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In defence of consent training

Madeline Gillett
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In defence of consent training

CW: sexual violence

It is often well-intentioned, stereotypically ‘progressive’ people who argue against the need for Freshers’ Week consent training, or at least find it obsolete. This includes even those who are the most committed to dismantling rape culture, as well as those who are aware that sexual violence is horrific; something that they would never dream of committing. They might think those who really need the training won’t be receptive anyway, so what’s the point? Those who oppose rape culture might feel comfortable that they would never jeopardise someone else’s bodily autonomy, and think that those who could are a separate class of citizen; no amount of healthy discussion can be expected to save them, especially not an hour’s worth while hungover on a Wednesday afternoon. However, even thinking this unconsciously contributes towards a dangerous culture of complacency, ignoring the very nature of sociopolitical progress and how it manifests across time. 

During Freshers’ Week consent training, I heard people say that choking is a normal, expected part of sex. I also heard the term ‘normal sex’ batted around a lot, without any real attempt to actually explain what this was, or what exactly people are consenting to when engaging in it. In reality, ‘normal sex’ is a vast umbrella term for an array of acts. 

These oversimplifications are not inherently sinister, nor were they spoken by people whom I’d deem deeply ignorant and apathetic towards consent, such as the bigoted types you’d expect to see in a TV drama that stages sexual violence. What these assumptions do signify is the necessity to rid our minds of sociosexual scripts.

Sociosexual script theory was first coined by the sociologists John Gagnon and William Simon in 1973. It refers to the internalisation of societal norms, which can dictate how people act in sexual situations: often sex is informed by expectations of what is ‘normal’, as well as, or even more so than, preference. The theory becomes especially pertinent when thinking about gender roles and sexuality in sexual encounters. It’s not out of the ordinary to feel that you need to do something in a ‘mainstream’ or ‘conventional’ way, nor does it make you a bad person. What this can do, however, is make you feel pressured to enjoy certain types of sex more so than others, and make it unclear what is being consented to when sex is brought up. For example, sex is not necessarily just penis-in-vagina (PIV), even when it is between a cisgender man and woman. For one person, this might be the norm and to be expected. For the other, it might be deeply uncomfortable, or even not physically possible. 

Sociosexual scripts engender a harmful hierarchy of acts, deeming some less ‘serious’ than others, and therefore requiring less informed consent. What might be considered foreplay for one person can be the main event for the other, and so what one person is happy to rush into might be deeply vulnerable for the other. Sociosexual scripts are also inherently heteronormative: when we assume that ‘real sex’ is penetrative, we exclude what might be the norm for two cisgender sapphic women, for example, as well as pressuring cisgender, heterosexual people to define safe sex in a specific way. 

Choking and sexual strangulation are clear examples of this. Studies consistently show that there are significant risks and harms associated with this act, but what used to be considered a kink has recently made its way into the mainstream sexual script, with over one third of 16-25 year olds reporting being choked at least once during consensual sex in a study done in December 2024. There is a sense that this is both because of an uncritical approach to what is manifest in pornography – a disregard for its chauvinistic stagings and glorification of power dynamics – and also a desire to not be perceived as ‘kink shaming’. While there is merit in warranting people freedom for sexual self-exploration, it is essential that this rising trend is accompanied by an active dialogue about the dangers of strangulation, and the recent spike in choking-related deaths. In order to avoid situations such as these, kinks are often accompanied by ongoing conversations about boundaries, safety, and comprehensive aftercare, because of the awareness that they fall outside the bounds of the ‘mainstream’. The very act of shifting something from the category of kink to ‘normal’ sex requires reflection. When we make something a standard that was once physically threatening, and still is for many, people may assume consent, when open dialogue is required to foster a safe and comforting environment. Consent training, in this light, can be viewed as the absolutely essential counterpart to mainstream pornography, which engenders certain expectations if consumed uncritically. 

Consent training becomes more pertinent than ever when we dispel ‘the monster myth’. This refers to the notion that sexual assaulters are inherently monstrous people, detectably evil and with no capacity to be perceived as normal people. It breeds complacency: people think that they are immune to violating people’s consent if they do not associate with this stereotypical ‘evil’ or disregard for their sexual partners’ welfare. Breaches of consent also result from lapsed communication and a socially-informed assumption of preference, which manifests as selfishness or entitlement. Sexual violence can be perpetrated by close friends, in seemingly mundane environments. Understanding this is also key to understanding why survivors might not fit the script that society expects them to: they might remain friends with the perpetrator, or not even realise that what occurred was a breach of consent until much later. After the recent discourse about the ‘Cornell 7’ and people discrediting Jane Doe for remaining close to her abusers soon after her assault, it is more relevant now than ever before that we dismantle all expectations for survivors, and understand how common it is that sexual violence does not necessarily manifest in a violent or explicit manner. 

