UNIVERSITIES Minister David Willetts has had to pull out of a discussion event at Oxford University.

Mr Willetts was due to appear on Monday but cannot attend because of parliamentary commitments.

The university is hosting a series of public events, starting on Monday at the Examination Schools in High Street to “consider the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges”.

Organised by the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), the event will be chaired by Prof Shearer West, Head of the Humanities Division at Oxford University and will feature Prof Marcus du Sautoy and Dame Hermione Lee of Oxford University, as well as Guardian chief arts writer Charlotte Higgins. A fortnightly seminar series will begin the following day.

s See torch.ox.ac.uk/publicgood for more information.