The Queen's College Newsletter: Trinity Term 2019

Newsletter
Issue thirty-one trinity Term 2019 07/19
knowledge of
languages is the
doorway to wisdom
– Roger Bacon

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
Contents
pages 2-3
Letter from the provost
Page 4
News from our students
Page 5
News from old members
Pages 6–8
News from the College
page 9
Clean-up success
page 10 The centre for manuscript and text cultures
Page 11
A glimpse of ancient egypt
pages 12–13 The chapel at 300
pages 14–15 The Queen’s College Translation Exchange
back cover
calendar
Cover photograph © David Fisher
letter from the Provost
I have been asked repeatedly about the well-publicised
initiatives to increase the number of applicants from
disadvantaged backgrounds who are admitted to Oxford.
Does this mean that Oxford is compromising on its mission to
admit only on academic grounds, or making contextual offers
based on perceived disadvantage? Disadvantage is, as we
shall see, multifaceted but if as a crude starting point we take
the state/privately educated measure then in October, if all
holding offers get through the A-level conditions, 64.5% of the
UK students admitted will come from state schools. Or 35.5%
from private ones, which may be compared with the 18% of
sixth-form students who are in private schools – a significant
“overweight” but by no means as “bad” as in much of the public
perception. Disadvantage is more complex than is captured
by the simple state/private measure, however. We know, for
example, that a large proportion of the Oxford students who
would be entitled to free school meals on the basis of their
family income (surprisingly, about 9% of the total) were privately
educated – presumably because their promise was recognised
early and they were given scholarships. The information we have
about applicants is their home postcode, taken as an indicator
of family means, and the history of their schools in progressing
candidates to higher education. Again, these provide imperfect
measures of disadvantage (called POLAR and ACORN) but they
are all we have to work with at the time of application.
The reason that the introduction of the initiatives has been
welcomed within Oxford is not because of a desire to match
the socioeconomic profile of the country per se or, indeed,
to respond slavishly to the media and government pressure
to achieve that objective, though it is certainly true that such
pressure is being exerted through the Office for Students and
will require a response. Rather, it is the desire to be admitting
the most talented and promising students who, by the end of
the course, will have achieved most. In other words, we have
become sensitised to the observation that our admissions
PAGE 12
process is biased towards achievement and preparedness at
17 and 18, rather than towards the capacity to achieve highly
at 21. Careful studies and tracking of all applicants have shown
that a very substantial number of rejected applicants who are
disadvantaged, at least according to the POLAR and ACORN
measures, go on to achieve A-level results which easily meet
the standard tariffs for the courses for which they have applied.
This, in itself, does not mean that they have the capacity to
achieve highly, but it suggests that closer attention should be
paid to them as they pass through the admissions process.
One of the initiatives is a response to this observation.
Disadvantaged students applying through UCAS are “flagged”
but pass through the admissions process in the normal
way. Each college will reserve a number of places for such
candidates who narrowly miss out on being offered a place.
They are made the same A-level offer as all the other candidates
applying for that course and agree to participate in a “bridging”
programme if they make the offer. This is a short residential
programme, between A-level results and the start of the
academic year, designed to facilitate the transition to their
course and Oxford. At Queen’s, we have always had a number
of places not allocated to particular subjects, and we will be
reserving two such places this year for the candidates identified
as above. This number is envisaged as doubling over the
subsequent four years, and for the University as a whole to see
about 200 students (out of 3,400) come to Oxford via this route
by 2023.
The second initiative is to present highly disadvantaged
candidates, for example those who have been in care or
come from a remote community with poor schooling, with
the opportunity to make an application during a residential
foundation year in Oxford. These candidates will have been
identified as highly promising by teachers, but would be highly
unlikely to make a successful application through normal
channels because of their educational disadvantage. Because
the initial application will not be made through UCAS, it will
be possible to ask for some hard information about their
circumstances. It is envisaged that about 30 students
each year will come through this route by 2023. Queen’s
will not be participating in this programme initially,
as we do not have the space or the resources to
deal with the foundation year. However, we will be
providing a substantial part of the funding for it,
and for the bridging scheme, through a system
of University taxation to which we make a large
contribution.
As I dare say you are aware, this will be my last
Newsletter before heading off into retirement.
I feel that I am leaving the College in good
shape, with the commitment to the tutorial
system and the presentation of opportunities
for further development to all students firmly
in place. The traditional strong sense of a
community extends throughout the College and
has come to embrace a large pool of Old Members,
who have been very generous and engaged. A lot
of high-quality building work has been done, but
I will also be bequeathing a number of projects to
my successor who, I am sure, will receive the same
level of support. I have enjoyed my eleven years “in
charge” enormously and they have been the highlight
of my career. I am very grateful to the large number of
people who have helped me – Fellows, Staff, students,
but particularly to Alison who has always been there.
