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A comprehensive analysis of the major themes that dictate the contemporary debate between Muslims and Christians.  M Borrmans drew from a life of scholarly research and personal engagement to inter-faith dialogue in order to address the areas in which dialogue is ultimately the only way forward in order to avoid radicalisation and conflict. Mr Borrmans also highlighted the limits of the  'secular state', as exemplified by first and above by the French state, in the area of the citizens' right to hold and display their religious beliefs.

M Borrmans is a Catholic scholar and a member of the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers).  He has a doctorate in Letters from the University Paris-Sorbonne; lived in Algeria and Tunisia for twenty years and has been teaching Muslim law and History of Islamic-Christian relations at the Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome over very many years. He has also been director of the journal Islamochristiana from 1975 to 2004 and has actively participated over the years in many Islamic-Christian Conferences in Mediterranean countries. His published works include, among others:

- Codes de statut personnel et évolution sociale en certains pays musulmans, Ibla, 1963,
- Statut personnel et famille au Maghreb de 1940 à nos jours, 1977,
- Orientations pour un dialogue entre chrétiens et musulmans, Cerf, 1981,
- Documents sur la Famille au Maghreb de 1940 à nos jours, (avec les textes législatifs marocains, algériens, tunisiens et égyptiens en matière de statut personnel musulman),
- Morsure sur fer, traduction de six nouvelles de Mohamed Aziz Lahbabi, Dar El kitab, Casablanca. 1979
- Orientations pour un dialogue entre chrétienss et musulmans, Cerf Paris 1981
- Tendances et courants de l’Islam arabe contemporain (Egypte et Afrique du Nord), Kaiser, Munchen, 1982
- Islam e Cristianesimo: le vie del dialogo, Paoline, Milano 1993
- Jésus et les musulmans d’aujourd’hui, Desclée, Paris 1996

16 October 2013. Jane Goodall.
The first film/documentary of a series of four devoted to Planet Earth and the Natural World.  J Goodall was born in 1934,  graduated in Cambridge (Newnham College) and spent over 45 years of her subsequent life studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park (Tanzania).  In the process she and fellow scientist Dian Fossey who researched extensively on the social life of gorillas, eevolutionised our understanding of the community behaviour of non human primates. She is a leading figure on issues of conservation and animal welfare.

A series of astonishing film/documentaries by the Volta Cine Club about four natural scientists who greatly expanded our knowledge of life on planet earth.

Jane Goodall (16 October, Life with the chimpanzees) was born in 1934,  graduated in Cambridge (Newnham College) and spent over 45 years of her subsequent life studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park (Tanzania) and revolutionised our understanding of these topics. She is a leading figure on issues of conservation and animal welfare.

Shaun Ellis (23 October, The Wolfman) was born in 1967 near King's Lynn in Norfolk and began observing wild animals at a young age, learning to use his sense of smell and sound to find his way at night when studying foxes and badgers. After serving several years with the Royal Marines he met a Native American biologist at a wolf seminar and joined as a volunteer in a project studying wolves at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. He has made major contributions to the study of the behaviour of wolves and their social structure.

Dian Fossey (30 October, Mountain Gorillas Lost Film) was born in 1932 and died in 1985). She was an American zoologist who undertook extensive field work on gorillas over a period of 18 years in Rwanda. With Jane Goodall and Birutė Galdikas, she was part of the so-called Leakey's Angels, a group of three prominent researchers on primates (Fossey on gorillas; Goodall on chimpanzees; and Galdikas on orangutans) encoreged by anthropologist Louis Leakey to study great apes in their natural environments.  She made outstanding contributions to the study of the social life of gorillas and paid with her life her opposition to poachers, lobbyists and government people with strong financial interests in the exploitation of gorillas.

David Attenborough (6 November, 60 Years in the Wild) studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge (Clare College) and Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics. For over 60 years he has studied natural life and his early association with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) enabled him to become one of the most respected and successful figures in the world of public understanding of the natural world and science.

The College is in the process of placing a new order for College scarves.  The beautiful and unique Volta scarf is available exclusively to College students and fellows.  It is made of Scottish wool of the highest quality and, to all effects and purposes, it will last for life.

A warm scarf is a necessary students' companion during the long winter in Pavia and the Volta scarf combines the best protection form cold weather and a visible sign of belonging to Collegio Volta and it community of students and fellows.  All new students and existing students who still do not have the Volta scarf, therefore, are asked to leave their name in the College office. The cost to students is € 20, less than the College pays to have the scarves produced.