September 16

After a very hectic period of preparation, I arrived at Heathrow Airport on 8 September.  The only welcome sign says you are at the UK Border.

Taking this picture caused me to be grilled by authorities as to my intentions with such an illicit photograph.  That finally settled, customs approved entry and I arrived in Oxford in the early afternoon.    Lesson – refrain from taking pictures at entry as the welcome will not be very warm.  As usual, it took a few days to settle in and recover from the five hour time difference.   

This journey is made possible due to the approval of Historic St. Mary’s City and the generous support of Dr. John Feneley and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CMRS).  Located on Shoe Lane (an area medieval cobblers once worked), the Centre is housed in St. Michael’s Hall.

A rather new building by Oxford standards, this early 19^th-century four story brick structure rests right in the heart of the ancient walled city.  CMRS takes American students from select United States colleges and provides them with an intensive British educational experience.  Founded in 1975, it now has well over 4,000 alumni living around the world.   St. Mary’s College was for many years one of the principal affiliates but a new consortium of 17 liberal arts colleges has recently been established.  Students are given a month long session of diverse lectures, many readings, and field trips to notable historic sites, followed by more intensive classes that operate on the British tutorial method.   Very different from the standard lecture format in most U.S. colleges, it provides one-on-one interaction with the professor in discussing the works and ideas of varied Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment figures and historical eras.   And the students must write at least two papers a week plus a major concluding study.  Initially, they tend to be overwhelmed by the different approach and work load.  However, they soon adjust and all the alums I have spoken with say the experience is excellent and they benefited highly from it.  The fall semester, or term as the British call it, focuses on the Medieval era while the Spring semester explores the Renaissance and Enlightenment period.  

While student education is the key task of CMRS, it has also offered summer institutes for American scholars for a number of years.   CMRS will be exapnding its research component to allow academics to stay in Oxford at St. Michaels during the summer, taking advantage of the amazing research resources in the area.  As this grows, CMRS will no doubt become an even more valuable center for scholarship and interaction between British and American researchers.   Another aspect of this scholarly initiative is a two semester post known as a Visiting Scholar in Residence, of which your correspondent is the most fortunate beneficiary.   This allows time to focus on research and writing, in my case in cooperation with Dr. Nicholas Crowe of the CMRS faculty.  More on our project later. 

In the first days after arrival, I got out into the sun to help with the biological clock adjustment and found that the gardens around Oxford are in their full glory.  Here are a few images of some of the beautiful flowers brightening this land.