2
3

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
News from our students
News from Old Members
New Choir CD
Fellow in Music and Organist Professor
Owen Rees leads early-music consort
Contrapunctus alongside the Choir
in performances of John Taverner’s
masterwork, the Missa Gloria tibi trinitas.
A virtuosic work, it has pride of place in the Forrest-Heyther
partbooks (in the Bodleian Library), and might well have been
heard on Trinity Sunday in the chapel of Cardinal Thomas
Wolsey’s palace at Hampton Court.
Classical Source said: ‘Particularly impressive is the integration
of a warmly blended Queen’s College tone with the brightly
focused voices of Contrapunctus. The students sound every
bit as accomplished as their professional counterparts and
the sopranos are having the time of their lives in the rousing
final sections of the ‘Gloria’ and the ‘Credo’ where Taverner’s
contrapuntal skill is at its most thrilling.’
The CD is available here: http://hyperurl.co/GloriaTibiTrinitas.
Teacher wins award after being
nominated by Queen’s student
Callum Wardle, a first-year student at Queen’s, nominated
his school teacher, Robert Fisher of Blackpool Sixth-Form,
for an Oxford University Inspirational Teachers Award.
Robert is one of 10 winners who received an award this
year.
The Inspirational Teachers Awards are a way of recognising
the importance of school or college teachers in encouraging
talented students to realise their potential and make a
successful application to Oxford. Each year current first-year
Oxford undergraduates from UK state schools or colleges
with a limited history of sending students to Oxford are
asked if they would like to nominate an inspirational teacher.
As part of his nomination Callum wrote:
‘Rob is really the driving force behind
my application to Oxford. If it
weren’t for him, I would never have
realised I had what it takes to
achieve as highly as I have
and wouldn’t have pushed
myself to do so.’
The Spectacle of Illusion
Old Member Dr Matthew Tompkins
(Psychology, 2011) is a professional
magician-turned-psychologist. His new
book The Spectacle of Illusion (Thames &
Hudson) has been published in partnership
with the Wellcome Trust. Its release
coincides with the Wellcome Collection’s
free exhibition ‘Smoke and Mirrors’.
The Spectacle of Illusion is written for
general audiences on the topic of historical and contemporary
relationships between magicians, scientists, and fraudulent
mystics. It features stories of ghost-rapping, mind-reading,
lethal autopsies, full-body-cavity ghost hunts, death-defying
stunts, and death … obeying (?) stunts (that is to say, stunts
where the performers accidentally died). This is a selectively
honest account of lies about the truth about lies, with lots of
weird pictures.
In 2016 Matthew led a study that examined the psychology of
magic: could magicians’ misdirection techniques be used to
make us ‘see’ something that was never there? Read more here:
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2016-08-09-psychologists-magic-makesnon-existent-object-disappear.
Lifetime achievement award
Professor Victor Hoffbrand (Medicine, 1953) has received
the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in
Hematology from the American
Society of Hematology.
Professor Hoffbrand, who
receives the award for his
significant contributions to
haematology in research, patient
care, and education throughout
his 55-year career, said:
‘I am extremely honoured
to receive the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime
Achievement in Hematology, and I am humbled when I
see the list of the distinguished previous award-winners.
I am particularly delighted to receive an award named
after Wallace Coulter, since it was the ability to count
blood cells that first attracted me to haematology as a
scientific discipline.’
Current student elected President
of the Oxford Student Union
Anisha Faruk (History, 2016) has been elected as President
of Oxford University’s Student Union (OUSU). She has
previously served as the co-chair of the Oxford University
Labour Club and has been the editor-in-chief of the
University’s student newspaper The Oxford Student.
Anisha said: ‘It’s an honour to have been elected to
President of the Student Union. The support I’ve received
from Queen’s students has been amazing. I’m especially
grateful to the current and former members of the JCR
committee that gave me advice and helped to inform my
manifesto. I’m really looking forward to implementing my
policies and providing a voice for the student body.’
Established in 1961 as the Oxford University Student
Representative Council, OUSU aims to facilitate
communication between students and University
officials, as well as between students, local councils,
and the government.
More information about
this year’s winning
teachers and their
students is available
at www.ox.ac.uk/
inspirationalteachers.
Photo © Edmund Blok
Medical School
prize for medic’s
outstanding
progress
Clinical Medical student
Isabella Watts has been
awarded a Hobson Mann Lovel
Scholarship for outstanding
progress on the clinical medical
(Second BM) course.
Izzy said: ‘I feel very lucky to have been supported so well by
my College tutors throughout my degree. They have helped
me hugely with both the bedside and bookwork aspects of my
medical course, both of which are recognised in this prize.’
Hall of Fame
Claire Taylor (Mathematics,
1994) has been inducted
into the International Cricket
Council (ICC) Hall of Fame. She
is the seventh woman overall
and the third female player
from England to be named in
the list.
She said: ‘It’s a great honour
to be inducted into the ICC
Hall of Fame alongside some
of the greatest names of the
men’s and women’s game from
across the world and throughout the generations - players who I
looked up to during my playing career and hold in great esteem.’