Consent is not only breached because the perpetrator does not care about the other person or is acting with wholly malicious intent. It can happen because of a lapse in communication, an incorrect assumption, or a misunderstanding between the parties involved about what sex entails. Complacency and misinterpreting consent as a case of monster versus human show a lack of nuance or ongoing reflection, both of which are key in understanding how to achieve attuned consent. This is why consent training is still important – the people who are receptive to it are still the people who need it. 

As co-president of ItHappensHere, an anti-sexual violence campaign for Oxford University students, I call for all colleges to have consistent and comprehensive consent training, including for postgraduates. It is essential that we foster a space where survivors know that their concerns are cared for, that their experiences count, and that there are people who are committed to creating an environment of informed consent. They deserve to know that the culture of complacency is being dismantled, one hour-long session at a time. 

SHVSS

ithappenshere.co.uk

survivorspace.org.uk [Oxford based]

solacesarc.org.uk

New scholarship created for Afghan women at Oxford

Freiderikos Vassos
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New scholarship created for Afghan women at Oxford

One scholarship will be awarded to a woman of Afghan descent to study at the University of Oxford each year in a new endowment from the Weidenfeld-Hoffman Trust. The scholarship, announced this month, will cover postgraduate tuition, travel costs, accommodation, and general living costs.

Eligible students must have already met the admission requirements for postgraduate study at Oxford and be of first- or second-generation Afghan descent. The money will endow the scholarship permanently, allowing it to continue supporting a female Afghan postgraduate student each year.

The scholarship results from a £2.5 million donation from Shabana Basij-Rasikh, an Afghan educationalist. Basij-Rasikh was herself a recipient of a scholarship from the Weidenfeld-Hoffman Trust,  which allowed her to study for an MSc in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government.

Afghanistan remains the only country to formally disallow access to education for girls beyond primary school, with an estimated 2.4 million girls barred from secondary education as of 2026. More than five years since the Taliban’s second takeover of Afghanistan, higher education has more broadly been curtailed. Female enrolment in the nation’s universities reached zero by 2024, while male enrolment nearly halved between 2019 and 2024. 

Ongoing visa restrictions from the Home Office mean that applications from Afghan nationals made outside the UK will automatically be rejected. Consequently, women in Afghanistan who are not dual citizens will not be able to apply for a student visa and therefore cannot take up a place to study at the University of Oxford. Basij-Rasikh, who funded the scholarship, has raised concerns over the UK’s visa brake policy toward Afghanistan.

Introduced in March 2026, the Home Office has stated that the visa brake is temporary and will be reviewed regularly, but said it will only cease when the “UK government considers it appropriate to do so”. However, a University spokesperson told Cherwell: “The visa brake is based only on the main nationality you give on your application form. Applicants who have a valid visa for the UK are still able to apply for an in-country visa extension or another visa route in-country if eligible.”

The scholarship is scheduled to support its first beneficiary starting from September 2027.

Additional reporting by Jeremy Azzopardi.

Former L’Oreal CEO donates £30m for new Worcester College library

Kiera O'Carroll
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Former L’Oreal CEO donates £30m for new Worcester College library

Worcester College has submitted a  planning application for a new £30 million library, funded entirely by a donation from alumnus and former CEO of L’Oréal Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones. This “transformational gift”, which totals nearly half of the College’s endowment, is the largest donation to the college to date. 

The building’s architecture will echo the current 18th-century library while complementing the award-winning Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre at the rear of the college. Plans include a two-storey glass-and-Clipsham-stone building with silent study zones and an outdoor terrace surrounded by Worcester’s orchards. It will be located where the car park and greenhouse currently reside. 

Architects Wilmotte & Associés were chosen as part of Worcester’s international architectural competition in 2025. Designers of the inside of the Louvre, Google’s office building in King’s Cross, and the UN House for West Africa, they have also designed universities like SciencesPo. 

Pioneer of the “Because you’re worth it” slogan, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones hopes the building “will help inspire generations of students to work comfortably and creatively”. 

In a statement to Cherwell,  Worcester called the donation “transformational” and “unprecedented”. It will be used  “to fund the entire cost of the project – from feasibility and planning exercises to design and construction”.

