So tonight I pretty much had the best night I've had while in Oxford - I went to the Oxford Union. The Oxford Union is basically the debate club, however, it's huge. Each week they host a formal debate in which famous speakers are invited to argue the proposition and the opposition. Before each debate there are drinks in the quad and after there are President's Drinks. This week's topic was 'This House should legalise assisted suicide.' We, as in an audience of about two hundred, heard arguments from UN doctors, national Parliamentary figures, and family members associated with assisted suicide cases. As each presents their argument many students stand up and challenge the facts and points made. Basically it's what Americans think of when they think of Oxford - students coming up with eloquent, well-defended arguments on the spot about pertinent issues while surrounded by very well-known people/scholars. The whole thing is very much so like The House of Commons (which you can catch on late night C-SPAN) - people shouting and such; even the layout of the room is the same. Typically you have to be a member to come to these events (Oxford students are eligible but must pay quite a bit), however, one of my college moms is an officer for the Union and she was able to get me a guest pass - to both the debate and President's Drinks (which few people get invited to this open bar event). It was a great night, even though I got soaked while heading back home in a, recently dry-cleaned, suit. Just a bit more about the Union, they also host numerous famous speakers - Martin Sheen was just here about a week and a half ago.
There's a video about the Oxford Union here. The main debating chamber is where I was but it gives you an idea about the Union as a whole. Although I have to argue about their claim to having the cheapest bar in Oxford - I've been there, Regent's bar is cheaper.
My position on the topic (since I've been asked) -
Based on the debate alone I'm in full support of assisted suicide. The opposition did not clearly present their facts, only one member managed to successfully do this. They also used Oregon as an example yet cited much incorrect information. Somehow Texas and the death penalty got thrown in there as well. Furthermore, one member said that assisted suicide was like divorce and abortion - it's controversial at first, then it gets legalized and everyone is ok with it (meaning at some point we'll just kill people for the hell of it). The proposition had both and emotional and factual argument (and didn't cite incorrect facts from the US).
Personally I believe that it's an autonomous right. If you want to kill yourself you have the right to do so as a member of a Western, democratic government. When you are unable to do so because you are incapacitated then it is your right to seek assistance to carry out your wishes. In denying your right to assisted suicide you're more or less saying that some one doesn't deserve their rights or that they are somehow "less-deserving" than a healthy person. However, strict rules and safeguards must be in place.
Essay 3 (aka the downside of a non-lending library)
So I'm pretty much finished with my third essay. It's about 2,800 words (800 over my "limit") but that's not really an issue. I ended up discussing the status of the artist at court using Anthony van Dyck and Gianlorenzo Bernini as examples. I'm actually quite proud of the essay - it's extremely art historical in its style and everything. However, I ended up taking portions of my essay in a different (hopefully better) direction than I had anticipated. So I remember reading portions of my assigned readings and such that defend my argument perfectly but I didn't write them down. This means I will have to get up at 8am so I can be at the Sackler Library by 9am. As there are very few copies of the book I need in the Oxford System (there are 3) and someone, well my tutor, has already requested it, I'll have to beg the librarians at the front desk to let me use the reserved book - which they are supposed to do but some librarians are nicer about it than others. Then I'll add the few bits to my essay and send it off in the morning. Unfortunately tomorrow is also the day that Spencer House (where I live) is having a group professional picture. So I'll have to run back home, shower and dress up for that. Long story short, I'm not a huge fan of non-lending libraries at the moment....although I am, unlike last week, proud of my essay this week.
Technology and Rain
So in sitting at a few different libraries by now I've noticed something quite different from Georgetown - about 8 out of every 10 students you see has a Mac. Oxford is dominated by Macs and ITS has no problems with them at all - at Georgetown you're lucky to get limited support for a Mac. Speaking of ITS they are much more helpful in Oxford and the internet isn't the least bit slow.
On a different subject the forecast for the next 7 days is rain - fun.
On a different subject the forecast for the next 7 days is rain - fun.
