The Pembrokian
ISSUE NO. 32, JULY 2008
Royal Alumnus visits Pembroke Awards for Fellows and Alumni Overview of a Pembroke Year by Andrew Seton Fellow’s Feature: Professor Alex Kacelnik on the tool-making crows of New Caledonia
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Contents News
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The latest news from Pembroke, including a review of the year by Andrew Seton, Strategic Development Director
Sports News
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Eights Week, the Old Boys’ v Pembrokians rugby match and more
Arts at Pembroke
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The latest music and drama achievements within College, plus a look at published Pembrokians from the past year
Alumni Profile
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Richard Darbourne (2000) tells us about how he and his business partner are going into schools and getting children engaged with maths and classics, armed only with a props box, a couple of costume changes, and some witty and interactive scripts
Fellow’s Feature
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Is it possible that certain species can fashion and use tools to achieve their aims in a way often thought peculiar to humans? And how do you investigate that when the shy subjects of your study live in dense forest canopies that make it hard to observe them? Read on to find out how Professor Alex Kacelik and his team overcame these obstacles to come up with some fascinating conclusions - and even more questions to solve...
Events
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A photo gallery featuring pictures of recent Pembroke events, and some dates for your diary
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News
A Pembroke Year by Andrew Seton, Strategic Development Director Selfishly speaking, it’s been an extraordinary first year for me at Pembroke. This is as easy a place as I can remember to arrive at: inclusive, supportive, welcoming and warmhearted are some of the words which come to mind. Less egocentrically, the College has impressed more people than just me during these past 12 months. Here the mots justes would be dynamic, diversified and – increasingly – distinguished (with apologies for the alliteration). Pembroke no longer excels in just a few areas of student and academic life: it is doing remarkably well across the board. These pages testify to that. Since my arrival, apart from experiencing the rich and often international encounters that are involved in doing my job, I have attended a total of five concerts of wonderful and challenging music performed by students, including Bach’s St. John’s Passion; I have been bowled over by“Kiss me Kate”; I have listened to two of our Fellows lecturing on ground-breaking research in their different fields as part of an initiative organised by the Master for other Fellows; I have been mobbed by enthusiastic rugby-playing alumni seated next to me at a “young” gaudy – and watched some more than decent rowing. As you will know from our 2006/7 Annual Report, the College continues to underpin this growing wealth of community experience with a solid financial performance, and real academic achievement. The students seem to learn harder while several of their tutors have won awards from the University for their teaching as well as public accolades for their books. Our Master,
Giles Henderson, a key animator of so much of this diversity, has brought further distinction upon the College in his capacity as Chairman of Oxford University’s Conference of Colleges. And that’s not all. Not wishing to blow my own trumpet as Development Director, Andrew Seton - photo by let me blow yours: you, the Cate Field alumni of Pembroke, have helped annual giving to take off this year. You have given over £310,000 for our Annual Fund this year, a big leap forward from last year’s total of £260,000. This is also due in no small part to the dedication of our student telethon volunteers. It has all helped to make the past year a year of new, and justified, ambition. That ambition is reflected in our plan to construct a large new complex of buildings in a location which would have been unimaginable a few years ago: just next door. You can read more about this in the pages which follow, but this is a project that will seriously transform the life of the dynamic Pembroke community and provide the facilities so richly deserved by an institution that has so long endured the physical constraints of its main site. Thank you, Pembroke, for such a welcome, and for providing such a positive story for your Strategic Development Director to take with him on his travels.
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News A Fourth Quad for Pembroke College plans new building project in the city centre
plus 12 bedrooms in a renovated Bannister Building, as well as the creation of a multipurpose auditorium and new meeting rooms. Subject to permission we hope to integrate the new complex with the existing site by joining them with a bridge across Brewer Street.
With these new buildings we aim to provide accommodation for three years for undergraduates and two years for graduates, meaning that we will no longer lag behind other Colleges in our ability to house our students during their time here. The new auditorium will be a wonderful asset to the active music and drama scene within the College, as well as providing a forum for lectures and large meetings - an advantage not only in the College’s academic life, but also in our efforts to further build our income from conference bookings. Following a detailed We are currently in a period feasibility study undertaken of consultation with our three years ago, the College architect and professional is now in the remarkable teams, with all College position, unique amongst stakeholders being asked Oxford colleges, of being to contribute their ideas able to build new facilities and needs into the design immediately adjacent to the main site in the heart An overview of the chapel and new quads - drawing by permission process. Once this detailed work has produced a scheme of the city - in contrast to of BGS approved by Governing other colleges who face Body for submission for the choice of converting pre-existing buildings to a new purpose, or having to planning approval later this year, we will be in a position to share more precise details. The project is being led by our retreat to the outskirts of the city to build. Bursar, John Church, whose time has been made available In June we exchanged contracts on the acquisition of land for this by the appointment of our new Home Bursar Daren adjacent to Campion Hall in Brewer Street and the car Bowyer. He is supported by a full team of professional park site in Littlegate Street.Arrangements are subject to advisors. the College gaining planning permission for these sites, and for the adjoining properties in Brewer Street which are Of course this project will require a major fundraising already owned by the College, but our plans for the new campaign, and you will be sure to hear more about it in the development include the provision of 90 new bedrooms, coming months.
