Download - Clarendon Chronicle Michaelmas Term 2010
On Tuesday, November 16th, the Claren-
don Scholars met at Oxford Town Hall
for their annual reception. The keynote
was delivered by University of Oxford
Vice-Chancellor Prof Andrew Hamilton,
who spoke of the importance of the Clar-
endon Scholarships to the life of the uni-
versity: ‗The Clarendon Scholarships are
a great success story showing Oxford‘s
ability to attract and support the best stu-
dents from around the world. The support
the University has received from Oxford
University Press for these life-changing
scholarships is a truly outstanding sign of
its commitment to scholarly excellence.
Graduate students are a vital part of the
University and its world-leading research,
and for ten years the Clarendon Fund has
enabled Oxford to attract scholars from
around the globe who will become the
next generation of academics and leaders
in their fields.‘
Oxford University Press Chief Executive
Nigel Portwood spoke of the relationship
between OUP and the Clarendon Schol-
ars: ‗Oxford University Press is im-
mensely proud to support the Clarendon
Fund, and our involvement is seen by all
of us in the organisation as something of
great importance and value to the Press.
The relationship between the Press and
the individual scholars is also very impor-
tant to us. This year we are marking the
10th year of the programme. Since the
scholarships began, over 900 students
have now come into the scheme.‘
‗We see the Clarendon Scholarships as
embodying the sorts of values that make
OUP successful, and that are consistent
with our objectives. Like OUP, you are a
truly international and global group.
Scholars have now come from over 60
countries. OUP is rooted in Oxford, but
has offices in some 50 countries and a
presence in a further 40. 85% of our sales
come from outside of the UK. And of our
5,500 employees, more than 60% are out-
side of the UK. That diversity is tremen-
dously important to us as an organisation
now, and will be more so in the future.‘
‗OUP is all about supporting educational
progress for people around the world, and
we like to think that the international
scholars that come to Oxford with the
Clarendon Fund are ultimately a product
of that overall endeavour.‘
Scholars Gather at Annual Reception
Vice Chancellor Professor Andrew Hamilton
addresses the crowd in the Oxford Town Hall
Volume 1, Issue 1 Michaelmas 2010
Edited by
Claire Higgins Annette LaRocco
Rob Persson & Jen Thum
newsletter of the clarendon scholars’ association
IN THIS ISSUE
Annual Reception
Message from the President
Hongliang Zhang’s success
Scholar presents at European Conference
Featured Scholar Profile
Fieldwork on Three Continents
Scholars’ new science website
Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference
An Organ Scholar in Oxford
OUP’s New Release
Classical Romanticism at the Sheldonian
Big Band Tour
Archaeologists to organ-ise conference session
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Have you submitted
your Scholar Profile ?
Email:
And visit the Clarendon
Fund online for other
Scholar Profiles!
www.clarendon.ox.ac.uk
The Scholars were then treated to the
first screening of the Clarendon Scholar-
ship Film, in which familiar faces dis-
cussed how the Clarendon Fund had
helped them to achieve their goals at Ox-
ford.
After the reception, the Scholars
made their way to The House Cocktail
Bar on Blue Boar Street for the after
party. They were greeted by free cock-
tails, a variety of cheese and crackers,
and fresh fruits. The House's comfortable
and private setting was an ideal venue
for the Scholars to exchange information
and ideas.
As the night went on, many
friends were made and collaborations
started, and the Scholars left brimming
with good spirits and new ideas.
—Derek Hollman, 2nd Year DPhil
Condensed Matter Physics, Merton
College
Scholars Gather at Annual Reception (cont’d)
A Message From The President
All of the events hosted by both the Uni-
versity and the CSA have been incredi-
bly well attended this term, including the
fantastic OUP Bookshop Reception. Fur-
thermore, the CSA has been working
hard to ensure that the rest of the year
remains just as exciting. We have a jam-
packed social calendar (stay tuned for
events coming up in Hilary – West End
expeditions, theatre trips, a day trip to
Stonehenge, concerts, the Talking Heads
lecture series and the Global Scholars
Symposium. Make sure you keep check-
ing your emails for a full update on
what‘s going on!
I wish you and your families a
very Merry Christmas and festive holi-
day season.
—Amber Hood
President 2010-2011
Clarendon Scholars’ Association.
Dear Scholars,
Welcome to the first newsletter
of the 2010/2011 academic year and in-
deed the first newsletter of the Clarendon
Scholars‘ Association! The Clarendon
Scholars‘ Association (CSA) has voted
in our first constitution and is now regis-
tered as an official university student
body with the University.