Taylor, who scored 1,030 runs in 15 Tests, 4,101 runs in 126
ODIs and 615 runs in 21 T20Is, was named the ICC Women’s
Cricketer of the Year in 2009. She was named the player of the
tournament in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 and in the ICC
Women’s World Twenty20 2009. She ended her career with an
average of more than 40 in both Tests and ODIs. She is featured
in the College’s Shining a Light exhibition.
Photo © John Pheasant
High point for Old Member
At 4.25 am on the morning of 18 May 2018 Fergus
McDonald (Mathematics, 1983) summited Mount Everest
(8,848 m) from the Nepalese side. He was accompanied by
climbing sherpa Shebbi. They were fortunate to be alone at
the top for 45 minutes, save for two climbers who arrived
from the Chinese side of the mountain, which gave them
a remarkable opportunity to enjoy the extraordinary view
before beginning their descent.
Fergus said: ‘This was both literally and figuratively the
high point after many years of climbing mountains. It was
certainly challenging but the experience of climbing on and
around the mountain for a month before finally reaching the
top was incredible and unforgettable.’
4 5

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
Photo © John Pheasant
News from the college
Jane Langdale elected foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences
Professor Jane Langdale CBE FRS has been elected as a foreign associate of the
National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private,
non-profit society of distinguished scholars based in Washington, DC. Established by
an Act of Congress, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the NAS is charged
with providing independent, objective advice to the United States on matters related
to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the
NAS for outstanding contributions to research.
Shining a Light: a photographic exhibition in the cloisters
2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the admission
of women by the College. A temporary exhibition in
the cloisters celebrated this milestone by featuring
women who have contributed to the College
in various ways over the past four decades.
It included current and former academics, staff,
Old Members, and current students, each with
a one-word description chosen by the subject.
Every individual included was nominated by others
to appear in the exhibition.
John Pheasant (Modern Languages, 1972) made
the exhibition possible by offering to take the
series of photographs. John first pursued a career
in European Community law while developing
his interest in photography, and he turned semiprofessional
a few years ago.
The exhibition has now been relocated to several
staircases in Front Quad.
Photo © David Fisher
LISTEN UP!
The 2018 Harmsworth Lecture
is now available as a podcast.
War, Race and Anti-Imperialism in
Merze Tate’s International Thought
by Professor Barbara Savage
(Pennsylvania) is available here:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/
harmsworth-lecture-series.
The College has also launched a new
podcast series called LIBcast, which
takes a closer look at the Library’s
impressive collection through its
eclectic exhibitions. Each episode
features the recording of a talk
associated with the Library’s latest
exhibition: http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/
series/libcast-queens-college.
Professor Langdale is one of 25 foreign associates to be elected this year, bringing the
total number of foreign associates to 487.
She is featured in the College’s Shining a Light exhibition and you can read more about
her work on pages 90-91 of the 2018 College Record.
JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOW WRITES PLAY ON THE LAST
GREAT KING OF ASSYRIA
Warrior. Scholar. Empire-builder. King-slayer. Lion-hunter. Librarian.
King Ashurbanipal of Assyria (r. 669–
c. 631 BC) was the most powerful man on
Earth. He described himself in inscriptions
as ‘king of the world’, and his reign from
the city of Nineveh (now in northern Iraq)
marked the high point of the Assyrian
empire, which stretched from the shores
of the eastern Mediterranean to the
mountains of western Iran.
Junior Research Fellow in
Manuscripts and Text Cultures
Dr Selena Wisnom has written a series
of innovative new immersive theatre pieces set in ancient Assyria, one of which
is about King Ashurbanipal, who is also currently the subject of a major British
Museum exhibition.
Reviews of a recent production commended this ‘beautifully crafted work’ that is
‘as atmospheric as it is mesmerising’ and highlighted the ‘amazing script that takes
the unusual and strange and makes it understandable and even familiar’.
OXFORD PRESERVATION TRUST AWARD
FOR NEW LIBRARY
The College is delighted to have received
an Oxford Preservation Trust award for the
New Library at the 2018 awards ceremony.
The Trust received the highest number of
entries to date and 11 plaques were awarded
across several categories. The College received its award in
the category of new buildings.
Photo © David Olds
John Blair short-listed for the
Wolfson History Prize
Professor John Blair FBA FSA is one of six historians to be short-listed for the Wolfson
History Prize. The Wolfson History Prize is the most prestigious history prize in the
UK; it is awarded annually to promote and recognise outstanding history written for
a general audience. Books are judged
on the extent to which they are carefully
researched, well-written, and accessible to
the non-specialist reader.
Professor Blair has been short-listed for
his book Building Anglo-Saxon England
(Princeton University Press). The book
draws on the latest archaeological
discoveries to present a reappraisal of
the Anglo-Saxon built environment and
explains the origins of towns, manor
houses, and castles in a completely
new way, casting light on the important
functions of buildings and settlements
in people’s lives during the age of the
Venerable Bede and King Alfred.
