The Modernist Revolution in Britain

The Modernist Revolution in Britain: 

From Forster to Woolf, Sickert to Bomberg

Oxford Experience week 6: 4 - 10 August 2013

tutor: Henry Mead

This is one of the new courses offered in the 2013 programme:

This course will present a distinctly English perspective on the wave of revolutionary practices in writing and art that coincided with the beginning of the twentieth century. It seemed to some British critics that ‘modernist’ techniques, including free verse, the ‘stream of consciousness’ novel, and the use of abstract form in art, were foreign imports from the continent. This course asks whether there was such a thing as an indigenous British modernism; how far the undoubted European influence was melded with home-grown ideas. The distinctions being made will be set in their historical context, and we will discuss Britain’s position in the wider world from 1890 to 1940; the decline of Empire, social and political problems within England, particularly in the Edwardian period; and the impact of the First World War.

You can find full details of this course here...

Henry Mead has a doctorate from Worcester College, Oxford, and has taught courses on modernist writing over five years. His thesis focuses on the work of T.E. Hulme at the socialist journal the New Age. He has published on Hulme's early modernism, and will co-edit an anthology of essays on modernist broadcasting for the Continuum Press. He is preparing articles on George Orwell, Charles Ginner, Wyndham Lewis and David Bomberg, and has a general interest in modernist networks in London, Paris and New York from 1890 to 1940.

Dig team uncovers 4,000-year-old artefact

Project manager Jane Harrison

VOLUNTEER archaeologists in Blackbird Leys had a shock on their second day of digging yesterday, when they stumbled upon a 4,000-year-old artefact. 

Around 20 people started digging near the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday, as part of a five week project to learn more about the area’s history. 

Organised by the lottery-funded Archaeology of East Oxford Project (Archeox), the diggers hope to discover information about a 12th century priory on the site. 

But they got more than they bargained for at the site on Minchery Farm Paddock yesterday morning. 

Read the rest of the article...

"The Age of Stonehenge" Oxford Experience 4 - 10 August 2013

Stonehenge: a digital laser scan has revealed tool marks from 4,500 years ago, and graffiti made by Victorian visitors. Photograph: Yoshihiro Takada/Corbis

The first complete 3D laser scan of Stonehenge has been commissioned by English Heritage.  The scan has revealed an enormous amount of data, which is now invisible to the naked eye.

Scott McCracken, the tutor for the course "The Age of Stonehenge" commented:

A recent English Heritage project which scanned Stonehenge using laser technology revealed that the stones were shaped in different ways. The sarsens in the outer circle to the northeast were worked to make them glisten in sunlight, perhaps to highlight the view when approaching the circle at the time of a solstice; by contrast the stones in the southwest area of the circle were not so worked. This differential working has been taken as proof that the intention of the builders was to emphasise the alignment of the solstices and in particular that along the processional way, the Avenue, leading to the monument from the northeast.

You can read more about the project here:

Stonehengeup close: digital laser scan reveals secrets of the past

and you can find out more about the course here:

The Age of Stonehenge

"Bishop Odo and the Bayeux Tapestry" Oxford Experience 14 - 20 July

Sunday, October 14 is the 946th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.  The Bayeux Tapestry, which gives us an account of the battle as well as the events that led to the Norman Conquest of England, was almost certainly commissioned by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, one of the most interesting people involved in the Battle of Hastings.

Trevor Rowley, who is the tutor for the course " Bishop Odo and the Bayeux Tapestry" writes:

"Bishop Odo of Bayeux was William the Conqueror's half-brother, whose story was as colourful as his brother's. In this course we will trace his story from being a teenage bishop to his final banishment from England and death on the First Crusade. Odo was almost certainly the patron responsible for creating the Bayeux Tapestry, which we will examine in detail.

You can find the course details here...

Trevor Rowley's book The Man Behind the Bayeux Tapestry is to be published by The History Press in the spring of 2013.

ENROLMENT IS NOW OPEN!

Yes! This is the moment you have been waiting for.  

 ENROLMENT IS NOW OPEN!  

you can find the site at: www.conted.ox.ac.uk/oxfordexperience

"Henry VIII: Renaissance Monarch" Oxford Experience 14 - 20 July 2013

Henry VIII: Renaissance Monarch  
Oxford Experience

 14 - 20 July 2013

Tutor: Glenn Richardson

Henry VIII's lost crown recreated nearly 400 years on 

The lost crown of Henry VIII has been recreated in minute detail, down to the last pearl and thumbnail-sized enamelled sculpture, almost 400 years after the original was melted down along with every scrap of royal regalia Cromwell's government could lay its hands on.

The crown will be exhibited at Hampton Court Palace, where Henry wore the original on great occasions of state and church. It will be displayed in the royal pew of the Chapel Royal, which reopens this month after seven years of restoration work.

Read the rest of the article and watch the video about the making of the crown...

Find out more about the course...

Oxford Experience on Twitter

The Oxford Experience is now on Twitter.

@oxford_ex

"The Life and Times of Richard III" Oxford Experience 7 - 13 July 2013

"The Life and Times of Richard III" Oxford Experience 7 - 13 July 2013 

Tutor: Jackie Duff

Have archaeologists found the grave of Richard III?

In recent weeks the archaeological world has been excited by the possibility that excavations carried out in Leicester have located the grave of King Richard III.

(See for example this BBC article: Richard III dig: 'Strong evidence' bones are lost king)

Part of the excitement revolves around the extent to which Shakespeare's portrait of Richard as a hunchback was true.

These discoveries will contribute a fascinating new light in the Oxford Experience course "The Life and Times of Richard III" which will run from 7 - 13 July 2013.

Jackie Duff, the tutor for the course, said:

"Since his death at Bosworth in 1485 the actions of King Richard III have courted controversy. Was he the despotic monarch, murderous uncle, cold-hearted hunchback described by Shakespeare or were his deeds driven by other, more well-meaning motives? The human remains discovered in Leicester this summer may be those of Richard and prove his physical deformity a myth, but it is unlikely to quell those other controversial aspects of his life which this course aims to examine."

Further information...

Hungry for Learning? Sample Oxford’s Summer Banquet

story by Isobel Warren,  photos by Milan Chvostek



Hang the expense, they said.  Go for  it, they urged.  Live your dream, they exhorted.

So we did.

Last summer, we enrolled at Oxford University and revelled in the sweetest sojourn of our lives.  But six days at Oxford do not a scholar make.  We came away with no honours or degrees – only memories of enriching learning and idea exchange with brilliant ‘tutors’ (that’s Oxford-speak for professors), a sense of wonder at the antiquity and beauty of that vast complex and memories of fun and laughter in the company of kindred souls from around the world.

We learned and marvelled and shared and determined that somehow, no matter how cash-strapped we are, we MUST return – preferably every summer for the rest of our lives.

 Read the rest of this article on the Travel Society Website

Oxford Experience on Facebook

The Oxford Experience is now on Facbook!

You can find us at: www.facebook.com/OxfordExperience