Holidays

    We all know what a brain is. A doctor will tell you that the brain is the organ of the body in the head. It controls our body's functions, movements, emotions and thoughts. But a brain can mean so much more.

    A brain can also simply be a smart person. If a person is called brainy, he is smart and intelligent. If a family has many children but one of them is super smart, you could say, “He's the brains in the family.” And if you are the brains behind something, you are responsible for developing or organizing something. For example, Bill Gates is the brains behind Microsoft.

    Brain trust is a group of experts who give advice. Word experts say the phrase “brain trust” became popular when Franklin D. Roosevelt first ran for president in 1932. Several professors gave him advice on social and political issues（问题）facing the U.S. These professors were called his “brain trust”.

    These ways we use the word “brain” all make sense. But other ways we use the word are not so easy to understand. For example, to understand the next brain expression, you first need to know the word “drain”. As a verb, to drain means to remove something by letting it flew away. So a brain drain may sound like a disease where the brain flows out the ears. But, brain drain is when a country's most educated people leave their countries to live in another. The brains are, sort of, draining out of the country.

    However, if people are responsible for a great idea, you could say they brainstormed it. Here, brainstorm is not an act of weather. It is a process of thinking creatively about a complex topic. For example, business leaders may use brainstorming to create new products, and government leaders may brainstorm to solve problems.

    If people are brainwashed, it does not mean their brains are nice and clean. To brainwash means to make some accept new beliefs by using repeated pressure in a forceful or tricky way. Keep in mind that brainwash is never used in a positive way.

Events listed here are open to everyone. Whether you want to listen to a lecture, learn a new skill, take in a concert or an exhibition, see a play staged by Oxford University students or attend one of our sporting events, there's always something going on.

    Events are subject to change; please contact the organizer for full details.

    Qu Leilei: A Chinese Artist in Britain

    30 November 2017 to 15 April 2018

Contemporary Chinese artist Qu Leilei (born in 1951), now based in London, was a founding member of the creative ‘Stars Group' in the late 1970s, and immigrated to England in 1985. This exhibition shows his progression from calligraphic (书法的) art to an exploration of a new vocabulary of ink language mixing lively brushwork with western technique.

    The Brexit (脱欧) sword hanging over our universities

    29 November 2017

    Lord Bilimoria CBE，the Founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer and President of the University of Birmingham, will talk about Brexit, its influence on our universities, their academics and students as well as the future of international students in the UK.

    Oxford Botanic Garden Christmas Fair

    2-3 December 2017

    Escape the crowds and step inside a wonderland of hand-picked gifts, tasty food and family entertainment. Look through for extra-special Christmas presents at over 30 stands in the heated large tent. Pause for a glass of sweet hot wine and some delicious food, then follow the Alice in Wonderland path around the walled garden before stopping for tea with the Mad Hatter.

    The Art of Partying: A Feast for the Eyes!

    13 December 2017

    From Greek designs and Biblical weddings to Renaissance works and the celebratory styles of the twentieth-century painters, this lecture will examine the popular description of parties in the history of Western Art at the Ashmolean Museum.

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