40 Years in 40 Objects
A digital archive of objects has
been compiled to mark the
40th anniversary of co-education
at Queen’s. This eclectic mix brings
together treasured items from
Old Members as well as from the
College’s own Archive. Some objects
have been photographed in 3D,
allowing you to see areas of the
College as never seen before.
View the exhibition here:
www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/40-years-40-
objects
College hosts film-maker James Ivory as a
Visiting Professor
In collaboration with The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, the College
hosted film-maker James Ivory as a Visiting Professor in Michaelmas Term 2018.
Mr Ivory’s work includes, among many others, Shakespeare Wallah (1965), A Room
with a View (1985), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Most recently, he won Best
Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards (The Oscars) for the script of Call me by
your Name (2017). During his visit, Mr Ivory gave two public events, one of which was
in conversation with Fellow of Queen’s and Professor of Egyptology Richard Bruce
Parkinson (listen here: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/tales-love-and-history-james-ivoryconversation).
His visit was in connection with the Ashmolean Museum’s temporary
exhibition No Offence: Exploring LGBTQ+ Histories, for which he had lent the shooting
script of Maurice (1987).
6 7

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
Clean-Up Success
Students from the College co-led a five-week expedition to the
remote Aldabra Atoll to remove tonnes of ocean rubbish from
its shores. The Aldabra Clean-Up Project (ACUP) expedition
was completed in April with some 25 tonnes of marine debris
(including 50,000 flip-flops) removed from the turtle-nesting
beaches and key tortoise-grazing habitat of one of the most
pristine and unique coral atolls in the world.
A slice of the
College’s history
A new book entitled The Victoria
History of Cumberland: Kirkoswald
and Renwick by Richard Brockington
with Sarah Rose has recently been
published. The book, drawing on
work undertaken for the long-running
Victoria History of Cumberland, is
a concise history of the parish of
Kirkoswald, including the village of
Renwick, in Cumbria.
This is of great interest to Queen’s
as the College has been lord of the
manor of Renwick, and owner of
property within the village, since
1341. The manor of Renwick had
belonged to Robert de Eglesfield
who gave it to Queen’s when he
founded the College as its original
endowment. Queen’s still owns
property in the village and so forms
one of the most constant themes
running through the book.
The book is written by Richard
Brockington, a resident of Renwick,
with the assistance of other local
historians and academics at
Lancaster University. The book is the
result of over 15 years of research,
much of undertaken in the College’s
own Archive and with the assistance
of our Archivist, Michael Riordan.
For more details and/or to purchase
a copy, please visit
www.sas.ac.uk/publications.
THREE QUEEN’S TUTORS NOMINATED AS
OUTSTANDING TUTORS
Congratulations to Amy Orben, Nick Owen, and Andrew Schuman who were all
nominated as outstanding tutors for the student-led University teaching awards.
The Students’ Union Teaching Awards recognises the teachers, tutors, and staff
who make a positive difference to students’ experience and lives while at Oxford.
Amy Orben is College lecturer in Psychology. She teaches a large part of the
first-year Experimental Psychology and Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics
courses at Queen’s. Nick Owen is the College’s Fellow in Politics and also the
Senior Tutor. Andrew Schuman is the College doctor and also teaches the
College’s medical students.
Amy said: ‘The College has always seen teaching as one of its highest priorities and
prides itself on encouraging and supporting every student individually. Importantly
it also does the same for each of its teachers, providing support and learning
opportunities. The stability of my College lectureship has provided me with the space
and time to invest in my teaching and my student relationships on a long-term basis.
Teaching perfectly complements my work as a scientist, continually challenging me in
my thinking and reasoning about my field.’
Professor Roger Pearson wins
prestigious accolade in French
studies (again)
Professor Roger Pearson has been awarded the
R. Gapper book prize for his work Unacknowledged
Legislators: The Poet as Lawgiver in Post-
Revolutionary France (Oxford University Press, 2016).
Having been awarded the prize previously for Mallarmé
and Circumstance: The Translation of Silence (Oxford
University Press, 2004), this makes Professor Pearson
the only person to have won the award twice outright.
Photo © David Olds
The award commends books of critical and scholarly distinction, which have a clear
impact on wider critical debate. Unacknowledged Legislators: The Poet as Lawgiver in
Post-Revolutionary France presents an original and detailed history of the theory and
practice of French poetry from 1750 through to the end of the Romantic Period.
The clean-up took place in three phases: during the first phase
the team collected as much waste as possible, carrying out
surveys on the waste composition and weight at the end of
each session; in the second phase they moved the waste to
various locations along the coastline that were accessible to
small boats (this meant carrying loads of up to 60 kg); for phase
three it was all hands on deck as the team, coast guards, and
volunteers had to move hundreds of gunny sacks from the
beaches. The bags were placed onto the Seychelles Island
Foundation (SIF) boats, which shuttled the waste out to the
Spirit of Ton Joe ship. The waste will be sorted, repurposed,
reused, and recycled in the coming months.
