Oxford Union

The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is Britain's third oldest University Union (after the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society and Cambridge Union Society), and has trained politicians from Britain and other countries.

Status and membership

The Oxford Union is an unincorporated association, holding its property in trust in favour of its objectives and members, and governed by its rules (which form a multi-partite contract between the members).

Since its foundation, it has been independent of the University: historically, this was because the Victorian University restricted junior members from discussing certain issues (for example, theology). Despite such restrictions since being lifted, it has remained entirely separate from the University, and is constitutionally bound to remain so.

Only members of Oxford University are eligible to become life members of the Union, but students at certain other educational institutions are entitled to join for the duration of their time in Oxford. These institutions are:

Society (play)

Society was an 1865 comedy drama by Thomas William Robertson regarded as a milestone in Victorian drama because of its realism in sets, costume, acting and dialogue. Unusually for that time, Robertson both wrote and directed the play, and his innovative writing and stage direction inspired George Bernard Shaw and W. S. Gilbert.

Origins

The play originally ran at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, Liverpool, under the management of Mr A. Henderson, opening on 8 May 1865. It was recommended to Effie Wilton, the manager of the Prince of Wales's Theatre in London's West End, by H. J. Byron, where it ran from 11 November 1865 to 4 May 1866 Robertson found fame with his new comedy, which included a scene that fictionalized the Fun gang, who frequented the Arundel Club, the Savage Club, and especially Evans's café, where they had a table in competition with the Punch 'Round table'. The play marked the London debut of Squire Bancroft, who went on to marry Effie Wilton in 1867 and become her co-manager.

Society (video game)

Society is a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game in development by Stardock. It is to be initially released on their online distribution service, Impulse for free. First announced in 2005, development progress was slow in the coming years, and by February 2009, the game's development was placed on-hold in favor of wrapping up another of the company's games, Elemental: War of Magic. Upon its release in August 2010, development was restarted in January 2011, though the company has been quiet on the game's status since.

Gameplay

Society plays as a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy. The game starts with the player obtaining a single province, of which 50,000 exist on a single server. From there, the player must build up their province, creating buildings, schools, factories, and other infrastructure necessary for a subset of people to exist. Upon the creation of a successful province, the player must decide on how to interact with all of the other provinces, many of which are other player's provinces, whether it be forcefully taking them over through war, or using diplomacy to forge cooperation between provinces. The game's world exists in a continual 24 hour world that never stop; progress in the game continue even when the player is away, and the game's artificial intelligence will take over defending a province when the player is not present. To avoid having players return to the game with their empire entirely destroyed, only 1/4 of a player's provinces may be contested during any one day, and players can band together into empires to take over the defense of each other's provinces, fighting on one another's behalf.

Seven and Five Society

The Seven and Five Society was an art group of seven painters and five sculptors created in 1919 and based in London.

The group was originally intended to encompass traditional, conservative artistic sensibilities. The first exhibition catalogue said, "[we] feel that there has of late been too much pioneering along too many lines in altogether too much of a hurry." Abstract artist Ben Nicholson joined in 1924, followed by others such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and changed the society into a modernistic one and expelled the non-modernist artists. In 1935, the group was renamed the Seven and Five Abstract Group. At the Zwemmer Gallery in Charing Cross Road, London they staged the first exhibition of entirely abstract works in Britain.

See also

References

Oxford

Oxford (/ˈɒksfərd/) is a city in the South East region of England and the county town of Oxfordshire. With a population of 159,994 it is the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom, and one of the fastest growing and most ethnically diverse. Oxford has a broad economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a large number of information technology and science-based businesses, some being academic offshoots. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Buildings in Oxford demonstrate notable examples of every English architectural period since the late Saxon period. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold.

History

Medieval

Oxford was first settled in Saxon times and was initially known as "Oxenaforda", meaning "Ford of the Oxen" (according to the English Place-Name Society, who base their result on a passing reference in Florence of Worcester's work "Chronicon ex chronicis"); fords were more common than bridges at that time. It began with the establishment of a river crossing for oxen around AD 900. In the 10th century, Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes.

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract.

As of the 2010 US Census, the population is 18,916; the Census Bureau estimates the city's 2013 population at 20,865. Oxford is the home of the University of Mississippi, founded in 1848, also commonly known as "Ole Miss".

Oxford has been named by USA Today as one of the top six college towns in the nation. It is included in The Best 100 Small Towns in America. Lafayette County consistently leads the state rankings in the lowest unemployment rate per quarter. Oxford City Schools are ranked as "Star" schools, the highest ranking available, and Lafayette County school systems are consistently ranked as "5-star" systems.

History

Oxford and Lafayette County were formed from lands ceded by the Chickasaw in the treaty of Pontotoc Creek in 1832. The county was organized in 1836, and in 1837 three pioneers—John Martin, John Chisom, and John Craig—purchased land from Hoka, a female Chickasaw landowner, as a site for the town. They named it Oxford, intending to promote it as a center of learning in the Old Southwest. In 1841, the Mississippi legislature selected Oxford as the site of the state university, which opened in 1848.

Oxford (electoral district)

Oxford is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since the 1935 election.

It consists of the county of Oxford and a small portion of Brant County.

History

It was created in 1933 when the ridings of Oxford North and Oxford South were merged. It consisted initially of the county of Oxford, including the part of the village of Tavistock that lies in the county of Oxford.

In 1966, it was expanded to include the Town of Tillsonburg and the whole of the Village of Tavistock. In 1976, it was defined as consisting of the County of Oxford. In 1987, it was expanded to include the Township of Burford in the County of Brant. In 1996, it was defined as consisting of the county of Oxford.

This riding gained territory from Brant during the 2012 electoral redistribution.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.