craven.fr (.ox.ac.uk)

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College, Exeter College, Hertford College, Green Templeton College, Merton college, St. Hugh's College, Mansfield College, and Harris Manchester College.

Founded in 1379, New College is only "new" by Oxford standards (and even then, not really!). But it is the newer of the two "St. Mary's Colleges" (my own Oriel being the older one), hence the name.

In many ways, though, this college did represent a new beginning for Oxford University. Created in the wake of the black death, which killed off half the population, Europe found itself in desperate need of new trained minds to run the apparatus of the state (which in those days meant training priests and canon lawyers). No longer could the monasteries be counted on to offer a sufficient stream of educated men, with their slow, unhurried approach to learning: the kingdom needed to create educated men faster, to replace the ranks of those taken by the plague.

In order for society to continue to function, it turned to the university, on a scale that until then had not been imagined. It was in this context that a massive new addition was added to Oxford University.

New College, when it was created, was larger than all the other colleges put together. It thus represented a new role for the university, on a new scale. Arguably, this was the beginning of the rise of universities in the modern sense. From this point on, universities would come more and more to be the centres of learning and formation of leaders we all know them as today. As a sign of the times, it was the first college to make provision for undergraduates from its foundation. It was also the first Oxford college to have an enclosed quad.

The college, then, was impressively grand when it was founded, and it is one of the most impressively grand today. In between, however, the college went through quite a long period of stagnation, because, amazingly, its statutes were not modified from its foundation in 1379 until the mid-nineteenth century! This meant that, even in Newman's day, there were only to be 70 fellows, not more than 20 undergraduates, all of whom were required to have gone to Winchester College! Probably because of this restrictiveness, its list of distinguished alumni, while hundreds of names long, contains surprisingly few stand-out famous names. (The most famous are probably the absent-minded William Archibald Spooner and the shrill, deluded Richard Dawkins.)

Moving to today, New College ranks as one of the most popular colleges, and for good cause: very rich but not the richest, very old but not the oldest, New College comes near the top in a broad range of categories, without ever being singled out as "that one" for any. The result is a college that seems to have everything, except for an unpleasant stereotype. And, depending on taste, one has every right to rank it ahead of Magdalen architecturally, too, as the most beautiful college in Oxford. Its choir is also world-renowned, making it Magdalen's rival in that respect as well.

The heart of the New-Magdalen rivalry, however, dates back to the 1912 Olympic Summer Games, in which Magdalen won the gold medal over the New College 1st VIII, in part because of the Magdalen captain's unsportsmanlike decision to accept New's offer to chose the lane (the custom was to refuse, as the offer, made by the team who won the coin toss, was made out of politeness). Having chosen the better lane, Magdalen went on to win the gold, and the college toast, "God Damn Bloody Magdalen!", was allegedly uttered for the first time by the New captain as his boat crossed the finish line.

Searching for critical things to say about New College is difficult, but I would say that it is a bit hidden out of the way, although being only a block or so from the King's Arms that's a bit of a nit pick—and for scientists, it's probably a great location for an old college. Formal hall seems to be poorly attended for such a large college, too, from what I could tell.

All in all, though, New offers great facilities, beautiful buildings, a large student body, and a lot of history. And, even though they have to share it with a few other institutions, their coat of arms looks pretty good, too!

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College, Exeter College, Hertford College, Green Templeton College, Merton college, St. Hugh's College, and Mansfield College.

As I profiled Mansfield College last, it seems logical to continue with its neighbour, Harris Manchester College. The two share a lot more than just physical proximity: both came to Oxford in the 19th century as religious institutions from other cities, when non-Anglicans were first allowed into the university. Harris Manchester had a Unitarian affiliation. Like Mansfield, however, the college is today an independent institution, although its statutes still make provision for the chapel and training of Unitarian clergy. In fact, Harris Manchester's history is a rather convoluted one, little of which is relevant to the identity of the college today.

Harris Manchester's identity today is defined by its unique role in the university, as the sole college devoted entirely to mature students. All students at HMC are over the age of 21 when they matriculate, and this common trait, more than anything else, is what leads them to bond as a community. By all accounts the college community is great, although I cannot speak from first-hand knowledge, as my contact with the college was limited, and sadly I never dined there.