Addressing the team after the expedition, the chief executive
of SIF, Frauke Fleischer-Dogley, said: ‘Although it may seem
like a feat of futility as more marine debris washes ashore on
to Aldabra as we speak, it’s vital to know that we are all part of
that change that is required to restore humanity’s relationship
with nature, to make sure that plastic and other pollutants stop
entering our environment in the first place.’
‘Despite the cuts, burns, headaches, pains in your muscles, and
days you did not want to get up again, you all became one team
with the most empowering story: that change is possible. So to
say thank you to this remarkable team is not enough, but please
know that SIF has the deepest respect for your commitment
and is indebted to you all,’ she added.
The team are extremely proud of all the support they received
from College members across all three common rooms, as
well as from staff and, of course, Old Members. It was a very
challenging project for all 12 volunteers, from the fund-raising
through to the expedition itself, and they would not have been
able to act so decisively to protect this spectacular ecosystem
without support from across the College community.
The project has had an international reach. A documentary was
broadcast on Sky News in April and the team are now working
on additional material to shine a light on the plastic problem.
A further documentary will be released over the summer and
work continues in schools to educate young people about the
use of plastic.
Follow @AldabraCleanUp
or visit: aldabracleanupproject.wordpress.com
for more details.
Photo © SIF
8 9

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
The Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures
A glimpse of Ancient Egypt
Queen’s has always supported a diverse and dynamic research
community. With the encouragement of the Provost, the College
has recently created two research centres to build on shared
research interests among its senior and
junior members: The Queen’s College
Translation Exchange (see pages 14-15)
and The Centre for Manuscript and
Text Cultures (CMTC), which crystallizes
an initiative launched by our Fellow in
Chinese Philosophy, Dr Dirk Meyer, in
2012 as The Workshop for Text and
Manuscript Cultures.
CMTC is an inter-disciplinary research
centre and academic melting-pot for the
study of material text cultures and their
written artefacts from a broad range of
pre-modern cultures, including ancient
China, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece,
Rome, and medieval Europe. It draws
on the interests of Queen’s Fellows in
Oriental Studies, Egyptology, Classics,
and Ancient History, and of colleagues in other colleges in
Egyptology, Sinology, and Medieval English and German.
Through its activities it aims to enable informed debate across
subject boundaries and to contribute to shaping an emerging
field of enquiry into the material factors of knowledge production
across societies.
The Centre has a regular programme of workshops for doctoral
students and for early career academics, together with a
research seminar in sixth week each term given by distinguished
invited scholars on topics ranging from ‘Ancient Mesopotamian
Concepts of Disease and Cure’, through ‘Epigraphic Mania
in the North Arabian Desert’, ‘Literacy
and Numeracy in a Babylonian Village’,
‘Scrutinizing the Qur’an in Western
Europe’, ‘The Zhou Bronzes and the
Shaping of Tetrasyllable Poems in China’,
to ‘Why Medieval Users Rubbed and
Kissed their Manuscripts’.
The Centre has a Junior Research Fellow,
Dr Selena Wisnom, whose work on
Babylonian divination has reached the
columns of The Times, and a doctoral
student in Sanskrit, Fabienne Heuze,
who is supported by the John P. Clay
Scholarship. The Centre’s Director is
Dr Dirk Meyer.
CMTC has an international advisory
board and has begun to build a research
network with similar centres in Germany, China, and Hong
Kong. Most excitingly, it is about to launch an open-access
journal, Manuscript and Text Cultures, the only one of its kind,
to publish research in annual themed issues devoted to specific
questions placed in cross-cultural contexts. The first issue will
appear in 2020, edited by Dr Christelle Alvarez and Dr Yegor
Grebnev, and will examine the question of Transposition and
Monumentality in Writing.
www.queens.ox.ac.uk/centre-manuscript-and-text-cultures
A new display in the relocated Peet Library has brought some of
the colours and textures of ancient Egypt into the College.
Thomas Eric Peet (Reader and Professor designate of
Egyptology 1933–1934) was notable for studying Ancient
Egypt in its own terms and worked in an interdisciplinary
manner. Peet, like many of his successors, was appreciative
of Queen’s for being ‘most kind to me in every way’, and he is
commemorated in the College by the Peet Library, a collection
of Egyptology books that is used by Egyptologists across the
University, and which is now part of the New Library.
The case includes artefacts from the College’s collection with
the addition of some pieces donated for display by descendants
of T. E. Peet. The new permanent display is intended to give
readers a sense of the material reality of this ancient culture,
which can often be lost in academic accounts and publications.
Professor of Egyptology, and former British Museum curator,
Richard Bruce Parkinson is behind the new installation, assisted
by Dr Ann-Katrin Gill (Univ.) and Barns Student Jordan Miller.
