Senior Tutor’s Report

Helen Lacey, Director of the Visiting Student Programme (VSP) at Mansfield, outlines the progress made in the past year, including new ways of working and distance learning.

This year everyone was forced to confront a ‘new normal’ as the pandemic situation unfolded in Hilary term 2020. Our visiting students had the added challenge of being overseas from their families and support networks. They all responded superbly, making arrangements to travel home and adapting to remote tutorials and online working.

Despite our students needing to juggle time zones and work with online resources, Trinity term was a real success. Our sincere thanks go out to Jacob Kaufhold (Dickinson College), the VSP student representative, and to all the visiting students, for their dedication and resilience in the face of such uncertainty. Our visiting students did not let the upheaval stop them achieving academic excellence. Prizes were awarded to Kelli Powers (Boston College), Xinxian Wang (Washington and Lee University) and the overall prize went to Katherine Franco (Kenyon College).

Arrangements for the class of 2020/21 look a bit different, with new social-distancing protocols in place, but we are confident that the incoming students will adapt quickly and enjoy the new experience of life in Mansfield and Oxford. This year we have students joining us from: Barnard College, Boston College, Brown University, Case Western Reserve, College of the Holy Cross, Cornell University, DePauw University, Dickinson College, East China University of Science and Technology, Fudan University, Georgetown University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Haverford College, Kenyon College, Nanjing University, Santa Clara University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, Washington and Lee University, Washington University in St Louis, Xiamen University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Yale-NUS College.

The new admissions round for the 2021/22 academic year is soon to open and we look forward to another successful year.

We would love to hear from our visiting student alumni about what they are doing now. Do drop us an email with any news: vsp@mansfield.ox.ac.uk.

Dr Helen Lacey became Director of the Visiting Student Programme in Trinity term 2014. She is Supernumerary Fellow in Late Medieval History at Mansfield, and is CoInvestigator on a major project entitled The People of 1381 (www.1381.online).

When I consider the uncertainty we find ourselves in today, I am comforted thinking about what this past year’s Visiting Student cohort has confronted and the challenges we rose to meet. We took a huge step, searching for a fulfilling and challenging experience as students abroad, leaving behind our friends and families at home. As we arrived one by one before Michaelmas term began – exchanging our stories and asking if anyone had perhaps known ‘a friend of ours at your school… Yes, we went to high school together!’ – we slowly began to form a community, shaped by our shared experience of undertaking this risk.

The bonds created by such an experience are unique. We journeyed not only to a new country and a new academic system, but across time, to the ancient and recent past, learning about the early Church fathers and current conflicts in the Middle East. We flew – and sometimes trudged – through the pages of the Brontë sisters, Foucault, and Sartre, cutting-edge research and ancient classics. New friends were found in the UK and from elsewhere as we mixed into the community, through sports, societies, and the ever-popular formal dinners. Late nights were enjoyed in town or at College events, and many more were spent working, with coffee and tea breaks together to share a brief moment of rest.

Then it all came to a crashing halt, as what had first seemed like a small problem on the other side of the world grew progressively closer and closer: first across China, then Korea and Japan, before eventually reaching Europe and the United States. On top of everything else we were dealing with, we now had a global pandemic – and a quick departure – to handle. One by one the calls came to return home, and as Hilary term ended so too did our time in Oxford.

But Oxford came home with us as well, and Mansfield – there to support us in our physical and mental journey from the very beginning – did not turn us out. We were able to continue our work remotely with the full support of College and with the accommodation of wonderful tutors. I am particularly thankful for Mansfield’s reassuring presence and assistance at a time when many of our home institutions and governments were scrambling to deal with the pandemic.

This abrupt transition has sharpened my recollections of the wonderful times we had before the crisis began: of Christmas carols in the Sheldonian, the Mansfield Thanksgiving dinner, our ill-fated rowing season, and even in-person JCR meetings. These memories – of the strength and enjoyment we found with one another, in a challenging situation – give me hope for the future, and I am immeasurably grateful to Mansfield for helping us create them together.