St Hilda's Happenings June 2020

View from St Hilda's Crane, taken in June 2020 by Head of Buildings and Projects, Neil Hyatt

St Hilda’s Happenings Trinity Term 2020

June 2020

Greetings from St Hilda’s in Lockdown We wish all College members well at the end of this virtual Trinity Term and hope that everyone enjoys the summer. Good luck to those taking exams, especially final year students, to whom we wish every future success. Come back soon and often! We are looking forward to seeing our new and returning students and staff again soon.

Meet our new JCR Executive Committee In this unusual Trinity Term, members of the JCR elected their committee members for academic year 2020-2021 via virtual hustings. With many thanks to the outgoing JCR Committee members, led by President 2019-2020, Georgina Findlay, we are delighted to welcome our new executive committee, who describe the virtual 'husts' and their future plans.

James Bromfield, President (PPE, 2019) “Virtual hustings were an odd experience, with the normal verbal feedback of a hustings replaced by silent nods and clapping emojis. However, the weekly husts have provided a nice structure to the term, and an opportunity to see other College members regularly! The elected committee is full of a wide range of talented individuals, who I hope will pull together to create a really successful year for the JCR and the College. There will be significant change when we return to St Hilda’s, with inevitable COVID-19 implications and the more exciting opening of the new buildings. The priority will be to ensure that the JCR manages these changes comfortably and that we are there to support all members of the JCR! Mainly we just can’t wait to get back and see everyone!”

Ellena Eley, Vice President (Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, 2019)

"Online husts were certainly a new experience and I considered

myself very lucky not to be in the first week. However, what remained the same was the high attendance and huge support from the JCR community. WiFi problems aside, it was incredible to see so many members of the community and definitely nerve wracking to have to read my laboured over but still terrible acrostic poem in front of what felt like the entirety of the JCR! Over the next academic year, I would like to work with the other members of the committee to help the students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the current students and the incoming Freshers who may be starting university in a very different environment to us. I am looking forward to doing my best to work with other members of the College to achieve their aims so that we can all work together to keep life at St Hilda's so brilliant."

Millie Drew, Secretary (English, 2019) "Whilst I missed the buzz and excitement that comes with participating in husts in the JCR, I thought the committee did a great job of replicating the experience virtually! I really looked forward to seeing everyone at the routine Zoom meetings on Sundays at 2pm!

Life at St Hilda’s has obviously been interrupted immeasurably due to the pandemic. On our return, crosscollege communication is going to be more important than ever. Keeping everyone in the loop will be essential to help them to make the most of their time at Hilda’s despite the difficult circumstances. I have no doubt that this year’s committee will do a fantastic job of facilitating these adjustments to College life, and will continue to be a great support for all, whether that’s for incoming students or those already studying and working at College."

Anna Barber, Treasurer (PPE, 2019) "I never would have imagined when I started at St Hilda's college that we would be doing our JCR husts virtually. As I began my speech, my microphone was playing up and, in the words of some of the people I spoke to afterwards, 'sounded like a robot crossed with a dalek' - definitely a very novel issue from the first virtual husts! That said, this year's committee worked really hard to make it work as best as possible and it was also a great way to bring the JCR together every week.

This coming academic year will be affected greatly by lockdown and the fallout from COVID-19. In my role as treasurer, I hope to support all the students in our community, especially those whose finances have been affected significantly, by promoting adequately our grants and support schemes, particularly the JCR support fund. I am also really excited to work with the rest of the committee to think of innovative ways to put on events if social distancing measures are in place. Finally, I hope to work with the rest of the executive and other members of the JCR on plans to redecorate the Old Law Library to make the space more widely used."

Life in Lockdown: Postcards from St Hilda’s While we’ve been experiencing Trinity Term 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Fellows, tutors, students, and staff have shared their experience of life in lockdown.

Read about the impact on their working, but also their wider lives, in these blog 'postcards'.