Worcester has confirmed that there will be no disruption to the college’s study facilities during the construction. “The current Lower Library will remain in operation as the home of Worcester’s internationally significant special collections, as well as a reading room open to all members of the College,” the College added. The functions of the Upper Library, which currently houses modern lending collections, will transfer to the new building. There are currently no plans to repurpose the vacated space. 

The current, Grade-I listed library no longer meets accessible, sustainable, and academic standards. The transfer of Worcester’s main library will mean the development of a new greenhouse and car park with added bike sheds. 

A student told Cherwell that the announcement of the plans was a relief, stating that after the project’s announcement in 2023, students had concerns that their accommodation would be knocked down. 

Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey has sent her “heartfelt thanks” on behalf of the entire University for this gift. Public consultation on the building is available until October 30th.

University style guide criticised by international students 

Miriam Ilderton
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University style guide criticised by international students 

A style guide issued by the University of Oxford advises staff to use “plain English” to avoid confusing international students. The style guide is designed to ensure clear communication from University staff. 

In the guide, which was published earlier this year, the University suggested that staff “be mindful of idioms that may not be familiar to international readers”. Phrases and idioms to avoid include “learn the ropes” and “find your feet”.

This guidance is intended to benefit international students. A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “As a global university with staff and students from around the world, we write for a wide international audience. The guide provides practical advice for written University communications, from punctuation to choosing language that readers will readily understand.” International students make up 43% of Oxford students overall and 60% of graduate students.

While recognising the advice’s intention, some international students have criticised the guide as “a bit overdone”. Speaking with Cherwell, one student said that “idioms [sic] are integral parts of the English language. It makes Oxford, Oxford.” 

Another student, Juniper Chan, told Cherwell: “It’s kind of anti-integration, anti-naturalisation… to baby people. When I first got to the UK, I didn’t get a lot of stuff, but you have to kind of pick it up.”

Students have acknowledged the difficulties language barriers create at university. Chan told Cherwell: “There is a certain level of shame that comes with it [but Oxford] is a very international place.You could always ask your friends for help.” 

Oxford requires non-native English speakers to prove their proficiency when they apply, requesting evidence of C1 or C2 level ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The British Council defines C1 as the ability to “understand a wide range of more difficult, longer texts” and to  “recognise implicit meanings”, a skill that should enable students to understand the idioms the University advises against. 

The guidance has created controversy online. For example, Lord Young of the Free Speech Union said: “One of the reasons international students come to Oxford is so that they can immerse themselves in our culture and master colloquial English.” 

The University also added that its style guide is non-proscriptive. A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “Its writing guidance is advisory and supports staff in exercising their own judgement about the language they use and the audience they are writing for.”

St Anne’s to close nursery called a ‘lifeline’ for women at Oxford

Stanley Arlidge
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St Anne’s to close nursery called a ‘lifeline’ for women at Oxford

St Anne’s College will close its day nursery, ending an institution that was pivotal in supporting women students and academics at the University of Oxford.  

The nursery will shut its doors on 18th December following a decision by the College’s Trustees. Parents were informed of the change last week, giving them just two months to find alternative provision for their children. 

A group of St Anne’s fellows founded the day nursery in 1963 for their own newborn children. At the time, it was the only college nursery at the University and was designed to let female fellows manage work and childcare. 

Baroness Ruth Deech, a former student, fellow, and principal at Anne’s who enrolled her child in the nursery, previously wrote that: “To be a woman don in a women’s college, with a full-time nursery and a well-stocked law library was, relatively speaking, very heaven.” Partly down to Deech’s efforts, five college nurseries now operate alongside the University’s own childcare services. All offer priority to parents associated with the specific college or the University as a whole. 

Baroness Deech told Cherwell that she “heard the news with a heavy heart”, describing the nursery as a “lifeline” for working parents. Having discussed the closure with the college, the Baroness blamed “creeping over-regulation” for making it unaffordable to run small nurseries. She highlighted the Oxford city traffic filters as the “last straw” preventing staff from reaching the city centre. 

Current nursery parents expressed dismay at the sudden closure of the institution. Speaking to Cherwell, one parent described feeling “let down” by the decision: “Permanent closure was never mentioned as a possibility or even crossed our minds, given St Anne’s pride in operating Oxford’s first college nursery.” 

Cherwell understands the decision to close comes after staffing difficulties at the nursery, which have reduced service to three days a week. An affected parent told Cherwell that there has been a “collapse in the standard of governance at the nursery” just three years after it was rated outstanding by Ofsted. 