London
So this week in my tutorial I'm writing about Anthony van Dyck - basically a pretty important guy in English painting, well painting in general really. Since there's an exhibition all about him at Tate Britain we're going to London for tutorial this Friday. We're leaving Oxford at 8am (this will officially be the earliest I've been up in Oxford) and heading to London. We're going to the Tate and to the Banqueting House of Whitehall. There we'll see the ceiling of the banquet hall painted by Rubens - another very important artist. The Palace of Whitehall was where all of the English monarchs lived for quite a while until most of it burned down, the Banquet House is the only part still around. In other words I'm going to London for class and it's pretty flippin' awesome. It will be nice to have class where things happened and in front of actual paintings rather than just looking at images. Plus it's always fun to go to a museum with someone who know's a lot about what's in it - perhaps like my tutor, Yu Ping. It should be a good day with lots of pictures. Although it's supposed to rain, hopefully it won't. I've also found a tour for Stonehenge, I'll be headed there on June 6th.
"The Oxford Way"
So in a sense I just wrote my first "Oxford style" essay. Oxford students, while they read and study a ton, don't seem to write their actual essays until the last minute. You might assume they start a day or two in advance and go through multiple drafts, but no. Most, yes I mean that literally, start the night before if not the day of. Now yes, they have certainly done their reading and such but that only accounts for so much of any essay. I just wrote my essay for this week in about 3 hours - that was the actual writing part only. Nevertheless, I'm starting to understand the lifestyle of an Oxford student. A week seems like a lot of time to write one paper but it's really not. You have to find your books for your readings, read those and take notes, tackle the essay topic, do research for your essay, find those resources, read them, outline an essay (or at least a thought process), write the essay then prepare to discuss/defend your ideas - long story short, it's not as easy as it may seem. So yes, while everyone stateside constantly reminds you to never wait until the last minute to start writing, that is indeed "the Oxford way." Oh, I've also learned that 2,000 words isn't all that much.
A Cocktail Party and a Chinese Buffet
So tonight Spencer House hosted a cocktail party for the hierarchy of Regents so that they could see the house and such. Basically there was wine (which we had a "family" dinner and wine tasting for on Sunday to pick the wines out) and appetizers and such. I was able to meet some of the "higher-ups" of the college, all of whom were quite great. Afterwards we all pitched in to clean up then Jack and Hazel (they are both retired Americans that take care of Spencer House, which Columbia State University owns) took us all out for Chinese food. The Chinese place ended up being a buffet, which is a bit different here. For one, the food was actually decent and fresh. Second, they at least attempt to cut back on food waste (there were signs that said intentional, excessive waste of food will be charged £5 extra per person). Buffets are rather rare here so it was interesting to see. All in all it was quite a good night.
Now I sit here posting this while I should be writing my essay (it's nearly midnight now) as it's due in exactly 14 hours - I probably won't sleep much, if at all, tonight. The prompt is the following: Discuss the formation of the Spanish royal painting collection in relation to Philip IV's demands as a patron. So first off I'm very happy that this week deals with Spanish art. Second, I'm finding it hard to narrow down the topic. Thus far I think I'm going to first talk about the overall artist/patron relationship of this time frame. Then I'll define Philip IV as a patron. Next I'll discuss Rubens and Velázquez along with some of their works made for Philip IV's court. Lastly I'll talk about how their paintings were commissioned and used to decorate both the Buen Retiro and the Alcazar. I still don't have images so you'll just have to imagine some for now.
Other upcoming plans include going to the Globe Theatre to see a play as a rather large group and a family dinner with all of the new students for this term and their college parents.
Now I sit here posting this while I should be writing my essay (it's nearly midnight now) as it's due in exactly 14 hours - I probably won't sleep much, if at all, tonight. The prompt is the following: Discuss the formation of the Spanish royal painting collection in relation to Philip IV's demands as a patron. So first off I'm very happy that this week deals with Spanish art. Second, I'm finding it hard to narrow down the topic. Thus far I think I'm going to first talk about the overall artist/patron relationship of this time frame. Then I'll define Philip IV as a patron. Next I'll discuss Rubens and Velázquez along with some of their works made for Philip IV's court. Lastly I'll talk about how their paintings were commissioned and used to decorate both the Buen Retiro and the Alcazar. I still don't have images so you'll just have to imagine some for now.
Other upcoming plans include going to the Globe Theatre to see a play as a rather large group and a family dinner with all of the new students for this term and their college parents.
An Update for Update's Sake
So apparently when you start a blog and update daily (sometimes a few times a day) people start to expect regular updates - as I've been a bit busy over the past few days I haven't really thought much about blogging and some people aren't too happy about that. Thus, I thought it might be a good idea to go ahead and post something.