So HMC today has a clear identity and a clear role, but it only truly came into these in 1996, with the granting of college status. It was a Unitarian PPH from 1990, but had been in Oxford since 1890. Before that it was in London from 1853, in York from 1803-1840, and in Manchester from its foundation in 1786 and again between 1840 and 1853.

The college (formerly Manchester Academy) has thus travelled all across England in the course of its over 200 years of history, and it has undergone a lot of transformation in terms of its identity as well. Originally a Presbyterian institution , the academy "converted" to Unitarianism a few decades later. While at Manchester, it became a part of the University of London; it's later move to Oxford was motivated by the removal of religious tests at that university. Even so, it took another hundred years for the college to gain full membership in Oxford University.

I suppose that means that in the mean time, there were students at a college in Oxford who were reading for degrees in the University of London, which is pretty odd to think about.

Like Mansfield, the college's buildings appear far older than they are, and are absolutely beautiful. The library, visible from the street, and the chapel deserve particular mention. Despite the college's Unitarian history, the chapel is actually surprisingly well suited to celebration of the Catholic mass, as I discovered when I attended the college mass there. The chaplain of the college left immediately following the sermon, however, so perhaps something of the old identity still remains. Indeed, as the Catholic chaplain remarked, even being allowed to have a Catholic mass in that chapel was fairly significant (which was one of the reasons why I attended in the first place).

Anyhow, I have little else to say about HMC from my own experience, but I do believe that it is a great community for those who are a part of it. I will say, even as an outsider, that I find it unfortunate that the college does not have a boat club, as it is one of the only colleges not to race at Torpids and Eights' Week (rowers at HMC can join the Wadham boat club). Regent's Park is of similar size, and St. Benet's even smaller, yet they manage to field boats, so there's nothing impossible about the idea of an HMC boat. I hope that someday soon students and alumni will get together and make this happen, so this young college can truly become a full part of the university!

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College, Exeter College, Hertford College, Green Templeton College, Merton college, and St. Hugh's College.

Despite preparing for my Oxford experience by learning as much as I could about the different colleges of the university, I confess that Mansfield was completely off my radar. It can thus lay claim to being my biggest surprise in all of Oxford, as I grew to become very fond of this little college. In fact, it is easily my favourite college founded after 1800.

It does not surprise me, in retrospect, that I overlooked the college originally. Founded in 1886, with few notable alumni, Mansfield was founded as a residence for non-conformist Protestant students, which became recognised as a PPH in 1955, and became a college in 1995. Its formal affiliation with the Congregationalists ended in 2007. To my biases, these recent dates, and a Protestant heritage with iconoclastic roots, implied that poor art and architecture were likely to be defining features of the college; accordingly I paid it no attention whatsoever when I began studying colleges.

Imagine then my surprise when I finally did lay eyes on the college, and discovered that my intuitions could not have been more wrong. In fact, Mansfield's architecture is beautiful, and very true to the traditions of Oxford college architecture. The dining hall, while tiny, is ornately decorated with the coats of arms of other colleges and academic institutions, giving it a mediæval feel. (The food is also excellent, among the best in the university.) Even the chapel, while not a chapel in the true sense of the word, is a beautiful space, and the library is truly gorgeous.

For such a tiny, recent college, Mansfield brings together all the elements one expects from an Oxford college, and honestly does so better than many of the older colleges. The place feels 500 years older than it is, and the facilities seem ideally matched to the size of the student body. No college in Oxford surprised me so favourably as Mansfield.

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College, Exeter College, Hertford College, Green Templeton College, and Merton college.

St. Hugh's college is one of the five formerly all-female colleges, which sits on the north end of Oxford in a quiet, nice neighbourhood. Founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth (great-niece of William Wordsworth), it boasts large, spacious grounds, making it a nice college for those who might find the closed quads of the mediæval colleges to be too claustrophobic. Its most famous alumna, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, continues to offer an inspiring example to the world today, showing that not every college need look centuries in the past to find world-changing leaders.

This recent success is all the more welcome, because St. Hugh's early history contains a rather bizarre chapter that some might rather forget! I refer to the Moberly-Jourdain incident. Charlotte Anne Moberly, the first principal of the college, and Eleanor Jourdain, who would go on to become the second, had a paranormal experience in 1901 while visiting Versailles in which they claimed to have been transported in a time slip back to 1789, where they encountered, among others, Marie-Antoinette.

