Tutors
Debate Chamber Tutors
Debate Chamber Tutors have expertise across a wide variety of subjects and specialisms, below are a selection of sample biographies.
Francesca Giovannini – International Relations
Francesca is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Politics and International Relations at Oxford, where she is researching the looming talent race between China, Russia and the United States to attract the best brains and the most qualified human capital. She has previously studied at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Bologna, at the School of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Development in Rome and at the University of California Berkeley, where she was appointed as lecturer in the International and Area Studies Department and awarded the 2006 Graduate Student Instructor Outstanding Teaching Award. She is a recipient of the 2005-2007 Rotary World Peace Fellowship. Francesca has extensive experience working for Italian development NGOs and the United Nations in the Middle East, West Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Her main areas of policy expertise are: institutional design and innovation policies, the conduction of international risk assessments, and the development of post conflict peace-building strategies for inter-community dialogue and cooperation.
Silvia Ferabolli – Politics and International Relations
Silvia is a Doctoral student in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Specializing in Arab politics and Third World studies, Silvia has papers published in leading Latin American journals and several articles published in Le Monde Diplomatique (Brazilian edition). She is the author of a newly launched book on Arab regionalism, International Relations of the Arab World. She was a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Politics at SOAS for a year, where she conducted tutorials related to her most experienced area of teaching: theories of international relations.
Claudia Stoicescu – Politics
Claudia is an MSc student at St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford working on the monitoring and evaluation of successful pulic health and particularly HIV prevention and interventions. She holds a first class honours degree in Political Science and Creative Writing from York University (Canada). Claudia’s academic interests centre around the theory behind and design and policy interventions, particularly in sexual health and infectious diseases, as well as human-rights based and participatory approaches to public health and international development. Her enthusiasms include freelance journalism, writing fiction, South East Asia and the Pacific and documentary photography.
Lewis Turner – Philosophy, Politics & International Relations
Lewis graduated from New College, Oxford in the summer of 2009 with a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. His academic interests include conflict in international relations, moral and political philosophy and historical and contemporary left-wing thought. Having lived in the Middle East, he has also developed a keen interest in the politics and society of the region.
Max Kasriel – Philosophy & Economics
Max graduated from the University of Oxford in 2009, after completing a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He is now reading for a Masters in Philosophy at Kings College London. Max’s academic interests are in ethics and political philosophy, and microeconomics. In particular, he is interested in social justice and equality, an draws his ideas from a range of academic disciplines. Other interests include debating, in which Max was a Grand Finalist at the European Championships, and jazz music, as both a listener and performer.
Alex Worsnip – Philosophy
Alex is a postgraduate philosophy student at St Anne’s College, Oxford University, specialising in ethics, epistemology and the philosophy of Kant. He is writing a thesis on the connection between intuitions and transcendental arguments in delivering moral knowledge. He holds a first class degree in PPE, also from Oxford.
Courtney Cox – Philosophy
Courtney is a doctoral student in philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, writing on issues of ethics and time. She holds a BA from Yale University (Electrical Engineering; and PPE) and a BPhil (Philosophy) from Oxford. In addition to ethics, her interests include Chinese language and area studies, and nuclear energy/nonproliferation policy.
William Jones – Philosophy & Politics
Will is a doctoral student at Balliol college working on the politics of violence and statehood in Central Africa. He holds a First in PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) and a Masters in Comparative Government, both from Oxford. His interests include nineteenth century German philosophy and the history of radical political thought.
Ian Tay – Economics
Ian is currently pursuing his 3rd masters degree in Global (Economic) History in the London School of Economics after completing two other masters in Political Science in the National University of Malaysia and in Global History in the University of Vienna. He previously graduated Magna Cum Laude from Marquette University, in Wisconsin, USA and has lectured in a private college in economics for 2 years in his home country, Malaysia. His interest lies mainly in East and Southeast Asian Political and Economic History and also in the ongoing economic and political affairs of the countries in this region.
Joanne Lim – Economics
Joanne is now pursuing a Master of Laws at the London School of Economics. Her love for economics blossomed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Yale University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master of Arts respectively in the subject. After working for several years in both the public and private sectors, she is a firm believer that systems must be structured to produce the right behavioural incentives. Her specialisations are international trade, taxation, foreign investment policies and the economics of intellectual property.
Andrew Foster – Economics
Andrew is currently reading for a DPhil in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. His research interests lie within structural dynamics. Andrew has a background in both economics and civil engineering. His studies in economics were completed at the University of Bath, where he attained first-class honours. During this period, he also worked for a year as a research assistant at the Bank of England. Andrew then pursued a two year masters degree in civil engineering at University College London, which he completed with an award of distinction.