Since the announcement of the nursery’s closure, several parents have written a letter to the College’s Governing Body to “express our [their] deep sadness, frustration and disbelief at the decision to close the nursery at such short notice”. The letter says that “the nursery is not simply an ancillary commercial service” but “embodies the College’s pioneering commitment to women’s education and equality of opportunity”.

Parents also raised concerns about the impact of having to move their children to another nursery. One parent expressed their worry that they will not be able to find an alternative place for their child in the two months before the nursery’s closure. They told Cherwell: “In these areas of life, the best support you can have is a long notice period because it takes so long to secure a place.” Waiting lists at nurseries in the UK can range from immediate availability to two years. 

Consequently, the affected parents have asked the College to postpone the nursery’s closure until the end of the academic year to give families and staff “a reasonable opportunity to make alternative arrangements”. The parents have also started a change.org petition that, at the time of print, has received over 120 signatures. 

In a statement to  Cherwell, St Anne’s “strongly refute[d]” any suggestion that there has been a collapse in the standard of governance at the University. It added that the nursery has undergone “several challenging years” to secure increased regulation and maintain the service amid greater staffing costs and challenges in recruiting senior staff. The College also told Cherwell that the proportion of students at the nursery with ties to college has recently decreased.

Regarding the immediacy of the announcement, they state that: “The decision to permanently close the nursery on the usual Christmas closure date was not taken lightly nor was it based on any single factor.”

While the parents recognise the recent challenges faced by the College in running the nursery, they describe the closure as a “defeatist” response that “unnecessarily severs the college from its proud history”. 

All the parents who spoke to Cherwell criticised the level of support offered by the College in light of the sudden closure.  One parent told Cherwell they had received “virtually none at all”, while another characterised St Anne’s support as signposting the University’s Childcare Services “at most”. 

St Anne’s told Cherwell that “our immediate priority is to support affected children, families and staff through the transition”. They are “working closely” with the Childcare Services team with this goal in mind. 

Regarding  the importance of the nursery to the College’s history, the College states that: “The nursery has been and will remain an important and proud part of the history of this College.” 

One parent, who previously taught Oxford University history, is dissatisfied with this response. “As a female academic, I have seen many of my peers struggle with the precarity of early career contracts.

“I would argue that there is something fundamentally patriarchal about imagining the ideal university without making provision for young children at its core.” 

Live DJs and projected brainwaves light up Oxford’s first ‘biohacking party’

Mair Andrews
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Live DJs and projected brainwaves light up Oxford’s first ‘biohacking party’

Oxford Town Hall hosted the city’s first “biohacking party” last Friday. The event, organised by Oxford University’s Biohacking Society, aimed to “bring biohacking out of the lecture theatre” and encourage students to “engage with technologies and ideas around human performance and longevity”.

The party included wearable EEGs, usually used to detect epilepsy and brain injury, to show the impact of socialising and dance on brain activity. Wearers could see their brain waves hooked up onscreen above a live DJ booth. 

Another activity included a headset ‘game’ that used a headband to track “neurofeedback” and make a ball rise or fall depending on the user’s concentration. Some partygoers sampled “nootropic drinks” to help with concentration and brain power. There was also the opportunity to measure glucose and blood oxygen levels. Following recent ailments sustained at a sports social the evening before the event, Cherwell’s correspondent struggled with more demanding cognitive tests. 

Lulu Frisson, a second-year undergraduate at Lincoln College who spoke to Cherwell at the event, dubbed it “the best event I’ll ever go to at Oxford”. She added that she came away with a “genuinely greater interest in the world of biohacking and self-improvement”.

Biohacking Society formed in 2024 with the intention to bring together students and organisations to promote health, longevity, and human performance. This particular event was organised to “experiment with a very different format to combine science and technology with nightlife”.

“Given the growing interest in longevity, wearables, and self-optimisation among students”, the society’s founder, Marie Kruth, told Cherwell that she hopes to “build a community around biohacking”. 

The society, which has over 1,000 members, aims to promote “scientifically based information” in the face of “lots of false information” surrounding biohacking. Events focus on practical engagement with biohacking and improving mental well-being, including hypnotherapy. Sponsors include leading biotech businesses UndoAge, an age-reversing coffee producer, and Growing Life, a leading researcher into longevity.  