He said: ‘publications inevitably fail to capture a full sense of
ancient experience. The display aims to remind library users of
the physical presence of Egypt, through its stone and ceramics,
and to break down the institutionalised habit of conceiving that
culture in somewhat abstract terms. I wanted the readers to
have the same privilege that curators have when they work with
artefacts in a museum collection on a daily basis – a familiar
touch of the real’.
Most of the artefacts, like much ancient data, are from funerary
contexts, spanning four millennia. The display prioritises the
visual qualities of the shapes and materials, producing a simple
uncluttered effect, to complement the architecture of the New
Library. Detailed information on each piece is available online
(https://tinyurl.com/PeetDisplay), but there is only an introductory
information panel in the case itself, encouraging viewers to
look rather than to read. Some of the objects are instantly
recognisable as Egyptian, such as the canopic jars (pictured)
intended to hold the internal organs of mummies, but Parkinson
hopes that ‘people will also be struck by the aesthetic qualities
of the banded Egyptian calcite stone and the simple style of
the vessels.’ This, and the fact that their carved faces establish
an immediate engagement with the viewer as they enter the
New Library. They all face into the main library space, apart
from one with the head of a falcon deity, which now faces into
the Peet Library, as its head looks distractingly like a budgerigar
(the poorly carved head will remind readers that a human hand
was involved in the carving!).
Ancient Egyptian texts have been central to Egyptology at
Queen’s, and a key piece is a round-topped limestone stela
(a carved stone slab) made around 1700 BC for an official
named Khentykhetyemhat, containing a Hymn to Osiris.
This poetic hymn to the god of the dead alludes to his triumph
over his enemies as resurrected ruler of Egypt. A duplicate of
this stela in the British Museum contains the same hymn, raising
issues of text transmission and workshop practices; the higher
quality of the carving on the Queen’s stela suggests that
Khentykhetyemhat might even have been unsatisfied with the
work of the first stela and ordered a second.
Whether you’re a student of Egyptology or not, this exhibition
allows you to take a closer look at this fascinating period of
world history as well as prompting reflection on the nature and
function of academic spaces: a reminder of the material reality,
aesthetic beauty and even the fallible humanity of ancient
works of art.
If you’d like to view the display, please contact the library on
01865 279213; please note that visiting is restricted during
examination periods.
The College has a long association with the study of Ancient
Egypt, beginning with Francis Llewellyn Griffith, a Fellow of
Queen’s and the first Professor of Egyptology at Oxford
(1924–1932). In 1939 the Griffith Institute was founded in his
memory, and it remains at the heart of the subject in Oxford
(www.griffith.ox.ac.uk). The Griffith Institute has a strong spirit of
collaboration with Queen’s and has supported the College with
research on the new display.
Photo © David Olds
10 11

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
The Chapel at 300
Michael Riordan, College Archivist
Robert de Eglesfield had always intended that the Chapel
should be central to College life. In the statutes of 1341 he
laid out a complex schedule of masses and services to be
performed and ordained that the College should employ up to
thirteen chaplains. In 1342 the College secured from the Pope
a license to consecrate a chapel on the College site, but it was
not until 1364, probably due to lack of funds, that the College
began to build one. It was south of the present Chapel, behind
the shops which once stood on the site of the Front Quad
screen. An antechapel was added in 1518 at the expense of
Robert Langton, a former student.
In the early years of the eighteenth century the College took the
momentous decision to demolish almost the whole College and
build anew. There were two recent buildings which survived the
cull and no doubt inspired it: the Williamson Building of 1671–72
(the north-eastern corner of Back Quad) and the Library of
1693–96. These are beautiful classical buildings and the Fellows
were clearly enamoured of them and decided to build a whole
College in classical style.
Back Quad was the first to be completed and it was not until
1719 that attention turned to the Chapel. In May the old chapel
was demolished and the College transferred its services to
St Peter in the East (now the library of St Edmund Hall) until
the new Chapel was ready. The work, done under the direction
of the master-mason, William Townesend, was part of a single
project with the Hall and the kitchens, and the total cost was a
little over £6,000. After six months at St Peter’s the Chapel was
finally ready and it was consecrated on Sunday 1 November
1719 by the College’s Visitor, the Archbishop of York.
But not all of the old Chapel was lost. Sometime around
1715–17 the new Chapel was sufficiently complete for much of
the stained glass from the old Chapel and Antechapel to be
moved across and incorporated into the new building. The work
was supervised by Joshua Price, a member of a family of
glaziers who worked at several Oxford colleges. He restored
the windows where necessary and added the lunette about
each one. Price also created a new window himself, showing
the Holy Family, which was installed as the new east window.
The previous east window, the Last Judgment made a century
earlier by Abraham van Linge, was split in two and now
constitutes the two north-eastern windows.
Over the course of the eighteenth century Queen’s became
the only college in Oxford built entirely in classical style (if we
ignore Drawda Hall which was not purchased by Queen’s
until 1908) and the Chapel had a key symbolic significance
in this. It was unlike any other chapel that Oxford had seen.