We are extremely excited to be able to announce the news that Pembroke has chosen a firm of architects to design our fourth quad. Berman Guedes Stretton (BGS) are an established firm of architects based in Oxford and London, and have extensive experience of working with Oxford Colleges to create modern yet sympathetic designs. The illustrations on this page are taken from their initial competitionwinning-design
A side view of the chapel and new quads, including the auditorium and linking bridge - drawing by permission of BGS
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News Pembroke Welcomes Royal Alumnus The Master and Fellows were delighted to welcome His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to Pembroke on 4th June 2008. King Abdullah, an alumnus of the College, was visiting Oxford to receive an Honorary Degree of the Doctor of Civil Law from the Chancellor of the University. During this ceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre the King made a speech which emphasised his desire for peace and stability in the Middle East region, and called on all those present, as well as the UK more widely, to show their support for this pursuit. (A full transcript of His Majesty’s speech is available on the College’s website.) A subsequent ceremony in the Master’s Lodgings at Pembroke marked the appointment of the King to an Honorary Fellowship of the College. This momentous occasion was then celebrated with a reception in the Chapel Quad at which the King was introduced to invited guests. More photos of the day can be seen on the Pembroke alumni website www.pembrokecollege.org (please note you will need to log in to view them. If you have not yet signed up for the site and would like assistance, please email the Development Office on development@pmb. ox.ac.uk).
Prestigious Award Fellow in English
for
Congratulations to Dr Helen Small, Fellow in English at Pembroke, who has been awarded the 2008 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism for her book The Long Life. The $30,000 award (around £15,000) is the Dr Helen Small largest annual cash prize for literary criticism in the English language, and will be formally presented to Dr Small in September at a ceremony at the University of Iowa. The Truman Capote Award was launched in 1994 during a breakfast at Tiffany’s in New York City, on the 40th anniversary of the publication of Capote’s novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It was created to reflect Capote’s concern for the health of literary criticism in the English language. The award rewards and encourages excellence in the field. The Long Life was selected for the Capote Award by an international panel of prominent critics and writers; it examines old age in literature and moral philosophy, from the writings of Plato to recent philosophical works, and from Shakespeare’s King Lear through to Dickens and modern day authors such as Philip Roth and J M Coetzee. Dr Small is also the author of Love’s Madness: Medicine, the Novel, and Female Insanity, 1800-1865, and the editor or co-editor of books including Literature, Science, Psychoanalysis, 1830-1970, Essays in Honour of Gillian Beer, Public Intellectual, and editions of works by Dickens, Menie Muriel Dowie and George Eliot.
Teaching Awards for Fellows King Abdullah signs the Honorary Fellows’ Register - photo by Rob Judges
Congratulations to Pembroke’s two Governing Body Maths Tutors, who this year both won University Teaching Awards. Dr. Anne Henke re-designed the first-year linear algebra course, while Dr. Raphael Hauser has spent several years developing seven new courses for undergraduate and graduate students at the University Computing Laboratory. Both awards are based on criteria which include very positive feedback about course materials from students.
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News College Benefactor Honoured Dr Stanley Ho, who last year made a generous donation to Pembroke to endow a Fellowship in Chinese Studies, was admitted to the University’s Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors in September. The Master and Mrs Henderson hosted a lunch in the Lodgings for Dr Ho and his guests to celebrate his appointment as a Foundation Fellow of Pembroke, and his admission to the Court. Membership of the Court is a distinction bestowed on those who have made outstandingly generous donations to the University and its Colleges. Dr Ho was admitted to the Court by the Chancellor in a ceremony in Convocation Hall, during which the Pembroke choir performed - it was a real honour for the choir to be asked to be part of the occasion and listening to them was a pleasure for all who attended. This was followed by the annual black tie dinner for the Court (one of the most prestigious events in the University calendar) which was hosted by Pembroke and attended by the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and other significant benefactors to the University and its Colleges.
Sarah Brierley and Graham Simpson - photo by Cate Field
Technos Prizegiving This year’s Technos Prize has been awarded to Sarah Brierley (2005, PPE). The prize is awarded annually, in recognition of the College’s relationship with Technos College in Japan, to a final year student with high academic achievement and a special commitment to the cause of international understanding. Sarah was nominated by her tutors, and the Master praised her outstanding contribution to Pembroke in both academic and non-academic fields. Dr Graham Simpson, Principal of Oxford English Centre and alumnus of Pembroke, attended as the representative of the Tanaka family (who direct the work of Technos) and presented Sarah with her prize.
Access Initiatives Pembroke Dr Stanley Ho celebrates his admission to the CCB at Pembroke with Dr Hilde De Weerdt, Fellow in Chinese (3rd right) and the Hendersons - photo by Cate Field
Study of Fascist Italy Wins Book Prize Dr Guido Bonsaver has been awarded the 2008 American Association for Italian Studies Book Prize for his book Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy. Dr Bonsaver’s research centres on 20th century Italian culture, particularly the relationship between political history and narrative (both literature Dr Guido Bonsaver and cinema).
at
Pembroke College was the venue for an entertaining and successful residential event in April for Year 10 students from state schools throughout the South East, held to give them a taste of university life. The teenagers’ stay got off to a dramatic start when a body was discovered in Chapel Quad. The young sleuths were challenged to solve the crime with the help of clues discovered on a tour of Oxford, and academic sessions in Chemistry, Physiology and Languages. The ‘suspects’ were six shady characters including the Master, his daughter and the JCR President (played by a troupe of comedy actors). Organiser Sinead Gallagher, Access Co-ordinator at Oxford University and former Pembroke student, said: ‘Hopefully “Murder in the Cloisters” has helped the students to learn about what going to University means: study your sources carefully, learn to gather facts and question them, and draw your conclusion based on firm evidence.’