Nick Long – Anthropology
Nick Long is a Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Wolfson College. He recently competed a PhD, also at Cambridge, which was based on eighteen months’ anthropological fieldwork in the Riau Achipelago (Indonesia), investigating the social consequences of political and demographic change. He supervises undergraduates from numerous Cambridge colleges for papers on the anthropology of cities, political economy, and anthropological theory and teaches postgraduate classes on the anthropology of politics and fieldwork methods.
Jessica Harvey-Smith – Philosophy & Law
Jessica holds an MA in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh and a Graduate Diploma in Law from City University. Her interests include jurisprudence, the development of an international legal order and the metaphysical and ethical implications of eastern philosophical systems.
Joanne Box – Law
Jo has a Double First Class honours degree in Law from the University of Cambridge, where she is currently studying for the LLM and employed as a Tutor, teaching Criminal Law to undergraduate students. Her particular interests include Commercial Law, Intellectual Property Law and aspects of International Law relating to the use of armed force. Jo is a also a former Director of Debating at the Cambridge Union and has extensive experience coaching debating to students of all ages both in the UK and abroad. She is an English Speaking Union Mace Finalist and European Debating Championships Semi-Finalist.
Art Ward – Law
Art completed a clinical BCL at the National University of Ireland Cork and is now studying for an LLM in Intellectual Property at the London School of Economics, where his research is based around the intersections of copyright law and the market for fine art in the United Kingdom and beyond. His other research interests include comparative constitutional law, the laws of evidence and the jurisprudential movement of law & economics.
Frederick Cowell – Law
Fred is currently the London Officer and Head of Office for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an international NGO that promotes Human Rights in Commonwealth countries. He is currently in charge of projects designed to promote Freedom of Information Law in small states, build Human Rights capacity in the UK’s Overseas Territories and develop freedom of speech legislation in Africa. Alongside this he is currently studying for a PhD in International Human Rights Law and his research interests include African Human Rights law, the International Criminal Court and theories of Administrative law. Whilst studying for the Bar he won the BPP Human Rights Prize and was a scholar of the Middle Temple. He has previously worked as researcher for Constitution Unit, specialising in UK human rights law and freedom of information, and as legal representative in the Social Security and Employment tribunals.
Lionel Nichols – Law
Lionel is an Australian Rhodes scholar currently reading for the MPhil in Law at Lincoln College, Oxford. His thesis considers the work of the International Criminal Court in response to the post-election violence in Kenya. He previously graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Masters of International Politics degree. He has also completed the Bachelor of Civil Laws at Oxford University. He has previously practiced as a lawyer and worked at both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Amy Knight – Law
Amy holds an LL.M in Public International Law from University College London, awarded with distinction. Prior to this she read Law as an undergraduate at Keble College, Oxford. Amy has extensive experience working with a range of domestic and international NGOs, and has a particular interest in human rights issues. Amy presently works with Westminster Forum Projects researching current legal policy in the UK.
Sherry Tsai – Medicine
Sherry is a Paediatrics Doctoral student at the Queen’s college, Oxford. She completed her medical training at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Her main academic interest is the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae, a common cause of middle ear infection in children. for almost a decade, Sherry has been an active volunteer and private tutor in many biomedically related subjects.
Giang H. Nguyen – Medicine
Giang is currently reading for a Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Oncology at Balliol College, Oxford. Her doctoral dissertation is focused on studying the role of a small non-coding RNA in a premature aging condition known as Bloom syndrome. Giang is also a third year medical student in the Doctor of Medicine program. Giang previously completed two years of research at the National Cancer Institute as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar and graduated summa cum laude from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her main interest lies in the interplay between cancer and aging, and she has published a number of articles on this subject.
Emmert Roberts - Medicine
Emmert is a final year medical student at Mansfield College, Oxford. He graduated in 2007 with a BA in Medical Sciences, and is currently a tutor in Pathology and Microbiology at Trinity College, Oxford. Also qualified in Clinical Hypnosis his interests are primarily in psychiatry and mental health.
Sean Galvin – Medicine
Sean is a clinical medical student at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He holds a BA in Medical Sciences, specializing in myocardial, vascular and respiratory biology. His interests include emergency medicine and public health. He is also currently completing a course on medical education.
Aswin Chari – Medicine
Aswin is a fourth year medical student at New College, Oxford. He completed his undergraduate degree at Downing College, Cambridge and specialised in Pathology. His current interests include gastrointestinal and liver pathology and he also has a passion for the study of Neurology.
Mia Mackie -Drama
Mia holds a Master of Arts in Acting at the University of Arts, London and a BSc from the LSE. Mia’s particular academic interests are in social justice and equity in Education and Employment. Mia has conducted drama and Shakespeare workshops for children in care and is interested in the way the arts and media can hold a mirror up to society. Mia currently works as an actor and freelance writer.