After completing her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology and Business, Kruth now studies digital engineering and focuses her research on regenerative medicine. Upon arriving in Oxford, she felt that the city “was a bit behind” in engaging with biohacking and exploring how we can “optimise ourselves”.

The society is interested in monitoring cognitive performance and improving “healthspan”, the amount of time we are healthy in our lives. Kruth was inspired by conversations with people who suffer from chronic diseases, wondering “what they could have done to avoid it or push it back”.

Previous events include talks led by Oxford professors specialising in psychedelic research, ethics philosophers, and a ‘biohacking on a budget’ series led by health consultants. 

Later this term, they are hosting a talk with American endurance runner Hillary Allen and a keynote speech on sleep by neuroscience specialist Professor Russell Foster. 

Kruth is interested in approaching health with a “prevention mindset”, particularly optimising sleep. Lifestyle changes, she explains, include using a glucose monitor to track responses to different foods and a red-light panel when ill to help with mitochondria production. Unfortunately for Cherwell’s representative, no red-light panel was on offer during the party. 

Listen to the latest episode of Cherwell Spoken to hear the full interview with Kruth. 

Additional reporting by Stanley Arlidge. 

Oxford University wins at local climate awards

Orla McMahon
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Oxford University wins at local climate awards

Oxford University Raff Lab and Wadham College were among the winners at this year’s Oxford Climate Awards. 

The event awards individuals, businesses, and institutions in the Oxford area for their environmental work. This year’s awards, which were given at Oxford Town Hall earlier this month, were hosted by Oxford City Council in partnership with The Oxford Times, Oxford Mail, and digital marketing company LocaliQ.

Individuals or groups can be nominated for climate in up to twelve categories, including the Innovation in Climate Action, Sustainable School of the Year, and Youth Climate Action Awards. Nominations were assessed by a panel of independent judges.  

Raff Lab, part of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, won the Innovation in Climate Action Award and was also named Overall Winner for its efforts to incorporate sustainable practices into its work. 

Dr Saroj Saurya, winner of the Climate Action Champion Award and laboratory manager of the Raff Lab, told Cherwell: “We were absolutely delighted and genuinely surprised when the Raff Lab was announced as the Overall Winner of the Oxford Climate Awards. It is a wonderful recognition of years of hard work, persistence and collaboration.

“These awards are not just about one laboratory or individual. They reflect the growing culture of environmental sustainability across the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, made possible through the encouragement and support of our Head of Department, Professor Matthew Freeman, the dedication of Green Group volunteers, and the contributions of our technical and facilities teams and colleagues across the department.”

Saurya is chair of the Dunn School Green Group, which aims to promote environmental sustainability within the Dunn School and the wider community.

Saurya told Cherwell: “One of our priorities is to develop a circular-economy approach in which laboratory plastics that cannot be reused are collected, processed and potentially turned into new laboratory products, rather than being discarded as waste.”

Wadham won the Sustainable Further Education School of the Year award. 

Director of Sustainability Frances Lloyd told Cherwell: “There has been a significant effort across the college to ensure Wadham plays its part in developing and demonstrating solutions to reduce its climate impact while contributing actively to nature recovery. Recognition like this demonstrates our commitment and determination to make a difference and will hopefully inspire others.”

Oxford researchers find potential prostate cancer risk more than a decade before diagnosis

Jeremy Azzopardi
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Oxford researchers find potential prostate cancer risk more than a decade before diagnosis

Certain blood proteins are associated with future risk of developing prostate cancer, research led by Oxford University has found. Twelve proteins were tied to prostate cancer diagnoses more than 15 years after blood samples were collected.

The investigation is the largest population-based study to date of blood proteins and future prostate cancer risk, with an emphasis on aggressive diseases. The researchers assessed more than 6,000 blood proteins and examined traits linked to the later development of prostate cancer. Researchers tracked participants for around 16 years.

Dr Zhe Huang, the leading author of the study and a postdoctoral epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, told Cherwell: “Our findings suggest that biological changes linked to prostate cancer may be detectable in the blood many years before diagnosis, and some proteins may play a causal role in its development. This could eventually open up new opportunities for earlier detection and prevention.” He added that these findings are at the research stage and do not yet change clinical practice.

Published in European Urology, the collaborative research was led by Oxford Population Health and part-funded by Cancer Research UK. Oxford researchers, including DPhil student Trishna Desai, contributed to the study design, data analysis, interpretation, and manuscript preparation.

