Mansfield College Magazine 2013 by Mansfield College, Oxford

mans ield

Inside this issue My Students, Lazy and Daisy

Peter Hessler on Teaching in China

Gone But Not Forgotten

Fond Farewells to the retired John Muddiman

Building For the Future

Winter 2013

Our Construction Plans Outlined 1

Contents From the Principal

News in Brief

Arrivals and Departures

Gone But Not Forgotten: John Muddiman

Senior Tutor’s Report

Bursar’s Report

A Year in Development

Mansfield Matters

The 2012 Telethon

Building for the Future

JCR President’s Report

MCR President’s Report

Student Life: Sports

Music at Mansfield

Transatlantic Ties

An American in Oxford

Life After Mansfield?

Whither the EU?

How God Became King

Investing in the Next Generation of Scholars

Volunteering and Charity

Mansfield Law Society Dinner

Copy-editor: Phil Harriss

Summer Eights Dinner, New York Reception

Design: Keiko Ikeuchi, www.keikoikeuchi.co.uk

Mansfield and Milton

Forthcoming Mansfield Lecture Series

Mansfield College Development Office: Helen Jones Justin B. Jacobs

Mansfield in Reel Time

Printed by Fineprint

My Students, Lazy and Daisy

Summer Garden Party, Alumni News

Mansfield Association

Fellows’ Research and Publications

Squeezing Light into Small Spaces

Book Review: Liberalism as Ideology

Exam Results

College and University Prizes

Events Calendar

CREDITS Editor: Bob Trafford Alumni Relations Officer, Mansfield College

The Development Office would like to thank all those – students, staff, alumni and friends – who have contributed to this year’s magazine. We would like, in particular, to express our gratitude to the following people for their help in bringing it to publication: Ros Ballaster Philip Kennedy Paul Lodge

Photo Credits Keiko Ikeuchi (cover, p2, p4, p5, p6, p7, p8, p9, p11, p12, p16, p18, p19 right, p20, p21, p22, p23, p24, p25, p26, p28, p32 bottom, p33, p34, p37, p40, p46, p47, p49, p50, p52, back cover) Alister Thorpe (p2) Bob Trafford (p7) Matt Dodd (p13) Rick Mather Architects (p15, p16) UNC Chapel Hill (p23) C.H. Dodd Society (p27) Dana Mills (p31) Bob Skelly( p32 left) Chris Major (p32 right) Darryl Kennedy (p43) Mark Leong (p44, p45) Shutterstock (p30)

welcome

From the Principal This has been a very exciting year at the College. Our students go from strength to strength. Nineteen of our 2012 finalists got first class degrees – six in Geography. It means that we are still doing very well in the rankings of the Norrington table – although that is not always the best way of measuring success! All of our students are brilliant, and achievement can take many forms, but it is still a source of celebration that we have such exceptional results. Every Saturday in term I have a group of students into the Lodgings for brunch – bagels, smoked salmon and Buck’s fizz – and it is always such a great opportunity to find out what people are doing, and to chew the fat about the state of the world. I learn much more than they do, just by being with them. It fills my heart with optimism about the future because above all else they want to do good things with their lives. They are thoughtful, challenging and so ready to engage with new ideas, full of curiosity and also compassion. Being in a vibrant community is part of the experience, and the sheer pleasure of learning is so evident. We are lucky that at Mansfield we have such great Fellows and staff who nurture and sustain the whole process, and I feel lucky too to be involved. Along with additions to our academic fellowship, we have also seen quite a number of changes in personnel. A wonderful new Bursar, Allan Dodd, who is a Chartered Accountant and has spent much of his career as a Management Consultant; also Helen Jones, Development Director, who came to us from the charity sector and has already taken the Development Team to new heights. Our new Head Porter, Garry Dore, was formerly part of the Protection Squad of the Police Force – he has promised to take a bullet for me should

the need arise! Duncan Tooke has been appointed as IT Manager and Sam Cuss joins the Accounts Department. The much-loved Lynne Partridge has recently retired, and a new Catering Manager is about to be appointed. Our great favourite Revd John Muddiman retired to a fanfare of affection. The big event on the near horizon is the building of a new refectory and kitchens. Bulldozers arrived in the College in January, and already temporary kitchens have been assembled beside the Chapel where we shall eat together for the next 18 months. The Friday night lecture series, which brought wonderful speakers into the College, will be held in the Junior Common Room. This is a return to the room’s former role as a lecture theatre, but it will also be used for chapel and musical events until the Chapel can be reclaimed. This will, no doubt, be a disruptive business, but we have all promised to be patient and good tempered. The students will take over the Council Room as their JCR. The particular news I want to share is that Mansfield is to become the home of the Oxford Institute of Human Rights. Ever since arriving at Mansfield, I have harboured a secret hope that I might be able to persuade the powers-that-be in the University that the time had come to create such an Institute here. There are wonderful human rights lawyers in the Law Faculty, and I have over many years worked with them and admired their exceptional scholarship. To create an Institute would provide the opportunity to bridge theory and the practice of law. This has been my own field of work over many years and I believe that just as democracy was the big idea of the 20th century, human rights will be the big idea of the 21st century. The world is riven with conflict, and part of the solution will

be found in making a reality of the Rule of Law and respect for the humanity of everyone. The Law Faculty and the University have supported our proposal to house the Oxford Institute in the planned new Love Lane Building. I am hoping that the Institute will be launched in 2013 and that construction work will commence in 2014. Not only will this have a huge impact on the reputation and status of Mansfield College, but the building will provide much more accommodation for students in the upper floors. It will also increase out-of-term conference income for the College. This means Mansfield will become much more sustainable financially into the future. This is an ambitious project and all help, ideas and imaginative contributions will be welcome. I send warm greeting to you all.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

news in brief

Our ‘New Elizabethan’

Mansfield’s own Professorial Fellow in Physics, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, was selected by BBC Radio 4 as one of its ‘New Elizabethans’, to mark last year’s Diamond Jubilee. As part of the Jubilee celebrations, the radio station asked a distinguished panel to choose 60 public figures deemed to have had significant impact during the reign of Elizabeth II. Jocelyn received the recognition for her pre-eminent role within the British scientific community. She was the firstever female President of the Institute of Physics, has long campaigned to improve the status and number of women in academic positions in the sciences, and in 1967 discovered the first pulsar.

Four Honorary Fellowships Awarded in 2012

Mansfield awarded four honorary fellowships last year. They were given to: John Oxlade, Director of Chapel Music here at Mansfield; Ben Emmerson QC, Special Rapporteur for Counter-Terrorism to the UN; Dr Andrew Taylor, Director of the ISIS muon and neutron source at the world-leading Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire; and Sir Stephen Sedley, formerly The Rt Hon Lord Justice Sedley of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, a post from which he retired in 2011.

Norrington Table Results Remain Strong

The Norrington Table, which ranks Oxford’s constituent colleges in order of undergraduates’ results in their final exams, had Mansfield in 17th place out of 30 this year. Not only is this a strong result in itself, putting Mansfield above a number of substantially larger and wealthier colleges (including Trinity, Corpus Christi and Queen’s), but it is also our second-best performance since the 1990s, second only to last year’s remarkable 12th place.

New Alternative Prospectus Launched

The 2011-12 JCR, assisted by our Access and Admissions Officer, Jenny Medland, has created the latest edition of Mansfield College’s Alternative Prospectus, a guide to the College for prospective applicants prepared by our current students. As well as being beautifully produced, the Alternative Prospectus is packed with stories, tips and advice from the students, and portrays Mansfield as every bit as welcoming, friendly, challenging and exciting as we know it to be. You can browse through the publication online at http://bit.ly/alternativeprospectus.

An Enchanting Prospect Limited Edition Print Martin Atkinson (English, 1977) has recently produced a wonderful new painting of the College, as seen from the Mansfield Road entrance, and from this we have produced a limited-edition print run. Individual prints cost £60, and come as one of a numbered series. They measure 430mm by 520mm, including a 40mm border. If you would like to own one of these beautiful new depictions of our quad, please contact Bob Trafford on alumni.officer@mansfield.ox.ac.uk.

Arrivals and Departures

College Welcomes Two New Fellows Dr David Lincicum, G.B. Caird Fellow in New Testament Theology and University Lecturer in Theology, took up his Fellowship in Michaelmas 2012 after a one-year period as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Mansfield and Oxford University Theology Faculty. Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research interests are at the intersection of early Jewish, early Christian and New Testament studies.

Professor Colin Please, Mansfield Tutorial Fellow in Mathematics, Professor of Applied Mathematics, and University Lecturer in Industrial and Interdisciplinary

Mathematics, arrived in Michaelmas 2012 from the University of Southampton. Colin works on the mathematical modelling of physical phenomena arising in practical problems and interpreting the results into the original context. His research takes place at the interface of mathematics with other disciplines, especially engineering, and bioscience. Colin develops mathematical models primarily using partial differential equations employing asymptotic methods and numerical methods to understand the resulting behaviour.

Hellos and Goodbyes

Allan Dodd

Garry Dore and Barry Mawby

This year has seen a number of changes in non-academic staff here at Mansfield. Following the retirement of Head Porter Barry Mawby after six years at the College, we are delighted to welcome in his place Garry Dore, a former Royal Navy mechanic who has joined Mansfield after 22 years with the Thames Valley Police. Garry continues to be ably assisted by Deputy Head Porter Terry Greenwood.

Oxford too, replacing the retiring Stephen Waterman. Much of Allanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s previous career was in management consultancy, with Deloitte and KPMG. He also ran his own consulting company, and before joining the College spent 18 months with CfBT Education Trust, a leading charity, as Operations Director for the CfBT Schools Trust, an umbrella organisation for schools wishing to convert to academy status.

We have also welcomed to Mansfield during the past year our new Development Director, Helen Jones, who returns to the University having previously worked in the University Development Office, working with the Social Sciences Division. Helen joins us from the Cricket Foundation, and has been in post since April. Allan Dodd, our new Bursar, is embarking on his first academic year at

Two other long-serving members of the staff have said goodbye in 2012: our IT Manager Lee Wootton departed for Wadham College, and has been replaced by Duncan Tooke; and our much-loved Catering Manager Lynn Partridge has retired. A full-time replacement for Lynn will be in place by February 2013. Finally, last spring we welcomed Sam Cuss to the accounts department to replace Liz Foster.

Helen Jones

Sam Cuss

Duncan Tooke

Gone Forgotten but not

Fond farewells to the retired John Muddiman Peggy Morgan, Lecturer in the Study of Religion, recounts the College life and abundant academic achievements of a well-loved Mansfield figure on the occasion of his retirement. September 2012 saw the retirement of John Muddiman as G.B. Caird Fellow (a post he has held since 1990) and University Lecturer in New Testament Studies (since 1992). John will be widely missed: few people have given so much, on so many fronts, with such good humour. During his time at Mansfield, John served the College as Tutor for Admissions (1992-1997); Co-director of the Oxford Centre for Environment, Ethics and Society (1992-1996); Senior Tutor (19972000); and Tutor for Welfare (2012); and the Theology Faculty and University as Chair of the Faculty Board (2000-2002), Chair of the Faculty (2011-2012) and University Assessor (2009-2010). But his interests have also included involvement as a Governor both for the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies; serving on the Europaeum Committee; and the Permanent Private Hall and Recognised Independent Centres committees. John came to Mansfield from a lectureship in New Testament Studies at the University of Nottingham (1983-1990), but it was very much a return to where he had taken his first-class honours degree as an open scholar in Classics and Theology (Keble 1965-1969) and served as Hastings Rashdall Research Fellow at New College (1972-1974). He was also Greek Tutor for the Theology Faculty

(1976-1983); Tutor, Director of Studies and Vice-Principal of St Stephen’s House (1976-1983); and a Mansfield College Lecturer (1980-1983). This was after a brief excursus to Cambridge to take a starred first in Part Three of the Theology Tripos (New Testament), and to Louvain (1971-1972). His Oxford DPhil, on The Fasting Controversy in Mark’s Gospel, was awarded in 1976. In 2002-2003 John was a Visiting Fellow at Princeton. Those who know John know how important to him is his involvement in the life of the College Chapel, which he has served as Associate Chaplain, and the Church more widely. He was ordained a Deacon in the Church of England in 1971 and Priest in 1972, and has served at St Mary and St Nicholas, Littlemore, St Cross and St Mary Magdalen parish churches. Further afield, to name only two of many involvements, he has been a member of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (1991-2005) and Chair of the Church of England’s Theological Education and Training Committee (1995-2002). John’s ecological commitment has been obvious in the sight of his tall figure mounting his bicycle at the front of the College. His warm hospitality has been shared by many generations of students both in his College rooms on Sunday evenings and also at Theology graduation suppers, which usually ended at his

‘Few people have given so much, on so many fronts, with such good humour.’

A Generous Tutor

One of John Muddiman’s last ever students at Mansfield, Andrew Grey (Theology, 2009), has also written a farewell to him. We hope all John’s former students will find it speaks for their admiration too. At his retirement dinner, John Muddiman spoke in his typically modest and self-effacing way, of the things (or, more precisely, the people) that make Mansfield great. Whilst I wholeheartedly agreed with his observations, on behalf of his recent students I feel it is time to point out what makes him great. First, it is immensely humbling that a man of such intellect and wide-ranging knowledge chose to dedicate the last several decades to sharing his gifts with students. Instead of seeking his own personal gain, he utilised his talents purely for the benefit of others. His wealth of knowledge is indeed something from which we all gained – and not just in exams. John nurtured in us a curiosity regarding the various questions raised by study of the New Testament that, for most of his students, is unlikely to be extinguished. His kindness was evident especially during exam periods, when he was always willing to take time to discuss anything causing students (in my case, at least!) enormous panic. After sinking into the depths of despair in the library, there was something immensely therapeutic about sitting in John’s office, listening to him calmly and cheerfully talk over the issues. In doing so he effectively reminded us that these

home for dessert. John is an excellent cook and an expert in sugarcraft, which he has used to decorate various family wedding cakes. He and Gillian Nicholls Muddiman, who sadly died in 2010, only a short time after she and John were married, combined a love of travel with advanced cooking courses in places such as Italy; both enjoyed sharing their creations with their many friends. One of the most helpful supports John has given to his students in recent years was in the founding of the C.H. Dodd Society, which is now a University-wide and not only a College enterprise, and therefore has access to funding for distinguished speakers from outside Oxford.

issues were not just topics for an exam, but genuinely interesting questions that could bring a sense of joy and excitement.

‘An image few will forget is of John sitting on the bench smoking his pipe.’ Though John was a Tutor in Theology, he was known and widely regarded by students in all disciplines. An image few will forget is of John sitting on the bench smoking his pipe, or cheerfully wandering through the gates in his bike helmet, waving at people as he walked to his office. Nonetheless, Theology students in particular have fond memories. His sense of humour and ability to laugh at himself have always been appreciated, as have his termly socials in which he kindly and warmly opened his home to us – replete, as it seemingly always was, with pizza and garlic bread. Though several pages of this magazine could be filled with testimonials to John, I finish with a thank you to him for all his tireless efforts and kindness. And, perhaps most importantly, for persuading us all that Q probably never existed.

John receiving a retirement gift - a painting of his office by one of his last students, Joseph de Quay (Theology, 2011).