The incident attracts some attention among those who track paranormal activity, because both women had nothing to gain by inventing such a story, and in fact, in virtue of their respected position in academia, a great deal to lose. (As an added twist, it later emerged that the two women were lovers.) On the other hand, their accounts grew in detail over the years, suggesting they were embellishing their story with time, but in any event they themselves clearly believed the event to have truly occurred.

(Fortunately, in the modern day, college principals are protected from such disasters thanks to the diligent efforts of Merton College, whose time ceremony is designed to prevent just such an event from occurring again!)

Despite having many friends at St. Hugh's, I must confess that the college's existence was something of a thorn in my side, even though my reasons for this are entirely unjustifiable! The reason, as one might expect having read my other articles on this blog, is due to a few obscure bits of Oxbridge history.

It is traditional at Oxford for colleges to have a "sister college" at Cambridge. The pairing of colleges is generally not by name (Wolfson College, Oxford is paired with Darwin College, Cambridge, while Wolfson College, Cambridge is paired with St. Anthony's. Queen's College, Oxford is paired with Pembroke College, Cambridge, while Pembroke, Oxford is paired with Queens', Cambridge, etc.). Rather, shared founders or approximate dates of foundation usually decide which college should be paired with which: Christ Church and Trinity, Cambridge were both founded under Henry VIII, and Oriel and Clare were both founded under Edward II.

In fact, there is a beautiful stained glass window at Oriel depicting the two colleges growing as branches out of a single plant adorned with Edward II's coat of arms. It is a natural pairing if ever there was one, for these two colleges were both founded in 1326, and both are under the patronage of Our Lady.

This idyllic state of affairs came apart, as so many fine traditions did, in the 1970s.

While Oriel in the twentieth century was the most conservative, traditional college at Oxford, Clare had evolved quite differently in Cambridge, developing a progressive reputation. In 1972, Clare become one of the first all-male colleges to go co-ed.

Consequently, those hippies decided that having an all-male sister college was no longer adequate, and decided to pair with an all-female college as well, taking St. Hugh's as a second sister college. This may have made sense at the time (although whatever connection they thought there was between St. Hugh's and Clare must have been tenuous at best), but today, when Oriel admits women and St. Hugh's admits men, Clare's arrangement with St. Hugh's as a second sister college seems to me to have outlived its purpose.

I remind readers that I had warned up front that my reasons for disliking St. Hugh's were quite unjustifiable! Besides, I suppose there is no good reason to blame St. Hugh's for Clare's infidelity... To make matters worse, in recent years Oriel has been banned from Clare (due to drunken and disorderly behaviour while there on an exchange dinner), so St. Hugh's is even less to blame for the less than stellar relations we currently hold with our sister college.

One of these things is not like the other

Beyond that, although its location is a bit out of the way and its architecture is fairly unremarkable, St. Hugh's offers spacious grounds which are a rarity among Oxford colleges. These allow it to house nearly all students on its main site, unlike most colleges, which helps build a strong community. Its coat of arms is one of my favourites, too—which may seem like another frivolous point, but for one who plans to wear his college cufflinks throughout the rest of his career, such things are worth taking into consideration!

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College, Exeter College, Hertford College, and Green Templeton College.

Merton College sits near the top of the list of competitive, prestigious, old colleges within Oxford University. (However, one must remember, those are not everyone's criteria for ranking a college.) It is in fact the oldest college of them all, though that title is disputed with Univ and Balliol, but in my judgement Merton's claim is the strongest, as it was the first to organise as a college in the sense we understand it today. Founded in 1264, Merton has a reputation for being the strongest academically in recent decades (along with St. John's). Famous alumni include T.S. Eliot, Cardinal Manning, Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan, and Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony.

Merton doesn't skimp on quirky Oxford traditions, either. Take the "Time Ceremony", when members, dressed in full sub-fusc (dark suit, white bow tie, and academic gowns), walk backwards around the quad, drinking port. The purpose being, naturally, to maintain the integrity of the space-time continuum during the transition from British Summer Time to GMT. As you do.

One thing that sets Merton apart from some of the other old colleges is its "tucked away" location: accessible only from the cobble-stoned Merton Street, the college is in a quiet area, away from all the main thoroughfares while still being extremely close to everything, since it is only a block away from the High Street.

