The Ship 2016/2017
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It’s been a turbulent year since the last issue of College St Anne’s The Ship: the shock result of the EU referendum and an unexpected election in the UK; the unexpected result of presidential elections in the USA; the divisive impact across Europe of the biggest refugee exodus since World War II; and the growth of religious intolerance – University of Oxford the underlying cause of terrorist attacks from Manchester and London to the further reaches of the Middle East and Africa. You will find all this reflected in the pages of this issue. And a good deal more of a positive and, College Record St Anne’s I hope, entertaining nature: the British passion for our amazing built heritage, our enduring fascination with crime fiction; a stirring reminder of our College history alongside a vision for its future from our new Principal; and a celebration of the opening of our long-awaited new library. All this and more. With the certain knowledge that I am repeating myself, I marvel every year at the range and engagement of our alumnae 2016 – 2017 across the world. We may not have succeeded in getting a comment direct from President Trump’s Oval Office, but the inimitable Alex, as always, has the last word on the changing face of the student world. • Number I cannot thank all our distinguished contributors enough for taking the time to make this latest issue of The Ship an essential read. There is 106 not the space here to list everything, but don’t • miss out on an unusual Careers Column, nor the Society Annual Publication of the St Anne’s inspirational Donor Column. My thanks, too, to busy College staff, who have given time to the issue and, as always, to the indefatigable Kate Davy in the Development Office, without whom there would be no magazine. The Ship St Anne’s College @StAnnesCollege 2016 – 2017 Woodstock Road @StAnnesCollege Oxford OX2 6HS +44 (0) 1865 274800 The Ship [email protected] www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk 2016 – 2017 Registered charity number: 1142660 St Anne’s College St Anne’s College Alumnae log-in area Development Office Contacts: Lost alumnae Register for the log-in area of our website Over the years the College has lost touch (available at https://www.alumniweb.ox.ac. Jules Foster with some of our alumnae. We would very uk/st-annes) to connect with other alumnae, Director of Development much like to re-establish contact, and receive our latest news and updates, and +44 (0)1865 284536 invite them back to our events and send send in your latest news and updates. If you [email protected] them our publications such as The Ship already have an account with one of the and Annual Review. A missing alumnae other Oxford Alumni Online communities, Robert Nodding directory is available on our website (this you can use those details to login. Senior Development Officer can be searched by matriculation year +44 (0)1865 284943 https://www.alumniweb.ox.ac.uk/st-annes/ Communications [email protected] lost-alumnae-directory). Please do let your Keeping in contact with our alumnae and contemporaries know if they are on these friends is vital to all that we do at College. Helen Carey lists and ask them to contact us if they’d Most importantly, we want to help you keep Senior Development Officer like to be back in touch. in contact with each other after you have +44 (0)1865 284622 left St Anne’s, and to foster and nurture a [email protected] global community of alumnae and friends of the College. Position Vacant Alumnae Relations Officer A Celebration of Music, 3 June 2017 / Sophie Cheng You can update your details at any time, or +44 (0)1865 284517 opt out of communications, via our alumnae area online at https://www.alumniweb. Kate Davy St Anne’s College Record 2016-2017 Bristol and West Branch: Ann Revill Photographs ox.ac.uk/st-annes, or you can get in touch Communications Officer Number 106 Cambridge Branch: Sue Collins Front cover photo: Student Ambassadors with us at [email protected]. +44 (0)1865 284672 Annual Publication of the St Anne’s Society London Branch: Clare Dryhurst help out at Open Days and with visiting schools to encourage students to apply [email protected] (SAS) (formerly known as the ASM) Midlands Branch: Jane Darnton to St Anne’s and Oxford. There are 30 Personal News North East Branch: Gillian Pickford Ambassadors in total, featured here are Please send personal news for the Nicolas Stone Villani Committee 2016-2017 North West Branch: Maureen Hazell Elan Llwyd, Emma Pritchard, Eleanor Beard, next edition of The Ship by email to Database and Research Officer President: Hugh Sutherland Felix Bunting (as