David Fairweather – Drama
David trained as an actor at LAMDA and then appeared in productions at theatres including the Royal National Theatre , the Young Vic and the Sheffield Crucible. His teaching work includes the V&A theatre collections and the Royal National Theatre eduction department.
Maria Cecire – English Literature
Maria is a Rhodes Scholar currently completing her D.Phil in English at Keble College, Oxford. Her research considers the interplay between medieval literature and twentieth century/contemporary children’s fantasy, with a focus on Oxford-based children’s authors. She has taught Medieval Literature, History of the English Language, Children’s Literature, and Fairy Tales at a range of Oxford colleges. She also has experience as a filmmaker and teaches introductory film courses.
Megan Murray-Pepper – English Literature
Megan has a BA in English Language and Literature from Balliol College, Oxford, and has just completed her MA in Shakespearean Studies at King’s College London, where she is currently embarking on doctoral research on global adaptations of Shakespeare and early modern travel narratives. Megan’s other research interests include sensation novels, cultural theory, and the dynamics of film adaptation
Paul Earlie – English Literature
Paul graduated with a BA in English Literature and French from Trinity College, Dublin, before completing an MPhil in European Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge. He is currently reading for a DPhil at Balliol College, Oxford, examining the links between deconstruction and Freudian psychoanalysis. Though his main interests lie in continental philosophy, other academic interests include literary theory, European modernism and postwar political fiction.
Sonia Gomez – English Literature
Sonia is currently pursuing an MA in Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University of London, specialising in teacher development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sonia has taught high school English and History in the United States and holds a Master of fine Arts in Poetry from the University of Washington, and a BA in English Literature form the University of Oregon. She also has experience working for human development and education programmes at UNDP and UNICEF in Sri Lanka. She is a fan of poetry, long and complicated works of fiction, old churches and rural schools in developing countries.
Krishna Omkar – English Literature
Krishna received a first class honours BA in English Literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, prior to obtaining an MPhil in Sociology at Merton College Oxford, where he is currently pursuing a DPhil. Literary specialisms include Renaissance drama and poetry, Postcolonial literature and Literary Theory.
Adam Bott – History & English Literature
Adam holds a BA in English Literature and History from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In literature, his interests include rhetoric and literary theory. In history his areas of interest include modern intellectual history (in particular the history of political thought) and the colonial period in Africa and South Asia. He is a former president of the Cambridge Union Society and national debating champion.
William Van Reyk – History
Will has worked as a lecturer in History for a number of Oxford Colleges between 2006 and 2009 (St Hugh’s, Wadham, Christ Church, and most recently Keble). In 2007 he completed his doctorate at Oxford on ‘Christian ideals of manliness during the period of the Evangelical Revival, c. 1730 to c. 1840’. He has subsequently published a number of articles on the subject and is now working on a book of his doctoral thesis for Oxford University Press. His main interests lie in the field of modern British history, especially the cultural and intellectual history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Subodhana Wijeyeratne – History
Subodhana is a Masters student in Japanese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He studied History at Emmanuel College, the University of Cambridge, from 2001 to 2004, and subsequently lived and worked in Iwami-cho, a village in rural Japan, for two years. His academic interests include the interaction of culturally and ethnically distinct groups, such as the lives of Jews during the Islamic Caliphate and 19th and 20th century Japanese perceptions of foreigners. He was elected President of the Emmanuel College Student Union in 2003 and President of the Tottori chapter of the Association of Japan Exchange and Teaching in 2005.
Ben Jasper – History & Politics
Ben is completing the second year of his M.Phil in Politics at Wadham College, Oxford having graduated from there with a first class degree in Modern History. He has a wide range of interests ranging from the history of political thought to the role of the military in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is also an experienced debater and coach and has taught university and school students throughout the world with recent trips to Hong Kong, Japan and Lebanon.
Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal – History and International Relations
Daniel-Joseph is a security analyst, journalist and historian. He is the security coverage editor of the prominent online journal, openDemocracy. He has written numerous articles on recent security developments around the world and is currently editing the journal’s 2009 annual review. Daniel-Joseph received a first-class degree in international relations and history at the London School of Economics and went on to complete an M.Phil degree at Cambridge, where his research centred on 20th century imperialism and intercultural relations in the Near and Middle East.
Jon Leader Maynard – History & International Relations
Jonathan Leader Maynard graduated from King’s College London in 2008 with the top first in War Studies and a first in History, and is now studying his two year MPhil in Political Theory at University College, Oxford. A European Debating Champion and Best Speaker, and World Debating Championship Grand Finalist, he is also Chair of the English National Universities Debating Council. His interests include the place of moral theory in political ideologies, the history of modern political thought, and ethics in international relations.