This week has been full of work for the most part. My tutorial this week deals with the courts as patrons of the arts. My essay will be on the patronage of King Philip IV of Spain - finally some Spanish art! (now if it were only modern and political I'd be set!). I'm still working on my readings and research so I don't quite have images to share.
Other than that I've yet to do much around Oxford. School work tends to dominate your life in one way or another here. If I'm not busy with my own tutorial then everyone else is working on there's. The American students here surely work quite hard, but the Brits seem to study 24/7 and read much more than us - perhaps it's b/c they only take one test at the end of their 3 years that determines everything for them, that's right, just one test, that's it. Nevertheless, there's parties and such with the Regents students on the weekends but during the week I'm either working (which involves searching for books, library hopping -in the states we have bar hops but never library hops - here a library hop is common for most essays- reading, note taking, outlining, drafting and, finally, writing....but then I have to make sure I can discuss all of that for my actual tutorial). So yes, Oxford is a lot of work but at the same time I rather enjoy it. It's nice to study one thing, one subject and devote all of your time to it. It's also quite nice to find my inner academic and to have resources I've never had before. And at times the dinner conversations about philosophy, religion, politics, etc are fun too (although there's also a fair share between the Americans and the Brits about Beyonce, Rhianna/Chris Brown, "the college cup" (red Solo cups) and anything else related to American pop culture).
I'm determined to see the sights around Oxford before I leave. Other Georgetowners have told me that this can be hard to do during the term but I'm determined to work it in my time here. I figure I should at least see the other colleges, especially since I can and it's free while I have my Oxford student ID (many colleges aren't open to visitors, and if they are visitors usually have to pay). I figure I should also see the museums and such Oxford has to offer. I also plan on making it to London at least once, preferably twice (with a trip to the theatre at lease once), and to Stonehenge. That, along with my tutorial and college activities, should keep me plenty busy. Ideally I'd also visit Cambridge (all the Regents students see no real reason for this unless it's to make fun of that "lesser" instituion there) and Bath but I'm not so sure there's time for all of that.
So that's about it at the moment. I'll do my best to get back to regular blog posting, although it's semi-based on me doing different things so I probably won't post again until I actually do something interesting. Oh and just so you know, England is expensive...
This week has been full of work for the most part. My tutorial this week deals with the courts as patrons of the arts. My essay will be on the patronage of King Philip IV of Spain - finally some Spanish art! (now if it were only modern and political I'd be set!). I'm still working on my readings and research so I don't quite have images to share.
Other than that I've yet to do much around Oxford. School work tends to dominate your life in one way or another here. If I'm not busy with my own tutorial then everyone else is working on there's. The American students here surely work quite hard, but the Brits seem to study 24/7 and read much more than us - perhaps it's b/c they only take one test at the end of their 3 years that determines everything for them, that's right, just one test, that's it. Nevertheless, there's parties and such with the Regents students on the weekends but during the week I'm either working (which involves searching for books, library hopping -in the states we have bar hops but never library hops - here a library hop is common for most essays- reading, note taking, outlining, drafting and, finally, writing....but then I have to make sure I can discuss all of that for my actual tutorial). So yes, Oxford is a lot of work but at the same time I rather enjoy it. It's nice to study one thing, one subject and devote all of your time to it. It's also quite nice to find my inner academic and to have resources I've never had before. And at times the dinner conversations about philosophy, religion, politics, etc are fun too (although there's also a fair share between the Americans and the Brits about Beyonce, Rhianna/Chris Brown, "the college cup" (red Solo cups) and anything else related to American pop culture).
I'm determined to see the sights around Oxford before I leave. Other Georgetowners have told me that this can be hard to do during the term but I'm determined to work it in my time here. I figure I should at least see the other colleges, especially since I can and it's free while I have my Oxford student ID (many colleges aren't open to visitors, and if they are visitors usually have to pay). I figure I should also see the museums and such Oxford has to offer. I also plan on making it to London at least once, preferably twice (with a trip to the theatre at lease once), and to Stonehenge. That, along with my tutorial and college activities, should keep me plenty busy. Ideally I'd also visit Cambridge (all the Regents students see no real reason for this unless it's to make fun of that "lesser" instituion there) and Bath but I'm not so sure there's time for all of that.
So that's about it at the moment. I'll do my best to get back to regular blog posting, although it's semi-based on me doing different things so I probably won't post again until I actually do something interesting. Oh and just so you know, England is expensive...
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