Senior Tutor’s Report Lucinda Rumsey

Mansfield has again broken its record for the highest number of firsts, which rose from 18 in 2011 to 19 in 2012. This included an extraordinary six firsts in Geography, three each in History and in English, two in PPE and one each in Engineering, Maths, Materials and Physics. We were 17th in the Norrington Table: not as high as last year, but it is the first time we have stayed for two consecutive years in the top 20, and this is still our second highest place in 12 years, with last year being the highest. As you see, last year’s success has made us very knowledgeable about the statistics! There were also excellent results for our first years, with nearly a quarter of the cohort awarded distinctions. Among our graduates, nine have achieved distinctions and eight have been awarded their doctorates this year.

Mansfield is firmly established as the Oxford college with the highest proportion of state-sector students. Continuing the trend from 2011, we again made over 80% of our UK offers to candidates from the state sector this year, about 25% above the Oxford University average. Although access work is mainly about informing and recruiting new potential applicants, we are also aware that starting at Oxford may be daunting, so we have introduced an e-mentoring scheme for our freshers, putting them in touch with current undergraduates during the summer before their course starts. The annual Freshers’ Friends and Family Day in mid-September also helps the settlingin process, by offering our new first years the chance to come and spend a relaxed day getting to know Oxford and Mansfield.

The College’s overall success has been recognised in a range of University prizes for our students: four Gibbs awards (two in History, one in Physics and one in History), two A.J. Herbertson Geography dissertation awards, a Gladstone History Thesis award, an Armourers-Rolls Royce prize for outstanding performance in Materials Science Prelims, a prize for the best third-year Materials Science Team Design Project and a graduate Law Faculty prize in Comparative Public Law.

Jenny Medland, our Admissions and Access Administrator, has further developed Mansfield’s access activities, working particularly with schools and colleges in South London and Yorkshire. We have run about 80 outreach events over the past academic year, ranging from hosting 200 year-12 students at our Sixth Form College Open Day, to working with small groups of year-10 and year-11 students, encouraging them to explore the opportunities offered by

‘Our current success as a college committed to access chimes well with work started much further back in the roots of Mansfield’s history: the Mansfield Settlement in Newham, East London.’ higher education. New initiatives this year include recruiting student ambassadors (about 30 of our current students, who help run and coordinate access activities), and working with a group of our postgraduates to devise interactive academic taster sessions based on their current research, to deliver to year-11 and year-12 students. Our current success as a college committed to access chimes well with work started much further back in the roots of Mansfield’s history: the Mansfield Settlement in Newham, East London, set up by Mansfield students in 1890. The connection with what is now the Froud Centre has recently been revived, with our students running charity events and volunteering at the Centre. As part of a recent visit we went to the local 11-16 comprehensive, Little Ilford School, and followed this up with a talk to about 100 year-10 students and their parents about applying to Oxford. I went with Maths Fellow Janet Dyson, who gave a talk on studying Maths at university. As you may know, we began building works at Mansfield in January 2013. This is going to result in new kitchens and refurbished spaces, but also means a number of tutors have to move from their offices – not a task to be undertaken lightly, as tutors grow very attached to their study space. My own office has now become the Junior Deans’ kitchen, and we have made a new ‘donnery’ for six tutors at the top of the staircase by the Principal’s Lodgings. All around the College as we begin the first tutorials of the year, tutors are trying to find books on unfamiliar shelves.

Bursar’s Report Allan Dodd

I joined Mansfield in June 2012, and can therefore still look at the College through the eyes of a newcomer. So, I will start by passing on my first impressions. First, as you all know, this is a special place – warm, welcoming, friendly, and with a distinctive character. The warmth of the people is reflected in the beautiful surroundings in which we work. Some weeks passed during our inglorious summer before I actually encountered a cloudless, dry day at Mansfield, but when it came it was truly worthwhile. To walk into the College (or cycle, as I usually do) on a fresh, bright, sunny morning is an uplifting experience that cannot be experienced too often. I look forward to seeing Mansfield in all four seasons of the year, although there were times in June when I felt I had already done so – often in the course of a single day. So much for the beauty of the College: ‘what about the finances?’, I hear you say. Well, the College is in a reasonably stable financial position. In 2011-12 we made a tiny operating surplus – which is what we had budgeted for, and which, given a range of cost pressures and our small endowment, is a very good performance. But, as I set out below, there are significant challenges ahead. Anyone who has scratched the surface knows that our beautiful façades hide a plethora of tired interiors, which struggle to live up to the expectations of our students, our staff and our commercial clients. Behind the scenes, our operational staff perform minor miracles on a daily basis. Our chefs produce meals for up to 150 diners from a kitchen not much bigger than my own at home. Our front-of-house team squeeze around each other in absurdly confined spaces. Our maintenance manager applies his detailed knowledge of every stone to preserve the College’s infrastructure on a shoestring budget. Our IT team (of one) enables the College to punch way above its weight in terms of service reliability, quality and innovation. And our

conference and accommodation teams persuade a wide range of clients to come here year after year, when superior accommodation (but, crucially, not superior service) could certainly be found elsewhere. All of this is remarkable, but it cannot and will not last forever. So, what is to be done? First we must complete the East Range development. By the time you read this, work will be underway on this project. It will provide us with a 21st-century kitchen, together with a student refectory that will replace the incoherent collection of small, often sub-divided rooms that currently occupies the lower East Range. This will transform the working conditions of our staff, and enable us to meet the changing catering demands of a larger and more diverse on-site population for decades to come. The work will impose very real challenges, both financial and operational, and will require students,

staff and visitors alike to be patient and flexible as a major building project unfolds around us. But the rewards will be significant. Next, we must find a way of funding the proposed Love Lane project – an ambitious development that will enable us to house all undergraduates in College accommodation (something the large majority of other colleges already offer), as well as providing a range of academic and social facilities for staff and students. If we can achieve this, Mansfield will be able to compete on an even playing field with the rest of Oxford, secure its financial position, and look forward to a bright future. I believe the project can and will be completed, but it will require support, encouragement and understanding from all of our friends and supporters. I look forward to reporting our success in the years ahead.

2011-12

2010-11

Income

3,713,000

3,709,000

Expenditure

3,691,000

3,573,000

Surplus

22,000

136,000

A Year in Development

Helen Jones Development Director

In my first few months I have been struck by the sense of community spirit here at Mansfield, from meeting with colleagues, Fellows, alumni and our superbly talented and energetic students. Of course, there is still much we can do to continue to enhance the experience of our students, and we know the importance of delivering an exceptional education. We are most grateful for the support our alumni and friends have given over many years and hope this will continue. In 2007, the College set out on an ambitious campaign to raise philanthropic income in the lead-up to its 125th Anniversary in 2011. We were delighted that the campaign received 607 separate donations totalling just over £1.4m in unrestricted gifts to the College’s greatest area of need: the Annual Fund. The Annual Fund focuses on three key areas: student support, tutorial teaching and the overall college environment. An additional £330,000 was received to support specific areas of the College. We would like to thank all of you who responded, and would encourage all alumni to take time to read more about the impact of the campaign in the

recently produced 125th Anniversary Campaign Donors’ Report. We are also proud of our recently produced publication, Mansfield: Portrait of an Oxford College, which celebrates 125 years of the College. It is a portrait, in pictures and words, of Mansfield’s coming of age, from its earliest days, to its current place among the Oxford Colleges. The past year has been busy and exciting for us in Alumni Relations, and we have enjoyed meeting you at a range of events – not only here in College, but in London, New York and Washington DC. We are trying to ensure a mixture of events for the next 12 months and hope there will be something of interest for all. In addition, we are keen to support University alumni weekends, in Oxford and around the world. The Mansfield Association has given us much support over the past year and deserves our thanks; we will be working together with the Association to further our alumni activity, through events and communications in 2013. Feedback for all our events and communications

is very much valued, so please tell us about your ideas and suggestions for improvement. The College started construction on a new purpose-built kitchen to the rear of the Chapel in January 2013, along with creating a new student refectory, a bar and patio out of the existing basement kitchen areas. Anyone who has recently visited Mansfield will know that this work is long overdue. We are looking forward to being able to share with you the progress of our building work over the coming 18 months. The second significant new building on which we now need to focus our fundraising endeavours is to be constructed alongside Love Lane and will have space for 78 student bedrooms and multi-purpose facilities. The new building is very much needed in order to keep pace with other colleges who provide onsite student accommodation; in addition it will provide valuable conference and event income. We will of course be keeping you updated on our campaign for fundraising, and will give details of how you can support the project.

‘The past year has been busy and exciting for us in Alumni Relations, and we have enjoyed meeting you at a range of events.’

Generating funds to support our students, to maintain the tutorial system and the fabric of our existing buildings, as well as to construct new buildings, remain our key priorities; your help in enabling us to do this is ever more important. There are many different ways to get involved with College: through your skills, knowledge and experiences, and sharing these with our students; hosting events; making a gift; or, as our alumni base becomes increasingly international, helping to establish volunteer alumni groups around the world,. I look forward to seeing many more of you over the coming months – either welcoming you back to College or meeting further afield – to find out about your time here and how you can help contribute to the advancement of Mansfield and all those who study and work here.

Development Team (from left) Bob Trafford, Karen Cowley, Helen Jones, Justin B. Jacobs

125th anniversary campaign donors’ report

Our official 125th Anniversary Campaign Donor’s Report can be found online at www.bit.ly/125CampaignDonorsReport

Mansfield Matters Justin B. Jacobs, Deputy Development Director, shows how the Development Office is planning to increase income for the College: supporting the students and the building programme through highly successful campaigns such as the annual Telethon. There is little doubt that Mansfield continues to hold a special place in the hearts of its former students. That ‘Mansfield matters’ is a sentiment frequently shared at alumni events and during the visits Helen and I have all around the world. This warmth for Mansfield and its important social and educational mission is expressed each year in myriad ways: articles written for the annual magazine; attendance at alumni events; offers to host events; alumni coming back to speak to students about life post-Mansfield; and individuals choosing to support the College financially. To help us in our continuing efforts to grow, and raise Mansfield’s profile both inside and outside of Oxford, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Mansfield Matters Campaign. The objectives are quite simple, and just by saying ‘yes’ to any of the below you can help us demonstrate to others that Mansfield is important and is something worth standing up for. We would like to thank everyone again who helped us during the ‘quiet period’ of this Campaign – as of today, 215 individual alumni have helped us raise over £200,000 in pledges and single gifts since 1 Jan 2012! With your continued support and the help of others we look forward to showing everyone why Mansfield Matters in 2013.

Did you know…? The Oxford collegiate average for annual alumni participation is currently around 15% and rising, with colleges such as University and Exeter now exceeding 40%. Mansfield is currently at 8%. Will you help us start increasing our participation rate by making a regular annual or monthly gift to Mansfield? No amount is too small, and – as you’ll see in the recap of this year’s Telethon – the economies of scale work wonders in a College like Mansfield. Mansfield currently has received a legacy pledge notification from 1% of its alumni. Only by increasing this figure can we hope to secure the College’s near and long-term future. Will you help us plan for the future by including Mansfield in your will? Including Mansfield in your will is quite easy to do; we’ll be happy to send you a copy of Investing in the Future, our just-published guide for making a legacy gift. We’d also enjoy talking to you about how your own legacy could help future generations of Mansfield students.

The 2012 Telethon In 2011 Mansfield raised £36,000 in pledges for the College’s Annual Fund. This year, however, Mansfield’s alumni and friends rallied to the aid of our students like never before and by the end of the two weeks had pledged a staggering £58,000 to our Student Hardship and Bursary funds. On behalf of the Development Office and this year’s student callers – Beth, Colette, James, Kat, Natalie, Rachel and Saskia – we would like to express our sincere gratitude for everyone’s participation in the Campaign. Every year in late September and early October Mansfield students make phone calls, alongside their peers from Corpus Christi, Hertford and Wadham. Managing expectations is an important part of the two weeks as the overall total for each of these colleges surpasses what Mansfield has raised. However, ‘Mansfield’s there are other important areas, alumni and besides total amount raised, on which we can focus. For friends rallied instance, this year Mansfield came first in having the highest to the aid of our instant fulfilment rate at 84% (the University set an acrossstudents like colleges goal of 75%). Corpus came in second at 79%, never before…’ followed closely by Hertford at 78% and Wadham at 62%. In addition to having the highest instant fulfilment rate, Mansfield also led all of the participating colleges with an astounding 88% of the total amount pledged during this year’s Telethon coming in the form of monthly or yearly gifts. As detailed above, this figure is tremendously important to the College as it not only allows us to project our philanthropic income year-on-year, but it also ensures a constant participation level over the next five years as we seek to move closer to the Oxford collegiate average participation rate of 15% (last year we were just over 9%).

thon Team

sfield Tele

2012 Man

Yes 161

No/Maybe 202

The net effect of this year’s Telethon has been important on the areas we targeted. Whereas our previous annual income available for the Student Hardship Fund was £871 it is now secured at over £3,300 in future years. This is an encouraging trend and one that, it is important to remember, came about through the generosity of just over 160 – or 4% – of our alumni. Thank you again to everyone who participated this year for reminding ourselves and others that Mansfield matters.

*Opt-out refers to gifts that came in before the Telethon began and for which no call was requested by the donor. ** US Dollars have been converted throughout at a rate of £1 = $1.60

Building for the Future Vital work to create a new College kitchen is underway, but the coming months will also see a campaign to bring ambitious new plans to fruition for a multi-purpose facility.

The year 2013 is set to be important in the history of Mansfield, as the success of the College’s 125th Anniversary Campaign is built upon, with much of the backing accumulated during that campaign supporting major capital improvements to the College. The first of these will be the construction of a new kitchen at the rear of the College. This facility will replace the kitchen currently located on the ground floor of the East Range of the

Champneys building, which has, as the College has grown, become increasingly insufficient for the demands that hungry students and guests place upon it – despite the Herculean efforts of our catering staff. This new kitchen will also allow us to convert the existing basement kitchen area into a new student refectory and bar, together with a patio opening on to the quad. With the funds raised during the 125th Anniversary Campaign, the amount

available for this project stands at around £2.4m. A similar amount is required again to see the project fully funded, but with the support of a long-term loan we shall be able to proceed and complete this vital new addition to the College. A temporary kitchen was installed on site in December 2012, in time for work to begin on the new kitchen and ‘link’ building between the East Range and the Chapel in January 2013. We hope the facility will be fully operational by July 2014.

