Academic Enrichment Talks
The Academic Enrichment Programme seeks to nurture the intellectual curiosity of King Alfred's students by putting together an inspiring and diverse series of talks over the course of the year. These talks provide our students with a window into subjects and topics that they may not encounter in school, exploring ideas they may not otherwise come across, and they prepare our students for making informed subject choices during GCSE and Further Education choices.
You never know when you might learn something that could spark a life-long passion or interest!
Death by Shakespeare - Dr. Kathryn Harkup (Sept 2026)
Wednesday 30th September 2026 - 18:30-20:00
Held at the Beacon in Wantage.
Dr. Kathryn Harkup is a Chemist and Author, and she proposes to turn her scientific eye on the many creative ways whereby Shakespeare "did Away" with some of his characters. A multi-disciplinary talk exploring the existing scientific knowledge of the time, and the historical events that might have inspired the Bard's murderous ideas.
Don't miss your chance to sign up now: The Sir Christopher Ricks Talk 2026 - "Death by Shakespeare" – Fill out form
The Day the Dinosaurs Died - Dr Victoria Robinson (Nov 2026)
Wednesday 11th November 2026 - 17:00-18:00
Held at the Sixth Form Auditorium on King Alfred's Centre Site.
Victoria Robinson is an Environmental Consultant with an interest in the deep history of our planet, and a particular passion for all things Dinosaur.
Dinosaurs were the most successful group of vertebrate animals to have walked the planet, thriving for 165 million years. Until one day, they didn’t. This talk explores what happened on that day, the causes of the mass extinction, the local and global impacts, and what it reveals about Life on Earth today.
Don't miss your chance to sign up now: CLT AEP Talk - The Day the Dinosaurs Died – Fill out form
Hieroglyphs for All: An Introduction to the Ancient Egyptian Writing System - Dr Pablo Barba Garcia (Dec 2026)
Tuesday 1st December 2026 - 17:00-18:00
Held at the Sixth Form Auditorium on King Alfred's Centre Site.
Pablo Barba is an Egyptologist with the University of Reading, where he also heads their superb Outreach offer. This talk will be a highly interactive work shop - bring a pen and notebook, because you will be writing in hieroglyphs as part of this talk, and learning about the most unusual aspects of deciphering them!
Don't miss your chance to sign up now: CLT AEP Talk - Hieroglyphs for All – Fill out form
What can Economics tell us about who will win the premier league? - Dr James reade (Jan 2027)
Wednesday 27th January 2027 - 17:00-18:00
Held at the Sixth Form Auditorium on King Alfred's Centre Site.
James Reade is with the Department of Economics at the University of Reading, with a particular interest in the applications of Economics to sport. In this talk, he will be exploring how Economics theories can be applied to football and predicting trends and outcomes within the Premier League. A wonderful opportunity to see how maths, economics and sports come together!
"Demandingness!": considering Fairness - prof Luke Elson (March 2027
Tuesday 2nd March 2027
Location and times to be confirmed here as soon as possible so please check back.
Luke Elson teaches at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Reading. He has a special interest in ethics, reasons and rationality, and the more vague the better. Come prepared to wrestle with ideas such as ‘if it would be wrong to let a child drown to save our shoes, why isn't it wrong to buy a pair of shoes instead of making a donation to Oxfam?’ Why isn’t it the same? Where are the flaws in the argument?
The Uncanny - Prof Neil Cocks (March 2027)
Tuesday 23rd March 2027 - 17:00-18:00
Held at the Sixth Form Auditorium on King Alfred's Centre Site.
Neil Cocks is with the Department of English Literature. In this talk, Neil would like to explore with you the sense of the uncanny—that odd feeling when something is both familiar but strange at the same time. Neil Cocks will introduce the concept through a combination of story telling, literary analysis, and art criticism. His focus is on works that might not be thought of as obviously uncanny. There is something quite uncanny about seeing the uncanny in non-spooky places...
Local Flooding: what causes it ... other than water? - Dr Colin Lloyd (April 2027)
Thursday 22nd April 2027 - 17:00-18:00
Held at the Sixth Form Auditorium on King Alfred's Centre Site.
Colin Lloyd is with the Future Flood Resilience Group (FFRG) which is working towards the creation for a flood risk management plan for the Vale of the White Horse. This talk will explore the factors that impact flooding, what the FFRG have learnt about issues in our local area, and also what they hope to do in the future.
Earthquakes, Seismology and the earlth's interior - Dr Petros Bogiatzis (May 2027)
Wednesday 12th May 2027
Location and times to be confirmed here as soon as possible so please check back.
Petros Bogiatzis is a senior researcher in Seismology at the Earth Sciences Department of Oxford. He has a special interest in using seismic waves to understand the behaviour of earthquakes and other geophysical phenomena.
Travelling Worlds - Prof Melanie May (June 2027)
Tuesday 15th June 2027
Location and times to be confirmed here as soon as possible so please check back.
Melanie May is the Head of Languages and Cultures at the University of Reading. In this talk, she will be exploring how and why words in European languages borrow from each other, causing languages to change over time.