An Integral Update

Friday, 28 September 2012

I suppose that, amidst catching my blog up to the present day, I should probably let you all know what I am currently up to during my first semester in Oxford.

It's incredible to look back and realize that I've been at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies for over a month.

I moved into our cozy establishment here at CMRS, St. Michael's Hall on Shoe Lane, on Thursday, 30 August. On Monday, 3 September, we had our first lecture of the term to kick off our Integral Course, "The Making of the Middle Ages". For the past four weeks, my classmates and I have been immersing ourselves in everything "medieval", including history, art, religion, literature, architecture, and philosophy, between the years 800 and 1500 AD. During these weeks, we had two lectures per day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Each Wednesday we had an all-day field trip to a location or two pertaining to the course. This month, we visited Berkeley Castle, Winchester, Wells Cathedral, Glastonbury Abbey, and Warwick Castle. Additionally, each of us was required to participate in one of the local field trips; I elected to participate in the Medieval Oxford Trip. Dr. Philpott, our Senior Tutor here at CMRS, whisked us around Oxford to "read" various buildings and other sites to catch glimpses of the medieval past of our city.

Whilst all of this is happening, we are expected to be reading as much as we can on a selection of topics in order to familiarize ourselves with Medieval Europe and to prepare for our big exam. Of course, as good college students, we make time for relaxation from academics, which has taken the form of pub outings, coffee dashes, city exploration, hangouts out in the JCR (Junior Common Room, aka our lounge/kitchen area), and the occasional weekend trip. A couple weeks ago, a couple classmates and I took a bus out to Broadway, a small town outside Oxford, to spend a few hours walking through the glorious Cotswolds.

More recently, I was thrilled to have a special visitor this week: my thesis advisor and CMRS liason, Dr. Holmes! He came all the way from Franciscan University in Steubenville to participate in a big, fancy gathering of officials from all the colleges and universities that are part of the CMRS Consortium. He also brought letters and love from my Totus Tuus Maria household sisters, and took me out for coffee and a chat :) What a gift and a joy it was!

With Dr. Holmes in Oxford!

As I mentioned earlier, I have the big Integral Course exam coming up - it's in less than a week, on Wednesday, 3 October. We'll have to write four essays answering questions arising from the lectures of the past month. So between now and then, I have a lot to do that looks something like this:

Currently reading....

In addition to the exam, there's something else super significant coming up: NOUGHTH WEEK! Noughth Week, or 0th Week, is what Oxfordians call the week before term begins. During this week, all the university students move in, and all the freshers (freshmen) come up to Oxford and enjoy various festivities and club fairs and the like. What's really exciting is that all of us at CMRS get to participate in the Oxford Freshers' Fairs. So that gives us something to look forward to after our exam is over. Additionally, many students meet with tutors to arrange times for their term tutorials. On Monday and Tuesday, I'll be meeting with my tutors for my two tutorials, "Women and Literature in the Middle Ages" and "The Inklings", and on Thursday, I'll have my first seminar class for "The Arthurian Legend".

Well, there you are - a brief update and a look ahead. In a couple days, it will be October and the official start of Michaelmas term. For now, I must return to my books. Over the next few days, you'll find me primarily
HERE:

The Radcliffe Camera at the Bodleian Libraries

DOING THIS:

Ah yes, the Oxford life ~ Cheers, everyone!