Academics in Dog Collars
The University of Oxford is strange. Its structures are antiquated, its reputation disproportionate, and its influence unparalleled. For many prospective students, this is in large part the appeal of attending the University. And yet the preservation of such archaism for the sake of a conservative a
The Underrepresentation of British-Bangladeshi and British-Pakistani Students
When I leant to turn the radio on in Oxford, a few days after I first moved in, browsing the airwaves caught me by surprise. Here I heard no local Asian radio streaming familiar snippets of Urdu into space. The charity shops noticeably lacked kurtas, decorated shirts with pride of place in my mu
Medusa
CW: Discussion of Sexual Assault I look at you, but this trick only works if you look back. * In first year, we read the work of Hélène Cixous and Luce Irigaray. Both believed (or so we were given to understand) that text had a sex; every work written was shot through with man. […]
Staff-Student Relationships: Where Permissive Policy Goes Wrong
trigger warning: sexual harassment “In our story, there’s no villain, no witch, no fairy godmother, no moral imperative or cautionary conclusion,” reads My Oxford Year, a novel by Julia Whelan featuring a romance between American student Ella Duran and her lecturer, the ‘troubled’ J
The Politics of Space in Oxford
It is perhaps not a surprising statistic – Oxford is the UK’s most expensive city to live in, with an acute lack of affordable and social housing. Over thirty people have died sleeping rough on its streets over the past five years. And the social and economic inequalities in the city are mor
University: An Only Child’s Guide
In my experience, only children are raised in two ways. The first has always been treated as a child, the second as an adult. The stereotypical Little Prince/Princess model of Only Child is a product of the former upbringing. I was the latter: my mother explained to me, aged 10, that I was essential
Free-Speech for Progressives
‘No-platforming’ and freedom of speech are in the news at the moment. Under the new regulations introduced by Universities’ Minister Jo Johnson, academic institutions could be fined if it can be demonstrated that they have suppressed freedom of speech. It’s unclear why it is the role of gove