This paradox of having a quiet, isolated feel while being in actuality very centrally located is quite appealing to some, while others are no doubt drawn to Merton for its academic reputation (that being the kind of thing Oxford students tend to care about!).

Architecturally the college is quite impressive, with an oversized chapel once intended to become Oxford's cathedral, and a number of charming, old buildings. It's library is the oldest in the world that remains in regular daily use. Having the cobblestoned Merton street on one side, and the playing fields opening onto Christ Church meadow on the other, puts all these buildings in a beautiful setting, too. There is a greater sense of transcendent timelessness to Merton than any other college, aided by the fact that there is no through traffic on the cobble-stoned road, nor are there any modern buildings in sight of the college. (Unless one counts that upstart Corpus Christi, founded in 1517!)

The only things about Merton that I did not like were the fact that the dining service at formal hall, being on a strict schedule, is rather rushed, and some of the portraits hanging in the hall are done in a modern, abstract style that—call me old-fashioned—is simply out of place in such a room. (At least they hold quality formal halls every weeknight, though, which is more than a lot of colleges can say.)

That is a short list of complaints indeed, when placed against all the good things Merton has going in its favour, making it inarguably one of the premier colleges of the whole university.

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College, Exeter College, and Hertford College.

Before there was a Saïd Business School, there was Templeton College. Like St. Antony's, Templeton was founded during a phase of the University's expansion when graduate colleges were being made to tailor to a specific subject area. For business and management studies, Templeton was for all intents and purposes the business school of Oxford University.

In the same vein, Green College was founded to cater to medical graduate studies. Fast-forward thirty years later, and a not too surprising result can be observed: the business college was able to manage its finances a lot better than the health care one!

In spite of its firmer financial footing, all was not well for Templeton college, however. Located outside the ring road (i.e., way outside of Oxford), Templeton was dramatically cut off from the rest of the university, and its subject specialty (business and management) did not have its own department in the university. While it laid the groundwork for business education at the University of Oxford, Templeton only made the need more apparent, through its shortcomings, of creating a proper business school. This was finally done, in 1996, thanks to the benefaction of Wafic Saïd—but with Templeton no longer the only option for studying business at Oxford, there was very little incentive for anyone to choose a college located outside of town!

That, in a nutshell, explains the forces at work that led to the merger of Green and Templeton colleges, rather than try to continue them as separate going concerns. Templeton would benefit from the beautiful buildings and superior location of Green (which occupied a much older site, the gorgeous Radcliffe Observatory), and Green's financial future would become considerably more stable. An added bonus would be a more diverse student body for both.

So, 2007 saw the creation of Green Templeton College, Oxford's newest college, which is also the overwhelming college of choice for MBA students, and therefore many of my classmates. (I would estimate that about a third of them went there.) They chose GTC for a variety of reasons: its student body and alumni network are filled with MBAs, there is more funding available for business students, and, since the college is attuned to their needs, it provides more family housing options than the colleges that are more focused on traditional, younger students. It boasts attractive grounds, modern facilities, and a location just outside of the city centre that is calmer—a plus for many mature students—while still being reasonably close to everything.

GTC's food is, along with Nuffield's, the best in the university, and the college has fun architectural quirks (notably the observatory, and a small building called the rotunda), that give it a charm and character that are too rare among modern colleges. With the closure of the neighbouring hospital, it is perhaps less ideal for medical students than it once was, but the new humanities, mathematics, and political science buildings going up in its place put GTC in an enviable position to broaden its scope to other subjects in the future, should the college chose to do so. By and large, GTC gets it right as far as being a modern college, but still cultivating a unique æsthetic experience, and good community.

GTC was never on my radar, personally: When I applied, the college was still so new that they did not have their own cufflinks—an absolute deal-breaker for me!—or college scarf. As it happened both lacunæ were corrected the year I matriculated, so my reasons for dismissing the college out of hand turned out to be unfounded. It's clear now that GTC is well on it's way to integrating fully into the larger university—perhaps better than any other graduate-only college. Even its boat club is making rapid progress up the river—the surest way to college legitimacy in the eyes of many an Oxford student! And, in offering accommodation for families, GTC has a lot to teach some of the traditional colleges as well.

