‘Catz in Conversation’ Archive
‘Catz in Conversation’ – Michaelmas 2025
Aude Hillion, ‘From Catz to Consulting: Navigating a Brand & Strategy Career’
Monday, 24th November 2025 – 1-2pm
Aude Hillion (2013, Modern Languages) will host a Career Special, drawing on her professional journey into global brand consultancy and significant early-career milestones. Combining practical insights with case studies and a forward-looking view of upcoming opportunities, this session will be valuable for students, recent alumni, and anyone exploring brand strategy and consulting. This webinar also comes with an exciting opportunity attached, and attendees will learn about an exclusive Internship Opportunity landing at Catz in February 2026!
Dr Cynthia Grover, ‘Teaching English: Creating Accents’
Wednesday, 3rd December 2025 – 6-7pm
Dr Cynthia Grover (1977, Modern Languages) will share extensive experience from her distinguished career in language teaching, research, translation, and editing across Europe. Packed with practical insights, phonetics tips, and innovative approaches to accent formation, this session is invaluable for students, alumni, and anyone interested in English pronunciation, language learning, and communication.
Dr Linda Geaves, ‘A Vision of the Rewilded Mind in the Advent of the Post-Anthropogenic
Dr Linda Geaves (2010, Geography & the Environment) will lead the thought-provoking last talk of term. Exploring how human cognition will continue to evolve alongside new technologies, Dr Geaves will examine how digital environments are reshaping attention, creativity, and meaning-making. This session offers valuable insight into how identity and communication adapt within a rapidly transforming technological landscape, ultimately illuminating both the opportunities and challenges of our digital age.
Bob Cowley, ‘On Safari in Catz: Animal Tracks Among RAAC’
Tuesday, 27th January 2026 – 6-7pm
At first glance, St Catherine’s College might seem an unlikely setting for a safari, yet its paths, lawns, and even its building works record a daily and largely unseen flow of animal life. Drawing on his own experiences as an expert wildlife tracker and experienced field skills instructor, Bob Cowley (1973, Mathematics) revealed how footprints, feeding signs, and subtle disturbances in mud, grass, and snow can uncover the presence and behaviour of mammals, birds, and other wildlife living alongside students and staff. No prior knowledge of biology is assumed, making this an accessible and engaging invitation for all to slow down and notice the hidden wildlife of everyday life at Catz.
Adrian Johnston, ‘Startups, Y Combinator, and How to Raise £120m in Funding’
Tuesday, 24th February 2026 – 6-7pm
Adrian Johnston (2005, Mathematics) reflects on the journey from St Catherine’s College to founding and scaling two venture-backed technology companies. Having raised over $120 million in combined funding, he provides a candid, practical account of what it takes to turn an idea into a funded and growing business. The session explores key stages of the startup lifecycle, from identifying problems worth solving and building early teams, to working with investors, navigating rapid growth, and managing the less visible challenges that emerge at scale. Aimed at students interested in entrepreneurship, business, and AI-driven ventures, the talk highlights how skills developed during undergraduate study can transfer – often in unexpected ways – into startup life.
Hannah Storm, ‘Lessons from Faultlines and Frontlines: What Covering Conflict and Crisis Reveals about Workplace Wellbeing’
Wednesday, 11th March 2026 – 1-2pm
Hannah Storm (1996, English Literature and Language) shares insights from a career that has taken her to frontlines and faultlines as an international media expert. Having seen and been to the edge, she now connects with people through storytelling, using her empathy and experiences to help them feel more heard and less alone. Drawing on the lessons she’s learned in journalism, she shares how she helps institutions and individuals understand and mitigate risks, prepare to face change and crisis, communicate with compassion and clarity, and create safe spaces where people can do well and be well.
Professor Peter Sommer, ‘Can We Trust Digital Evidence?’
Wednesday, 25th March 2026 – 6-7pm
Annual Dean Kitchin Circle webinar – exclusively for society members
Professor Peter Sommer (1961, Law) examines the question of whether digital evidence can truly be relied upon in modern legal contexts. At a time when the vast majority of criminal trials involve information drawn from smartphones, computers, and networked systems, the talk explores how such evidence is created, interpreted, and contested.
Drawing on decades of experience as a digital forensics expert and expert witness, Peter considers both the strengths and limitations of digital evidence. Through a combination of conceptual insight and case-based examples, he looks at the practical challenges of collection, analysis, and presentation, as well as the assumptions that often underpin its use in courtrooms and policy decisions.