Middlebury-CMRS Oxford Humanities Program

Today we went on an adventure — to look for some good coffee!

pic. 1 — our very own Stella longing for coffee!

We went to The Covered Market which was established in 1774 and is at the very heart of Oxford: full of food stalls and quaint little shops, it is a perfect place to have a cup of coffee and a chat!

pic.2 — Stella, Anna, and Eleanor marching bravely towards our destination

Just look at this! Magical!

pic.3 — in which Eugenia gets distracted by the beauty of the place and praises more pictures

Coffee was successfully found! Columbia Coffee Roasters have cute red cups and excellent coffee

pic.4 — red and beige circles on a counter (oil, canvas)

We can confirm!

Something for you to checkout when you’re in Oxford — a perfect break between lectures and studying ☕️📚

pic.5 — Eugenia, Anna, Stella, and Eleanor: caffeinated and content!

We have an exciting post by one of our students, Andy, who has shared with us his wonderful pictures and impressions from his time in Oxford:

‘My name is Andy, and I was a student in this summer’s Museum Studies program. I am a senior at Middlebury, where I run the Darkroom Film Photography Club, and wanted to share some film photos from the program.

As a street photographer, I always dream of random moments, and this was one of them. I took the first photo while walking to Keble Chapel after noticing Santa Claus having a pint at The White Horse. The Sheldonian Theatre and the Clarendon Building give the photo a distinct Oxford setting.

The second photo was taken at Compton Verney. When I think of England, I picture large meadows with sheep roaming free. It’s no Santa Claus, but it feels quintessentially English.

The third photo was taken at the Black Country Living Museum inside the Halesowen and Hasbury Co-op. Shot on cine film, which causes halation, creating a glow on overhead lights.

The fourth photo was taken on Broad Street. All over Oxford there are tons of street performers, and I saw this guy playing his guitar and did not even notice the woman making a face at him. I developed the film. It is something you can only experience with film as further details show themselves in development.

The fifth photo was taken in the Hampton Court Gardens. This enclosed garden was really pretty, and the leaves covering the entrance frame the rest of the garden in this portal-esque way.

The sixth photo was taken during our trip to Bath. On the left is Kayleigh and on the right is Kae. In the center is a random woman going by on a mobility scooter as they take photos.

The seventh photo was taken during our punting trip. In the back is Kayleigh, with Alexis on the left and Ontario on the right. Just before this photo, we hit the man in the background’s boat, and right after, the man crashed into the tree on the left.

The eighth photo was taken on my way back from Keble College. I really liked the way the light hit the house and managed to capture this dramatic shot.

The ninth photo was taken at Blenheim Palace. The film’s lower ISO leaves the image q

Summer in Oxford is lots of fun, but so is autumn! Turl Street is good in all seasons; it is an iconic place and features three very old colleges: Exeter, Jesus, and Lincoln! It also features some vintage jewelry and book shops, a quaint and cool stationary store, and a much beloved coffeeshop! In summer you can get a cup of coffee (and maybe a pastry, too?) and sit in the street watching people and enjoying the university-city ambience. And just a few hundred meters away is the Old Bodleian library itself — get a take away coffee in a keep cup and then ensconce yourself in one of the respectable reading rooms!

at the moment there’s an annual schools abroad directors’ conference happening in Prague — spot our very own Guy in the picture!

a few weeks ago we marked the end of the museum studies programme with a nice lunch at the rooftop cafe of the Ashmolean Museum! just look at all these happy faces! (ignore the heatwave!)

We had a visit from four students who were at CMRS in 1990 and 1991.

We explored the building and had fun trying to work out which rooms might have been theirs. They shared stories about Alun Thornton Jones, whose hand-drawn maps still adorn our walls. He was remembered as lovely, full of life, and partial to a pint at the pub after a field trip. We also saw the kitchen, which was once the site of an epic spaghetti fight! They all remembered one student who was best known for soaking garbanzo beans overnight in his room to make his own hummus. Apparently he is now a professor and we assume still making his own hummus.

We love welcoming alumni back and hearing your stories. If you’re an alumnus or alumna and find yourself in Oxford, please do pop in and see us!

RenaissanceStudies

on Tuesday — on Bloomsday! — our students had an outing to the Ashmolean where they had a chance to discover its latest exhibition — ‘In Bloom’! (What a coincidence!) This is what it looked like! 🌸
[pictures — a courtesy of Eleanor!]

last week we also went to Buscot Park and Kelmscott Manor — verdant gardens and beautiful interiors! A cat, unfortunately, had to stay at Kelmscott…🧶