A view of the proposed Love Lane building, to include student rooms, meeting and seminar space and a new JCR, as seen from the Chapel

‘Such a significant increase in the number of students housed on site would provide a major boost in revenue, and would bring Mansfield into line with the vast majority of Oxford colleges…’

Work is already underway on the East Range project, which will include a refectory and café opening on to the quad

Beyond our plans for the new kitchen, we also need to focus our efforts on the long-term funding of a £13m new multi-purpose building alongside Love Lane in the south-western corner of the College. Proposed plans for this structure include space for 78 student bedrooms, a new JCR and meetings and seminar rooms. Such a significant increase in the number of students housed on site would provide a major boost in revenue, and would bring Mansfield into line with the vast majority of Oxford colleges, which now offer their undergraduates accommodation for at least three years. The additional conference facilities would also increase revenue for the College out of term time. We will of course keep our alumni and friends fully updated about the campaign over the coming months, including details on how you can get involved. Further information about the plans can be found at http://bit.ly/ lovelanerickmather. An aerial view of Mansfield including the proposed Love Lane building

Artist’s impression of the new refectory on the site of the old kitchens

Cutaway view through the East Range to the new ‘link’ building

JCR President’s Report Connell Stewart (Geography, 2010) My time as President of Mansfield College JCR has undoubtedly been both the most challenging and the most rewarding experience of my life. I have been extremely lucky to work with a JCR Bench that has been enthusiastic, proactive and harmonious. As I come to the end of my time as President, I realise that none of the projects in which the JCR has engaged this year would have been possible without the help and devotion of the rest of the Bench. So for this I must publicly thank all members of the Bench, and the JCR more widely, on the good work that has been done. It has been a busy year for the JCR. Eleanor Saunders, our committed Academic and Access Officer, has spearheaded the production of a new Alternative Prospectus, a publication designed to give prospective students an insight into what life at Mansfield is really like. This is one of the aspects of the current JCR of which I am most proud:

the fact that the students of the College are dedicated to ensuring that Mansfield continues to flourish long after they have gone. Such foresight is also reflected in the creation of a JCR position whose sole focus is on Access. This is something of which Mansfield is rightly proud, and confirms the commitment the JCR has made to the College’s future. However, the work of the College’s undergraduate student body is not completely focused on Mansfield. We have also continued our work with the Aston-Mansfield Charity, which is based in London. Despite the glamorous title, the role of JCR President has been challenging. The hundreds of emails and questions, combined with the famous bureaucracy of certain OUSU meetings, has at times tried my patience and had me questioning why I ever thought that running for President would be a good idea. However, such uncertainty is quickly forgotten when I think back over my time in office. I

have had the opportunity to meet some committed and enthusiastic people including College staff, tutors and alumni who all share a common interest in the future of Mansfield. I have felt proud to represent the student body, most notably in the College rent proposal. Late nights spent poring over inflation rates and costof-living indexes were worthwhile when I consider the importance that this issue has for all the students here. There is no doubt that this is an exciting time to be a student at Mansfield. Newfound success in the Norrington Table, advances made in the college sports leagues, and an invigorating Principal have combined to create a real buzz around the College. It has been an absolute pleasure to be part of this change in Mansfield. It’s true that I won’t miss some of the more tedious meetings; however, I truly feel lucky to have had the opportunity to become so immersed in College life. When my time comes to step down, I hope I am able to relinquish my position without too much sadness, and instead let the next generation of the JCR Bench take up the projects that we have started.

MCR President’s Report Alexia Inglessis (Law, 2011) Following my election as President for Mansfield’s MCR, one of the first things for which my ‘Bench’ and I were responsible was the organisation of Freshers’ Week. It is very important that our graduate freshers feel welcome from the first moment they arrive in Oxford, and so various activities such as an Oxford treasure hunt and ‘parent’-fresher dinners were arranged. Another important goal for this year will be to strengthen alumni and graduate-student relations. We will try to organise career events so as to bring the two closer together and create a strong Mansfield network that can be useful for both parties.

continued, and we hope to encourage active participation in charity events from the MCR. Finally, given all the construction work that the College is undergoing this year, the MCR Bench aims to stay actively involved in the decisions that are made, and we will try to ensure that the interests of the MCR are well represented. Also, we will attempt to make the transition period during construction as smooth as possible for everyone. We hope this will be a very productive year for our MCR.

We will also look into graduate housing options and seek to improve the conditions, especially in getting housing closer to the College. Mansfield’s strong commitment to charitable causes will be

Rowing Lauren McFadyen (Mathematics, 2010) Mansfield College Boat Club got off to a good start this year, with four novice crews training and racing in Michaelmas term, as well as the men’s and women’s returning rowers also competing in fortnightly Head races on the Isis. With only three returning rowers in the Women’s 1st VIII, and some of the fastest crews on the river positioned behind us, the women unfortunately fell to tenth in Division 2 in Torpids, while the men’s team bumped Keble and moved up to fifth in Division 3. Training in Trinity term was hampered when the river conditions became too dangerous to row for the majority of the term. However, the crews continued with land training and made up for lost time with two outings a day once the red flag was removed. We were delighted when the Women’s 2nd VIII qualified in the top half of the rowing-on crews for Summer VIIIs, and were particularly pleased to row over on the final day, stopping the crew behind from receiving blades. The Women’s 1st VIII had mixed success with their first race being klaxoned, and put up an extraordinary effort against Jesus College, only being bumped one metre from the finish line. The men’s crew bumped Queen’s College spectacularly on the third day of

racing, and were set to bump St Peter’s in a similar fashion on the final day, when yet another klaxon stopped the race. The entire boat club then celebrated with the annual boat club dinner, with guest speaker Donald Macdonald. We were very pleased to see so many alumni and parents present at the dinner, and hope everyone returns next year. To finish off the year we entered two boats into Oriel regatta. The composite VIII won their first race, despite being dressed as dinosaurs, and the men’s coxed four went on to win the regatta. The boat club was extremely fortunate ‘The composite to receive a donation that enabled us to purchase a new boat, and we are now VIII won their first hoping to raise enough to buy another in time for Torpids 2013 so that both 1st VIII race, despite crews will have top-quality equipment. being dressed as We are also arranging an alumni drinks event in London for January 2013. dinosaurs…’ See www.mansfieldcollegeboatclubco.uk for more details, or keep up to date with news from the boat club on Twitter (@MansfieldRowing) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MansfieldRowing).

Tennis

Cricket

Ollie Wood (PPE, 2010) The summer of 2012 saw tennis return to Mansfield after a couple of years out of the game. We entered into Division 6 (of eight) of the college tennis league. A series of sumptuous performances that undoubtedly sent shockwaves throughout the college tennis circuit saw Mansfield earn a comfortable promotion to Division 5, finishing the season with four wins from five, and an impressive 46/60 sets won. A youthful side, inspired by the determination and class of our young hotshot Nick Hooton (incoming captain for 2013), produced some stellar tennis,

Ollie Wood (PPE, 2010) leading to deserved victories over Oriel, Brasenose, Lincoln and Hertford II, as well as a narrow loss to Regent’s Park. Hooton was ably supported by the ferocious forehand of Dhesi, the dogged baselineresistance of Wood, the textbook consistency of Snyder, and the occasional moment of magic from Firman. With youth and talent in abundance, the team will no doubt be looking to build on this deserved success next season. Back-to-back promotions are definitely on the cards in what is an exciting era for tennis at Mansfield.

Women’s Football

Eleanor Saunders (History, 2010) The 2011-12 season saw the successful revival of the Merton-Mansfield women’s football team. With the help of Mansfield’s Leah Grint and Merton’s Jeffrey Burgin, we recruited girls from both colleges in Trinity 2011 and again in Michaelmas term when the new freshers arrived. This team certainly didn’t follow the well-worn adage ‘Merton provides the pitches, Mansfield provides the players’ – at the end of the season, an 11-a-side Merton vs Mansfield friendly displayed the fantastic commitment that both colleges had shown. My highlight of the year has to be the day when 22 girls turned up for a training session at the same time as the boys, who only had about five players! Not only did the team secure

promotion in its first year back, up to the dizzy heights of Division 3, the girls also showed their prowess and skill in Cuppers. In particular, the 2-2 draw against a St John’s team two divisions above us – with last-minute goals from Ariana McSweeney and Kayli Johnson – proved our worth. Our final league match of the year saw us run out 8-1 winners. It has been a pleasure to captain the team this year and I’m incredibly grateful to all the girls for their hard work and commitment. With at least five visiting students heading back to the States, it will certainly be a struggle to replace some of our top players, but I’m sure next year will bring more success for MMWAFC.

Poor weather and bad luck combined to scupper Mansfield’s valiant attempts to win the Division 1 Championship title for a record-breaking third consecutive time, and the second team’s title defence was similarly hindered. Despite this, there is considerable cause for optimism within the Merton-Mansfield cricketing community, with some exceptional individual and team performances witnessed across the course of the season. Our inability to perform to our best in the shorter format of the game saw us lose crucial matches against New and Balliol in rain-affected reduced-over encounters, and this ultimately prevented us from retaining the title. Despite these disappointments, the season ought to be best remembered for the M&Ms’ emphatic victories over

Worcester, Hertford, Christ Church and Univ. Seasoned veteran John White showed his class with outstanding knocks of 101 against Hertford and 96 against Univ, as well as a game-changing bowling spell of 4-19 against Worcester, while Captain Wood led from the front with impressive innings of 57 and 62 against Hertford and Worcester respectively. Kalani consistently took wickets, and Vice-Captain McClymont invariably bowled and batted solidly. Summer exams limited the number of matches for some of our older key players, but both Rey and Goodman performed exceptionally whenever they were involved. In the end, the team finished with four victories and two defeats. The club’s fantastic team spirit shone through as ever, and we all relish challenging for that title once again in 2013.

Netball

Leah Grint (Geography, 2010)

Netball at Mansfield went through ups and downs this year, but it most definitely ended on a high. After a Michaelmas term that, sadly, saw us relegated from Division 2, the team pushed through for what was to become a great Hilary term. Our performances improved and we finished the term at the top of Division 3, earning immediate re-promotion: an impressive achievement all round. We are looking forward to maintaining this great run in Michaelmas 2012.

While netball is traditionally a girls’ sport, each team is allowed to play one boy per game and this year there have been notable performances from Connell Stewart and George Hasell-McCosh. We are also indebted to the stressed and preoccupied finalists who took time out of their hectic Hilary term to come and train with us, and play for us. After a highly enjoyable year as Captain of Mansfield Netball, I look forward to welcoming new faces into the team in time for our return to Division 2 in Michaelmas.

Music at Mansfield John Oxlade Director of Music

The College maintained its excellent repertoire of recitals during the past 12 months, and has also said goodbye to a musical fixture in the Chapel.

This year we were delighted to welcome four new College members to the Choir – Charlotte Warne, Sophie Giles, Samantha Hoffmann and Charley Roe, plus Florence Walton from Trinity College. As well as singing at the Wednesday evening services (including an entire programme of Welsh music for visiting preacher and alumnus Chris Bryant MP), the Choir has given three recitals of varied repertoire and three evening concerts. In Michaelmas term a concert entitled Dona Nobis Pacem was given on Remembrance Sunday (with wonderful soprano soloist, alumna Rosalind West); in Hilary term Rossini’s leap-year birthday on February 29th was celebrated with a programme of his music (joined by soloists Anna Phillips, Kath Cooper, Jonathan Todd and Michael Hickman); and lighter items from musical theatre made up the Summer concert. The Choir also led the singing in a really excellent carol service in Chapel (illuminated by a beautiful Christmas tree provided

by Lynn Partridge), with readings from College staff (including our now-retired Head Porter Barry Mawby), students and Fellows. Most recently, the Choir sang Parry’s setting of Psalm 122 ‘I Was Glad’ at the Commemoration Service. The Wednesday lunchtime recitals have included several members of College – Daniel Keeling (trombone), Alexander Chalk (guitar), Bethany Whalley (clarinet) and Andrew Allan (trumpet). Among the other recitalists were Alison Martin (harpist from English National Opera) and Madeleine Ridd (cello). We say goodbye (or, we hope, only au revoir) to three leavers in the Choir – Emily Feltham, Lucy Hutchinson and Bethany Whalley, with many thanks for all their amazing contributions and our best wishes for their future. As this magazine goes to press, we hear that another leading Choir member, Bruce Forman (Pembroke), has just become

proud father to Abigail – possibly the first Choir member to achieve this distinction; warmest congratulations to Bruce and Katherine. Finally, our most special thanks must go to the retiring John Muddiman, who – as Associate Chaplain and in a hundred different ways – has been a fantastic support to the College’s music and all the musicians over many years. He will be greatly missed and we are deeply grateful to him.

The Micklem Organ Finds a New Home Tanya Rasmussen Chaplain Many Mansfield students across the years will have entered and exited the College Chapel countless times without ever really noticing the little chamber organ that sat at the back. The Eagles Chamber Organ (of Hackney Road, London) was generously donated to the College in 1938 in memory of Edward Romilly Micklem, former Chaplain and Tutor at Mansfield. It boasted a 19th-century casing, painted black, with gold cherubs on either side keeping watch over what were quite possibly its original 18th-century pipes. The organ even featured in Robert Pacey’s little book The Organs of Oxford. Situated as it was in the antechapel for many decades, the organ was used with some frequency when ordinands for Christian ministry still represented a critical mass at Mansfield, as it accompanied various services and performances. Sadly, the instrument’s decline into a state of disrepair during the past 20 years meant that it was rarely used for any sort of performance in the last decade or so. For the observant, the organ served as something of a screen for cleaning equipment – a role far beneath

‘When dismantled, the instrument yielded up some intriguing mementos, including four champagne corks.’

its purpose. Recognising that significant investment would be required (one organ specialist estimated at least several thousand pounds) to bring the instrument back to its former glory, the College has been seeking an appreciative new home for it for a couple of years. In August of this year, John Oxlade found that new home. The organ was removed by Mander of London, a specialist organ refurbishment company, and will be reinstalled in a church in Whitechapel following its restoration. The instrument will undergo some minor repairs to a few damaged pipes (a dozen or so out of the total of more than 300), but generally the pipe work was found even now to be in very good condition. When dismantled, the instrument yielded up some intriguing mementos including a metal collection box which had clearly been inside for many years as it contained a 1957 half-crown coin, and also four champagne corks – one of which was firmly lodged inside one of the pipes! To see the original hand-blower and the intricate mechanism of the organ was fascinating: an incredible amount of technical expertise hidden within the case. The Chapel floor below the site

of the organ was also in unusually good condition, having been protected by the instrument. The Micklem family’s wish was that the £1,500 sum secured for the organ be put toward the refurbishment fund of the even larger, historic Vowles pipe organ that is a unique treasure in Oxford and an object of beauty in our Chapel. We hope to undertake the refurbishment of that organ within the next several years, but we need to raise significant money for that project; the estimate given three or four years ago was £150,000. If you are interested in contributing toward the Vowles Organ Fund, please contact Justin or Bob in the Development Office (development@ mansfield.ox.ac.uk), or the Chaplain, Tanya Rasmussen (tanya.rasmussen@ mansfield.ox.ac.uk).

Transatlantic

Ties

The College is rightly proud of its strong links with US universities. Cari Morningstar, Director of the Visiting Student Programme at Mansfield, reports on this year’s developments – including an exciting new initiative with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – and two recent VSP students relate their experiences.

Mansfield’s Visiting Student Programme continues to go from strength to strength. This year we are delighted to welcome the most diverse body of visiting students yet, hailing from 32 US institutions ranging from Brown, Cornell, Harvard and Duke, to Princeton, William Jewell, Wellesley and Haverford. We’re also very pleased that Jillian Plummer (VSP 2010/11) has returned to Mansfield for graduate study in History this year. On the academic front, Paige Bolduc, majoring in English and from William Jewell College, won last year’s VSP Student of the Year prize. The other prizewinners for 2011-12 were Matt Walker from Haverford (History and Classics), Carl Merrigan from William Jewell (Physics and Philosophy), and Myles Coleman from Brown (Politics and

Economics). We wish all of last year’s students well in their continuing studies and hope that they keep in touch with us in the years ahead.

supervision, course fee waivers, full library access, free accommodation, and a (generous!) bursary to cover meals and other miscellaneous expenses.