Of late I have been revising my Cherokee, a language which, as one might expect, I rarely have occasion to use. Okay, in all honesty, a language I have never had any occasion to use. Even so, every time I do study Cherokee I get something out of the experience, so I felt it worthwhile to write an article explaining why.

I have written before about how learning an endangered language is a meaningful way to build a connexion with a culture that is at risk of dying out (Benefits of Yiddish for the non-Jew). I have also written before about how learning some languages can be of benefit, because the mere ability to think in them actually increases mental capacity (Why Everyone Should Learn a Celtic Language).

The Cherokee language holds merit in both respects. While learning a language may not be something most people consider a social justice action, I have already explained, with regard to Yiddish, how the unparalleled exposure one gains to a culture through its language can be exceptionally meaningful when that culture has been brought close to extinction. Those statements hold just as true for the Cherokee, as indeed for all American Indians.

Cherokee originally held my interest, among the many native American languages, for a number of reasons that make it unique. For an American Indian language, it retains an above-average number of speakers, making it easier to find material in the language. (This is relative, of course—if one brought every Cherokee speaker in the world together, it would still not be enough to sell out an NHL arena.)

Besides accessibility, though, what truly made Cherokee irresistible to me were its writing system, and its unique linguistic properties.

Cherokee is the only native American language to use an indigenous writing system, the Cherokee syllabary developed by Sequoyah. This was the only case in recorded history of an illiterate member of a non-literate people independently creating an effective writing system, making Sequoyah the linguists' equivalent of the Wright Brothers or James Watt. It is one of the most impressive achievements of all time, made all the more so by the fact that nothing like it has ever happened before or since.

The syllabary takes some getting used to. There are 85 characters to learn, and while many of them have deceptively familiar forms, the pronunciation is completely different. D is pronounced a. A is pronounced go. K is pronounced tso, while 4 is pronounced se. Ꮳ, Ꮆ, Ꮸ, and Ꮯ all may look a bit like our letter C, but are all completely different letters, pronounced jah, loh, tsunh, and dli.

Besides taking some time to get used to, that means that Cherokee words are often much longer than they appear. For example ᏥᎪᎯ might look to an English-speaker like "haa", but is actually pronounced tsigohi. In spite of the time it takes to get used to reading and writing Cherokee syllables, however, I strongly feel that it is worth it: unlike any other native American language, it means one gets to use a writing system totally adapted to the language, and one with a unique history behind it as well. (And just because an Indian language is written in the Latin alphabet doesn't mean it will be easy to read.)

Cherokee really captured my attention, however, when I begin to study its grammar. I am already on the record as a proponent of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and believe that learning new ways to process language in our minds actually allows our minds to function in new ways as well. It makes us more creative, and more intelligent. Well, if I thought the VSO word order of the Celtic languages was unique, Cherokee's grammatical properties have blown my mind.

The only surviving member of the Southern Iroquoian languages, and one of only a small number of native American languages still spoken by children, Cherokee has linguistic properties unlike anything I have ever seen. Verb conjugations change according to the category of the object of the verb.

I'm sorry if that sentence is hard to understand, but no European or Asian language I've ever studied has any such concept, making it hard to express: "give me" can be ᏕᏍᎩᏁᎲᏏ if I'm saying give me something liquid, ᏕᏍᎩᎧᏏ in the case of give me something living, and ᏕᏍᎩᏅᏏ for give me something long. A polysynthetic language, the phrases ᏗᏇᏅᏒᎢ ᎨᎦ "I am going home" and ᏗᏤᏅᏒᎢ ᎮᎦ "you are going home" actually vary not only in the verb conjugation, but in its object, since the word for home changes according to whose home it is—the word cannot be separated from its relation. A distinction between living and non-living things permeates the grammar. The pronoun system is amazingly intricate (inclusive and exclusive first person plural forms, etc.). I could go on and on.

I congratulate any readers who are still reading this, as reading about grammatical properties of any language, let alone a language one does not know, probably cannot make for very interesting reading. Rather than prolong the agony, let me just summarise by saying that learning to think in Cherokee is a mind-expanding experience. For this reason, I have found that studying this language is its own reward, and one I do not regret undertaking.

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, St. Cross College and Exeter College.