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News Success in Annual Fund Telethon In March Pembroke successfully completed its first Annual Fund Telethon, and we are pleased to announce that it proved to be a great success. Our twelve enthusiastic student callers threw themselves into the challenge, and produced wonderful results. They enjoyed the chance to swap stories of Pembroke with alumni from across the generations, and many promising career contacts were made. In addition, 45% of those alumni contacted agreed to donate to the Annual Fund – with the students between them raising a total of £189,000. Thanks to the generosity of those who offered matching funding on certain days of the campaign, the grand total was much nearer to £245,000. This is an amazing achievement, and will make a real difference to the lives of current and future Pembroke students. We’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the Annual Fund as part of this campaign, and of course all the students who worked so hard for the telethon. Every gift is greatly appreciated, and helps us continue our efforts to support and build on Pembroke’s strengths and successes.
Our telethon team - photo by Cate Field
“Oscar for Teachers” Goes to Alumnus Congratulations to Nick Wergan (2003) who, just three years after taking his PGCE at Pembroke, has won a prestigious award for his teaching. The Training and Development Agency for Schools Award for New Teacher of the Year (one of a set of awards known as the “Oscars for
Teachers”) was presented to him by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. Nick worked in the City for fifteen years before deciding to become a teacher, and the skills he brought with him – as well as his vibrant and personal teaching style – meant he was rapidly promoted to subject leader for English after only two years in the profession, and one of his own pupils nominated him for the award he received this month. “Mr Wergan is God,” declared one pupil to the Guardian, whilst another contributed: “A guy in our class used to say, ‘I’ve always hated English, but there’s no one I’d rather hate it with than Mr Wergan.’ That sums it up really.”
Ed Balls and Nick Wergen - photo courtesy of Nick Wergan
Famous Face in the Quad
Senator Edwards with Pembroke students - photo courtesy of Ben Lundin
Pembroke students Ben Lundin and Jack Miller were somewhat surprised to be stopped on Brasenose Lane this Trinity Term by an American tourist and his wife enquiring about Ben’s UNC t-shirt – when they looked up, the couple proved to be none other than recent Democratic presidential hopeful Senator John Edwards and his wife. Seizing the moment with alacrity, Ben spent the next three hours guiding the pair around Oxford – including, of course, a thorough tour of Pembroke, where the Senator was particularly interested to see an old photo of his colleague, Senator Lugar, in the Bannister Gallery, along with the Roger Bannister memorabilia.
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News Long-Service Awards In May the College recognized the dedicated service of four of its staff. It has been almost impossible to be a student at Pembroke during the past 10 years and not know Len Weekes, so those alumni who remember him fondly will be pleased to hear that he has been recognised for his years running the student bar. Gifts were also presented by the Master to Fassil Tsegaye (Hall staff - 10 Christine and Len - photo by Jo Bowley years), Joan Dolton (Accounts - 15 years) and Christine Buller (Scout - 25 years).
New Women’s First Eight Named for Alumna On the final day of Eights Week 2008 we christened the new Pembroke women’s First Eight. The boat was named after Melanie Heath, an alumna of Pembroke from 1990 who sadly died at a young age in 2005. Melanie’s family and some of her friends from her Pembroke days joined the Master and both the first Eight crews at the ceremony, and Melanie’s father Colin did the honours in christening the boat. We wish the new boat - and all the Pembroke crews! - the best of luck in their future outings. A report on Eights Week, and all the PCBC news can be found in the Sporting News section.
College wins Award for Restoration Work In October 2007, Pembroke was awarded an environmental award from the Oxford Preservation Trust for the restoration of Pembroke Street. A rolling programme of renovation over the last few years has resulted in the restoration of seven houses on the street. A historically sensitive approach was taken to both the internal and external works undertaken, preserving and restoring lost and damaged features such as woodpanelling and a Jacobean staircase, and converting the buildings into teaching rooms and en-suite student accommodation. The improvement to the street scene has been dramatic and drew favourable comment from various quarters including the Local Authority. The Oxford Preservation Trust is an organisation which encourages civic improvements of this type and offers awards for schemes which make a significant contribution to the public realm, and its members nominated the work in Pembroke Street for an Award. A ceremony was held near the College on 2nd October and the project’s architect was happy to receive the Award on the College’s behalf. The Trust said: “this complex and extensive piece of conservation work, including lime rendering, reinstatement of windows, and stonework repairs, has much improved the feel of the area.”
The Melanie Heath - photo by Cate Field
Pembrokians Row for Charity A group of current and former Pembrokians rowed to London at the end of Trinity to raise money for the Boat Club and the Oxford Adaptive Rowing Club. The team completed the 110 miles in a two day marathon and successfully raised £1200. Boat Club Vice Captain Paul Hinds said, “This is a fun way to raise money for the club as well as putting something back into the community which we are all part of.” The Oxford Adaptive Rowing Club, which is hoping to become a UK centre of excellence, helps people with physical and mental disabilities to participate and compete in adaptive rowing.