We continue to strengthen links with our overseas partner institutions and are particularly proud to announce a new initiative with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: the Mansfield at UNC Undergraduate Research Studentship Award. UNC-Chapel Hill is one of the eight ‘Public Ivy League’ universities and was established in 1789, making it the oldest state-funded university in the United States. This new award provides a fully funded research studentship to a Mansfield undergraduate for a month of study and independent research at UNC. It includes faculty

Students studying History joint schools and Politics were invited to apply in this inaugural year, and subject tutors David Leopold and Kathryn Gleadle selected PPE student Sophie Cote as the first award recipient. See Sophie’s article to discover how she got on.

‘This year we are delighted to welcome the most diverse body of visiting students yet.’

A Mansfielder Abroad Sophie Cote (PPE, 2010) The Mansfield at UNC Undergraduate Research Studentship Award has allowed me to attend classes of my choosing and undertake personal research while tasting the American college life – complete with barbecues and mascot-led marching bands. This new opportunity, organised and funded through Mansfield’s long-standing Visiting Students Programme, offers a Mansfielder the chance to spend the month of September at the welcoming and picturesque campus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Such an academic and cultural experience is not commonly available to non-language

‘What better context than an American Politics class to discuss Tocqueville’s Democracy in America?’ students in Oxford. It provides the possibility of complementing termtime work: what better context than an American Politics class to discuss Tocqueville’s Democracy in America? Taking full advantage of the supervision provided by the Department of Politics, with which I was affiliated, as well as the superb facilities, I undertook work on my third-year Politics thesis. Particularly beneficial to my project was the exposure to different academic approaches, for example by discussing political questions with members of the Women’s Studies Department. Meanwhile, the easy-going Southern atmosphere and campus life guaranteed a very enjoyable experience.

An American in Oxford Michael Sharpe (VSP, 2011)

It is odd, waking up in a place where structures are older than the country in which you live, and where, when walking down a quiet street, with stone walls towering above, you cannot help but think of the great minds that have walked the very same route. Oxford is one such place: both daunting and exhilarating, but the intimidation that it makes you feel is itself inspiring. In the short walks in the morning to the library where every book in print lies patiently in its shelves, or to a tutorial in another castle-campus, you are reminded of the very ardour that brought you here. And on some days, after lunch or dinner with a few friends at your favourite Thai place, you pretend for a moment that you are meant to be here, just like the greats you had read as a child or in the library, nestled in your favourite nook. You believe that fate has shown a kind face for another year. And what a year it was: walking, biking, jogging along the promenade before rowing practice, or playing football in the bracing British weather. On the way to Formal Hall you stop at the ‘Plodge’ and check your ‘Pidge’, laughing at the monikers. At dinner you rise and hush as the High Table enters. You look out of the window at the College with its iconic circular quad that, in such a short space of time, has become home. You look down along the table realising that you know the people from one end to the other as more than fellow students but as friends. Later on, in the chapel, there’s a glass of champagne and a gentle sway to the music playing, as the evening light falls behind the stained glass. That was Mansfield: a year that proved painfully ephemeral. And now, away from it all – the places and people that you had hugged goodbye in the early hours before your departure – you find yourself reminiscing in the most grandiloquent tone you can imagine.

‘You look down along the table realising that you know the people from one end to the other as more than fellow students but as friends.’

Life after Mansfield? In 2012, Mansfield’s JCR set up two new iniatives to help students make the transition from university to the world of work.

Careers Week Eleanor Saunders (History, 2010) reports on the 2012 Careers Week, where Mansfield alumni gave current students the benefit of their professional experience. During my time as the Access and Academic Affairs Officer for the Mansfield JCR, we have been throwing our efforts into improving the careers information and opportunities offered to our current students. We launched our first Careers Week in the first week of Trinity term, with a number of our own alumni returning to talk about their experiences and to offer information and advice about their particular fields. I owe a great ‘thank you’ to Brian Arnold (Maths, 1992) from Credit Suisse, Stella Mitchell (Law, 1982) from Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP and Marcus Edwards (Law, 2000) from Channel 4 News for making time in their busy schedules to come back to Mansfield and talk about careers in finance, law, and the media. I’d also like to thank our University careers advisor, Polly Metcalf, for her advice and regular drop-in sessions, which have proved very popular. The sessions provided by our alumni were invaluable, with introductory information, honest advice and enthusiasm – all of which have helped ease the stress of students entering their final year, and indeed those of us now facing the big wide world with recently achieved degrees. This year, the JCR also voted to create a new post on the Bench. The role of the Access and Academic Affairs Officer has now been split into two positions: that of a dedicated Access Officer, and of an Academic and Careers Officer. The role of the latter post will be to further our efforts in improving contact between current students and Mansfield’s alumni, particularly in the field of mentoring and careers advice. I hope that with this role now in place, the 2013 Careers Week will be even more successful. We would be delighted to welcome any of our alumni back to College, especially if they would like to offer careers advice to our members – please get in touch!

Mentoring the Next Generation The JCR’s new Academic and Careers Officer, Temisan Boyo (Law, 2010), is looking to bring our current and former students closer together through work shadowing and mentoring – and she wants you to get involved! ‘In the current competitive job market, Mansfield students are eager to plan ahead for their careers and they need your help. During Michaelmas 2012, our JCR launched a work-shadowing scheme and a mentoring scheme for students and alumni. Work shadowing will provide a way for students to find out at a very basic level whether a certain job or career path is right for them. We’re looking for alumni willing to have a student sit in with them for periods of from one full day up to one week. The student will perform general tasks and, we hope, leave with a better understanding of what you do and how your company operates. The mentoring scheme will pair an alumnus with one or two students interested in his/her field for career advice. You will communicate by email and may be asked to help with areas such as proofreading a vacation-scheme application, providing first-hand information about the realities of working in a particular field, or even tips on coping with finals. If you are interested in participating in the workshadowing or mentorship schemes, or would like more information about these programmes, please contact me at temisan.boyo@mansfield.ox.ac. uk. Thank you!’

lectures

Whither the EU? The 2012 Annual Hands Lecture by Lord Peter Mandelson Bob Trafford Alumni Relations Officer

Mansfield’s annual Hands Lecture, held in honour of Guy and Julia Hands and their generosity toward the College, this year took place in the beautiful South School of the University Examination Schools. Over 300 guests, alumni, Fellows, staff and members of the public packed out the School to hear Lord Peter Mandelson deliver his expansive and passionate answer to the question, ‘Is the European Project Over?’ Lord Mandelson, the former EU Trade Commissioner, spoke eloquently and persuasively about the need for Britain to enter wholeheartedly into the rebirth of the European community that, he avowed, will come with the eventual improvement of the current economic climate – rather than remaining ‘in Europe, but on detached terms’. After exploring the history of Britain’s relationship first with the ‘community’ and then the ‘Union’ of Europe, ‘based on the principle of supporting the widening of the EU as a check on its deepening’, Mandelson went on to assert that ‘to survive, the Eurozone needs to operate more as a single political entity’. Implicit in this necessary condition, he stated, was the truth that if Britain did not buy more fully into the EU – ‘arguably the most effective foreign policy the world has ever seen’ – and overcome the ‘psychological ‘Being part of a political phenomenon’ that is the English and economic European Channel, we may find ourselves on the outside of a mutually Union would be the only supportive recovery within the Eurozone, and in a situation really credible way of wherein we must meet EU asserting British values and standards in order to trade, but have no say in defining them.

interests in the world.’

Instead, the former MP suggested, ‘being part of a political and economic European Union would be the only really credible way of asserting British values and interests in the world’. Lord Mandelson finished with a call for a fresh referendum on Europe, once the Eurozone recovery was fully underway, and a warning that without closer political and economic integration, ‘Europe will have started a clear political journey without us’. Questions from the floor were taken following the conclusion of the lecture, including two from former Principal David Marquand, himself also a former Labour MP.

How God Became King The C.H. Dodd Society Inaugural Lecture by former Bishop of Durham Professor N.T. Wright Theodore Gill (MLitt, 1976)

N.T. Wright, until recently the Bishop of Durham and now Professor of New Testament at St Andrews University, addressed a standing-room-only gathering in Mansfield’s Chapel on April 28th. He appeared as the featured speaker at the inaugural lecture and luncheon of the College’s C.H. Dodd Society, named after the famed biblical scholar, college tutor and university lecturer (later a professor at ‘the other place’), who remains Mansfield College’s best-known and most-read theologian. F.W. Dillistone’s 1977 biography of Charles Harold Dodd begins with the author’s recollection of his first sighting Dodd at a Mansfield Chapel service in 1921, Dillistone’s initial year as a university student. The biographer was a first-time visitor to the Chapel, but observed that Dodd’s ‘own association with Mansfield College began when he came to Oxford as an undergraduate nearly 20 years before my own time. He remained devoted to the College until his death in 1973. Probably no other institution provided him with comparable opportunities for the development of his outstanding gifts as teacher, preacher, writer, interpreter, and finally director of the translation of the New English Bible.’ N.T., or ‘Tom’, Wright was a student of the late George Caird in the 1970s, when Caird was Mansfield’s Principal. Because his supervisor had been Dodd’s student, Tom was rightly described by John Muddiman (another of Caird’s students) as a fellow ‘intellectual grandchild’ of C.H. Dodd.

Professor Wright gave an excellent presentation on the topic ‘How God Became King – or how we’ve all misunderstood the gospels’, and afterwards entertained questions from the audience. Among other challenging observations, he warned against dogmatically bound commentators who seem to harbour ‘more interest in maintaining one view of scripture than in hearing what scripture actually says’. Wright’s full text is to be found on the Mansfield website, and it is well worth reading.

Sixty members and guests of the C.H. Dodd Society enjoyed a sumptuous lunch in College following the lecture. Congratulations on the day’s events were extended to C.H. Dodd Society co-presidents Jack Andrews and John Patrick, as many expressed the hope that this ‘first’ will indeed be followed by a second lecture and luncheon, whether annual or not.

The speaker was introduced by Mansfield’s Principal, Baroness Helena Kennedy, who recalled her appreciation of interactions with Wright during his years as Bishop of Durham when they sat near one another in the House of Lords. Others in attendance included former Principal Donald Sykes and David Lincicum, Dr Muddiman’s successor as G.B. Caird Fellow in New Testament Theology.

Investing in the Next Generation of

Scholars

Doctoral research fellowships ‘offer a chance to throw oneself into unknown territories, and to start new conversations’. Two recent recipients describe the opportunities that their fellowships have given them – at Mansfield, and at Chicago’s Northwestern University.

Laughter in the

Wings

Anna Cairns (DPhil English, 2010)

‘Pursuing my research at Mansfield has provided me with perspectives, opportunities and contacts that far exceeded my expectations.’

It was a huge privilege to be offered the first John Hodgson Theatre Research Fellowship, which was established to ‘promote theatre studies and the performing arts at Mansfield College’. This fellowship has not only allowed me to continue my studies with greater scope and financial support, but has also brought me into the close community that is Mansfield. I could not have easily continued into the second year of my DPhil without the generous assistance of this fellowship. My research focuses on the use of laughter and humour by women for and on the stage in the early 20th century. Some of my work relies on unpublished play scripts and materials in collections in London, particularly those pertaining to the Actresses’ Franchise League. By facilitating trips to the British Library and the Women’s Library, and to conferences both in the UK and abroad, this fellowship has enabled my research to widen and develop. Such trips have been hugely beneficial to me, in particular my recent visit to Krakow to attend the International Humor Studies conference during which I was able to speak with and gain advice from academics working within this field: contacts that will be crucial to my work. Without this fellowship, I would also not have experienced life at Mansfield with all of its diverse opportunities. From its welcoming community – College’s supportive and encouraging Fellows, staff and students – to Mansfield’s vibrant lecture series each Friday, my postgraduate experience has been uniquely enhanced by my new college. In 2012, Mansfield welcomed the playwright David Edgar to speak about Politics and Theatre, and Mark WingDavey of the New York Tisch School of the Arts to talk about the relationship between neuroscience, the actor, and the audience. It was a privilege to be invited to a meal with Mark Wing-Davey after his lecture, offering further opportunities for helpful discussion of my own work.

I have also enjoyed getting involved with the vibrant MCR, becoming MCR Women’s Officer and working with the JCR and SCR Women’s Officers to organise a successful International Women’s Day event during which Prof Carol Sanger, a distinguished specialist in law, gender and rights, led an engaging talk for Mansfield students and visitors from across the University. Alongside this, I have appreciated getting to know a new group of students both socially and academically, such as when I joined an entertaining College trip to the National Theatre with fellow English Literature students. This Michaelmas, I began

teaching at Mansfield, enabling me to contribute to academic life here and to augment my own experience. Pursuing my research at Mansfield has provided me with perspectives, opportunities and contacts that far exceeded my expectations. When I received the fellowship, I had not imagined that it would offer such a unique experience. For all of this, I am extremely grateful to the John Hodgson estate and to Mansfield College. I look forward to the second year of the fellowship and to my second year at Mansfield.

My Kind of Town Dana Mills (DPhil Politics, 2008) I landed in Chicago’s O’Hare airport on an uncharacteristically warm afternoon in March 2012. I was scared and excited at the same time. I had just left Mansfield, my home for the past four years, to take up a visiting fellowship in the department of Classics at Northwestern University. I am a political theorist writing my dissertation on the connection between dance and politics. This interdisciplinary research reflects an interdisciplinary life: before coming to Oxford and immersing myself in hours of solitary thinking in Mansfield’s beautiful library, I was a dancer and a dance teacher, running between one bustling dance studio and another. My life until now has been a wonderfully contingent series of changes of scenery and I have loved every one of them. The New World, however, seemed like unconquerable territory. I had only been to the US once, and had never imagined the possibility of spending any great length of time there. So, as I recited for the Chicago Passport Control the fact that I was bound for Northwestern on a visiting fellowship from Oxford University, it sounded like a bizarre story indeed, and definitely not anything I could have imagined for myself five years ago. Visiting fellowships are a wonderful opportunity for graduate students. They offer a chance to throw oneself into

unknown territories and to start new conversations. I was warmly welcomed into the Classics department but also equally warmly received in Political Theory and Dance Studies at NU. I’ve always believed that thinking should be done through dialogue, and have enjoyed presenting my research wherever I could. Hence I was thrilled at the opportunity to present my work in the graduate political theory workshop and to get to know the brilliant political theory community there. I attended a Classics seminar convened by Prof Sara Monoson that focused on the reception of ancient Greek texts in modernity. This was hugely helpful to the aspect of my work that looks at the choreographic interpretation of Greek myth in the work of dance pioneers Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham. I was overwhelmed by the open-minded attitude and kindness that Prof Monoson and her students showed towards a non-classicist with a strange affection for performance of ancient texts through dance. Going to a new institution was also an opportunity to reignite old flames: I attended a graduate seminar focusing on the work of Hannah Arendt, co-taught by Prof Bonnie Honig of Northwestern. Arendt is to blame for my odd love affair with political theory. When I read her work during my Masters in Tel Aviv, I realised that I wanted to learn more

about this world, and could perhaps put my ballet shoes away for a while as I succumbed to more and more hours in the library. I read Prof Honig’s work on Arendt during my MA, so listening to her talk about Arendt was a huge privilege, and reminded me why I fell in love with reading, writing and sharing ideas about political theory. Going to Northwestern was also an excuse to re-connect to my dancing being. I carried out archive work in the Duncan and Graham schools in New York and also in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I took ballet classes in the renowned Joffrey Academy in Chicago, and in NY viewed rehearsals for the Isadora Duncan 135th birthday celebration. I also attended a Grahamtechnique class taught by a dancer who had worked with Martha Graham herself, in Graham’s old studio. It was a real pilgrimage! I missed Mansfield terribly, and pestered its fellows and staff with regular queries when I was away: how was the weekly lecture? How is revision for finals going? How is Erasmus, the college cat, getting on? Taking an extended break after four years at Oxford not only helped me make the most of all that Northwestern had to offer, but also to appreciate anew the

Arrivals and Departures

‘I found myself being an ambassador for Mansfield, telling everyone in Northwestern all about our unique College...’ wonderful life that Mansfield provides its graduate students. I found myself being an ambassador for Mansfield, telling everyone in Northwestern all about our unique College – and I even managed a little taste of home away from home when I attended the Development Office’s alumni reception in New York, discussing all things Mansfield on Fifth Avenue and catching up with our fabulous Principal. I owe thanks to many people who helped me during this memorable trip. At Northwestern, Prof Monoson and Prof Honig supported me with generosity of spirit and academic guidance. Faculty and students at Northwestern accepted me as one of their own and shared a small part of their world with me. At Mansfield, my supervisor Prof Michael Freeden, Dr David Leopold, Dr Helen Lacey and Senior Tutor Lucinda Rumsey helped fit together the various pieces of

the jigsaw and endured an unreasonable amount of emails and queries with supererogatory kindness. I’d like to express my gratitude to the Principal of Mansfield, Helena Kennedy, for inspirational leadership of the graduate community in Mansfield that pushes us to think beyond the boundaries of our quad. I’d like to thank Helena for her support of my research and for a really wonderful afternoon at the New York reception that made me far less homesick than I would otherwise have felt. This research trip reminded me of all the things I love about both dance and political theory, and it is particularly important for me as such to take this opportunity to thank the Mansfield alumni, whose generous provision enabled this dream to come true for me. It was a life-changing experience and would not have been possible without the financial support that Mansfield is able to offer its graduates. Arriving back in Mansfield on a glorious May afternoon was a perfect ending for a perfect trip – after all, there really is no place like home!

