Miscellanea Cantabrigiana
The other (quite similar) place
Oxford may be four hours away by bus, but psychologically it’s our closest neighbour. What can we learn from them, and they from us?
The Other Place - not all that bad, really.
Whisper it quietly, but Oxford is quite a nice place, and not a bad university either. True, Oxonians visiting Cambridge tend to sigh wistfully about what could have been; but when we head to Oxford, many of us have the same reaction. The grass, of course, is always greener on the other side, which explains this intra-Oxbridge envy, for the similarities between Cambridge and Oxford far outweigh our differences. Nonetheless, each university has its own distinct advantages from which the other could serve to learn.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM OXFORD
Brand identity
Like it or not, Oxford is more famous than Cambridge – outside the UK, at least. Among people with an interest in education, the two are usually rated equally (often just behind Harvard – but that’s another story), but the general public is more likely to have heard of Oxford. This is partly because of the ubiquity of the OUP, with its English Dictionary, ‘World’s Classics’ series and range of textbooks; partly because of the dominance of post-war British politics by Oxonians from Attlee and Macmillan to Thatcher, Blair and Cameron; and partly because of the alluring, hedonistic image of Oxford forged by the likes of Waugh and Wodehouse, as against the wilfully eccentric Cambridge of the Bloomsbury set and the Cambridge spies. If we are to win the propaganda war, Cambridge must not be content to be well-regarded only among academic circles, but must throw itself out into the world of self-publicising. Perhaps it could launch a line of alcopops?
Exam season
Most Oxford undergraduates have only two sets of exams, in their first year and their third. Naturally, each year counts for relatively more than the Cantabrigian’s annual flurry, but the fact that not everyone is doing exams in the summer term means that the place does not shut itself down in quite the same way as Cambridge – swiftly-acquired learning still hangs heavy in the air, but it is not as suffocating as it is here. Moreover, this system means that the majority of people get to enjoy at least one of those captivating summers without undue work pressures; we would kill for that privilege. Oxford also seems to appreciate the aesthetic value of exam season far better than we do: not only do they have a splendid building in which to crank out the fruits of their labours, they also kit out their students in a snappy suit, complete with a carnation whose colour denotes how far through the process they are: white for the first day, pink for subsequent days, red for the last. Marvellous.
Oxford Union
While the Cambridge Union has been making great strides in the last couple of years, its Oxonian younger sister is still the big-dog of debating societies. Its headquarters are in far better nick, its corridors are livelier and its speaker line-up more impressive: this term has seen Imran Khan, John Bercow, Nigel Farage, David Nutt, Richard Dannatt and, thrillingly, Courtney Love. Sure, its hacks are if anything more ingratiating, and it costs £50 more to join, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that they are far ahead in the reputation stakes. Perhaps if our Union aped theirs in inviting Nick Griffin and David Irving we too might hit the headlines.
WHAT OXFORD CAN LEARN FROM US
Architecture
Obviously, Oxford has lots of beautiful, charming and impressive buildings. Nonetheless, its colleges, all built (or at least faced) in that same white-yellow limestone, can seem a little monotonous. One can hardly tell apart the likes of Balliol, Univ, Trinity, Queen’s; the effect is pretty, but God forbid one should seek a little architectural variation. In Cambridge, on the other hand, every college is uniquely different: compare Trinity with Clare, King’s with Catz, Jesus with Caius, and you will see buildings of vastly different aspect yet with equally glorious results. Even our ugliest buildings – John’s Cripps Court, the University Centre – show a vision and boldness which one cannot but admire. Oxford should be unafraid to chase after architectural flair.
Tripos
The Tripos system may have its faults (see ‘Exam season’ supra), but its concentration on a single discipline focuses the mind in a way which many Oxford degrees do not. For example, there one cannot study either Economics or Philosophy as a subject in its own right, instead having to pair it with the likes of Management and Politics. Joint-honours degrees may seem like a great idea – two degrees at once! – but in fact they are more work, while causing the student to emerge with an incomplete knowledge of two unrelated subjects. The Tripos recognises this, while providing through its bipartite structure an easy way to change path if one makes the wrong decision. Oxford gives too much leeway to flakiness.
May Week
The crowning glory of the Cambridge calendar is – of course – May Week. And what do Oxford get? A few balls (not as good as ours) spread out through the term, and then a slow fizzling-out of the year, as finalists slope quietly towards the exit. Their summer starts not with a bang, but a whimper. We get the best parties in the world, held on consecutive nights and interspersed with (somewhat) civilised garden parties; they don’t even get graduation parties. They may have a more relaxed summer term, but at least we end it in serious style.
Fucking get over exam term Hugo.
Oxford. Cambridge.
*snarl*
take ppe – what is philosophy without a sense of economics and politics – could lead to airheads chasing an increasingly irrelevant subject area (and moreover expecting the state to subsidise them)-politics without economics or philosophy – the worse kind of trade union leader – economics without politics or philosophy – the kind of idiots who surrounded mrs thatcher in her political dotage- the three hang together which is why oxford has produced many more political leaders and minsiters than cambridge. (you’re still great cambridge you rejected me but accepted my son- so at least you did something right.)
While I do wish we had to wear special uniforms for our exams – it was the reason I almost chose to apply to Oxford over Cambridge! – I must point out that some students in Cambridge do not have exams every summer term: English and History first years are not examined formally. If you had chosen one of those subjects, you would have been able to indulge in “one of those captivating summers” for yourself…
Nice article, nice comments (generally). I love our universities.
Great article! Will post it to the alumni people at St John’s
(Oxford), Sidney’s sister college.
Regards
Heinz