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Sports News
photo by Jo Bowley
Summer Eights and PCBC News by Jonathan Ross, Boat Club President After an extremely successful Torpids with three sets of blades, Pembroke were looking to continue this success into Women’s 3rd VIII - photo by Jo Bowley Eights. Training started early and in earnest, whether it was M1 back in the gym on the Monday after Torpids, W1 going on a training camp before the start of term, or M3 taking advantage of some glorious April weather to put in some miles in Abingdon. Early results indicated that the training was paying off. At Wallingford Regatta M1 was the dominant Oxbridge college and took the scalps of University of London, Southampton University and Molesey’s Sporting Giants in the process. W1 were similarly dominant, challenging an OUWBC Development Squad and thrashing Exeter College. Meanwhile M3 travelled to Bedford Regatta and held Oriel M1 to a length and a half, and then just a week before the start of Eights M1 bumped Radley College’s 1st VIII during a training piece; confidence within the club was high as 5th week started. Unfortunately this confidence was shattered by boat malfunctions and the sheer size of other crews. With the club’s extremely high placing, it became a victim of its own success. Wednesday saw frustration reign supreme - be it M3 rowing over with overlap on St. Anne’s II, W2 finding that the first boats around them contained highly experienced OUWBC members, or M1 having their headship
dreams shattered under Donnington Bridge as the rudder broke and the crew had no choice but to stop rowing.The rest of the week continued in a similar vein but there were highlights that show that the club is still producing some high quality crews. M3 produced an extremely gutsy row on the Thursday to hold off an extremely talented Wolfson M2 crew, setting themselves up on the Friday to bump Magdalen M3 and retake the 3rd VIII headship. M4 rode their luck with klaxons and technical row overs and then managed to secure a bump on Saturday. They remain the highest 4th boat on the river. Despite the fall down the bumps charts the mood at PCBC remains buoyant with all involved looking forward to next year. With a huge number of returning personnel and the election of a new committee with some great plans the club is looking to train hard over the summer and start the 2008/9 season by sending three crews (M1, M2 and W1) to Fairbairns and show that Pembroke will be the college to beat.
Success on the Race Track Dick Williamson (1952) has generously chosen to allow the College to benefit from the successes of his racehorse, Double Header, who ran a great race to be second at Taunton in April at odds of 10 - 1. He followed Double header in the lead - this with a second place at photo by Alan Wright Bangor on Dee. We are very grateful to Mr Williamson for generously allowing the College’s Annual Fund to benefit from these achievements, and look forward to hearing how Double Header continues to get on.
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Old Pembrokians v Pembroke RUFC
by Alex Formstone of the Old Pembrokians When in early 2007 the annual Pembroke College vs. Old Pembrokians rugby fixture for the White Horse Brewery Cup was arranged for October 20th 2007, World Cup Final day, those on the organising committee expected Brian Ashton’s men to have long returned home. However, England’s unlikely success in France was to have a detrimental effect on the Old Pembrokians’ numbers as many of the squad received late call ups to Paris. As tradition dictates, those OPs able to make it to Oxford gathered in the College Bar on Friday evening to discuss tactics and furiously recruit potential players. A glorious autumn Saturday, ideal for fast flowing rugby, greeted the sides at the College Sports Grounds, where, despite much cajoling and in true Pembroke RFC fashion, the OPs were only able to field fourteen men, including a lost and bewildered Tab. The College side requested uncontested scrums, removing the Old Boys’ weight advantage. The game itself proved to be the tightest yet, with the College side trying to exploit their man advantage out wide, whereas the OPs stuck to their strengths, using their forwards to make ground around the fringes. And it was this work in the tight that was to bring the OPs their first score of the afternoon as Pembroke rugby stalwart Alex Formstone (1999) crashed over from close range. OPs fly-half Dom Hammond (2002) was unable to add the conversion. The College side battled back hard and the sides went into half-time locked at 5-5. The College side started the second half the stronger and were to take the lead with a simple penalty kick at goal. In danger of being the first OPs captain to lose the Old Boys’ game, skipper Adam Hunter (2001) took it upon himself to rescue the visitors’ perilous position. Receiving the ball on the College twenty-two, Hunter showed pace, power and poise to spin and twist his way over the line. Hammond’s sweetly struck conversion successfully dissected the posts. With time running out the College launched a series of attacks on the OPs’ line but the Old Boys’ defensive wall rebutted all the home side’s efforts. The College side were, however, to get within a point when, despite threatening deep in OPs’ territory, the home side’s fly-half decide to add to his personal points tally with a well struck drop goal. Soon after Tim Stevens (OURFC) blew the full-time whistle meaning that the OPs had maintained their 100% winning record in the fixture.As ever, many thanks to the College for helping with the fixture, the College Rugby Club for being such excellent hosts, Tim Stevens for refereeing and Andy Wilson from the White Horse Brewery for sponsoring the cup. The next Old Pembrokians fixture has been scheduled for 15th November 2008 to coincide with England’s autumn international against Australia.
