations of some of the latest creative AI technologies, and a keynote panel discussion hosted by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Jesus College Principal, exploring the impact and implications to society of AI in the 21st century.
The Trinity Term programme rounds-off with The Digital Labyrinth on Thursday 8th June. Hosted in partnership with the Ashmolean Museum, this event explores the digital elements of the Ashmolean’s current exhibition Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth and Reality, which tells the story of the search for the mythical labyrinth that resulted in the discovery of the archaeological site of Knossos. The exhibition curator Dr Andrew Shapland (Supernumerary Fellow in Archaeology) will introduce the event, with guest speakers Romain Fascialé from Ubisoft; Dr John Pouncett from the Oxford University School of Archaeology; and Dr Clare Llewellyn from the University of Edinburgh each presenting their unique digital contribution.