Entrance (from inside) of King's College at Cambridge University, Cambridge
On Friday (December 5th) we had the privilege of going to visit Cambridge and Cambridge University for the day. Professor Rudalevige happens to know a teaching fellow there, a man he met while doing his undergraduate degree, Professor Vaux. Professor Vaux showed us around King's College, where his office is, giving us a brief tour. We were allowed in the chapel at the College where the BBC was preparing to film its annual choral celebration of Christmas. The tour was a brief one; we simply walked around the King's College's campus, ate lunch in a College dining hall and then returned to Professor Vaux's office for a discussion about higher education in the United Kingdom and at Cambridge. Cambridge differs greatly from most universities. It requires that students applying must know what they want to study by the time they are sixteen-years-old. Once accepted, students take classes only within their course of study, very different from the way a liberal arts education works at a school like Dickinson. Students attend lectures: some students may be required to go to lecture four hours per week, others seven hours per day, it depends on the course. After the lectures, students have one-on-one sessions with a professor or a teaching fellow to discuss the material. Professor Vaux currently has 18 students he meets with in different disciplines, among them linguistics and French. Students have what the English call "coursework," essays and smaller assignments throughout the year, but their grade depends entirely on an exam they take at the end of the semester. Professor Vaux told us a story about one of his students who had a particularly good understanding of what he was studying and didn't hand in a single one of the smaller assignments throughout the semester because he knew he didn't have to show Vaux that he understood the material, but, of course, flourished on the exam. It's a different world...
After our discussion, we had the opportunity to explore Cambridge on our own. Lauren Deitz, my roommate from London, Tristan Deveney and I walked around together. We visited the Fitzwilliam Museum, a museum with a very diverse collection of art. There were classical paintings, sketches by Michaelangelo and Da Vinci, paintings by Monet, sculptures by Rodin. Seeing the works of great artists such as these is slowly becoming somewhat commonplace since I've been here, but it is still wonderful to see their work.
We wandered through the Cambridge Market and some of its small streets, and stopped for tea at a small café/restaurant before going to the train station to catch the train back to Norwich. It was a good day, and the general consensus amongst the members of the group was that we enjoyed Cambridge more than we enjoyed Oxford, as many of us (including myself) spent most of our time lost in Oxford). Cambridge seemed to have more to offer, more to see. The campus was more beautiful and the city seemed more cheerful--but perhaps that is the holiday season talking.
Here are my pictures from Cambridge:
Oh, and we were incredibly lucky to have one of the more beautiful days we've had in awhile in England. I found myself taking pictures of the sun and the blue sky because it had been so long since we had last seen it. It was also beautiful yesterday, and is today, as well.
Yesterday I went into Norwich for a break from paper-writing with Deitz and Leah Gable and got gifts for my flat's upcoming Secret Santa gift exchange and the Yankee swap we are doing with the Dickinson group. For those who may not know, a Yankee swap consists of putting all the gifts in pile. Everyone draws a number, and the first person picks a gift and opens it. The next person has the option of taking that person's gift, or opening a new one, and so on and so forth. Deitz, Leah and I completed our shopping and stopped for tea at my favorite place in Norwich, the Britons Arms, a wonderful old tea house in Elm Hill, the oldest section of Norwich.
I'm off now for some editing and proofreading sessions of the 18th Century Writing paper I finished writing this morning. When I'm finished with that this afternoon, I will have only one more paper to write before I leave on Friday. That's right, I come home in five days. FIVE! I'm very excited. On Wednesday, however, my flat and the other flat that is on our floor will be making a huge Christmas dinner together. I'm looking forward to it, it should be wonderful!
That's all for now! Love to everyone at home and abroad! See (some of) you soon!
-ZMG
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