A Volunteer’s View from the Front Line by Biochemistry Student, J.P. Ay

St Hilda's Physicists' Online Short Options Party

Doing Oxford from my bedroom: A JCR Perspecive

by JCR President, Georgina Findlay

My Take Aways from Oxford by final-year student, Madeleine Davis Brown

Life on screen: A lockdown diary by Archivist, Oliver Mahoney

Finding our own ‘new normal’ by Fellow in Medieval French, Dr Helen Swift

St Hilda’s Hurrahs Lots has been happening in this Virtual Trinity Term

Congratulations to: Professor Catherine Schenk, who authored a chapter in the Bank for International Settlements' new publication to mark its 90th anniversary, Promoting Global Monetary and Financial Stability: The Bank for International Settlements after Bretton Woods, 1973– 2020, in April 2020.

Canon Brian Mountford and his team of chapel assistants, who have provided weekly virtual Reflective Prayer Services throughout Trinity Term. If you have missed these, or would like to watch again, you can find them on our YouTube channel.

Oboist, Ewan Millar (Music, 2019), on winning the Woodwind Category in BBC Music's Young Musician 2020.

Kamran Sharifi, winner of the 29th (and the first virtual) Rachel McLean award. The prize is awarded annually to a member of our College JCR who has 'improved College life and/or raised the profile of the College within the University.’

All winners of St Hilda’s 2020 Sports Awards:  College Sportsperson of the Year: Kamran Sharifi  University Sports Person of the Year: Fiona Kennedy  College Sports Team of the Year: Men’s football  Best sporting performance: Hilda’s Cross Country  Most improved sportsperson: Peter Marston  Sports officers’ choice: Emily Townsend  “Hilda's Spirit” Award: Jakob Cassens-Marshall.

Sports Officers, Ella Dunkerley and Henry Bushell, who organised the e-formal at which the awards were given.

First-year student, Beth Eames (Engineering Science, 2019), on being awarded a BP scholarship. The scholarship programme is available at eight universities, including Oxford, to students of subjects that are of strategic importance to BP. It focuses on supporting the education and development of undergraduates as they pursue their undergraduate degree as well as introducing them to the energy industry and the opportunities within it.

First-year History student and incoming JCR Arts Officer, Maggie Moriarty, on her involvement with some virtual theatre productions. Maggie and other members of 00Productions produced an online version of their planned Trinity Term production of the musical, The Last Five Years, with a cast of two. Maggie also played a party-going, glamorous Queen Richard in a virtual performance of Richard II that was put together across four countries and filmed over a three-week period.

Fran Woodcock, former student (Classics, 2004) and now our Alumnae Relations and Communications Manager, on receiving the Telegraph Lockdown Award for her fundraising efforts. Fran has been climbing Ben Nevis from her living room, while wearing various homemade costumes, to raise money for Shine Cancer Support, a national charity that supports people in their 20s, 30s and 40s with cancer.

Our Conference and Events Manager, Sarah Brett, who has supported the NHS by making scrubs for local hospitals. On hearing from a friend that NHS Staff were short of scrubs and PPE in general, she sourced fabric and patterns, and got started, along with a small group of women in the local area. Well done to Sarah and everyone who has worked with her on this!

Alumnus, Rupert Stuart-Smith (Geography, 2016) on being awarded the Alfred Steers Dissertation Prize by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). The Alfred Steers Dissertation prize is awarded to the best undergraduate dissertation in a UK geography department.

Alumna, Lamis Hamdi (Medicine, 2016), on winning the Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Award for Champion or Role Model. Many congratulations to Lamis, whose commitment to equality and diversity is inspiring.

Transforming our Site We are continuing to progress our building work and expect that the new buildings will be complete in autumn 2020.

Beard Construction's staff members are working where possible on our site and are following government guidance when doing so. Find out more about Beard's response to COVID-19.

You can see how the buildings are coming along with the latest photos of our riverside pavilion and tower.

COVID-19 research You can find out about the University of Oxford’s latest research and analysis into COVID19 on the University’s website. Oxford’s scientists are driving forward research, including development of a vaccine, drugs, antibody testing and contact tracing systems. In COVID Conversations, you can hear directly from them in a series of short talks on their work, along with a chance to ask them any questions you have about how COVID-19 research is progressing.