The aim of the CSA is to facili-
tate networking and communication be-
tween Scholars – we are all united as
Clarendon Scholars, but are often di-
vided across departments, divisions and
colleges. Our activities and events mean
that there is continuous dialogue and
friendships built among Scholars who
would not normally have the chance to
meet during everyday university life. A
once-a-term newsletter provides another
avenue for Scholars to communicate and
engage in our community.
Page 2
OUP Chief Executive Nigel Portwood speaks
at the Clarendon Scholars’ Reception
Above: Members of the Claren-
don Scholars’ Council enjoying
the Clarendon Scholars’ Recep-
tion after party at House Bar.
(left to right ) President Amber
Hood, Secretary Laura Pereira,
Treasurer Claire Woods, Gen-
eral Councillors Caitlin
McElroy and Sam Whitehead
Clarendon Scholars now
receive a 20% discount
at the Oxford Univer-
sity Press bookshop on
High Street
To take advantage of this,
take along your Bod Card
and the letter from the Uni-
versity stating that you are a
Clarendon Scholar
Above and below: Clarendon
Scholars enjoying the OUP
Bookshop Reception,
18th October 2010.
newsletter of the clarendon scholars’ association
Clarendon Scholar Hongliang Zhang has
achieved great success over the course of
2010. In October he presented a paper on
Electronic and morphological investiga-
tions of In2O3 nanostructures and thin
films at the 17th Joint Annual Conference
of the Chinese Society of Chemical Sci-
ence and Technology in the UK and the
Society of Chemical Industry Chinese
UK Group, and was duly awarded the
First Prize for Excellence in Chemical
Research. He has also presented at other
prestigious international conferences,
including invited talks at the European
Materials Research Society Fall Meeting
2010 in Warsaw and the 16th Interna-
tional Conference on Crystal Growth,
Beijing. In addition, his group has pub-
lished five papers on their research, in-
cluding „Surface energies control the self
organisation of oriented In2O3 nanos-
tructures on cubic zirconia‟ in Nano Let-
ters, the foremost journal in the area of
nanoscience.
—Hongliang is in his 3rd year
of the DPhil in Inorganic Chemistry at
Keble College
Success for Clarendon Scholar Hongliang Zhang
Scholar Presents at European Conference
Clarendon Scholar Sashikesh Gane-
shalingam presented a poster presenta-
tion this July at the European Confer-
ence on Atoms Molecules and Photons
(ECAMP) titled ‗Interaction of hydro-
gen Rydberg molecule with silicon
semiconductor surface‘. Sashikesh‘s
group‘s presentation focused on how
different states of the Hydrogen
Rydberg molecule, an electronically
excited state of molecular hydrogen,
interacts with doped silicon surfaces.
The ECAMP in held in Salamanca, Spain, ‗selected some interesting scientific post-
ers to present during a poster session‘, says Sashikesh. He says that the conference
was the best opportunity to present his work, and that he is ‗really thankful to the
Clarendon Scholarship for giving an opportunity to share my research work with
other researchers and gain much knowledge in my area of research.‘ More details of
the conference, including its speakers, can be found at www.ecamp10.com
—Sashikesh is in his 4th year of a DPhil in Physical and Theoretical
Chemistry, and is a student of Magdalen College.
Page 3
My academic interests
include anthropology of
religion, gender and eth-
nic politics in China, as
well as feminist and post-
structuralist theory. My
Master's thesis will focus
on Muslim women in
China. I recently gradu-
ated as Valedictorian from
Marymount Manhattan
College. I currently aspire
to a career in academia or
p u b l i c p o l i c y .
M y r e c e n t w o r k ,
―Mongolian Music in Post
-Secular China: The
Search for a New Cultural
Identity‖ has been pub-
lished in the April 2010
issue of Asian Journal of
Literature, Culture, and
Society Vol 4.1 (2010): 1-
19.
Singapore
2010
MSc Modern Chinese Studies
Featured Scholar Profile
ANGELA POH
Hongliang Zhang accepting his
award, the First Prize for Excellence
in Chemical Research
Sashikesh’s poster presentation
Volume 1, Issue 1, Michaelmas 2010
Over the past year I have been pur-
suing my research around the
world. I have conducted fieldwork
in Namibia and Chile, attended
conferences in Switzerland and
Costa Rica, and worked with a
research team in South Africa. I
am investigating international min-
ing firms‘ contribution to develop-
ment in the areas they operate. In
particular, I am researching the
role of corporate foundations es-
tablished by mining firms and now
providing a hybrid model of pri-
vate sector investment in develop-
ment. Through this work I have
not only gained valuable information for my DPhil, but in trekking in and out of ura-
nium and copper mines had the privilege of working in the communities of people
involved in and affected by these operations. This research has been a remarkable
personal opportunity of challenging independence in remote and often beautiful land-
scapes. Moreover, in this time in the milieu of the fieldwork process I recognized the
significance of what I could access, reflect upon and contribute to from the unique
position of an academic. In writing my thesis I aim to mobilize my opportunity for
engagement through academic research to contribute to our understanding of the use
of different corporate governance structures to better integrate private sector contribu-
tions to development.