Chapel 300:
please join us to celebrate the tercentenary of the Chapel
Tuesday 29 October
Wednesday 30 October
Thursday 31 October
They tended to be rectangular with an antechapel built across
to form a T. Though the Queen’s chapel begins as a rectangle,
it ends beyond the sanctuary gates in a semi-circular apse,
accentuated by Sir James Thornhill’s domed painting of the
Ascension. This was ambitious and modern, and an important
moment in Oxford architecture.
BBC Radio 3 Recorded Evensong broadcast
A service of music by female composers recorded for broadcast on International
Women’s Day 2020.
Festal Evensong – Radio 3 LIVE
A celebratory service to launch the commemoration events that will lead up to the
period of All Saints and All Souls.
Organ Recital: David Goode - Bach and Beyond
Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3: international concert organist David Goode will
celebrate the legacy of the greatest composer of organ music, Johann Sebastian
Bach. Bach’s music flourished at the time the Chapel was built and laid the
foundation for 300 years of organ music that followed. There will also be music by
Felix Mendelssohn, Kenneth Leighton, and Poul Ruders, whose chorale prelude
Wer Gott vertraut (Who trusts in God) was co-commissioned by the College.
6.30pm
3.30pm
7.30pm
Sunday 3 November
Commemoration Service
A celebratory service marking the 300th anniversary of the building of the Chapel
with John Sentamu, Archbishop of York and the College Visitor.
5.30pm
Wednesday 6 November
Lunchtime Recital - The Silver Trumpet
In 1666 a fine silver trumpet was presented to the College and is now widely
regarded as the most sumptuously furnished example of its period to have survived.
Celebrity soloist Crispian Steele-Perkins will join internationally-acclaimed organist
Anne Page to demonstrate the exceptional sound of this historically unique instrument
with music by English Baroque composers Henry Purcell and Jeremiah Clarke.
1.10pm
Saturday 9 November
The Chapel and its Architecture
A half-day study seminar discussing the resplendent architectural charm of the
Chapel, and its resonance with contemporary architects active in 1719, including
Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor.
2pm – 5pm
Photo © David Fisher
Saturday 9 November
1719: J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel
1719 was to be the year in which the two greatest composers of their age would
meet. Bach planned to travel to Halle to meet Handel who was visiting his mother, but
he failed to make contact, and the two men never met. Owen Rees and The Choir
of The Queen’s College will explore the remarkable achievements of these two great
Baroque composers through music from 1719 that still enjoys huge popularity today.
Further details of concert ticket prices and how to book onto specific events will be available shortly.
7.30pm
12
13

THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE
www.queens.ox.ac.uk
The Queen’s College Translation Exchange
Charlotte Ryland, Co-Director of the Translation Exchange
and College Lecturer in German
In my career to date I have researched and taught translation,
worked with literary translators and publishers to promote
international literature, and run translation workshops for
participants young and old. These experiences have shown me
how effective translation can be as a way of engaging learners
of all ages in languages and in literature, in their own and in
other cultures. This conviction, coupled with concern about the
dramatic decline in language-learning at UK schools, led me
to establish the Queen’s College Translation Exchange (QTE)
in September 2018 with literary translator Jenny Higgins, and
with the support of Queen’s Fellows in Modern and Medieval
Languages, Oriental Studies, English, and Classics.
QTE is a research and outreach centre based at Queen’s that
raises the profile of translation and international culture. We are
building on Queen’s excellent foundations in translation, from
the Fellows’ significant experience in literary translation research
and practice to the College’s hosting of Modern Poetry in
Translation. During this pilot year, with generous support from
Queen’s and the European Commission Representation in the
UK, we have developed a broad programme of translationrelated
activities for students, schools, and the public.
Putting translation centre stage
Only 5% of books published in the UK are in translation,
so our new International Book Club spotlights some of the
excellent writing from overseas that does make it into English.
Our meetings this year, attended by students and members of
the public, have provided rich opportunities to reflect on works
by Mauritian, Chilean and Austrian
writers. We also aim to give a
greater insight into the working
practices of literary translators,
through events that have
included a translation workshop
with Azerbaijani-German author
Olga Grjasnowa and a talk by
the prolific translator of Russian classics, Nicolas Pasternak
Slater. Having studied Russian and German at Queen’s in the
late 1950s, Pasternak Slater became a hospital doctor before
returning to languages in his retirement. In March of this year he
spoke to a packed Shulman Auditorium about his forthcoming
translation of Boris Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago. Taking his listeners
through a series of key examples, he illustrated the many
decisions and questions of structure and style at stake when
translating – in particular when dealing with such great stylists
as those in the Russian canon. Pasternak Slater’s wife, Maya
Slater, herself a writer, academic, and translator, concluded
the talk with some comments on the pictures that will illustrate
the forthcoming Dr Zhivago. For each of these events, we
have encouraged local Modern Foreign Language teachers
to spread the word among their pupils, ensuring that those
young language-learners feel as welcome at the talks and
workshops as our own students do.
