The Tutorials are Set

The tutorials I will be taking with academics in the Oxford area are now locked in and I am quite excited at the prospect of embarking on these adventures in learning.  I get to take two tutorials each semester in addition to the work I will be doing for the capstone Integrated Studies courses and the work I'll need to complete on my thesis.  These tutorials will be weekly sessions, ten of them in all. 

The first one is a tutorial I will be sharing with my good friend Juan.  The topic is Formal and Propositional Logic.  This is essentially a math course, though without numbers.  We will be learning the axiomatic system of propositional logic and how to leverage it as a tool to understand systems of thought.  From my study of the topic back at NAU in 2001 I know that it is quite abstract and challenging, but that the skills acquired are absolutely essential.  I am very keen to re-engage the subject.  My tutor is named Joshua Rosaler and he is a recent recipient of a masters in the Philosophy of Physics.  He teaches at Pembroke college in Oxford proper so I am hopeful that with a letter of recommendation from him I may be able to row for one of Pembroke's teams. 

The second tutorial has turned out to be really special.  It will be team taught by two astronomers who work at Hanwell Observatory and Oxford University.  Their names are Leo Huckvale and Christopher Taylor.  Though I dont know much about Mr. Taylor yet, Mr. Huckvale just finished his Masters in Astrophysics so I am excited to pick his brain on that experience.  The course will take place at the observatory in Banbury, which is an open air public observatory just north of Oxford.  They have several telescopes of different types, including some that echo the workings of more dated designs from centuries past. 

Website:  http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/

 This tutorial will cover the two aspects of astronomy that I am currently most interested in.  Leo will be teaching me the basics of telescope design and use.  We will do some stargazing and hopefully by the end of the term I will be able to help him with some of his own research into binary stars, globular clusters and other astonishingly cool things that lie outside our solar system and our galaxy. 

Since England is host to some tempestuously cloudy weather, I will communicate with Leo and Christopher on a daily basis to determine when best to head up to the observatory for some clear skies and great views.

With Christopher I will be engaging in a study of the history of astronomy, its techniques and tools and notable figures from throughout the ages.  In addition to this, Christopher has some amazing connections with the head curators of the Oxford Museum of Science and once we get into the semester we will be meeting with them to study their collection in parallel with the books we will be reading.  Totally amazing.

  

Action at the Oxford Union

Thanks to some extensive legwork done by Professor Patterson, a few of us were able to get Oxford Union Society memberships in time to attend a talk given by former president Alvaro Uribe of Columbia (the country).  The Union Society is one of the oldest and most prestigious debating clubs in the world.  Founded in 1823, the Union has gained a sterling reputation for the surgical precision and unerring oratory of its debaters.  Many future politicians from a huge number of different countries trained here during their time in Oxford.  The grounds are gorgeously well kept and the buildings are equally beautiful, especially the lavish interiors which have been kept up without any thought for modern aesthetic tastes.  The place positively exudes history.

In attendance on behalf of Shimer were professor Stuart Patterson, Jesus Avina, Juan Guerrero, Eugene Lim & Robert Carpenter.

 Eugene is behind the camera on this one (thanks Mr. Lim!)  We promptly took up a place in the back of the hall where the view was spectacular.  President Uribe entered to thunderous applause and after an excellent introduction from the current president of the Union Society he began an hour long talk that touched on his campaign experiences, his presidency and the future of Columbia. 

With regards to his campaign trail he spoke of the decision to stop at colleges and spark debates among the students in order to bring these sometimes disenfranchised groups closer to the political arena.  He championed three cornerstones of his political platform: the desire to cultivate social cohesion, democratic security and an improved business infrastructure to attract investment. 

The largest criticism of his time in office was the country's human rights record, which he defended in an interesting way.  He responded to such attacks with his plan for democratic security, which was meant as a way to reassure the populace that their lives and livelihoods were safe, that freedom still endured.  He made it a point to avoid employing the use of the military/para-military groups as a strong arm force.  He was especially careful to avoid the institution of martial law.  Although he acknowledged that his human rights record was less than perfect, he was quick to point out that foundations take time to grow into robust institutions.  In the years since his terms the country has made vast strides to improve this troubled area of their history and President Uribe was pleased with this trend.

During the Q&A at the end a young woman stood up and spoke of her dual citizenship in Britain and Columbia and asked what she could do to continue to combat the erroneous stereotypes that still plague Columbia, that of the den of drugs and kidnapping and other nameless villainy.  President Uribe proceeded to cross examine this young woman, asking when was the last time she had been in Columbia, whether she had brought any friends with her on that trip and did the people that accompanied her leave with their assumptions intact or shattered?  Her response spoke of a wonderful experience for all involved and most importantly that none of her companions left feeling that Columbia was still a place rife with violence and drugs.  The president then spoke of how important it is for those who wish to know Columbia to travel there and see for themselves the great changes wrought in the last few years.  For my part, I was hugely glad to have watched the President employ a bit of Socratic dialogue with the questioner so that they could arrive at his answer together.