—Caitlin McElroy, 3rd Year DPhil, School of Geography and the Environment
and Brasenose College
tos and images from across different
fields of science, updated weekly and
selected especially for your computer
desktop or wallpaper. We would love
you to visit, have a look around, let us
know what you think and even submit an
image from your own research!
—Jonathan Webb
3rd Year DPhil Physiology, Anatomy
and Genetics
Worchester College
Late this summer, something new ar-
rived on the web. Something new and
nerdy. Set up by Clarendon Scholars
Jonathan Webb and Neil Rabinowitz,
among others, Nerd Alert (http://nerd-
alert.net) is a science-based website that
aims to entertain and to promote scien-
tific thinking.
Nerd Alert features a podcast
that is also webcast live on Oxide Radio,
a blog with weekly essays on science-
related topics, and also a series of pho-
‘Nerd Alert’: Two Scholars start science website
Page 4
Fieldwork on Three Continents
Above: Caitlin McElroy at the Atacama Desert
altiplano volcano and glacial lakes, Chile
Above: Neurons and their
fibres in a Zebrafish brain.
A ’Desk-top of the Week’ from
http://nerd-alert.net
newsletter of the clarendon scholars’ association
Clarendon Scholar Amanda
Clarke has been invited to
speak at a conference on
Youth Participation in Poli-
tics, organised by the Brit-
ish Group of the Inter-
Parliamentary Union.
Amanda will discuss
strategies for engaging
young people in the de-
mocratic process.
The conference will be
held in 9th week, Decem-
ber 8th and 9th at the West-
minster Palace.
Hailing from Canada,
Amanda is in her first year
of a DPhil in Information,
Communication and the
Social Sciences within the
Oxford Internet Institute.
She is a student of Balliol
College. Best of luck
Amanda!
Scholar to speak at
Inter-Parliamentary
Union Conference
Organs are probably not the first thing
that one associates with Oxford, but for
the organist, this city is an absolute de-
light. Within ten minutes of my accom-
modation, I can play instruments suited
to a repertoire as diverse as Bach, Cou-
perin, Guilmant, Widor and Messiaen!
From the sparkling precision of the
Queen‘s College Frobenius, to the rich
tonal pallatte of the St. John‘s College
Aubertin, I feel as though my ears have
been opened to entirely new ‗sound
worlds.‘ It is not, however, a matter of
mere ‗tones‘: some organs at Oxford
have caused me to radically rethink my
playing style, as the combination of sen-
sitive playing actions and appropriately
voiced pipework encourage a more nu-
anced approach to the music. Coming
from a place with comparatively few
organs and even fewer organists
(Australia), I am enjoying the new per-
formance opportunities and friendly
community of organists that Oxford of-
fers. A rich selection of masterclasses,
recitals and opportunities for tuition have
given me new challenges and perspec-
tives, and I feel my playing style matur-
ing as I am exposed to new ideas and
techniques. These opportunities provide
a breadth of perspective that I find is im-
proving the quality of my research, and
reinforcing my belief in the inseparabil-
ity of musicological research and per-
formance studies.
— Andrew Cichy, 1st Year DPhil in
Musicology, Merton College
• Designed and compiled for use by both
English and Chinese native speakers,
with over 300 cultural notes
“a superb reference work, one that should
wind up on the desk of every English-
Chinese and Chinese-English translator”
—Professor Howard Goldblatt,
Chinese language specialist
Endorsed by academics world-
wide, the Oxford Chinese Dictionary has
been produced using the unique diction-
ary resources of Oxford University Press
in Oxford, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, as
well as the Foreign Language Teaching
and Research Press in Beijing, together
with an international body of expert ad-
visors.
For more information, contact
Julia Hall on 07986 683940 or at
On September 9, Oxford University
Press released the Oxford Chinese Dic-
tionary, a new single-volume work with
over 300,000 words and phrases and
370,000 translations. It‘s the world‘s
largest, most up-to-date, most accurate,
and most authoritative Chinese-English /
English-Chinese dictionary.