An Adventure Sport Company with a Difference Richard Fanshawe (1998) on turning his passion for sport into his profession. Sport has always been my passion. From rowing in the ‘Head of the River’ 1999 Torpid crew to skiing on the annual A Fluid Feeling training course - photo Pembroke ski courtesy of Richard Fanshawe trip, the positive effect of sport on my life has always been very clear to me. On leaving Pembroke I went into Investment Banking – Mergers & Acquisitions – for the best part of 3 years. They were the most unbearable 3 years of my life and I thought that if that’s what City Life was all about, well you could stick it! So I took what I’d learnt in banking and my passion for sport, and combined it with the marketing skill of my business partner to create Fluid Feeling Ltd. – the type of company I wish had been around when I wanted a break from City Life. I’ve never looked back since and have just got back from running a 3 week Snow-kite, Ski & Snowboard course in fabulous Norway for over 35 people. Fluid Feeling offers bespoke time-out courses, career breaks and holidays; the best kite-surfing, snow-kiting, surfing and windsurfing instruction and coaching from top instructors; lessons for complete beginners and experts alike; a choice of 18 destinations worldwide Brazil, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Spain, Egypt, Norway and more; and employment potential around the world through our partner network. Optional addons include professional instructor qualifications, language courses (Spanish or Portuguese); volunteer teaching work; and career and life coaching services from one of the UK’s top Coaches – because there are more jobs out there than Banking, Consultancy, Accounting and Law! For anyone interested in any of the above services, I am happy to offer a discount to all Pembrokians. For more information visit www.fluidfeeling.com, or contact me on rich@fluidfeeling.com / +44 (0) 207 193 4258
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Arts at Pembroke
Pembroke Music and Drama
an informal setting in which singers of all abilities could take part. This culminated in their performance at the Christmas Concert at the GAB. The concert also saw the first performance of the newly formed Pembroke Chamber Players, conducted by Joe Bolger.
by Olivia Patton, JCR Music and Drama rep
Hilary term saw the fantastic performance of Bach’s St John Passion in the chapel, conducted by Music Society President Joe Bolger. The performance included soloists from Pembroke as well as the Pembroke Chamber Singers and Pembroke Chamber Players.
The choir at CCB
Music and Drama has gone from strength to strength in Pembroke this year. With the JCR role of Music and Drama rep being filled for the first time by two people, there has been more scope to develop the already very promising talent in college.
The year began with the Chapel Choir tour to Tallinn during late September, where the choir sang at a number of churches throughout the city under the direction of the Senior Organ Scholar, Laurence Lyndon-Jones. The choir returned to Oxford early to sing at the prestigious Chancellor’s Court in Convocation House at the Bodleian Library. It was the first time that a non-choral foundation college had been asked to perform at the event and was a great honour for Pembroke. On the dramatic side, the year began with a brilliant Drama Cuppers entry as fresher Roland Singer-Kingsmith took on the challenge of Pinter’s The Hothouse. The Pembroke panto was also, as ever, a great success, as a troop of Pembroke players performed a slightly alternative, and very topical, adaptation of A Christmas Carol directed by 2nd year Chloe Reid. Michaelmas also saw the fantastic performance of Langlais’ Messe Sollenelle by the Pembroke Chamber Singers in 7th week. A new non-auditioning choir was launched by the two Music and Drama reps, conducted by Olivia Patton, providing
Arts Week provided the main opportunity for Pembrokians to show off their dramatic side with two very successful performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by 2nd year Chris Thursten, which took place in a marquee on the quad at dusk. Following the new tradition of Pembroke musicals, the PCMS Productions’ rendition of Cole Porter’s masterpiece Kiss Me, Kate ended the week on a high as the hall was transformed into a theatre. The production boasted an enormous number of Pembrokians, including the fully Pembroke production team. Two of the leads were taken by Pembrokians as well as half the chorus and the majority of the orchestra, confirming that it was truly a Pembroke musical and showcasing the exceptional musical and dramatic talent at Pembroke. The master’s recitals ended the year on a high with a record number of attendees Kiss Me Kate in Hall and performers at the final recital in 6th week, organised by Tania Beard. These provide an informal setting for people to perform in the Master’s Lodgings accompanied by wine and nibbles. All photos on this page courtesy of the JCR
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Literary Pembroke
Pembrokians to look out for in your local book shop...
The Aviary Gate - Katie Hickman Elizabeth Stavely sits in the Bodleian library holding the clue to a story that has been untold for four hundred years… In Constantinople in 1599 merchants from all over Europe are vying with each other to gain trading rights in the Ottoman empire. Paul Pindar, a wealthy merchant, has been entrusted with the mission to deliver an extraordinary musical clock to the Sultan, but he struggles to hide a private grief: the woman he loved is lost to him, drowned in a shipwreck. But now there are rumours of a new young slave with golden hair, sighted behind the gates of the Sultan’s harem. Could this be his Celia? The Aviary Gate is a tale of ancient alliances and intrigues, of forbidden love and dangerous secrets.