One of the oddest things about Oxford to me is that Hertford College often seems to pass under the radar. This is a college that sits right on Radcliffe Square—as excellent a location as one could imagine—and being able to walk through it's "bridge of sighs" whenever one wants makes one the envy of every tourist who comes through town. It features in Brideshead Revisited more than Christ Church, and yet for some reason only the latter college ever seems to be associated with that masterpiece. Yet somehow despite all this, the college has no reputation for élitism or snobbishness, and in fact seems unusually welcoming and friendly.

First founded in 1739, Hertford struggled for nearly a century as a poor college with a more austere education than its neighbours, but ultimately failed to thrive and was dissolved by the university in 1816. Happily, the wealthy Magdalen College was plotting at that time to expel its neighbour, Magdalen Hall, which, despite the similar name, was a separate institution. The College wanted to take over the Hall's buildings in order to expand, and so backed a plan to move Magdalen Hall to to the now-vacant Hertford site. With the powerful Magdalen College backing the plan, it was put into action, and the Hall moved into Hertford's old grounds.

Magdalen Hall was originally a grammar school, but offered lodging to university students as well. Eventually it grew to the point that it was able to successfully petition for college status itself. Uncharacteristically for Oxford University, the decision was made to make things less confusing for once, and to avoid having both a Magdalen College and a Magdalen Hall! So, the old name of Hertford College was revived, and voilà: 1874 saw a new college, with the same name, on the same site as the old one that had gone bust 58 years before.

These humble origins gave Hertford something of a "poor cousin" reputation in the university in its early years.

But that would be a pretty bizarre reason to look down on the college today, well over a century later! It may not have the wealth or facilities of some of the richest colleges, but there is a case to be made that it makes up for it by having such an enviable charm, right in the heart of Oxford. Its first quad is gorgeous, and its dining hall is quite unique, being on an upper floor and having a large stag's head dominating the room (as on the college coat of arms). Through its mediæval predecessor, Hart Hall, the college claims as alumni philosopher Thomas Hobbes, and literary giants John Donne and Jonathan Swift. But above all, it has the so-called "bridge of sighs", a landmark every visitor to Oxford photographs, and remembers.

Paradoxically, the bridge means that, while Hertford may fly "under the radar" sometimes to students when selecting their college, it is, with its Brideshead partner Christ Church, one of the only colleges one can easily identify to outsiders who may have only passed through Oxford when visiting. (A lost cause with Oriel: Have you ever seen the 80s movie Oxford Blues, with Rob Lowe? No? Oh, well... it's a very old college).

Whatever the case, Hertford is a gem of a college for architecture, location, and friendliness. Its history might not be the most illustrious of Oxford, but today, Hertford's proposition is as strong as any in the university.

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, and St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, Balliol College, and St. Cross College.

Exeter is the oldest of the three "Turl street colleges". The significance of this is that Turl street is considered by many to be the ideal location, linking the Broad Street and High Street, which run parallel and contain most of the old colleges in Oxford, as well as the best shops.

What makes Exeter noteworthy, besides being the fourth oldest college of the university (and the first that can be numbered with confidence, since Univ, Merton, and Balliol all claim to be the oldest), is its beautiful neo-gothic architecture. Just have a look at the amazing college chapel:

And the hall:

And the view from the Fellows' garden:

The buildings are actually newer than they look (the chapel is Victorian neo-gothic, as opposed to the authentic gothic of the neighbouring Divinity School), but overall the college's entire architecture comes together in a very coherent whole, certainly one of the most beautiful in the university.

With most of the centrally located colleges, I have mentioned their location as a positive point, but Exeter may have the best location of all, overlooking Radcliffe square, butting right up against the Bodleian, and right next to the Sheldonian and Blackwell's.

J.R.R. Tolkien (of Lord of the Rings fame) and Philip Pullman (of Golden Compass infamy) went to Exeter as well, which only adds to its allure. (In fact, the latter still teaches there.) Besides history, location, and architecture, it is unique among Oxford colleges in having its own careers service, in addition to the university-wide one. And its coat of arms even looks great on neckties!

Lesser-known pluses of Exeter are its speakers series (its rector, Frances Cairncross, was editor of The Economist, which gives her quite a network of interesting people to invite), and the fact that the MCR hosts an American Thanksgiving dinner in November.

