Living History

The last two days have been intense academically. Dave and Tera presented their research projects yesterday while Amanda and Hannah presented theirs today. These presentations often led to more discussions about how to properly format our research questions. This might seem like a mundane thing, yet in the context of how we have been asked to write this project, it is huge! It would be like embarking on a road trip without defining what highways you are going to use. Understanding this, many of us got together yesterday afternoon with Dr. Jefferis and spent an hour or so dissecting our projects.

Yesterday also proved a great forum for discussing the topic of Islam and European politics, and inadvertently, American assumptions concerning the issue. Dr. Jefferis asked hard questions of us and even we as students asked hard questions amongst each other. I believe these discussions are helping us tremendously to refine our understanding of the situation facing Europe (and the potential implications for the U.S.).

In the evening yesterday, a few of us attended Christ Church Cathedral for their evensong. With the organ beginning to play in the background, one could only imagine the hundreds of years of tradition being lived out in front of them. As the service progressed, it was amazing to contemplate that I was sitting in a church that predated even the first permanent English settlement in North America. The history interwoven throughout Oxford continues to amaze me.

The entrance into Christ Church College which leads to Christ Church Cathedral. This picture does not do justice to the overall magnificence of the college.