Katie’s previous works include the travel books “Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon” (an account of a journey on horseback across the forbidden Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan) and “Travels with a Circus” (an account of a year spent living and working with a Mexican circus). Her previous novel, “The Quetzl Summer”, a story of love and death in the Andes, was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year award when it came out in 1992. She is probably best known, however, for her history writing. “Daughters of Britannia: the Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives” (1999) reached number two in the Sunday Times Bestseller lists, and “Courtesans” (2003), an account of the lives of eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century British courtesans, was also a bestseller. Katie’s passions for travel, history and fiction writing come together in this thoroughly entertaining novel, which Joanna Harris hailed as “hugely enjoyable… multi-layered, vividly depicted … filled with the colours, sights and scents of Constantinople in the 16th century. This story is ...fast moving, complex and deeply satisfying.” Cover image and author photo courtesy of Bloomsbury
Also Published... When Innocence Was Bliss - Michael Godley A note from the author: Our dates at Oxford were 1946 to 1949; it was immediately after the war and we all felt that we had been given a wonderful present and couldn’t wait to unwrap it. My wife Heather began this book when she was was 77, and when she became ill she asked me to finish it. It was a perfect comfort to my grief when she died; just like falling in love all over again. But there is absolutely nothing sad about this story; it is full of fun. It is a slice of social history with some people mixed up in it that you might remember. It is a simple world compared with today; the problems were different, but easier to solve. I don’t suppose the book is likely to appear on a P.P.E. or History reading list, but you may find it illuminating, nevertheless. Derivative Actions And Corporate Governance - Arad Reisberg Arad Reisberg provides a detailed and theoretical explanation of the law governing derivative actions. The book gives practical guidance on solving current problems in many jurisdictions based on case law, and on substantive legal, economic and comparative research.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History - ed. John Hattendorf This guide to maritime history covers the entire history of seafaring, from ancient Egyptian shipbuilders to the nuclear submarines of today. Placing maritime affairs in their larger historical context, the encyclopedia shows how seafaring has both reflected and influenced the major economic, cultural, military and political developments in world history. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History was chosen as the 2008 Dartmouth Medal recipient:the medal is given for creating current reference works of outstanding quality and significance. Our Oxford In 2006 Capture the Oxford Moment, a student organization largely made up of Pembroke students, produced “Our Oxford” - a photographic book of real student life - to raise funds for five Oxford-based charities. The book was featured at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary festival and the Radcliffe photographic exhibition, all of which has enabled them to raise over £3,000 for the charities. The students would like to thank all the staff at Pembroke who supported the project, especially the porters for their constant interest and much needed help with storage. Copies are still available through www.oxfordmoment.com or Blackwells bookshop Cover images courtesy of OUP and Bookguild
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Alumni Profile
photo courtesy of Richard Darbourne
Living Learning - Richard Darbourne (2000) ‘I’m sorry Mrs Handlebury we don’t sell round pies…our pies are squared!” In 2006, Pembrokian Richard Darbourne (2000), resigned from a lucrative management trainee contract with the Asian conglomerate John Swire and Sons to realise an ambition. After three years with the company he returned to the UK, not to take up a position with another firm for more money, but to set up a theatre company with a strong emphasis on education. “I’d realised that it mattered to me more than I expected to do something I was passionate about”, he says. “I loved my time in Asia and felt very fortunate to have had the experience but felt I had to do this for my own good. I’d always been involved in theatre from an early age, and was reluctant to turn a hobby into a career, but thought I’d regret not finding out if I could or not”. And so began Temple Theatre (a theatre group that devises generous and playful theatre and recent winner of the Audience Prize for Best Production at Berlin’s 1000 Festival) and Living Learning, a theatre education company. Both companies he runs with business partner Paul O’Mahony who was at Univ. at the same time. The pair met whilst performing ‘Medea’ in the original Greek at the Oxford Playhouse in 2002. Even then there was the desire to create work and write together, hence the name ‘Temple Theatre’, named after the Temple Bar in Cowley where early plans were laid out. However, upon graduating with
a degree in theology in 2003 Richard headed for corporate employment whilst Paul joined the RSC. Three years of business training meant Richard had a bit of experience and a bit of courage to set up on his own. Coupled with Paul’s contacts amassed in the theatre world, this meant the two were well placed to get going upon Richard’s return in 2006. The young company felt it essential to build a strong education program to support their theatrical work. “Staging professional theatre at any level takes a great deal of time and money and is often unpaid. The cost of a modest London fringe production is north of £15,000 and most struggle to break even. I began teaching expelled children from difficult backgrounds in Deptford to support myself and found that a lot of ideas were easier to put across using humour and drama. This led to writing some comedy sketches based around school subjects, in particular maths and classics. Theatre education in school often targets English and Shakespeare and there’s much competition yet every student has to study maths but it’s often confined to its classroom dimensions, and we set about to change that”. This happened in the form of ‘Love is in the Air’ a comedy combining maths with drama. The story follows two kebab shop owners, Peter Aggoras and Archi Mendes, the reincarnated descendents of Pythagoras and Archimedes. Peter tries to tell Archi there is a maths genius hiding in each of us but Archi fails to listen as he is preoccupied trying to win the heart of his true love, Carmela, from local thug Tommy Hardknocks. The two actors play a dozen characters from the pommophobic, cantankerous old lady Mrs. Handlebury (the reincarnation of Sir Isaac Newton)
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Living Learning in action (photo courtesy of Richard Darbourne)
to bookies’ favourite Sammy, who has always got a top tip. The play is interactive and can only reach its conclusion through students helping the characters solve mathematical tasks. The second project was to help promote the study of Classics in state schools. The company developed workshops aimed at different age groups. ‘Telling Tall Stories’ complements the Key Stage 2 study of an ancient civilisation and is aimed at Years 3-5. Many schools choose Ancient Greece or Rome as a topic to study and the workshop brings it to life. Two Athenian brothers, Pericles and Euripides take pupils on a guided tour of Ancient Athens or Rome. Pupils work with the actors to visit and recreate Ancient sites and create characters to retell the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.‘Athene Nike’ or ‘Victory to Athens’ works as a history/drama workshop for years 7-10 introducing them to the Ancient history of Greece including the Battles of Marathon and Themopylae. Initially the problem was getting word around about themselves. With theatre education companies widely differing in quality, schools were often sceptical about new products. “Schools receive lots of flyers for different plays all the time and so word of mouth was vital. We launched in late 2006 and offered ‘pilot’ workshops to different London boroughs. At each one we tried to get as much exposure as possible and ask everyone who saw them to spread the word at Head of Maths meetings and the like.” What was so heartening was the consistency of feedback and retention of schools visited in 2007. Many schools booked for more than one workshop the following year - “which is the best evaluation we could hope for.” Word started to spread as schools used the workshops as end-of-year events, as part of ‘maths weeks’ around the country, as an introduction to a topic or as part of Gifted and Talented initiatives. The two brought two more actors on board and performed over 70 workshops in 2007 and are on course to move past 100 in 2008. “In Jaunary we started to perform nationwide and have travelled to Stoke, Cheltenham, Norfolk and will be visiting Darlington, Halifax and Leeds later in the year”.
