Lectures, Seminar and Tutorials! Oh my!

There are several ways in which the formal act of learning takes place at Oxford.

Lectures: In lectures, a professor gives a forty-five minutes talk about a subject without interruption. These usually take place in the late evening and are mostly opened to the public. At Oxford, Emily and I have attended several fascinating lectures which included the titles of, “Is the Pursuit of Happiness making us Miserable?” and “The Big Question: Why We Can’t Stop Talking About God, Science, and Religion.” This week Emily and I were able to attend a lecture from David Grisham, the step-son of C.S. Lewis, and the only person alive who lived with him.

Lecture on "Why We Can't Stop Talking About God, Science, and Religion

Seminars: In these more private, intimate settings, the professor usually will only have his specific students in the room. There are nine students in my program and so the nine of us gather three times a week with our three different professors. Generally, the professor will have assigned us readings and the professor will guide our classes discussion. Our cohort of nine includes four Indians, two Americans, two Pakistanis, and a German. We all have very strong opinions as well so our class discussions are quite lively. For instance, one ended in an American (who will remain nameless) and the German arguing about the difference between the “brain” and “mind.

       My seminar group. We are missing two people.

Tutorials: Oxford is notorious for their tutorial system in which professors and students engage one on one with each other. My supervisor is Dr. Niall Winters (See Video), an Irishman who studies technology and human relationships. These very personal meetings are some of the best parts of Oxford. In these meetings the student and the professor develop more of a “master” and “apprentice” relationship as the professor begins to understand the students needs and then seeks to help the student find where they fall short in their ways of thinking. Having someone guide your learning in such a personally way is really beyond expression. This form of teaching has been a tradition of Oxford for over 800 years since the days when Oxford was a monastery.

 My supervisor, Niall Winters and a video on my subject.

Personal: The last real way in which I engage my subject is through my personal learning. This often consists of hours of reading books and articles in the library and then finding ways to understand the content and then engage with it through critically analyzing it. It is nice here at Oxford because since I only have one assessment in each class I am free to really explore my subject and read whatever material I would like to. Often, to enhance this learning I will spend time writing, walking through meadows, and pondering over what I have read in order to really grasp what the author is trying to say. 

For some reason my college has a video about our library. 

Yes, Fiona is still our librarian...      

Beyond these formal ways of learning there is one additional form of learning that makes Oxford, well, Oxford.

Conversation: Everywhere you go in Oxford there is some conversation taking place. Whether that conversation is related to your subject or not, they are constantly taking place. From pubs to your living room, Oxford seems to be a magnet in bringing together people who want to explore ideas and find ways to understand the world they engage in. These conversations have ranged from “what is learning” to “why Americans have such a strong gun culture compared to India” and even “why dirt is so fascinating.” 

     There have been several other conversations in between but these are just a glimpse of the way in which the pursuit of knowledge is seen as the great question around Oxford.