Taking creative translation into schools
Engagement with schools is key to all we do at the
Exchange, and is most prominent in our student
ambassador programme. We have developed a
training course that gives university students the skills
and resources to deliver translation workshops in
primary and secondary schools, with the aim of
raising aspiration amongst young language-learners
and widening participation at university. Trained by
Queen’s alumna Gitanjali Patel and Rahul Bery
(most recently Translator-in-Residence at the
British Library), the students have designed
their own schools workshops, on texts
ranging from a Mexican picture book to a
contemporary German novel. The impact
of these workshops is
twofold: pupils have the
opportunity to interact
with foreign languages in
an exciting, creative way;
and they are brought into
inspiring, informal contact
with students who are
currently immersed in
the pleasure of studying
languages. This first
year’s ambassadors
have produced fantastic
workshops, and we’re
looking forward to watching as
their enthusiasm is transmitted to pupils in classrooms
across Oxford.
Events like this workshop help our pupils to
start looking beyond school and get a taste for
what might come next. Oxford can seem so
out of reach, and our most talented linguists
have been pleasantly surprised to find activities
such as the translation workshop accessible
enough to be enjoyable.
– Vivienne Arnold,
Curriculum Co-ordinator for Modern Languages,
Wallingford School
Overall, we have been delighted by the enthusiastic response
to the Translation Exchange’s first year, from students, teachers
and the wider public, and will be developing it further next year.
Letter block image © Sergio Delle Vedove
Workshop at St Christopher’s School, Oxford
Photo © David Fisher
It was inspiring working with a group of such
talented and creative linguists. The students
really made the workshop templates their own
and it was great to see such a wide range of
ideas in action.
– Gitanjali Patel (Modern Languages, 2008)
You can find out more about our activities at
www.queens.ox.ac.uk/translation-exchange
or on Twitter @TranslationExch
14
15

Events Calendar 2019–20
details for all events can be found at www.queens.ox.ac.uk/events
Saturday 21 September 2019
Saturday 19 October 2019
Saturday 2 November 2019
Saturday 23 November 2019
saturday 21 December 2019
Saturday 4 January 2020
Saturday 22 February 2020
Saturday 5 March 2020
friday 20-22 March 2020
Saturday 20 June 2020
Saturday 4 July 2020
Saturday 19 September 2020
Old Members’ Dinner Ticketed
Jubilee Gaudy Lunch (1949, 1959 and 1969) Ticketed (by invitation only)
‘Ten Years Later’ Lunch (2009) Ticketed (by invitation only)
MA Reunion Lunch (2012) Ticketed (by invitation only)
Boar’s Head Gaudy (1996-97) Ticketed (by invitation only)
Needle and Thread Gaudy (2004-05) Ticketed (by invitation only)
Taberdars’ Society Lunch Ticketed (by invitation only)
Queenswomen’s Network Dinner Ticketed
University of Oxford European Reunion in Berlin Ticketed
Benefactors’ Dinner Ticketed (by invitation only)
Old Members’ Garden Party Ticketed
The Queen’s Society Reception Ticketed (by invitation only)
Old Members’ Dinner Ticketed
There will be other events added to the programme throughout the year. Please visit our website for updates:
www.queens.ox.ac.uk/OMevents.
Old Members’ Dinner 2019: Saturday 21 September, 7.00 for 7.30 pm – booking now open online at
www.queens.ox.ac.uk/OMD2019
Alternatively, please call the Old Members’ Office on 01865 279214 to pay by debit or credit card.
RSVP by Friday 30 August
All Old Members are welcome to attend!
Literary Matter in Early Modern England
An exhibition in the College library
This exhibition showcases the material
lives of literary texts from the collections
of the College Library. Exploring how
books and manuscripts were created,
censored, annotated, and used, it
reveals the rich variety of ways in which
early modern people interacted with
their books.
The exhibition has been curated by
Career Development Fellow in English
Katherine Hunt and Junior Research
Fellow in English Dianne Mitchell and will
run from summer to winter 2019. You can
visit the exhibition in the Upper Library
during staffed opening hours; please visit
www.queens.ox.ac.uk/contact-library for
more information.
Your communication preferences
The College maintains a lifelong relationship with its Old Members and has close contact with friends
and other members of the College community. You may update your contact details and communication
preferences online: www.queens.ox.ac.uk/update-my-details; by email to oldmembers@queens.ox.ac.uk;
or by returning any of the forms enclosed with our hard copy publications.
Editor: emily downing
Contributors: April Burt, Charles Crowther, Jenny Higgins, Richard Parkinson,
Katherine Price, Michael Riordan, Charlotte Ryland
Design & printing: Holywell Press Ltd
Old Members’ Office, The Queen’s College, High Street, Oxford, OX1 4AW
@QueensCollegeOx | www.queens.ox.ac.uk
Email: oldmembers@queens.ox.ac.uk | Telephone: 01865 279214 Registered Charity 1142553