Delivering the project to schools that struggle to afford it is a concern for the company. “We want to make the workshops available to all and are continually seeking funding to subsidise workshops at state schools and schools in deprived areas, particularly with primary schools. The Oxford University Classics Outreach program and The Clasical Association generously support the company but it is not enough as demand grows. Ideally we need better government support and support from LEAs in getting the workshops into as many schools as possible. It’s a great and proven way of learning and stimulating pupils of all abilities and we are always interested in parties able to help make our business bigger”. Recently the company have made plans to expand by creating a Living French and Living Biology series. It is hoped that schools could invest in a larger Living Learning program. There is an increasing demand for new media options in schools and they feel Living Learning can work to develop new media opportunities whilst maintaining the element of live performance. So on reflection does Richard have any regrets for embarking on such a journey? “It’s certainly less well paid and the theatre industry is a notoriously unstable environment. Yet being able to see an immediate appraisal of one’s work on the face of discerning teenagers is very rewarding. And being self employed is so varied and challenging that I feel really alive. It’s no dress rehearsal, after all, is it!” Anyone who works for a company with a Corporate Social Responsibility program or anyone in a position to support Living Learning is encouraged to visit the website www. living-learning.org or e-mail info@living-learning.org for more information.
Love is in the Air (photo courtesy of Richard Darbourne)
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Fellow’s Feature
Artisans by Nature - by Professor Alex Kacelnik
a suitably shaped stone, members of other monkey species that are closer to humans from a genetic and evolutionary point of view, and are just as keen on nuts or roots as the capuchins, never make use of any object to get them.
The tool-making crows of New Caledonia
It would be tempting to argue that only very intelligent creatures can use tools, but this would beg the question of why, if intelligence is such a good thing, it is so rare (remember I am talking about non-humans…). Even if tool use were exclusive to intelligent species, one could argue that perhaps it is the use of tools that drove the evolution of intelligence, rather than the other way round. And to make the problem more difficult yet, what is so terribly hard about picking up a crooked stick to reach for a fruit? Compare this to the social skills the same animals show and the hypothesis is even harder to sustain. The list of questions still begging for answers is endless.
Imagine this scene: ‘E’ asks ‘A’ to taste an apple, but the juiciest one is on a high branch. ‘A’ looks at it with longing, and after some painful deliberation takes a crooked stick from the garden’s floor, uses it to attract the branch, and gets hold of the tasty apple. Many would think that this short story encapsulates what is special about humans. Not the longing for juicy apples, of course, as all other animal species like that kind of fruit, nor the fact that one individual was seduced by another (this is the essence of the evolution of communication, and even flowers and bees do it), but the use of an object (a tool) to achieve one’s goals. Be this a screwdriver, a pianoforte, or a computer, we fully depend on tools, to the extent that it is virtually unthinkable for us to do without intermediate objects, even if we imagine having to fend for ourselves in a desert island. The question of interest to a biologist is, then, ‘if tools are so good, why do so few species use them?’ And I say few because we know that some animals do. The list of tool users grows roughly in proportion with research effort: the more scientists look for it, the more examples they find. We know now that all great apes, several New World monkeys, elephants, dolphins, and - depending on your definition of tool - even ants and spiders sometimes use one object to exert action on other. But however long the list gets, it is certain that the list of those who do not is overwhelmingly longer. While some capuchin monkeys use an anvil and hammer to crack open nuts, or dig the soil for roots with
This is particularly curious in the case of birds. It would seem much more demanding to build a beautifully complicated hanging nest, or to sing the 400 odd beautiful songs a nightingale can go through in a single night than to use a stick to remove a worm from a crack, and yet virtually no bird would do the latter while thousands of species do any of the former. I said ‘virtually’ advisedly, because a few do, and it is my hope that they may help us unlock the mysteries of tool use. Tool using birds include vultures (they use stones to crack ostriches’ eggs), herons (they use bait to attract fish to beak range) and the small but notable woodpecker finch, natural of the Galapagos islands, that uses twigs to extract hidden insects. The top prize, however, goes to the extraordinary crows of the islands of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific. These birds are not only the top avian tool users, they compete by rights with the great apes for the title of top non-human tool user. They make and use a large variety of
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clumsy to use them. Tutoring tuned in their pre-programmed motivation and skills and enhanced their performance to achieve excellence (sounds familiar?). The combination of a genetic predisposition with receptivity to learning and teaching is not surprising: that is the way humans learn languages, learn the social norms of their (r) A diagram showing a bird carrying a ‘crowcam’, a diminutive device that includes a forward-facing camera and transmission equipment, and (l) A still taken societies and, indeed, learn to use objects as tools. So, clearly, the New from the video stream sent by a crowcam. Caledonian crow is an exception tools, including sticks of various shapes, stretches of barbed in the animal kingdom, but a vines cut to a suitable length, flexible grass stems which wonderfully instructive exception. Perhaps this species they can use to tease lizards out of crevices and flat tools may help unravel the mysteries of tool use? made by cutting the edge of the leaves of a palm-like tree There is only one way to deal with these kind of biological called Pandanus. questions, and