 The man had presence.  It was truly incredible to hear him speak.

Been sick for the last few days so I haven't been up and about much.  But I did go out for a walk and saw some amazing stuff.  Turned a corner, looked up, and almost all visual cues pertaining to the current century were absent.  Gotta love that.

Across the street from my front door there is a pub.  Its got two levels, great brews, close tables and no televisions.  Its exactly the kind of place I like to go to get a solid drink on. 

Took that picture from the stoop at my front door.

Cant wait to be feeling 100% again so I can walk through those doors and order a crisp lager.

Classes Begin!

Although my tutorials with Oxford Dons do not begin until October due to the trimester system employed here in Europe, our capstone course through Shimer College started today.  It is called Integrated Studies and it is a gargantuan course.  An excerpt from the introduction written by our professor:

"In this course we will be discussing works that span almost four thousand years of recorded history, from the earliest written works known to us, up to the 13th century of the current era.  The scope of the course is vast, incorporating myths, philosophies and theologies of great variety from myriad historical contexts.  We will likely return to the set of questions concerning what has changed and what remains constant in humanity's encounter with itself and the world around it."

The Texts:
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Hebrew Bible/The Christian Bible
Hesiod, Theogeny
Homer, Iliad
Aeschylus, Oresteia
Herodotus, History of the Persian Wars
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian Wars
Plato, Republic
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Epictetus, Enchiridion
Virgil, Aeneid
Augustine, City of God
Dante, The Divine Comedy
Marie de France, Lais
Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies
Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return
Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth
Greek Lyric Poets (Sappho and others)
Aristotle, On the Heavens
Ptolemy, Almagest
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Boethius, "The Consolation of Philosophy" & "How Substances Can be Good"
Peter Abailard, "Ethics or Know Thyself"
Thomas Aquinas, selections from The Summa Theologica
Hildegard of Bingen, Book of Divine Works
Alfarabi, "Philosophy of Aristotle and Plato"
Algazali, "Deliverance from Error"
Averroes, "The Decisive Treatise Determining  the Nature of the Connection between Religion and Philosophy"
Adams, Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres

What a list!  I've been dreaming of this class for three years...

First Tour of the City

Today after orientation we set off on a guided tour of four colleges.  While I usually prefer to do exploration by myself, there's almost no way to just walk into an Oxford College and start taking pictures.  So I relied on our tour guide's extensive network of friends, and it paid off in unrestricted access to the gardens, churches and quads of four gorgeous colleges here in town.  We visited Jesus, Oriel, Christ Church and Exeter colleges today and the views were out of control. 

Here's one from the Exeter Gardens

On the right side there is the iconic Radcliffe Camera.  This next one is from the same gardens, but looking at Exeter's Dining Hall, which happens to be Hogwart's Dining Hall too.

There was no way to get into the individual college libraries without special dispensation or an ID card from that specific college.  Whoever said that "Knowledge is power, guard it well.", clearly had a huge influence on this town.  Each library is a veritable fortress, with many vigilant guards along the parapets.  It would take some epic ninja skills to sneak into any of em.


Exeter was definitely the highlight of the tour today.  Some other fun stuff popped up though :)

  They do exist!

In my history as an internet user, I have attempted to stay away from blogs.  But now, it seems to me an excellent way to share much of my ongoing experience in this amazing place.  If I make this some huge thing in my head, where I have to do it everyday, and have to have pictures, and have to sound eloquent every time, I will probably post about once a month. 

Thats no bueno.

So this is going to be an experiment.  Its my multimedia salad of oxford experience.  Im just gonna throw stuff out here for your viewing and reading entertainment.  Im doing this so its easy for me, which means more gets shared.  Thats win-win

Settling In

I arrived in Oxford at 2pm yesterday.  After some initial trouble finding street address numbers (displaying them in obvious places like on the door or the mailbox seems to be optional) I was able to get into the study abroad program offices and make contact with my visiting professor Stuart Patterson.  He helped me walk one block down the street to my place of residence, whereupon I was beset by a fit of uncontrollable glee.  You see, I get to live in a place in the heart of downtown Oxford.  Its roughly equivalent to living in a walk-up on Houston St. in Soho NYC, or in some preposterous condo above the ritzy shopping areas on Oak St. in Chicago.  Totally ridiculous and unquestionably amazing.

Only took a few pics thus far, many more to come.  Here is the nightly view down the west end of my street...

More to come soon, I need to head back out and get some essentials.