Volunteering and Charity

Mansfield’s students and alumni provide an insight into the extraordinary variety of voluntary work that they have undertaken in the past year.

My Summer as a Paralympics Gamesmaker Bob Skelly (English, 1965) I remember telling people during the winter and spring that I was going to be a Gamesmaker at the Paralympics; the standard reply was ‘What’s that?’ Now, everyone knows about Gamesmakers, and second only to the medal winners they are regarded as a great success of the Games. It all started last year with a testing interview about how you would deal with specific situations, using your own experience. A total of 70,000 Gamesmakers were chosen from over 250,000 applicants. Several thousand of us trudged through frozen slush to a rally at Wembley Arena to be inspired by Lord Coe, Jonathan Edwards and Eddie Izzard. The second training session was rolespecific, in smaller groups at a school, and the third was venue-specific just before the Games. I was assigned to the Workforce team at the Athletes Village adjacent to the Olympic Park. What most Gamesmakers were to the

visiting public, we were to the other Gamesmakers. We checked them in and issued meal vouchers, their games journal and gift badges. We wrote a daily news sheet, which involved going out to get interviews and photos around the Village – effectively a small town with a population of more than 16,000. We ran daily competitions for the Gamesmakers, manned a help desk in the dining hall, dealt with feedback and complaints, and distributed free sweets and chocolates provided by one of the sponsors. My day started at around 4.30am with a bus and tube journey to Stratford to begin operations at 6.30am. The team soon became friends as well as colleagues. We didn’t get into the arenas to watch any sport, but were invited to one of the dress rehearsals for the Opening Ceremony. The final gift we gave out was a replica relay baton etched with ‘Gamesmaker’ most appropriately to symbolise teamwork.

Oxford Half Marathon Chris Major (Geography, 2009) On Sunday 25th September 2011, I ran the inaugural Oxford Half Marathon, raising money for the Wisdom Hospice based in Kent, which cared for my grandmother before she sadly passed away in May 2011. I took part in the event because a friend who had registered for it pulled out at a late stage, leaving me with a somewhat limited training period of just one week. Arriving on the day with my banana and bottle of Tesco Highland Spring water in hand, I feared the worst after lining up at the start next to many seasoned runners who

were going through their prerace routines, complete with various energy gels and drinks. I did a stretch, in the process untying and re-doing my shoelaces, just to look the part. In the end it turned out I had nothing to fear, as I completed the 13.2 miles through Oxford’s streets in 1 hour 36 minutes, which I was thrilled with, and in the process raised £125 for a great cause.

Back2Back Charity Production Saskia Hoskins (History, 2010) This year the Mansfield Drama Society teamed up with Mansfield Environment, and Ethics, and Charity (E&E&C) organisers to put on a fabulous Back2Back charity production raising almost £300 for the JCR charities. In the beautiful surroundings of the Princess Margaret Gardens, the audience were treated to a fresh and fun performance of an adaptation of Noel Coward’s Hay Fever before being sent on an emotional rollercoaster in the Chapel during a performance of Charlotte Keatley’s quirky My Mother Said I Never Should. Thank you so much to everyone who attended.

Oxford Aid to the Balkans Maisie Jenkinson (Human Sciences, 2010) In Easter 2012, I travelled to Bulgaria with fellow Mansfield student Saskia Hoskins to volunteer in the Penyo and Maria orphanage in the town of Veliko Tarnovo. Our trip was facilitated by the student-run charity, Oxford Aid to the Balkans (OXAB). We quickly learnt some basic Bulgarian and spent time with the children, aged 3-18, running craft activities and games and keeping them entertained during the school holidays.

Although it is a small charity, OXAB makes an enormous positive contribution to the lives of Bulgarian children who do not live with their families. It pays the wages of a Bulgarian social worker, who helps to liaise with volunteer-receiving institutions. OXAB also provides a one-week summer trip for children in the Penyo and Maria orphanage, one-to-one mentoring schemes for the children, and IT facilities in two centres. I became the Bulgarian Representative on the OXAB Committee in Trinity 2012, arranging for seven Oxford students to volunteer in the summer.

Aston-Mansfield Saskia Hoskins (History, 2010) In the Trinity term of 2012, 11 students from Mansfield spent the day volunteering at the Froud Community Centre in Manor Park, in the Newham district of London. The Centre is run by Aston-Mansfield, a charity that works with children and young people in East London (the charity is a direct descendant of the Mansfield Settlement, set up by Mansfield College students in 1890). While some of us had a bash (literally) at DIY, constructing funfair games for the forthcoming AstonMansfield Village Fete, others got their hands dirty tidying up the grounds of the Community Centre. We then became domestic gods and goddesses, preparing a variety of delicious pasta salads with the Young Achievers group, which were happily consumed along with a tasty barbecue kindly provided by the team at Aston-Mansfield. After a few parachute games, we were treated to some epic performances by the Young Achievers, forcing us to deafen them in return with our negligible karaoke talents. We all had a great day and are extremely grateful to the Aston-Mansfield team for welcoming us yet again to their inspiring Centre. In October, Mansfield students were happy to return the hospitality by welcoming a group of Young Achievers to the College for the annual AstonMansfield Village Fete in the Chapel. We also paid a visit to the Centre at the end of Michaelmas term.

Mansfield Law Society Dinner Bob Trafford Alumni Relations Officer

On what proved to be a busy but rewarding day at Mansfield, the College’s Law Society followed the C.H. Dodd Society’s inaugural afternoon lecture and lunch on April 28th with its own dinner for over 40 current and former students and tutors in Law. The evening began with a reception in the Chapel, which gave current students an invaluable opportunity to mingle with practising lawyers at all stages of their careers, from trainee to QC, and was testament to the remarkable opportunities for advice and shared experience that our alumni can afford our current students, in many areas. We were joined for the reception by Christopher Sallon QC, a good friend of our Principal, who was later our afterdinner speaker.

‘The evening gave current students an invaluable opportunity to mingle with practising lawyers at all stages of their careers.’ After a delightful dinner, Christopher spoke eloquently and engagingly in defence of the independence of the Bar in light of proposed Government reforms that would limit it, outlining the proud history of the work of barristers in the UK that would be threatened by Government regulation of individual practice. The Principal added some considerations of her own before inviting our alumni to contribute their thoughts. Marc Brown (2000) and David Bailey QC (1984) both addressed the issue at hand from their own standpoints within the profession, before the Principal brought the proceedings to an end, and guests retired for coffee and port. It was a wonderfully enjoyable evening, and one of unparalleled value to our current students, who were given rare and personal insights into the careers toward which many of them strive.

MCBC Summer Eights Dinner Oliver Cohen (Geography, 2010) Saturday of fifth week, Trinity term, saw the customary hordes of students, parents and friends descend upon the banks of the Isis to cheer on their chosen college in what is often the most enjoyable day of the academic calendar at Oxford: Summer Eights Saturday. Mansfield’s three crews were all looking to build on strong results from the previous three days, and all avoided the ‘bumped on Saturday’ taboo by producing convincing row-overs, with the men missing out on bumping St Peter’s I only by an untimely klaxon. The good spirit of the riverbank was taken forward to the evening, where a champagne reception was waiting on the quad, the glasses sparkling in the brilliant evening sunshine – a fitting backdrop for the crews and their friends, family and fans. As ever, the catering staff excelled themselves in providing top-class cuisine, which the rowers, with difficulty, attempted to eat at the same leisurely pace as their guests.

Many bottles of wine and ducks confit later, after-dinner speeches were given by myself and Lauren McFadyen as the outgoing Men’s and Women’s Captains. We both shared insights into the present state of college rowing, and applauded the valuable work of the coaches and Boat Club Committee. This year the club was lucky enough to have a number of alumni returning for the dinner, including this year’s guest speaker, OUBC President in the year of Oxford’s infamous 1987 Boat Race victory, Donald MacDonald (English, 1984). Donald spoke briefly about his time at Mansfield, and at OUBC, before giving a fascinating insight into his further life in business, and his

views on how rowing has evolved over the years. In all, the dinner was a great success, which could not have been achieved without the hard work of the committee and the College staff involved. I look forward to another successful year on the water and to seeing as many of you as possible at the dinner next year!

‘As ever, the catering staff excelled themselves in providing top-class cuisine.’

New York Reception Justin B. Jacobs Deputy Development Director On a beautiful spring day in late March, some 25 New York-based alumni gathered for our annual reception and lecture at the University of Oxford’s North America offices. Over canapés and drinks they reminisced about their time at Mansfield and listened to the Principal talk about her first impressions of Mansfield and aspirations for the College. Many of the alumni present had been at Mansfield as Visiting Students, and the event offered a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with fellow classmates, meet American alumni and ask questions about current College life. The New York City reception is one of the highlights of the College’s alumni calendar and we look forward to hosting another one in Spring 2013 (watch this space for dates). Our NYC-based alumni have also been especially keen to meet up even when Mansfield isn’t in town, and thanks to the efforts of John Zolidis (VSP, 1993) in particular, they help us keep the connection to College alive and well.

Mansfield and

Milton Charles Brock (Fellow and Chaplain 1964-98), with help from Professor John Creaser (former Vice Principal, and Tutor in English 196685), explores the profound influence of the great English poet and revolutionary on the dissenting tradition that gave birth to our College.

‘Today Baroness Kennedy and others in the College echo Milton by striving for equality, both in society at large and in Oxford itself.’

Overlooking Mansfield’s quad is a statue of John Milton, arguably England’s finest poet and also a prominent revolutionary, politician, social thinker, and theologian. He was the focal intellectual spokesman for the English Revolution; first the Commonwealth government and then Lord Protector Cromwell used him extensively for pamphlets and official documents. His statue is prominent at Mansfield because Milton was very much an Independent, and the College was founded in that same spirit of Dissent. Milton was the European voice of the major political and social revolution of his day. Herewith was a new birth of freedom for church and state, and for the seeds of democracy in Britain. Milton’s paternal family and his wife came from the part of Oxfordshire where, for 35 years, I was minister of the United Reformed Church (originally Independent) and my wife was organist. Holton, the adjoining village, was Cromwell’s headquarters for the successful assault on Oxford late in the Civil War. Milton owned the White Hart in Wheatley, close to my church, though he wasn’t the landlord. I often drank there; had I known then that Milton once owned it, I would have tried to have a church social or two there, although I may well have been voted down, as it was Milton and Cromwell who sowed the seeds of democracy in England, and spread the power around that had for so long been the preserve of the hierarchies.

For Milton, the revolutionaries’ Good Old Cause aligned England with Israel: ‘England was chosen before any other, that out of her as out of Sion should be proclaimed and sounded forth the first tidings and trumpet of reformation to all Europe.’ What Milton celebrated in Jesus’ birth was not only the tenderness of the shepherds and the compassion of his mother, but also his power: ‘Our babe to show his Godhead true, / Can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew.’ The ultimate aim of Christ’s kingdom was ‘to conquer and crush his enemies’. Milton uses exodus drama: ‘Then shall all thy Saints addresse their voyces of joy, and triumph to thee, standing on the shoare of that red Sea into which our enemies had almost driven us.’ And his political texts are permeated by gospel images: ‘Thy Kingdom is now at hand… for now the voice of thy Bride calls thee, and all creatures sigh to bee renew’d.’ Milton was the most eloquent anti-monarchist of his day. While monarchs were not unacceptable to him in all circumstances, and not all English kings had been evil, Milton said Charles I was a ‘liar, poseur, plagiarist, hypocrite, traitor, tyrant, and a fool’. He became a national figure and a leading servant of the Commonwealth through The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649), his defence of the regicide.

Milton’s enlightened form of Puritanism applied to all of life, and, though morally strenuous, it had little of the kill-joy attitudes attributed to Puritanism by Royalist propaganda. It is important to understand that religious disputes were then not abstract theological arguments, or expressions of differing warmth of sentiment. Rather, they manifested themselves in opposed philosophies of life and related to social issues. The Royalists put hierarchy and their traditional privileges first. The Puritans wanted more economic equality, but also freedom of expression. In the 1640s, liberty was in the air and fast fermenting, gradually paving the way for democracy. Milton visited Galileo while under house arrest, and used his example for freedom of the press in England. Through works such as Areopagitica (1644) and Paradise Lost (1667) Milton helped to transmit to later generations the most vital accomplishments of the Puritan movement – the belief in individual liberty, in the importance of transcendental values, and in the responsibilities and the sanctity of individual spiritual life. When the government slowly collapsed after Cromwell’s death and the monarchy was invited back in 1660, defeat did not take those qualities away. The darker side should be noted. Milton seems eventually to have become disaffected with Cromwell, who became a king in all but name though he would not accept the crown when it was offered. The Irish have some justification for hating Cromwell, not only the 3,000 massacred at Drogheda (partly in revenge for 5,000 Protestants earlier put to the sword), but also the imperialism of England toward that persecuted land. The West Indian slave trade also began during this period. Tolerance was minimal and Catholics in England continued to be persecuted. Jews were allowed back after centuries of exile, though those motives may have been economic rather than libertarian.

