Mark Thompson to be Humanitas Visiting Professor

Mark Thompson will be a Humanitas Visiting Professor at Oxford University in the break between his current role as Director-General of the BBC and his new position as Chief Executive of the New York Times, Oxford University has announced today. His lectures will analyse the language of political debate in the UK and the USA - examining the role of both the media and politicians in defining and restricting the way complex policies are discussed. Mr Thompson, who is himself an Oxford University humanities graduate, will take up the Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Rhetoric and the Art of Public Persuasion in honour of Philip Gould, in early November 2012. He will give lectures on healthcare and language on Monday 5 November, on science and argument on Tuesday 6 November, and on war and morality on Wednesday 7 November - all at St Peter's College, Oxford University. He will also take part in a symposium with Andrew Marr, David Willetts, Polly Toynbee and Gus O'Donnell on Friday 9 November to discuss how language shapes public debate. The lecture series will be called 'The Cloud of Unknowing'. Humanitas is a series of visiting professorships at Oxford and Cambridge intended to bring leading practitioners and scholars to both universities to address major themes in the arts, social sciences and humanities.