Shireen Kalra

Shireen Kalra is the Programme Coordinator at the Oxford Character Project (Global Leadership Programme), where she works on character-driven leadership initiatives for a young and diverse global audience. Committed to fostering a culture of ethical civic leadership in universities worldwide, she focuses on equipping young leaders with the values and skills to drive social impact.

'Reactionary' Conservatism (Oxford Conservative Thought, Week 5)

The Oxford Conservative Thought (OCT) Reading Group is a non-partisan group devoted to academic exploration of small-c conservative political thought. We welcome, and actively encourage, viewpoint diversity and constructive engagement across ideological divides (all good-willed participants are welcome!)

Week 5 focuses on 'reactionary' thought and its relationship to conservatism, with a reading from Maistre.

Please register here: forms.gle/W4tX5qFgSAU171ap9

Each week we read one assigned text, and we recommend more for anyone who is very keen!

The Roles of Women's and Civil Society Activism in Sudan and South Sudan

Join us for the next one day hybrid conference of The Sudanese Programme. If you aren't able to join us in person, you are welcome to join by ZOOM. Register to receive your personal ZOOM link at: https://tinyurl.com/TSPprogMarch25

Please see The Sudanese Programme website for programme details: https://www.sudaneseprogramme.org

All are welcome, we look forward to having you with us.

Speakers include:
Dr Amira Osman - Sudanese Women Activism during the Revolution and War
Lorna Merekaje

Creating Hope: open discussion with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists.

We will be hosting Palestinian and Israeli peace activists Hamze Awawde and Magen Inon for an open discussion on the future of the region with a focus on student activism. The event will include a light lunch. Details of the location will be circulated via email to registered attendees.

Gain insights from individuals actively working towards peace, and be part of a discussion that aims to promote hope and dialogue as essential tools for bridging divides and building new paths.

Against Ideology: Multi-Text Based Discourse as a Tool for Subverting Dogmatic Thinking

Against Ideology: Multi-Text Based Discourse as a Tool for Subverting Dogmatic Thinking.

We will explore the role of text-based dialogue in challenging rigid belief systems and encouraging critical inquiry. The session will be led by Micki Weinberg, founder of SHIUR, a Berlin-based platform that integrates the ancient tradition of text-based learning into contemporary spaces, including art, diplomacy, and culture.

Narrative Entanglement: The Case of Climate Policy

Political economy models often assume that voter beliefs are consistent with available information. Recent work emphasizes instead the role played by narratives, subjective causal models that may be incorrectly specified. In this paper, we study the role of political narratives in the context of climate policy. We develop a theory of narrative entanglement, where policy dimensions—initially distinct—become strategically intertwined through narratives created by politicians to sway support. Shocks in one dimension can thus influence unrelated policy areas.

Matthew Gooch

Current Role

I am the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Department of Politics and International Relations (DIPR), and work Wednesdays - Thursdays. This is a shared role also working with the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID), where I work Monday - Tuesdays.

My in-person office day for ODID is Tuesday and DPIR is Wednesday. Friday is my non-working day.

Previous Experience

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