To take one of many examples, George Kennan – the author of the communist containment policy that helped keep some of the moralistic ‘rollback’ types from starting World War III – claimed that Milton was his favorite interpreter of Christianity. He also said that Jefferson and Madison learned much political theory from Milton, and that the lesson was simple: Americans must be righteous, possessing a providential purpose that is beyond making money, but the country must not be selfrighteous, thinking it is the only ‘chosen’ nation. Kennan quotes from the end of Paradise Lost, which was central to his own political philosophy and practical politics:

Henceforth I learn, that to obey is best, And love with fear the only God: to walk As in his presence: ever to observe His providence; and on him sole depend… Britain gradually became a more democratic society, with concern for the poor and the oppressed, in the 19th century, thanks to Disraeli, Gladstone, Dickens, and many other social reformers and novelists. The same happened in America – neither democracy nor equality were a certainty from the start, but had to be worked on, and worked out. We are still endeavouring to find ways of equality and we have a long way to go (indeed many seem happy with the glaring differences we now have).

Mansfield was the first Oxford College founded in this reforming, dissenting tradition when Parliament persuaded Oxford and Cambridge to accept Jews, Catholics, and Nonconformists for admission in 1881. Originally a Congregational seminary, the College added other courses in the 1950s, partly in order to stay solvent but primarily because it believed education to be important in all areas. By chance the first secular Fellows of the College had an interest in or connection with Milton and his influence – John Creaser The spirit of Milton, as a falling star, entering William Blake’s body, was a Milton scholar, Mike Mahony’s as depicted by Blake to accompany his own epic poem Milton speciality was the Long Parliament, (written and illustrated 1804-10). Anthony Ogus had legal interests in Theologically, Milton remains society’s outsiders, Michael Freeden controversial (and I consider that a examined rights, and Tony Lemon studied geographical good thing): he questioned the powerful Trinitarians that kept apartheid. control of the English church, though he had to keep quiet for fear of gaol (and indeed after the Restoration the founder Today Baroness Kennedy and others in the College echo of Pennsylvania, William Penn, was put in the Tower for an Milton by striving for equality, both in society at large and in anti-Trinitarian tract, and the unorthodox John Locke, like Oxford itself. That is a very important aspect of the English Penn, was rusticated from Christ Church). But their theology tradition of Dissent, and of that the Principal is well aware. I and politics, influenced by Milton, led Washington, Adams, hope others will also renew this Mansfield tradition and take Jefferson, Madison, and Lincoln into unconventional religion up some of Milton’s causes, whether sacred or secular. There and statesmanship, and thus Milton is important too for is much to be done. Talk about it under his statue at College America, where I have been teaching for the past 15 years. reunions – you will gain insight, and bring back his vision.

MANSFIELD LECTURE SERIES CoNvENER | Baroness Helena Kennedy

Week 4 8 February Jonathan Mills

3 February (Sunday) 6 pm

Director and Chief Executive, Edinburgh International Festival

Sister Helen Prejean

Artâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Great Conversation of Mankind

Week 5 15 February Rt. Hon. Tony Benn Retired Labour Party Politician and Cabinet Minister, President of the Stop the War Coalition

Ending the Death Penalty Book signing and refreshments to follow Sister Helen Prejean is a leading campaigner against the death penalty whose work was dramatised in the film Dead Man Walking

Still Trying to Change the World

Week 6 22 February Reverend Charles Brock Emeritus Fellow of Mansfield College John Milton Fellowship inaugural lecture

John Miltonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Revolutionary Spirit?

Week 7 1 March Michael Palin Ticketed Event Actor, Writer, Television Presenter, Comedian

Around the World in One Hour and Twenty Minutes (Please contact jane.buswell@mansfield.ox.ac.uk) Week 8 8 March Leslie Woodhead

Hilary Term 2013 Fridays 5 pm venue: The Junior Common Room Mansfield College Mansfield Road oxford oX1 3TF www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk

Admission Free All Welcome

Prize-Winning Documentary Filmmaker

How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin: Tales in the Cultural Shifts that Brought Down the Soviet Union

An exclusive venue for

overnight accommodation, conferences and

fine dining

estled in a glorious location in the heart of Oxford, our stunning Victorian buildings provide the perfect backdrop for any event. f

Mansfield offers a full range of conference facilities. Dining is available in the Chapel. High-quality cuisine is drawn from a wide ranging menu and accompanied by an excellent wine selection from our cellar. f College accommodation is also available for bed and breakfast bookings.

For further details please contact Lynne Quiggin, Domestic Bursar 01865 282888 email:lynne.quiggin@mansfield.ox.ac.uk www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk 40

MANSFIELD in Reel Time In his last year as a DPhil candidate at Mansfield, Peter Armstrong (DPhil Theology, 1966) produced a quite remarkable 40-minute film reflecting on the life of the College during the Principalship of John Marsh, which was originally given its première in Mansfield’s quad, on a canvas screen draped over the door to the Champneys building. The film features interviews with members of the College, captures glimpses of daily life both in Mansfield and around Oxford, and so charts a formative time in our history, during which the first steps were taken on the road from theological college to fully-fledged constituent College of the University. Peter had this to say about the rediscovery of his film: ‘Looking back 45 years, this little documentary looks decidedly quaint for a couple of reasons. Now that anyone can create great videos with full sound and colour with the swish of an iPhone, it’s hard to remember that, back then, choices were very limited for a poor student. Shooting ‘sync

sound’ meant moving up from 8mm to 16mm and that meant only black and white film was affordable – and that in short offcuts bought cheap. My camera was noisy and had to be encased in an ungainly foam and fibreglass contraption that still didn’t help much. And synchronising the resulting sound and picture involved a lash-up with a doubleheaded oscilloscope from another college. All this meant that editing (on another Heath Robinsonesque system) was not a matter of choosing the best bits, but choosing the only bits that were in sync and not too noisy. But it was all great fun – and more fun than my neglected DPhil thesis. The second big change since then is that my film reflects the final years of Mansfield as a Permanent Private Hall, with a clear focus on theology and training for the Free Church ministry. As John Marsh hands over to George Caird, they are both clear that, although John’s mission had been to open up the College, this church-related work would continue to flourish.

They would no doubt be surprised to see how far the College has moved in a different direction since then. I was very fond of John Marsh and grateful to have been able to capture something of the flavour of his Principalship during his last year, as well as that of his predecessor and successor. The film was also very lucky for me. When I heard that the then Head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC, Penry Jones, was visiting Mansfield, I put up a huge sheet over the main door and more or less forced him and his hosts to sit on the lawn and watch it after dinner. That in turn led to a job at the BBC and the chance to make rather better films over the following decades – some back at Mansfield with George Caird, and all with considerably better equipment!’ You can view the film at http://bit. ly/mansfieldin1970. We hope you enjoy it!

‘My camera was noisy and had to be encased in an ungainly foam and fibreglass contraption.’

My Students, Lazy and Daisy Peter Hessler on teaching in China

Peter Hessler (English, 1992), regular contributor to The New Yorker and author of three acclaimed books on China, reflects on his time at Mansfield, and juxtaposes it with the life of his students in 1990s Fuling.

Lazy was one of my best students. He came from the same village as House and Yellow. On the first day of class, when they took turns introducing themselves, Lazy stood up. ‘My English name is Lazy,’ he said. ‘I am very lazy. I do not like to play basketball or football or do many things. My hobbies are sleeping.’ My students were seniors in the English department at Fuling Teachers College, where I had been sent to teach as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was 1996, two years after I had finished my degree at Mansfield. On many days, there seemed to be little connection between the life I had lived at Oxford and my new home in south-western China. Fuling was a small city on the Yangtze River, and it had always been remote. There was no railway or highway; if you wanted to go anywhere, you took the boat. People told me that the last time the city had had an American resident was in the 1940s,

before the Communist revolution. But now the place was starting to change, and my students were majoring in English – a new subject in a country that was determined to open up to the world after years of isolation. From my students’ perspective, English was exciting, but it remained somewhat abstract. Many of them had studied the language for seven years before meeting a native speaker. They had chosen their own English names, with mixed results. Some took names from public figures they admired, which explained why my class included a Barbara (from Barbara Bush), an Emily (Emily Brontë), and an Armstrong (Neil Armstrong). There was one idealistic student named Marx. Others, like House, Yellow, and North, had translated their Chinese names directly. Some of the names, like Silence Hill, were ciphers. There was a Soddy, a Sanlee, a Ker. A few were unfortunate: a very small boy named Pen, a very pretty girl named

Coconut. One boy called himself Daisy. This name dismayed the dean of the English department, a handsome man with sleek black hair who often had a mournful air. He seemed particularly sad when he called me into his office to talk about Daisy. ‘That’s a girl’s name, isn’t it?’, the dean said. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Except now in America even girls don’t like that name.’ ‘I remember it from The Great Gatsby,’ the dean said, smiling sadly. ‘Last year that student had a boy’s name. He changed it over the summer. I don’t know why.’ I didn’t know why, either – I never talked with Daisy about it. He wasn’t very approachable, and all I ever learned about him was that his lifelong goal of becoming a soldier had been crushed when the People’s Liberation Army turned him down because of

his bad eyesight. Every day, he wore a full camouflage uniform to class. Whether it was consolation or a form of self-punishment, I never knew, and I didn’t care. I simply liked having a tall camouflaged boy named Daisy sitting in the back of my class, and I never would have asked him to change either his name or his uniform. I didn’t tell that to the dean, of course. I taught two classes, each of which had about 45 students packed into a small room. Maintaining the facility was their responsibility. They washed the blackboards between classes, and twice a week they cleaned the floor and the windows. They swept the campus with brooms. In the dormitory, they slept six to eight per room, and they cleaned those buildings too. If the cleaning wasn’t adequate, students were fined. They were also fined for failing examinations, for skipping class, and for not showing up at the mandatory mass exercises every morning at 6.30am. Over time, I realised that Lazy’s name actually represented an ambition – like all of my students, he

worked constantly, because he couldn’t afford to do anything else. Being lazy was nothing but a dream. Once, they asked me about my life at Oxford, and I mentioned the scouts who cleaned dormitory rooms. The class became very quiet, and students gazed wistfully out the window; and after that I didn’t talk about the scouts anymore. I never told them about the Oxford balls, or the nice little pub in Mansfield, or how students dressed in gowns and were served by staff in the dining hall. Most of my Chinese students came from poor rural homes, and usually they were the first members of their families to become educated. Many had illiterate parents; often their grandmothers had bound feet. My students tended to be shy and self-effacing, and they often seemed very young; it was easy to laugh at their strange English names. But I knew that I would never fully grasp what an achievement it was for them to have made it to college. Sometimes I caught a glimpse in a student’s essay:

‘In real life, I think my father is a hero. Once he told us his past… My grandparents made a lot of property through hard work, but when the collective labour began, the property of my family were all destroyed by the “revolution group”. They said all things belonged to the public, then they took some good things away. My grandma wanted to stop them, but failed. They hanged up and beat her and refused to give her something to eat. Later she died from starving, then they forced my father to weed in water field in winter. My father didn’t complain, just worked hard.’

I hadn’t worked as hard as I should have at Mansfield. I studied English Language and Literature, and while I loved the subject, I wasn’t sure where it would take me. I felt even less certain about literary criticism, because most academic language seemed so stilted and obtuse. I had the vague idea that I wanted to become a writer, and I worried about criticism corrupting my voice, and so I avoided the stuff like the plague. For two years at Oxford I read virtually nothing but primary texts. I was surprised by the things that I liked. Before Mansfield, I had completed a literature degree in the United States, where much of the academy had turned against the classics, but Oxford’s course remained deeply traditional. The most modern author I read was Dickens; I spent a wonderful term studying Spenser and The Faerie Queene. The Breton Lays, Gawain and the Green Knight – I never would have read these books elsewhere. Gawain impressed me deeply; the plot had been designed so cunningly that it wasn’t until the end that you realised how the hero had been trapped. And many of the Middle English works retained such emotional power. At Mansfield, my tutor was Lucinda Rumsey, and one day in class she described how a famous Oxford don gave a Chaucer lecture every year. He was careful not to quote certain lines until the very end, because afterwards – inevitably, helplessly – he found himself weeping. At first it seemed ridiculous that we had to learn how to translate works like Gawain and The Breton Lays. I decided that I would ignore that part of the curriculum, the same way that I ignored literary theory, but soon I was deep into Middle English despite myself. Something about the sound of the language appealed to me, all the alliteration and weird words – ‘Wel gay watz this gome gered in grene’. One morning in class, Lucinda remarked that it seemed to come naturally, and I realised that in fact I had been working steadily – out of pleasure, not obligation. But I never returned to criticism. Not long before the final exams, Lucinda explained that whether I liked it or not I would have to write at least one examination essay about literary theory, and she suggested that emergency measures were in order. And so I went to Blackwell’s and bought a book about Klingon, the Star Trek language. And that was how I survived in the Examination Schools: I translated Gawain, and I commented on

Shakespeare, and I wrote an essay on how linguists had created Klingon. On my way home from England, I took a long trip to the East and passed through China. It was 1994, and China still wasn’t prominent in the Western consciousness; I had never had the slightest interest in the country. But from the moment I arrived in Beijing, I felt an energy that I had never experienced anywhere else. After returning home, I applied to join the Peace Corps in China, and eventually I was sent to Fuling. In addition to my teaching, I studied Chinese on my own. There was something desperate about this endeavour – in a city of 200,000 people, there was only one other native English speaker, and I feared that I would go insane if I didn’t learn the local language. I hired tutors; I listened to tapes; I copied thousands of characters over and over. I studied flashcards so fervently that I saw them in my dreams.

I wandered through town and talked to everybody I met, and I read the local newspaper at a tortuous pace. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was building a foundation for my career as a journalist – in the end, I learned good Chinese and stayed on in the country for more than a decade, writing three books and many articles for magazines. When I look back, it all makes sense, and there’s a straight line that runs from the weird language of Gawain to the even weirder language of Mandarin. ‘Wel gay watz this gome gered in grene’. Lucinda tells me that there is still a book about Klingon in the Mansfield College library. * * * In Fuling, I had taught American and English Literature. Our textbook began with Beowulf; we read a summary of the story, and then I asked my students to write something from the perspective of Grendel, the monster. Most of the

petit-bourgeois capitalist who made his fortune by acquiring stock in a theatre company.

The author on a river boat above the Three Gorges Dam.

boys wrote about what it was like to eat people, while the girls wrote about how cold and dark the moor was, and how monsters have feelings too. A student named Grace wrote:

The warriors said I am a monster, I can’t agree with them, but on the contrary I think the warriors and the king are indeed monsters. You see, they eat delicios foods and drinking every day. Where the foods and drinking come from? They must deprive these things from peasants.’