this is to study the animals in their natural In the laboratory, we have found the same range of flexible habitat, to examine what they do, how and when they do resourcefulness, and one famous crow, the late Betty, it, what kind of social system they live in, how important stunned the biological world in 2002 when she solved the are these tools in their everyday life, and many other issues problem of reaching a basket full of food at the bottom of that laboratory work can only suggest. Thus, my colleagues a vertical tube by making a hook out of a piece of garden and I had to bite the bullet and face the hard prospect of wire that she later used to extract the basket. From this spending time in the South Pacific. In a display of true auspicious beginning, Betty went on to further displays of spirit of sacrifice for the sake of science, we went to New ingenuity, including performing the opposite of the former Caledonia and used all the tricks of the field biologist to action, namely ‘unbending’ a wire to make it longer, and learn more about the crows. We started by following squeezing the end of a bent piece of flexible metal strip so tagged birds as they moved in the canopy, but soon found that it could pass through a small hole and help dislodge the limitations of this approach: they are shy, the canopy a morsel. Other individuals, while not reaching Betty’s is thick, their behaviour is modified by our presence and Olympian level of performance, performed similarly it is impossible to establish the long term visual contact striking feats, such as combining the action of up to three necessary to know what they do when they are undisturbed. tools in a sequence to reach a goal. Something new had to be done, and two members of my One of the first questions we asked was whether the unusual team, Christian Rutz and Lucas Bluff, came up with the abilities shown by these animals were intrinsic to the species goods: we should create a video camera small enough to be or perhaps ‘just’ the result of their experience, having grown carried by the free ranging birds, so that we can see what up in places where other crows were using tools and thus they are seeing and doing in real time. being able to emulate the observed behaviour. To examine The problems posed by this project were so large than this we raised some crow chicks in Oxford, with or without they seemed initially insurmountable, not least of them the one-to-one tutoring by their foster parents (readers of The problem of how to recover what the cameras would film. Pembrokian know that the value of tutoring is often stated Such challenges are the spice of the life of any scientist, and but rarely tested!). Chicks raised without tutoring showed a the team rose to it. A year later we had the first crowcams: spontaneous diminutive devices that could be mounted on the tail i n c l i n a t i o n feathers of the crows, facing forwards between their legs. to use tools The cameras send a signal carrying video footage live to to solve our observers in the ground, and conveniently are dropped p r o b l e m s , once the animals moult, so we can recover them and rea trait not use them. The first few hours of video showed information seen in other that had eluded years of direct observation: new kinds of crow species, tools, new uses for their tools, and detailed observation of but they their social life. We are combining the study of the birds’ were poor at ecology with that of their behaviour, both in the wild and in selecting the captivity, and, if you watch this space, we hope to add some right tool for knowledge to the big mystery of tool use. each job and photo courtesy of Alex Kacelnik
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Events
Events at Pembroke We have a lively events programme at Pembroke, and are delighted to welcome a wide range of our alumni throughout the year, from departing finalists on the verge of becoming our very newest alumni to some of our most venerable old members. Whether our events take place in College, in London, or elsewhere in the UK and across the globe, we are always encouraged to see so many Pembrokians arrive to catch up with one another, and to hear the latest on the College. Photo galleries from College events are available on the alumni website, www.pembrokecollege.org, but a small selection of photos from the past year follows here. We hope you enjoy the pictures, and to see many of you at Pembroke events in the months and years to come.
Dates for Your Diary
2008 19-21 September
Oxford Reunion Weekend (see enclosed information)
06 November
London Reception (see enclosed information)
2009 31 January
Annual Meeting (All are invited to this review of College life and progress)
30 May
Garden Party
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Pembroke Events Photo Gallery 1. Guests at the 1957 Jubilee 2. Croquet at the 1958-61 Reunion. 3. Mrs Victoria Schild with the Master and his wife at the 1976-78 Reunion. 4. Naming the new women’s first Eight. 5. Poppy Lamberton and Liz Folliard at the 1999-2000 Gaudy. 6. Rowing at the 1976-78 Reunion. 7. The 1958-61 Reunion dinner. 8. Senator Richard Lugar and Mr Salah Saleh at the Pembroke Washington Dinner 9. Vivian and Kate Sherriffs with Kenneth Garrod before the Oxford Reunion Weekend dinner. 10. Selina Wickham and Kirsty Laughlin at the Leavers’ Dinner 2008. 11. Guests at the San Francisco Drinks Reception. 12. Students perform a concert at the Tesdale Lunch. 13. Dinner with the Chancellor in Broadgates, in honour of King Abdullah II of Jordan’s visit. 14. Children watch the entertainer at the Garden Party. 15. The Master and Sir Peter Ricketts at the London Reception in the Foreign Office. All photos on this spread by Cate Field except 1 (Geoffrey Raisman), 7 (Susan Lavine), 11 (Jeremy Sutton), 13 (Rob Judges)
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Contacting the Development Office The Development Office Pembroke College Oxford OX1 1DW Telephone: 01865 276501 Fax: 01865 276482 Contact details for individual members of the office, and details of the areas each member of staff handles, are available on the Pembroke alumni website: www.pembrokecollege.org. Alternatively, please feel free to call the general office number above, and our Development Assistant will be pleased to connect you with the right person to handle your enquiry.
The Pembrokian Editor: Cate Field Articles by Cate Field, except where otherwise indicated Design by Theme Group Photos by Bi Scott, except where otherwise indicated Printed by Mayfield Press
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