Professor Duncan Richards, Climax Professor of Clinical Therapeutic at St Hilda’s College, is chairing a joint committee of the Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust in the Medical Sciences Division. This committee focuses on strategic decision making and coordination of accelerated development of medical countermeasures against COVID-19. The Centre for Clinical Therapeutics’ plans for Trinity Term events were put on hold due to the pandemic. We hope to rearrange them later in the year. Find out more about the Centre for Clinical Therapeutics.

St Hilda’s Virtual Library

Though the physical space is closed, the College Library is ready to support students remotely. Visit the remote

resources webpage and do not hesitate to contact Dr Jill Dye and the Library team with any questions or queries. Continuing students do not need to return their books (all existing loans have been extended). We are making book return arrangements with finalists individually, depending on their circumstances.

We are very happy to introduce our new Assistant Librarian, who some of you may have met virtually already. Leanne Grainger joins us from Christ Church to cover Eleanor Kelly's secondment and work on moving from Heritage to SOLO!

Coming Up We have an exciting programme of virtual events planned for the Summer. Remember, you can still watch some of the Jacqueline du PrÊ Music Buildings’s performances for free by visiting their website and entering the code STHILDAS1.

2020 Garden Party and Reunions, 27 June 2.30pm - Lecture and live Q&A with Dr Luke Jew (Physics, 2009) Parallel Universes: the facts behind the fiction Luke is a cosmologist who uses cutting edge statistics to investigate low-frequency diffuse Galactic emission, a major contaminating foreground to the cosmic microwave background. He was an undergraduate at St Hilda's College (starting the second year men were admitted to the college), completed his DPhil at Oriel College, and then was a postdoctoral research associate in the physics department before returning to St Hilda's teaching 2nd year thermodynamics and statistical mechanics and 3rd year atomic and molecular physics.

The session will be chaired by Professor Claire Gwenlan, Tutorial Fellow in Physics 4pm - Novelist Philip Pullman and dramatist Madeleine Perham, In Conversation with Nicolette Jones Live with audience Q&A An extraordinary opportunity to hear novelist Sir Philip Pullman, the creator of His Dark Materials Trilogy in conversation with two distinguished alumnae. Nicolette Jones (English, 1978) has been Children's Books Reviewer at the Sunday Times for over two decades. Madeleine Perham (English, 2012) is a theatre director and dramatist.

Having directed the stage version of His Dark Materials at Oxford, and adapted and directed Pullman's Ruby In The Smoke, Maddie's first TV series Girl Scouts vs Aliens is currently in pre-production.

Both events are free to attend. Find out more and register.

St Hilda’s in the City, 30 June The Suffragette Outrages: from bombs to the ballot box Live Lecture and Q&A with Rebecca Walker and Dr Eve Worth One of the earliest campaigns of terror was brought to London by militant members of the suffragette movement. Although claiming repeatedly their intention was not to endanger human life, their tactics included planting explosive devices in public places. Historian, Rebecca Walker, reveals their methods and how later terror campaigns were influenced by the suffragettes in conversation with Dr Eve Worth, Jenny Wormald and Women in Humanities Junior Research Fellow in History. Free to attend. Find out more and register.

St Hilda’s College Crime Fiction Weekend 2020, 5 August All Our Yesterdays: Historical crime fiction Please join us online for our first Virtual Crime Fiction Festival. Featured participants and speakers include: Val McDermid*, Mick Herron*, William Shaw, Sarah Hilary*, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Khan, Tom Wood, Sara Sheridan, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Jill Dawson, Mary PaulsonEllis and Anna Mazzola. Alison Joseph and Jake Kerridge will be sharing the chairing. (*While these committee members were not giving individual papers, they will be in virtual attendance, available for signings, and possibly making some surprise appearances...)

DANSOX Summer School, 16 July We are planning a virtual event. Prospective speakers and participants include Alistair Spalding CBE, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler's Wells theatre, Dr Helene Neveu Kringelbach, University College London, and Joseph Kay and dancers. Check the College website for further updates.

Thank you to our Lodge staff for looking after the College in our absence. We look forward to seeing everyone there again. In the meantime, keep up to date with our news on St Hilda’s website.

It's all in good paws.