It was common to hear such interpretations. I suppose it was Marxist criticism, although in Fuling it wasn’t strictly academic – Grace, after all, was the daughter of peasants, and our college was controlled by the Communist Party. When we studied Shakespeare, a number of students wrote essays about how Hamlet was a great character because he cared deeply about the Danish peasantry and supported the Revolution. My reaction was mixed: I was glad to see them engaged with the text, but I was less enthusiastic about Shakespeare’s becoming a Party propagandist. In response, I argued that Hamlet was a great character not because he cared deeply about the peasantry, but because he cared deeply and eloquently about himself. And I made their heads spin when I pointed out that Shakespeare had been a

But after a while we seemed to rise above the politics. The foreign nature of the subject matter made it easier to skirt the Party line, and from my perspective it also brought a freshness to the classics. Nobody groaned when I assigned Gawain; nobody rolled her eyes at even the most well-worked sonnet. They had wonderful patience with poetry, probably because it’s the strongest genre of the Chinese literary tradition. In class, we studied Shakespeare’s 18th sonnet slowly, from the first line (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’) to the last (‘So long lives this, and this gives life to thee’). After all the new vocabulary had been defined, I asked them to describe what they saw in the poem – Shakespeare’s love through Chinese eyes: ‘Her skin is as white as snow and as smooth as ice. Her long hair is like waterfall… Her fingers are so slender that scallions can’t compare with them.’ ‘She is slim, with long black hair. Her brows are like two leaves of willow. Her lips seem very active. Her skin is white and soft, like cooked fat.’ ‘Her waist is soft as watergrass and her fingers are slim as the root of onion.’ There tended to be a lot of food in their poetry – these were young people who had known hunger. That first semester, they didn’t want to leave Shakespeare, and neither did I. After the class performed Hamlet, they begged to do another play, so I assigned Romeo and Juliet. They prepared scenes in small groups, and one day in class I noticed that Silence Hill was standing apart from the others. He came from a particularly poor village, and he was very quiet – that was the inspiration for his name. He was staring intently at two of Juliet’s lines: ‘My only love, sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!’ ‘Do you understand what that means?’ I asked, thinking he had a question. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I think it’s very beautiful.’ I looked at the lines again. ‘I think you’re right,’ I said.

Summer Garden Party Accomplished entertainment, memorable feasting and a celebration of the College’s past, present and future were all relished at June’s Garden Party. We barely noticed the rain. Abi McHugh de Clare (Philosophy and Theology, 1997) joined in the fun. Mansfield’s Summer Garden Party went with a swing this year, despite the traditional English summer weather of showers and blustery breezes, which required participants to seek a little shelter now and again under umbrellas during the course of the afternoon’s festivities. Despite the seasonal weather, spirits were far from dampened and the quad became a veritable hub of entertainment for the whole afternoon, offering College members, visitors, alumni, staff and their families croquet, children’s activities as well as face-painting, a delicious barbecue and a banquet of salads to enjoy. The assembly was serenaded by the spectacular jazz-funk sounds of Oxford student band Dot’s Funk Odyssey (including three Mansfield students in their number!), ably supported by students Abi Rose and Alex Chalk. The College Chapel offered a little light erudition for those who were in the mood, with an array of informative exhibitions focusing on Mansfield’s past, present and future. These included submissions from

the 1887 Society Student Photographic Competition, a display previewing images from the 125th Anniversary book (which has since been published) and finally an exhibition entitled Transforming Mansfield, which focused on the many exciting architectural plans intended to pave the way for our College’s future. Participants could also enjoy a spot of shopping by choosing from a selection of College souvenirs and memorabilia, including Mansfield’s very own port. After an afternoon of fun and frolics on the quad, everyone was uplifted by a rousing speech from the Principal, Baroness Helena Kennedy, during which she reviewed her first very full year at Mansfield as its new Principal, before everyone proceeded to troop inside to Hall to enjoy yet another feast in the form of an afternoon tea fit for a king. Suffice to say, all 2012 garden party attendees went home tired and very happy (and not just the children!) after a superlative afternoon of non-stop entertainment and celebrations. Here’s to counting down to the next one…

alumni news

WORK

Births

In February 2012, James Dray (M Phil Political Theory, 2005) was awarded the leading Political Studies Association’s Arthur McDougall Prize for Best Dissertation in Elections, Electoral Systems or Representation. The judges’ feedback described James’ work as ‘superb… ambitious and wideranging’, exhibiting ‘sophistication and thoroughness’, and coming to ‘intriguing conclusions’.

Laura Baggaley (English, 1996) and her husband Michael Caines had a second daughter in May 2012, a little girl called Freya to join Mina, now three.

Rebecca Lowe (Theology, 1994) is currently self-employed as a freelance features writer and editor, as well as being a mother, and has recently been putting her degree to good use writing for Christian publishing organisation CWR’s ‘Inspiring Women Every Day’ series. Rebecca’s studies are available at www.cwr.org.uk, with a further series of studies planned for release in September 2014. Rebecca invites any alumni who remember her to get in touch at swanmedia@ntlworld.com!

Navita Rathod (Human Sciences, 1999) and her husband Alkesh had a baby boy, Abhi, in January 2012.

Rik Tozzi (PPE, 1986), currently employed by Burr Forman LLP, ranked both as one of the highly regarded Chambers USA’s ‘leading practitioners’ of 2012, for his work in the field of Commercial Litigation, and also as a 2012 ‘Alabama Super Lawyer’ in the practice area of Consumer Law.

Yang-Wahn Hew (History, 1997) and Charmaine Lee are delighted to announce the arrival of their daughter Elise Catherine Wing Yi Hew, on March 18th 2012.

Obituary Rev Barrie Downing Scopes died peacefully in the Wisdom Hospice in Rochester on Monday, 29th October 2012. A Service of Thanksgiving was held in St Stephen’s Church, Chatham, on Saturday, 5th January. Do you have news you’d like to share with the alumni? Help us build this section in the future - get in touch and tell us what’s happening with you!

Mansfield Association

A Special Place Daniel Seiderer (MBA, 2007) President of the Mansfield Association I still fondly remember my days at Mansfield. And I’m sure I’m not the only one with happy memories. I recently returned to Oxford and enjoyed a dinner in Hall. This meal was also attended by alumni who had been at Mansfield long before me. Their stories were hilarious. I especially liked the ones about John Marsh, a former Principal, and his bulldog. But it’s not only such tales that make Mansfield special. It’s also the College’s history of dissent and its commitment to inclusiveness. These are values that remain of great importance to the College, ensuring that Mansfield will stay the special place it is. No doubt future students will have many more fantastic stories to tell. As President of the alumni association,

I’m interested in your stories and your personal reasons for thinking of Mansfield College as a special place. Please do get in touch if you would like to share your reminiscences (president@ mansfieldassociation.org.uk or via the College). I look forward to hearing many other interesting stories at future alumni get-togethers. There are already several events scheduled for 2013, organised by Mansfield’s alumni office. But I do hope that – with your help – we can enjoy many more events and activities: opportunities to share our memories of the College. If you are interested in organising any sort of get-together for Mansfield alumni – be it with a geographical focus (why not in Manchester or Munich?), or relating to a special interest (wine, for instance, or

sport, or any other activity) – please get in touch with me or the College’s alumni office. We shall then try to help you as much as we can to ensure that your event will be successful. Also, if you have an idea for making the Mansfield experience even more worthwhile for current students – by offering internships, perhaps, or mentoring or career coaching – please don’t hesitate to contact me or the alumni office. We all want to ensure that today’s students benefit as much as possible from their time at this special place. I look forward to hearing from you and do hope to see you at one of the alumni events or activities in 2013.

Mansfield Association AGM and Dinner Donald W Norwood (Theology, 1959) Acting Secretary The AGM and the dinner that followed achieved their objectives. We added lively members to the Committee, Bob Skelly and Mike Walton; made Student of the Year Awards to Aled Davies and Daniel Rey; and agreed to fund audiovisual equipment to help the College publicise events. Guest speaker, John Creaser, our first homegrown English don, recalled with affection his days at Mansfield. John Marsh was then the Principal; he made all the appointments but chose well, including John Creaser’s great teachers Stephen Wall and Malcolm Parkes. It was moving to hear John, who is not a churchman, speak so highly of the College’s ecumenical ethos, not least in its welcome to Lutheran refugees from Eastern Europe. Their presence as older men also made the College a more mature place. John himself had had a career in journalism before coming to Mansfield to learn how to write! Afterwards, our hostess, Principal Baroness Kennedy, reported on her first year at Mansfield and outlined plans for the future.

In introducing John, I recalled John Marsh’s conviction that those preparing for ministry should be trained alongside ‘normal’ people. John Creaser vindicated this vision to the full.

Student of the Year Award recipients Aled Davies (left) and Daniel Rey

Fellows’ Research and Publications Mansfield has an enviable reputation as a centre for research. Here, some of our Fellows give details of their recent work. Ros Ballaster

Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies and Tutorial Fellow in English Ros took sabbatical in Trinity and Michaelmas terms 2012 to progress her research into a monograph provisionally entitled ‘The Arts of Anticipation: Novel and Theatre in Georgian London’. Recent Publications ‘Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, Feminist Studies: Designing and Delivering a Course in Gender at Postgraduate Level’, in Teaching Gender (Teaching the New English), ed. by Alice Ferrebe and Fiona Tolan (Palgrave, 2012). ‘Taking Liberties: Revisiting Behn’s Libertinism’, in Women’s Writing, 19, no.2

(2012).

David Leopold

Tutorial Fellow in Politics

David has pursued his research interests in the history of political thought. Recent Publications ‘Socialist Turnips: The Young Friedrich Engels and the Feasibility of Communism’, in Political Theory, 40/3 (2012). ‘A Solitary Life’, in Max Stirner, ed. by Saul Newman (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). ‘A Cautious Embrace: (Left) Liberalism and Utopia’ in Liberalism as Ideology, ed. by Ben Jackson and Marc Stears (Oxford University Press, 2012). ‘The Utopian Organization of Work in Icaria’, in Utopian Moments: Reading Utopian Texts, ed. by Miguel A. Ramiro Avilés and J.C. Davis (Bloomsbury Academic, 2012). ‘Education and Utopia: Robert Owen and Charles Fourier’, in Oxford Review of Education, 37/5 (2011).

Pam Berry

Stephen Blundell

Pam has continued her research on the impacts of climate change on species and habitats. Her work on biodiversity and ecosystem services includes a new project on examining the effectiveness of different arguments for biodiversity conservation. Recent Publications ‘Habitat Sensitivity to Climate Change’, in Natura 2000 and Climate Change – a Challenge, ed. by G. Ellwanger, A. Ssymank and C. Paulsch (Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt, Heft 118, Bonn, Germany, 2012). ‘Understanding the Implications of Climate Change for Woodland Biodiversity and Community Functioning’ (with Y. Onishi and J. Paterson). Report to the Forestry Commission (UK) (2012). ‘Climate Change Modelling of English Amphibians and Reptiles’ (with R.W. Dunford). Report to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (2012).

Stephen’s Magnetism: A Very Short Introduction was published by OUP in 2012, part of Oxford University Press’s successful Very Short Introduction series, and is a non-technical account of the history and ideas behind magnetic phenomena in science, technology and the natural world. In the past year, Stephen has also published various research papers in scientific journals such as Dalton Transactions, New Phytologist, Physical Review and Physical Review Letters. Highlights of Stephen’s research have included a new method to chemically engineer molecular quantum bits, and an investigation of the stray magnetic field arising from magnetic monopoles in a material called spin ice.

James Marrow

Joel Rasmussen

Supernumerary Fellow in Geography

Professorial Fellow in Physics

Professorial Fellow in Materials Science Tutorial Fellow in Philosophical Theology and Modern Religious History James has been establishing research to study deformation and damage mechanisms in energy material in three dimensions by X-ray tomography. He has obtained additional funding from EdF Energy to work on damage in nuclear graphites. Recent Publications ‘Quantitative In Situ Study of Short Crack Propagation in Polygranular Graphite by Digital Image Correlation’ (with M. Mostavi), in Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, 35 (8) (2012). ‘Effects of Orientation, Stress and Exposure Time on Short Intergranular Stress Corrosion Crack Behaviour in Sensitised Type 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel’ (with S. Rahimi), in Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, 35 (4) (2012).

In addition to publishing the articles listed below, Joel has continued his translating and editing work with Kierkegaard’s Journals and Notebooks (Princeton University Press). Recent Publications ‘Paul Ricoeur on Kierkegaard, the Limits of Philosophy, and the Consolation of Hope’, in Kierkegaard’s Influence on Philosophy – Francophone Philosophy, vol. 11, tome II of Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, ed. by Jon Stewart (Ashgate, 2012). ‘Bunyan and America’, in The Oxford Handbook to John Bunyan, ed. by Michael Davies (forthcoming from Oxford University Press, 2013).

Squeezing Light into Small Spaces A Sabbatical Year

Jason Smith, HP Tutorial Fellow in Materials Science, throws light upon his recent ground-breaking research into trapping photons in microcavities. blue is low intensity, and deep Modern Materials Science red is high intensity as shown in is a very diverse subject. My the scale bar on the right. The own research interests, for picture is actually a slice of a instance, are in nanomaterials three-dimensional distribution, and and their interactions with light. the most intense region in yellow Controlling this interaction and red is in fact a disc that we’re can lead to advances both in observing edge-on. Its physical our understanding of basic volume is only about 10-14cm3, physics and in a wide range of technologies, from solar cells about a hundred million times to display screens, and even smaller than a grain of sand, or a advanced forms of computing. hundred times smaller than a red One of the topics on which my blood cell. Because the photon’s research group and I have been total energy is fixed, this small working in recent years is to volume means the energy density develop a way to is high, and ‘We’re the first in the trap particles of the photon light (photons) in world to be able to makeinteracts the tiniest volume more strongly of space we can, these cavities so small, with any using so-called atoms, ‘microcavities’. To and the basic capability molecules, understand how or materials has far-reaching this works, think that are of light reflecting placed in the potential for use.’ back and forth in microcavity. the space between two opposing mirrors, but where the mirrors are We’re the first in the world to be less than one millionth of a metre able to make these cavities so apart. We’ve made some great small, and the basic capability progress with this, and the main has far-reaching potential for use. focus of my sabbatical year has With new research grants from been to take stock of the new the Royal Society, the Leverhulme capabilities, tell the world about Trust, the James Martin School, them in conferences and journals, and Samsung, my group and I will and kick-start some new projects be taking this research forwards in that will show off what we can do the coming years to build ultra(in a useful way, we hope!). sensitive devices for detecting chemicals such as pathogens, The figure shows a picture of pollutants and explosives, to a photon trapped in one of investigate how nature transports our microcavities. Speaking energy during photosynthesis, and more technically, it shows as a to develop new laser materials that computer-generated simulation can be printed cheaply for displays of its intensity distribution. Dark and telecommunications.

book review

Liberalism as Ideology Essays in Honour of Michael Freeden

Paul Lodge, Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy, reviews a recently published collection of essays dedicated to Professor Freeden (Fellow in Politics, 1978-2011).