• Includes 12 months of FREE access to
Oxford‘s online dictionary service, Ox-
ford Language Dictionaries Online, in
Chinese
• With thousands of new words from
fields such as computing, business, and
the arts
• Simplified Chinese characters and
lookup by Pinyin and radical indexes
• Practical support for students, includ-
ing example letters and emails
Page 5
An Organ Scholar in Oxford: Andrew Cichy tells us of the city’s rich resources
OUP’s New Release
Volume 1, Issue 1, Michaelmas 2010
Above and below: Some more
pictures of Clarendon Scholars
and OUP staff enjoying the
OUP Bookshop reception, 18th
October 2010
On Sunday 28th November
30 Clarendon Scholars were
treated to ‘Classical Roman-
ticism‘ by the Oxford
Philomusica, in the beautiful
surrounds of the Sheldonian
Theatre. They enjoyed Bee-
thoven‘s Violin Concerto in
D, featuring the incredible
Nicola Bernadetti on violin,
and a superb rendition of
Brahms‘ Symphony no. 2 in
D. The tickets were organ-
ised through the Clarendon
Scholars‘ Association, and
we can look forward to more
Clarendon outings at the
Sheldonian next term!
Scholars enjoy Classical
Romanticism at the Sheldonian
Standing on a large stage and belting out
monosyllabic attempts at Mandarin isn‘t
something I typically expect to do on my
summer vacation (or ever). However,
thanks to the wonderful people at the
2010 World Expo in Shanghai, I was
given the opportunity to travel with the
Oxford University Big Band to perform
in the opening ceremony of their Music
Month (kudos to them for organizing
anything at all in 40° weather and the
kind of humidity that hasn‘t existed since
the early Roman steam baths).
Having played, recorded and
toured pretty extensively before coming
to Oxford, I didn‘t think I‘d be able to
handle cutting out music cold turkey.
Luckily, OUBB took pity on me and I
was offered the bass. Not used to (or ex-
pecting) much compensation, the pros-
pect of a few free ball tickets had me
very excited to be a part of the group. At
the end of Michaelmas term, it was an-
nounced that we‘d be off to China the
following summer, a quite unexpected,
and exciting, perk.
Shanghai was a bit of a
culture shock. We were
routinely stopped on the
streets and asked to have
our picture taken with one
of the locals. And then the
locals‘ friends. And then
they needed a group pic-
ture. By that time a queue
of people would have
formed, all waiting to have their picture
taken with us.
Overall, the people really were
fantastic and I was treated to one of the
best trips of my life. So if you play an
instrument, wipe the dust off your trom-
bone and get involved. There are plenty
of bands around Oxford that need musi-
cians. Maybe you too could end up play-
ing ‗When the Saints‘ on the Great Wall
or be asked to promote a Mongolian
dance show on Chinese national televi-
sion.
—Scott Culligan
2nd Year DPhil Inorganic Chemistry
Jesus College
Mitchell's work and respond to it in the
context of their own fieldwork. Jen will
present a paper about ancient and mod-
ern interaction with the Fayoum Portraits
from Graeco-Roman Egypt, based on her
undergraduate thesis. Rob's paper will
examine how shifts in the foci of schol-
arship manifest in Egyptology, and syn-
thesize them to examine the scenes that
recount the Battle of Kadesh.
—Jen Thum is in her 1st year of the
MPhil Egyptology at University Col-
lege, while Rob Persson is in his 1st
Year of the MPhil Egyptology at St.
Cross College
Jen Thum and Rob Persson's proposal
for a session at the Theoretical Archae-
ology Group conference at UC Berkeley
in May 2011 has been accepted. The title
of their session is "What Do Pictures
Want? Picture Theory in Archaeology ",
a concept modeled on W.J.T. Mitchell's
What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and
Loves of Images (The University of Chi-
cago Press, 2004), which purports that
images are "not just inert objects that
convey meaning but as animated beings
with desires, needs, appetites, demands,
and drives of their own". The two have
asked participating archaeologists to read
Page 6
Scott Culligan’s Big Band Tour
Archaeologists to organize conference session
newsletter of the clarendon scholars’ association
The next issue of the
Clarendon Scholars’
newsletter will be
published in Hilary
Term 2011
Have you attended a
conference, completed
fieldwork, or travelled to
interesting places?
Submit your photos and
stories to the newsletter
team via
claire.higgins
@merton.ox.ac.uk
The Clarendon Fund
website contains all
the news of upcoming
social events, Scholar-
ship Profiles and the
new Clarendon Schol-
arship Film!
www.clarendon.ox.ac.uk
Submit your
Clarendon Scholar
Profile to :
Scott Culligan in Shanghai on
the Oxford University Big
Band Tour