the College beaver), Kenji Oxford Branch: Hugh Sutherland [email protected] +44 (0)1865 274804 Vice-President: Jackie Ingram Newton, Kir West-Hunter, Kellie Harkin, South of England Branch: Stella Charman or by post to: [email protected] Honorary Secretary: Maureen Hazell Thomas Athey, and Rebecca Wood. Honorary Treasurer: Jane Darnton Designed and printed by Windrush Group P.4, p.7, inside back cover, and Communications Officer Mary Rowe back cover – Keith Barnes Honorary Editor: Judith Vidal-Hall Windrush House, Avenue Two. Development Office Development Assistant www.photographersworkshop.com. Ex Officio: Helen King Station Lane, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 4XW St Anne’s College +44 (0)1865 284536 Members: David Royal and Clare Dryhurst Tel: 01993 772197 All other images copyright St Anne’s College Oxford [email protected] or as credited. OX2 6HS Contents Contents From the Editor – Judith Vidal-Hall 2 Gaudy Seminar: Our built heritage 59 From the SAS President – Hugh Sutherland 3 The many faces of heritage – Helen Ghosh 59 From the Principal – Helen King 5 Millstones into gems – Caroline Stanford 60 Mending our connections – Liane Hartley 63 From the Librarian – Clare White 8 Archaeology from the air – Michael Fradley 66 The roof garden – Laura Mackenzie 10 In Trump’s America: On the slow train – Penelope Farmer 69 Founding Fellows’ Lecture – Keith Priest 12 SAS regional branch reports 73 From the Development Office 16 From the JCR 80 From the Senior Tutor 18 From the MCR 81 Founders’ Dinner Speech – Ruth Deech 20 Finals results 2016 82 Profile: Sarah Ntiro – Brian Magoba 24 Graduate degrees 2016 83 Refugees: The Price of Compassion 26 Governing Body 84 A Country of Refuge – Lucy Popescu 27 Fellows: news, honours and appointments 85 Campsfield Refugees – Helen Salisbury 28 Alice in Space Inappropriate Staring – AL Kennedy 30 Gillian Beer on – Claire Armitstead 87 The Colour of Pomegranates – Roma Tearne 32 Alumnae: news, honours and publications 91 34 Homes for Refugees – Penelope Farmer Obituaries 96 Brexit: the priorities for Oxford – Stephen Rouse 36 - Anne Badenoch 97 Russell Taylor Column 38 - Mary Campbell 97 - Catherine Erskine 98 Donor Column: Knowing what to do – Robert Gardner 41 - Sylvia Hawkes 99 Careers: Decision time – David Langer 43 - Victoria Fairbairns Schankula 101 Poetry for our times – Tom Chivers 46 - Janet Newson 102 - Gina Pollinger 103 Oxford Letter – Elisabeth Salisbury 48 - Joyce Pollon 104 Gaudy and Alumni Weekend 2017 49 - Memorial tribute Rosemary Pountney 105 - Ann Taylor 107 Devaki Jain Lecture – Noeleen Heyzer 51 - Stephen Tindale 108 Translating crime fiction – Siân Reynolds 57 Thank you to donors 110 www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk 1 From the Editor Look to the future JUDITH VIDAL-HALL It’s been a turbulent year out there, over the four days it takes to cover just one Gaudy Seminar; awed by the wit and but with a new Principal and the new journey across the vast and varied wilds of wisdom of Gillian Beer on Lewis Carroll’s Library finally completed, things look the US. Alice in Wonderland; and charmed by Ruth set fair in College Deech at her best defending the principles But our main feature is dedicated to of free speech and the independence of the The year since our last issue of The Ship refugees. In November, ‘The Price of university against the various grabs on its has seen a number of issues come to Compassion’ saw writers, academics, integrity by students and government alike. dominate the media and consume our musicians and medics gather in the Mary attention. Forget the extraordinary results Ogilvie Lecture Theatre to express their And in addition to all our regular features of the recent UK election for now and concern over the treatment of refugees there is more, including the pains – but consider just three: the referendum on the and migrants in the UK, and the hope that mostly pleasures – of translating that most EU and the implications of the vote in favour we might recover some of the compassion enduring of all genres, crime fiction; the of Brexit, the global ramifications of the that had seen the UK welcome refugees ‘rediscovery’ of a 650-year-old poem’s election of Donald Trump in the USA and in the past. The event was inspired by relevance to our current political dilemmas; the bitter debate on the ‘floods’ of refugees Lucy Popescu’s A Country of Refuge, and an illuminating piece on ‘restoring a arriving in Europe. The first two continue to a rich collection of fiction, memoir and sense of place’ from the architect of our preoccupy attention to the detriment of the reminiscence that reminds us of that past new building.