Welcome back to university blogs! This week, we are traveling from warm and sunny Stanford, California all the way to colder and rainy Oxford, England. As you may have already guessed, this week we will be talking about…
The University of Oxford!
History
This one is a classic. Established in the year 1096 AD, The University of Oxford (abbreviated as just “Oxford”) is the oldest English-speaking university in the entire world (1). However, the university came to prominence in the year 1167 when King Henry II banned English scholar from traveling overseas to attend the University of Paris. This consequently drew many scholars to attend Oxford (2). By the 14th century, Oxford had built up a great reputation in the community, earning the praise of kings, sages, and popes! Always well-known for being actively controversial, religious and political disputes are no stranger to the university. For example, Oxford wasn’t the biggest fan of Henry VII’s love life. In 1530, Henry VIII demanded that the university accept his divorce from Catherine of Aragon (1).
Prominent Features
The Oxford University Press (abbreviated OUP) is second oldest and currently the largest university-run press in the world. The OUP published over 6,000 new titles. In fact, the United States can’t even compete in terms of publication production. In addition to publishing in well over a dozen countries, the OUP’s operations are still much larger than any American university press (3).
Oxford operates many museums and galleries, all of which are free of access to the public. Most notably, Oxford is home to the oldest university museum, the Ashmolean. Founded in 1683, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology is the oldest museum in the United Kingdom and attracts over 380,000 visitors per year (4). The Ashmolean displays historically significant artifacts including works by Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Picasso along with exceptional works like the Alfred Jewel, an unusual Anglo-Saxon piece made of enamel and quartz enclosed in gold, and The Messiah, a Stradivarius violin crafted in 1716 that is considered the only one of its kind to in an as new state.
Academic Reputation
It is no surprise to most people that Oxford is one, if, the world’s best university in terms of academics. Oxford was ranked #1 by Forbes in 2016 and was #1 in the 2017 Times Higher Education World University Rankings (5)(6). In 2013, the university faired well in the QS World University Rankings, with first place in philosophy, modern languages, geography and English language and literature (7).
In Popular Culture
To diehard Harry Potter fans, Oxford is instantly recognizable as the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The university’s Bodleian and Christ Church colleges created the perfect gothic backdrop for the Harry Potter film series. In fact, Oxford offers Harry Potter Walking Tours, where fans can tour the real sets of the films and how they served as an inspiration for the films for a price of 20 euros (8).
This wraps up week 2 of university blogs! Stay tuned for week 3 to learn more about a school that may elicit a boo from a PSU student.
3.The Oxford University Press-NYT