Anyway, with so much to recommend it, Exeter was on my short list as a college choice. I was lucky enough to get into Oriel, my first choice, instead, but I'm sure no one who attends Exeter regrets it (something which could be said for any Oxford college, I'm sure, but I am particularly certain in this instance).

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, and St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, Magdalen College, and Balliol College.

Among the graduate-only colleges founded in the 1960s, St. Cross offers a unique proposition. In fact, if I had selected a graduate-only college, St. Cross would have been my pick.

(I did not, because I wanted to get "the full Oxford experience" to the greatest extent possible during my short time there—and to me that meant putting up with lots of juvenile undergrads running around. Or something like that.)

What makes St. Cross special is that it is located in the centre of Oxford in ancient-looking buildings, so it provides the feel of an Oriel or a Brasenose while actually catering only to graduate students—and therefore being much, much easier to get into! Adjoining the famous Pusey house, St. Cross' neo-gothic appearance is completely unlike that of some of the other modern colleges founded around the same time.

Besides having nice architecture for a 1960s college, and appearing to be easier to get into, St. Cross' actual specialty is in hosting international students. The diverse student body comes, to borrow from the college motto, from the four corners of the world, with over two thirds of students hailing from outside the United Kingdom.

The college's very name is an Oxford quirk: originally named after St. Cross Road (its original premises), the college kept it's name when it moved to the aforementioned more attractive site in 1981. Ironically, now St. Cross College is on the other end of town from St. Cross Road, near Magdalen Street. Magdalen College, on the other hand, is nowhere near Magdalen Street, but out east near St. Cross Road.

The primary downside to the college is its relatively small endowment, and corresponding poverty of facilities. Arrangements exist to use the sporting facilities of surrounding colleges, so one is not deprived by attending St. Cross, but that doesn't mean that they could not do with some hefty bequests someday, to allow them to become an even better proposition in a hundred years or so!

For now, though, since many graduate students spend more time in their department than their college anyway, college resources are often not a major concern. I think that St. Cross is a fine choice for those who want a centrally-located, architecturally attractive college. For many Oxford postgraduates, that is all that they need.

Earlier today, my brave and beautiful wife gave birth to our daughter, Elisabeth Jeanne Marie-Antoinette Craven, weighing in at 3.2 kg (about 7 lbs 2 oz). Baby and mother are doing well.

To add some size to this article I will take the time to explain the significance behind her names.

She takes her first name after St. Elizabeth Seton. This is meaningful to us on many levels: As the first American-born saint to be canonized, the name calls attention to my American roots. As a convert from Episcopalianism, she shares more in common with me than just her nationality, and I am fascinated by the many parallels between her life and that of the later Bl. John Henry Newman. As a teacher, she also shares an important trait with Emilie, to say nothing of being a mother and daughter.

Her middle names have significance for both my family and Emilie's. Jeanne is the name of one of Emilie's great-grandmothers, and (in English as Jean), of my beloved paternal grandmother. Marie-Antoinette is the name of another of Emilie's great-grandmothers, who only left us a few years ago, having lived past a hundred. On my side, the name is that of my great-great-grandmother, whose father fought under Sherman in the Civil War.

Her parents and her older brother are both overjoyed at the arrival of the little lady, and are looking forward to getting to know her better in the days and months ahead!

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, Pembroke College, and Magdalen College.

In the interest of balancing out my previous article on "T'Oriel", I shall turn now to the college with the Labour party reputation, Balliol. In so doing, the first thing I should point out, again, is that these stereotypes are blown way out of proportion. The head of the university Labour party was recently an Orielensis, and Boris Johnson, mayor of London and a prominent Tory, went to Balliol. So all these things need to be taken with a grain of salt. These are educational institutions which recycle their entire student body every few years, after all. Ποταμοῖσι τοῖσιν αὐτοῖσιν ἐμϐαίνουσιν, ἕτερα καὶ ἕτερα ὕδατα ἐπιρρεῖ.

Some of Balliol's most famous alumni are Adam Smith (who doubtless would not have been a Labour supporter!), John Wycliff, and Aldus Huxley. Founded in 1263, it is, with Merton and Univ, one of the contenders for the title of oldest Oxford college, and it commands a great deal of prestige, making it one of the harder colleges to get into.

