In true Katie-fashion, I had full intentions of writing weekly blogs
about my time in Oxford, and in even more Katie-like fashion, these
weekly blogs have yet to manifest themselves. So, I will write one
today, seeing as my eyes and brain need a break after a couple of
hours of reading Chaucer in Middle English.
For those of you who don’t know, let me explain a bit about the
program that has allowed me to “study at Oxford” and graduate “from
Oxford.” I’m actually a graduate student (for just a week and half
more!) at Middlebury College, which is located in the bustling
metropolis of Middlebury, VT(population 8,000). Middlebury, like
Furman, is a private liberal arts college with just a few graduate
programs. They’re fairly well known for their language immersion
schools, but they also have a summer English graduate program called
the Bread Loaf School of English. I really hate people explaining to
people that I attend a school named after a pantry item, but see, this
school is located up the hill from Middlebury in Ripton, VT (think
Yankee Pumpkin Town) with a view of Bread Loaf Mountain (part of the
Green Mountains). It really does look like a loaf of bread. Imagine,
If you will, if there were a Table Rock School of English or a
Caesar’s Head School of English near Furman. Hmm…both of those
actually sound less ridiculous. Anyway, I swear it’s all legit:
http://www.middlebury.edu/blse.
There are currently 4 campuses, although I’ve actually been to 5
different locations (and I have suggested that I should get a special
award for this). When I started this program in 2006, I was able to
attend the campus in Juneau, Alaska for what would end up being the
last time.  After that I attended the obligatory Vermont hub(2007),
then Asheville (2008), Santa Fe (2009), and now Oxford. A normal run
at BLSE takes you five summers in order to complete an MA in English.
After all this time and water under the bridge, I can hardly believe
I’ve arrived, but then again, it’s been a long time. I’m ready. I
would say that this year in Oxford and my first year in Juneau will
tie for first place in my book, although Santa Fe was pretty great too
(lots of outdoor opera, beautiful sunsets, and free margaritas). I’ll
further analyze the pros and cons of each campus and reflect on my
over experience in later blogs. I should have plenty of spare time in
the upcoming weeks.
So yes, I’ve been hanging out in Oxford for exactly one month today.
My professor, John Fyler, is the director of the Bread Loaf program
here at Lincoln College and actually teaches at Tufts University.
(And, he’s one of the contributing editors of the most recent edition
of The Riverside Chaucer. That’s not intimidating or anything.) I
could have taken a wide variety of other courses actually taught by
Oxford professors, but I think I’m actually glad I didn’t. I think.
The other classes meet far less frequently than mine does, and by all
accounts, they seem to have less work to do. Now, I’m not making any
judgment calls here. I think the “Oxford Style” is a bit more laissez
faire—you get out of the class what you put into it…the professor is
more of a guide...your class meets twice a week….maybe…..you’re mostly
on your own. But, as much as I hate to admit it, considering what I
paid to come here, and considering that this campus only involves one
course (worth 6 credits) rather than 2 (each worth 3 credits), I do
think that I am ultimately learning and stretching myself more in my
Chaucer boot camp class. John is a wonderful man, and despite the
frenetic pace, his kind patience gives us the sense that we’re all
going to do well. I’ve never studied any medieval literature, so I’m
filling in a major academic gap. However, as a result, I haven’t
gotten out of my room, the classroom, or the library very often.
Speaking of libraries, I do indeed possess a reader’s card for the
Bodleian library:http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley . Yes, I did
have to take the official oath in order to receive it, but experience
was far less dramatic than I had envisioned. I think I pictured our
class lined up (after an inspiring speech from the library’s director
or something), us all raising our right hands, and reciting it all
together. Or maybe I thought we had to memorize it. I also thought the
oath would have something to do with academic integrity, the pursuit
of knowledge, or intellectual freedom or something kind of nerdy and
esoteric like that. Anyway, as it turned out, a lady in a black robe
did give us a cool history lesson about the origins of the library and
this Mr. Bodley dude. She also told us a bit more about the nuts and
bolts of ordering books to certain reading rooms (a major pain—though
I am getting used to it), and after that, we divided up into 3 lines
according to our last name, and two other assistants helped in
listening to each one of us reading the pledge and watching us sign
the contract so they could hand us our card. As a matter of fact, it
was about as ceremonious as getting my new social security card
(though quicker, and far more pleasant at least). By the way: here’s
the uninspiring pledge:
I hearby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface,
or injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging
to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library or kindle
therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I
promise to obey all the rules of the Library.
By the way, I’m sure some of you know that you can’t check out a book
from the library. And the summer library hours are limited. This can
make serious research a major challenge.
In addition to its lovely college campuses (Lincoln is one nearly 45
colleges within Oxford), Oxford is also a lively small city.
Actually, the fact that I can easily walk to everything I need (i.e.
Boots, Ryman’s stationary, cafes/restaurants/pubs, shops) is one of
the main reasons I love this campus. It doesn’t involve a 20 minute
drive down a mountain or a 3 mile walk in the blazing hot sun. I could
have easily spent all of my time visiting all the colleges (each with
its distinct architecture and personality), the various museums,
trying out all the restaurants, shopping at boutiques, Oxfam stores,
covered and open markets, I could go punting on the Isis, I could
jogging by the river and see fields of horses and wild flowers and
Norman churches (and sometimes I do), but mostly I read Chaucer…or
read what other smart people have written about Chaucer. Or I write
my own not-so-smart papers about Chaucer’s stuff.
I’ve take a few day trips to London. It’s been a very strange
experience revisiting this amazing city that seven years ago when I
stayed there for six weeks in college, I felt I knew pretty well . The
bus from Oxford to London takes an hour and half one way, so anytime
you go there you’re committed to spending about a third to a quarter
of your day on the bus. It makes me really appreciate how fortunate I
was to stay at the Royal National right by Russell Square for weeks on
end—you just can’t be satisfied with short one-day-at a-time trips to
London. As soon as we get there I feel like it’s time to start
looking for our bus again (which is harder than getting around London
herself). But, this stint is special because Oxford is my temporary
“home,” and it’s pretty wonderful too.
I fear this has been a really boring blog, but I had to start
somewhere. In exactly one week, I will be (I think) free of my
academic burdens as my last paper will be turned in. Maybe blogging
will give me something to do whilst I eagerly await for Ryan to arrive
next Wednesday for a few days of play and then for graduation! And
then…on to Moscow. Needless to say, as much as I’m relishing the
charm of England and the coziness of day to day life here, I’m quite
anxious to start making that Moscow apartment a home…and to “be
home”…which is, of course, wherever Ryan is. And let’s be honest—it’s
wherever my stuff is too. 