Brasenose welcomes Vanessa Redgrave as Visiting Professor

The University of Oxford Humanities Division and Brasenose College were delighted to welcome stage and film actress Vanessa Redgrave as the Humanitas Visiting Professor in Drama. She delivered lectures and took part in a symposium in Oxford during early February, as well as dining at Brasenose.

The programme of events focussed on the theme of Theatre and Politics and included lectures on King Lear and Antony and Cleopatra. The symposium held on Friday 10th February also featured actor Ralph Fiennes, Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington and playwright Simon Stephen.

Vanessa Redgrave can currently be seen starring in Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut Coriolanus. During her film career she has starred in films such as A Man For All Seasons, Howards End, A Month By The Lake, Mrs. Dalloway and Atonement. She received an Academy Award in 1978 for her supporting role in Julia. Her scores of major roles on the stage most recently include recreating The Year of Magical Thinking at the National Theatre; Lady Windermere's Fan at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket; The Tempest for the RSC at Shakespeare's Globe; and The Cherry Orchard at the Royal National Theatre. She starred on Broadway in the landmark 2003 production of Long Day's Journey Into Night and more recently in Driving Miss Daisy.

Vanessa has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1995 and is an active supporter of Amnesty International and Liberty. She was awarded the CBE in 1967.

Humanitas is a series of Visiting Professorships at Oxford and Cambridge intended to bring leading practitioners and scholars to both institutions to address major themes in the arts, social sciences and humanities. Created by Lord Weidenfeld, the Programme is managed and funded by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue with the support of a series of generous benefactors and administered by the Humanities Division in Oxford and the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) in Cambridge.

The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Drama has been made possible by the generous support of Eric Abraham.