In spite of that, the reason for its popularity is not immediately apparent. Balliol does not have the most impressive buildings (Christ Church), nor the richest endowment (St. John's), nor the best sporting record (Oriel), nor the highest academic success (Merton, as measured by the Norrington table).

Nonetheless, to a large segment of the "in-the-know" applicant population, there is no more fashionable college choice than Balliol. I suppose this is due to its all-around strength—while Balliol might not have claim to any superlatives, except a (dubious) claim to being oldest, it does rank highly in nearly every criteria one might come up with. So, it is not surprising at all that Balliol should come out on the top of many a student's personal ranking criteria.

Either that, or a vague perception among 18 year-olds that Balliol's "connections" somehow make it a pathway to power.

What Balliol does have is large grounds (especially in comparison to the nearby PPHs and Turl Street colleges), a fantastic location, and beautiful architecture that matches quite closely with the ideal of what a 'typically Oxbridge' college should look like. It is an easy college to fall in love with.

Fortunately, in my experience, the actual people who do attend Balliol are quite nice, and show nothing of the "superiority complex" that I had half-expected to find. Perhaps therein lies the true secret to Balliol's popularity: you're bound to get more applicants if the people who visit you go away convinced that your college has a great bunch of people to be around.

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, and St. Antony's College, Christ Church, Oriel College, and Pembroke College.

The first quirk to know about Magdalen College is that its name is pronounced "Maudlin" (a classic shibboleth for exposing outsiders to Oxford). The second is that the choir sings from the tower to greet the dawn on May 1st. Third, they have their own deer park. With deer.

Magdalen, then, can lay as much claim as any place in Oxford for having the sort of eccentric traditions that Oxbridge is so famous for. (Speaking of eccentrics, Oscar Wilde was a member.) It can also lay claim to the most beautiful specimens of that amazing architecture that Oxbridge is famous for.

In fact, it is widely considered to be the most æsthetically pleasing college in all of Oxford or Cambridge. And it is very wealthy to boot. (Did I mention they own their own deer park?)

For all these reasons, Magdalen is one of the harder colleges to get into, in spite of its large size. For this reason alone, it was never really on my list of college choices personally (risk of refusal was an important factor in my college selection, as I vehemently did not want to be pooled—though happily the question was moot, as I was accepted into my first choice college Oriel). But, on the other hand, that selectivity is about the only criticial thing I can come up with to say about Magdalen. If your biggest problem is that you are so popular that everyone wants to be associated with you, I'd say that means you are doing pretty well.

I did have multiple occasions to visit Magdalen, however, and their world-famous choir's evensong is not to be missed. I was also lucky enough to get in to view some of the rare books in their old library, although unfortunately I did not attend a formal hall there. It really is a gorgeous place, in fact I would go so far as to say that among the 'super-popular' colleges, it is the most deserving of its reputation as a desirable place to study. Magdalen undoubtedly deserves to be grouped among those colleges that embody Oxford at its finest.

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, and St. Antony's College, Christ Church, and Oriel College.

Typically the first building a visitor to Oxford lays eyes on, if arriving by train, is "my own"—the Saïd Business School. It is a large, imposing building that greets you immediately as you step out of the train station—very handy for our visiting speakers and recruiters coming from London!

When I first visited Oxford, though, we were visiting by car and arrived via the Park & Ride bus, a short distance away from the University. Approaching from the angle we did, Pembroke College was the first Oxford University building I laid eyes on, and so in spite of its small size and tucked-away location, it has never been a college to get lost in the crowd for me.

Like Corpus Christi, Pembroke's primary advantages are in being ancient (it was founded in 1625), and yet small and relatively unknown: it is a hidden treasure. While students at the neighbouring Christ Church are constantly annoyed by the throngs of tourists blocking their way and making them late for tutorials, Pembroke students enjoy the splendour of a traditional Oxford college life in relative tranquility, and can look back to such distinguished alumni as Samuel Johnson, William Blackstone, and King Abdullah of Jordan.

During my year at Oxford, the dining hall was being restored, which is something that has to happen at every historical college from time to time, but for those of us on a one year course it can be quite a shame. The upside, for this year's batch of Pembroke students, though, is that their dining hall is now beautifully restored!

The main downside, as far as I can tell, is that their sporting colour is pink.