Oxford
I went to the International DNA Tumor Virus meeting this past week. It was held in Oxford this year.
Oxford is what I imagined an academic town to look like: lots of small, independent shops, bicycles everywhere (some with baskets of flowers on them), winding street, old buildings. The atmosphere oozes elite intelligence.
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, at St. Mary's Hospital in London. In 1940, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at the University of Oxford figured out how to stabilize and purify penicillin. Unfortunately, Florey was not an attention whore, so he and Chain didn't get as much publicity for doing most of the work. Therefore, to the is day, Oxford resents the fact that Fleming gets most of the credit.
The conference was at St. Catherine's, one of the colleges that make up the University of Oxford. From what I understand, students live and socialize at the colleges, but all of their lectures are at the University. Each day at 1, we were served a two course lunch, and at 6, we were served a three course dinner. This apparently is typical for students at the college. Being the uncouth working class background American that I am, I was never entirely sure which fork to use, and if I was using it correctly.
There is a lot to decipher in English culture dealing with class and privilege. It seems to be a lot less subtle than it is in American culture. It has to do with how you speak (what accent you have), where you went to school, how you eat, how you dress. Tons of little signifiers to indicate where you "belong" in society. It's fascinating, and yest frustrating at the same time.
Oxford is what I imagined an academic town to look like: lots of small, independent shops, bicycles everywhere (some with baskets of flowers on them), winding street, old buildings. The atmosphere oozes elite intelligence.
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, at St. Mary's Hospital in London. In 1940, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at the University of Oxford figured out how to stabilize and purify penicillin. Unfortunately, Florey was not an attention whore, so he and Chain didn't get as much publicity for doing most of the work. Therefore, to the is day, Oxford resents the fact that Fleming gets most of the credit.
The conference was at St. Catherine's, one of the colleges that make up the University of Oxford. From what I understand, students live and socialize at the colleges, but all of their lectures are at the University. Each day at 1, we were served a two course lunch, and at 6, we were served a three course dinner. This apparently is typical for students at the college. Being the uncouth working class background American that I am, I was never entirely sure which fork to use, and if I was using it correctly.
There is a lot to decipher in English culture dealing with class and privilege. It seems to be a lot less subtle than it is in American culture. It has to do with how you speak (what accent you have), where you went to school, how you eat, how you dress. Tons of little signifiers to indicate where you "belong" in society. It's fascinating, and yest frustrating at the same time.
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