The past year has seen the publication of Liberalism as Ideology: Essays in Honour of Michael Freeden by Oxford University Press. This volume of papers was edited by two of Michael’s former graduate students: Ben Jackson (whom some may remember as one-time Director of the Visiting Student Programme) and Marc Stears, both of whom are Fellows of University College. It collects together 13 original essays, many based on presentations given at a conference organised on the occasion of Michael’s retirement, to celebrate his contribution to scholarship and the influence that he has had on the academic lives of others. As the editors note in their introduction, the volume is, however, ‘more than a thank you’. Through their engagement with various themes from Michael’s work, the papers constitute an important body of new scholarship in their own right. The volume is divided into two parts, each of which is centred on the two areas with which Michael is most associated today. Part I, ‘Liberal Languages’, deals with topics in the history of liberalism, and Part 2, ‘Ideologies and Political Theory’, is concerned with the methodology that should be employed in political theory, especially the study of ideologies. The volume finishes with an original essay by Michael himself in which he discusses the ways in which the views expressed by the contributors intersect with his current thinking. It is impossible in a notice such as this to cover the entire contents of the book, so I will focus on six contributions that may be of particular interest to readers who studied Politics as undergraduates at Mansfield. A central component of Michael’s approach to teaching political theory in recent years has been his desire to encourage students

to think about the scope and limits of political philosophy and its relationship to theorising about ideology and actual political life. These issues are the focus of chapters 8 and 9, which arise from one of the liveliest debates that arose in the context of the conference at which the earliest versions of the papers were presented. In ‘Political Ideology and Political Theory: Reflections on an Awkward Partnership’, Andrew Vincent, from the University of Sheffield, considers a number of different ways of conceiving of the relationship between political philosophy and ideology. He argues that each of these is of significant value, employing different skills, and that they should live side by side. In ‘Ideology, Political Philosophy, and the Interpretive Enterprise: A View from the Other Side’, Gerald Gaus, from the University of Arizona, is more sceptical of the value of the former, and presents a vigorous defence of political philosophy based in part on a consideration of Michael’s evaluation of the work of John Rawls. The last two chapters – ‘In Defence of Political Understanding’ by Michael Kenny of Queen Mary, London and ‘Getting “Real” About Political Ideas: Conceptual Morphology and the Realist Critique of Anglo-American Political Philosophy’ by Matthew Humphrey of the University of Nottingham – offer us a window into some of the most recent of Michael’s writings in which he is concerned with the relationship between ideologies and real politics. They do this by comparing Michael’s work with others who have looked at the relationship between the two – Bernard Crick, in the case of Kenny, and Raymond Geuss and other ‘political realists’ in the case of Humphrey. Here the reader is given a clear sense of the intricacies of Michael’s positions, and is left anticipating the fruits to come as he continues to work on what he has elsewhere called ‘the specifically political features of political thinking’.

‘Through their engagement with various themes from Michael’s work, the papers constitute an important body of new scholarship in their own right.’

Stop Press! We are delighted to report that Professor Michael Freeden has been awarded the 2012 Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies.

Two more contributions may be of particular interest to readers of this magazine. The first is the preface ‘Return of the Native’ in which former Mansfield Principal (1996-2002), David Marquand, offers us a biography and personal reflections, which provide fascinating insights into the person behind the Oxford don. The second is the first of the academic papers in the volume, ‘A Cautious Embrace: Reflections on (Left) Liberalism and Utopia’, written by Mansfield alumnus and Michael’s successor as Tutorial Fellow in Politics, David Leopold. Although David worked as a graduate student with notable political philosopher, Jerry Cohen, he begins his article by remembering (in ways that will surely resonate with other Mansfield PPE – and more latterly History and Politics – undergraduates) the crucial role that Michael played in his earliest development as a student of Politics. From here, David goes on to consider the intersection between liberalism and one of the focuses of his own research, utopias. Through a comparison of J.A. Hobson and John Rawls, David raises the question of the extent to which ideal theorising in political philosophy should be constrained by real-world empirical considerations. Taken as a whole, the contributions to this volume pay one of the greatest compliments that an academic can receive: the offering of a serious critical engagement with the whole range of one’s work. For many scholars the worst fate is to go unnoticed by their peers, and it is clear for all to see that this is not the destiny that has befallen one of Mansfield’s greatest treasures.

The award is given by the Political Studies Association, and was presented to Michael by the journalist and author Simon Jenkins at a glittering awards ceremony, held at Church House in Westminster, in front of an impressive array of senior academics, politicians, journalists, and other policy makers. The award was in recognition of Michael’s many professional achievements: his historical and conceptual work on the nature of liberalism; his methodological and other innovations in the emerging academic study of ideologies; and his great leadership and energy in opening up new institutional spaces (including the Journal of Political Ideologies), for scholarly interest in the study of ideology to develop and flourish. Mansfield now has the rare honour of being home to two winners of this award, since Professor David Marquand was the honorand in 2001.

Liberalism as Ideology: Essays in Honour of Michael Freeden Edited by Ben Jackson & Marc Stears (Oxford University Press)

2012 Examination Results DOCTORATE (DPhil) Clinical Medicine Pass Linda Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Flaherty Geography & the Environment Pass Michelle Buckley Daniel Choi Rajiv Sharma Law Pass

Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Degrees MPhil Politics Dist Diana Koester Pass Michael Enright MSc Applied Statistics Pass Anthony Tsoi MSc Computer Science Pass Kamal Wood

Carlos Marquez

Obstetrics & Gynaecology Pass Rebecca Dragovic

MSc Environmental Change & Management Pass Frances Matthews

Politics Pass Alexander Hamilton

MSc Integrated Immunology Pass Riddhima Banga MSc Mathematical & Computational Finance Dist Di Huang MSc Nature, Society & Environmental Policy Dist Colette Wojewodka MSc Social Science of the Internet Pass Amy Longdon MSt in English Dist Elizabeth Syrkin Pass Rhiannon Jones Stefanie Rudig MSt in English & American Studies Dist Lucy Fielder MSt in Medieval History Pass Peter Gibaut MSt in Medieval Studies Dist Thomas Hoctor Pass Jennifer Atwood MSt in Modern British & European History Pass Thomas Leece

MBA Pass

Rafael Araujo Tane Dunlop David Jennison Joseph Leverich Ines Ribeiro Correia Marquez Enrique Sanhueza Zamora Mark Smith Pearl Yeung

BCL Dist Pass

Karl Laird Jean Frederic Menard Cameron Sim Julia Petrenko Sushant

Master of Engineering (MEng) Engineering Science Class 2.ii Sineth Weerasinghe Simon Williamson Class III Runze Liu Materials Science Class I Helene Jones Class 2.i Daniel Camp Ryutaro Hiratsuka Alasdair Morrison Master of Mathematics Class I Charlotte Hindley Class 2.i Matthew Williams MMaths Parts A & B Class I Shaan Dalwadi Sean Moorhead Andrew Parker MMaths & Statistics Parts A & B Class 2.i Ho-Joon Kim Master of Physics (MPhys) Class I Jonasz Slomka Class 2.ii Raquel Velasco

BACHELOR OF ARTS (BA) English Language & Literature Class I Joshua Gaskell Andrew McCormack Victoria Pearce Class 2.i Laura Butterfield Emily Feltham Sarah Hourahane Bethany Whalley

Philosophy & Theology Class 2.i Jennifer Goodchild Theology Class I Andrew Grey Class 2.i Lucy Muluzi Daniel Rey

UNCLASSIFIED HONOURS

Geography Class I Chris Goodman Matthew Irani Matthew Jones Christopher Major John Morrison William Rigg Class 2.i Christopher Fairweather Frederick Overton Anna Watkins

Engineering Science/EEM Part B Pass Shabbir Khan Christian Proctor James Smith Claire Ward Materials Science/ MEM Part I Pass Alexander Ford Mark Holdstock Anna Ploszajski

History Class I Ashish Ravinran Andrew Seaton William Tullett Class 2.i Benjamin Ball Urmilla Nakkeeran Alec Selwyn

Mathematics Part A Pass Adrian David Lauren McFadyen Robert McPherson Fiona Murphy Robert Peck Physics Part A Pass Kristiyan Ivanov Daniel Keeling David MacDougal Samuel Nemzer

History & English Class 2.i Emily Russell History & Politics Class 2.i Rachel Freeman Andrew Rhodes Human Sciences Class 2.i Maia Muir Wood Class 2.ii Richard Batty Jurisprudence Class 2.i Sarah Baker Daniel Hunter Alexandros Pantelakis Steven Robinson Amy Wilson Mathematics Class 2.i Mark Ellis Nathan Webster Oriental Studies Class 2.i Lorna Forrester PPE Class I Peter Connell Alisha Patel Class 2.i Alara Bitlis Emma Milner Matthew Mitchell Ian Pethick Vivek Sharma Isabella Watson Physics Class 2.i Lucy Hutchinson Class 2.ii Jonathan Lipscombe

Geography Dist Natalie Muldoon Daniel Tarry Pass Selina Denton Charlotte Eynon James Fisher Grace Garside Kathryn Isaac Thomas Sowerby History Dist Samuel Tarran Pass Enrica Biasi James Burnett Celia McLuskie Joseph Morris History & English Pass Rachel Dishington History & Politics Pass Bethany Collett Timothy Smith Human Sciences Dist Rachel Cain Pass Priyanaz Chatterji Amy Smith

HONOUR MODERATIONS

Materials Science Dist Ina Sorensen Pass Matthew Bradbury Katherine Lumley Yida Zhao

Mathematics Class I Lothar Krapp Guo-Liang Ma Class 2 Reuben Adams Andrew Allan Thomas Clarke Bianca Iordache

PPE Pass

MODERATIONS English Dist Pass

Charles Roe Rachel Brook Amy Dutton Jan Greenshaw Rebecca Loxton Abigail Rose Bethany White

Jurisprudence Dist Sean Tan Pass Temisan Boyo Harinder Dhesi Natasha Halligan Deborah Lo

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS

Harriet Ainscough Nico Burns Shahenda Darwich Rachel Milton Priya Shah Charlotte Warne

Philosophy & Theology Pass Alexander Chalk Adam Sewell Physics Dist Chun Hei Alex Li Oliver Sheridan-Methven Leong Khim Wong Pass Thomas Jollans Franziska Kirschner Calin Mocanu Theology Dist Joseph de Quay Sophie Giles Pass Aidan Hampton

Engineering Dist Harry Mason Pass Alexander Brant Nicholas Hooton Benjamin Janoff Daniel Orford

2012 College and University Prizes Scholarships Matthew Bradbury (MEM) Rachel Cain (Human Sciences) Alex Ford (Materials Science) Lothar Krapp (Mathematics) Chun Hei Alex Li (Physics) Guo-Liang Ma (Mathematics) Harry Mason (Engineering Science) Robert McPherson (Mathematics) Natalie Muldoon (Geography) Charles Roe (English) Oliver Sheridan-Methven (Physics) Ina Sorensen (Materials Science) Samuel Tarran (History) Daniel Tarry (Geography) Leong Wong (Physics)

Exhibitions Andrew Allan (Mathematics) Charlotte Eynon (Geography) Benjamin Janoff (Engineering Science) Thomas Jollans (Physics) Celia McLuskie (History) Calin Mocanu (Physics) Amy Smith (Human Sciences) Thomas Sowerby (Geography) Sophie Willson (History) Yida Zhao (Materials Science)

College Prizes

Worsley Prize for Law Alexandros Pantelakis Horton Davies Prize for Theology Joanna Williams Mason Lowance Prize for best performance in English Finals Joshua Gaskell Mason Lowance Prize for best Second-Year English essay Emma Wilson-Black Mason Lowance Prize for best English Mods performance Charles Roe Mahony Prize for History Sophie Wilson Sarah & Peter Harkness Prize Harry Mason (Engineering Science) Sarah & Peter Harkness Bursary Enrica Bisai (History) Science Prize Anna Ploszajski (Materials Science) Ina Sorensen (Materials Science) Professor John Sykes Prize Anna Ploszajski (Materials Science) College Essay Prize Ashish Ravinran Visiting Student Prize for 2011-12 Myles Bolduc

University prizes Gibbs Prize for the best FHS Geography performance Matthew Jones Gibbs Prize, third prize for FHS Geography Christopher Major A.J. Herbertson first prize for best Human Geography dissertation Christopher Major A.J. Herbertson runner-up prize for best Human Geography dissertation Chris Goodman Social & Cultural Geography Research Group Dissertation Prize Chris Goodman Gladstone Prize for best History thesis in recent economic or political history Ashish Ravinran Gibbs Prize for best use of experimental apparatus in MPhys project Jonasz Slomka Law Faculty Prize in Comparative Public Law Karl Laird (BCL) Armourers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Rolls Royce Prize for outstanding results in Materials Science Prelims Ina Sorensen Prize for best third-year Materials Science Team Design project Mark Holdstock and Alex Ford BP Prize for best Chemical Engineering Part I project Christian Proctor

Events Calendar 2013

Events held at College unless otherwise specified

JANUARY

MAY

Thursday 17th Wine-Tasting with Tony Lemon The Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HD An opportunity for Geographers to reacquaint themselves with Emeritus Fellow Tony Lemon and with the contents of College Cellar; unfortunately all spaces are already filled!

Annual Hands Lecture – Examination Schools Date and speaker TBC, but the Hands Lecture for 2013 will be given in early May at the Examination Schools.

Thursday 24th Adam von Trott Society Annual Lecture and Dinner This year’s Lecture will be given by Philippe Sands QC, on ‘The Origin of International Crime, a Personal History’.

FEBRUARY Saturday 2nd Mansfield College Ball – Atlantis: Mysteries of the Deep Please visit www.mansfieldball.com for more information and booking. Alumni group discounts are available! Friday 22nd Inaugural Lecture for the new John Milton Fellowship in Political Theory To be given by alumnus, former Chaplain and Emeritus Fellow, Charles Brock, whose generosity has endowed the John Milton Fellowship.

APRIL Saturday 6th Annual New York Reception Venue TBC. Friday 19th Old Boys’ Cricket Match vs the M&Ms First XI Please note this date is provisional and that this event is dependent upon sufficient prior interest being expressed. Please get in touch with the Development Office as early as possible if you would be interested in taking part. Saturday 20th Students’ Law Moot and Law Society Dinner With the generous assistance of some of our distinguished Law alumni, our current students are arranging a ‘moot’, which will be followed by a reception and dinner for our alumni who studied Law, or who have gone into the Law professionally. Friday 26th-Sunday 28th Oxford University European Reunion – Madrid Please visit www.alumniweekend.ox.ac.uk for programme and booking. If there is a sufficient Mansfield presence we will organise and host a dinner somewhere in Madrid on Friday April 26th, so please let us know if you plan to attend.

Saturday 4th The 1887 Society Annual Dinner The annual dinner of the Society of current and former Mansfield Geographers. Saturday 25th MCBC Eights Week Dinner Come and join us for the climactic Saturday of Eights Week and join us afterward for dinner and speeches from this year’s MCBC captains.

JUNE London Drinks Date and venue TBC. Saturday 22nd Commemoration Service, Garden Party and Mansfield Association Dinner Our annual event to celebrate the end of another academic year at Mansfield, open to all students past and present, College staff, SCR members and all family and friends of the College.

SEPTEMBER Friday 20th-Sunday 22nd Oxford Alumni Weekend – Oxford Please visit www.alumniweekend.ox.ac.uk for programme and booking. In 2013 we aim to rectify the recent lack of a Mansfield-orientated contribution to the University’s annual Alumni Weekend: further information and invitations will be sent out in due course.

OCTOBER Retirement Dinner for Janet Dyson and Antoni Chawluk In 2013 we will bid farewell to two of our longest-serving Fellows, and we will be delighted to welcome past and current students of Janet and Antoni to join us in thanking them for their years of service to the College and its students. Date TBC.

November Thursday 7th Adam Von Trott Memorial Appeal Seminar Rhodes House

DECEMBER London Drinks Date and venue TBC.

Dates of Term for 2013

Mansfield Lecture Series for 2013

Hilary: January 13th to March 9th Trinity: April 21st to June 15th Michaelmas: October 13th to December 7th

As well as all these exciting events, please don’t forget our regular lecture series, 5pm every Friday during Hilary and Michaelmas terms. Please visit our website or contact the Alumni and Development Office for information on speakers. See page 39 for details.

Our events calendar is always subject to additions, which we will keep you informed about via e-Newsletter and on our website. For further information on any of these events, or to book a place, please contact Bob Trafford at alumni.officer@ mansfield.ox.ac.uk, or by telephone on 0044 (0) 1865 270 998. We look forward to seeing you all in the coming year!