Over 50,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year, making the disease the most common form of cancer for men in the UK.  Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, told Cherwell: “Prostate cancer is one of the biggest cancer killers of men, yet we still don’t fully understand why some tumours grow slowly and may never cause harm, while others become aggressive and life-threatening. Understanding what drives these differences is crucial if we are to identify those most at risk and ultimately save more lives.”

Next steps include validating the findings in larger-scale investigations and analysing the underlying biological mechanisms through experimental study. Researchers at the University’s Prostate Cancer Aetiology and Prevention Programme (PCAP), funded by Cancer Research UK, will also explore whether these findings could lead to better ways of predicting or preventing prostate cancer. Foulkes told Cherwell: “While there is more work to do, discoveries like this could pave the way for better ways to identify men at risk and, ultimately, prevent aggressive prostate cancer before it develops.”

At least 12,000 men die from prostate cancer each year in the UK, with an estimated 1 in 8 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. A 2023 report by Prostate Cancer UK highlights a substantial North-South divide in relation to prostate cancer diagnosis, with men in Scotland and England’s North far more likely to be diagnosed at too late a stage to be cured. 

Lack of awareness of the risks of prostate cancer are a key driver of mortality. A survey study published in 2024 shows that less than half of men are sufficiently informed of prostate cancer’s symptoms. Huang told Cherwell: “University health campaigns, public lectures and student-led events could all play a valuable role in raising awareness. Although prostate cancer mainly affects older men, it is important for younger people to understand the disease and its risk factors, particularly age, family history and genetic susceptibility.”

Reuben College becomes Oxford’s first postgraduate College of Sanctuary

Ilya Rosenbaum
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Reuben College becomes Oxford’s first postgraduate College of Sanctuary

Reuben has joined Mansfield and Somerville Colleges as Oxford’s third College of Sanctuary, the first postgraduate college to do so. More than ten Sanctuary Scholars have been supported by Reuben since 2021 through the University’s Refugee Academic Futures and Crisis Scholarship programmes. These scholarships cover living costs and tuition fees, with further funding raised by the college’s student community. 

The College of Sanctuary status recognises colleges for their ongoing commitment to welcomeness, safety, and inclusivity for those in unstable situations seeking education. Reuben is also the first college to be recognised by the Oxford University’s own Sanctuary status process.

Reuben’s commitment to being sanctuary-friendly began with its founding President, Professor Lord Tarassenko, who devised the University’s undergraduate scholarship scheme for Ukrainian refugees within weeks of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Lord Tarassenko himself is the grandson of a refugee from eastern Ukraine. He told Cherwell: “We are immensely proud to receive College of Sanctuary status. From Reuben’s foundation, we have sought to build a community in which people from all backgrounds feel that they can belong and flourish.”

Sanctuary scholar Viktoria Podvorchanska, who has completed an MSc in Translational Health Sciences, explained that the environment of “community and care” reminded her that “life was continuing”. Yangdon Tenzing, a sanctuary scholar who completed her MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies last year, described the Graduate Common Room space as one of her favourite aspects of the College. Tenzing said her opportunity at Oxford has helped her navigate career uncertainty. 

Reuben has also formalised its support for Oxford Phoenix Rising Football Club, which provides free football sessions to refugees and asylum seekers in Oxford.  

The recognition of Reuben’s status comes at a time when refugee and international students’ places at Oxford have been put into question. Since the Home Office’s visa brake policy in March, which prevented nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan from obtaining student visas, at least 15 students with Oxford offers were unable to take up their place at the University. 

In response to the visa brake, Mansfield and Somerville issued a joint statement: “Conflating [students] with wider migration challenges is both unfair and misguided.”

The psyche behind a museum gift shop

Abigail Christie
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The psyche behind a museum gift shop

Like most soon-to-be finalists, I spent the majority of my summer vacation after second year researching and preparing for my dissertation. But in the face of blistering British heat, and seduced by the temptation to soak up the opportunity to do very little, extensive research proved, under no uncertain terms, to be mildly challenging. However, what eventually incentivised me to put pen to paper was the excitement of seeing the objects of my study in person, at the British Museum. But, once I had made the very long and arduous journey from my middle-of-nowhere hometown to London, it wasn’t necessarily the museum that I ended up being desperate to see before anything else. Quite shamefully, it was the gift shop.

Bathed in sunlight under the sweeping glass ceiling, the museum’s gift shop was almost an exhibition in itself: it was the epicentre of buzzing activity, sprawled across the vast expanse of the circular Great Court. At the British Museum, the gift shop was not simply a means of exit, snagging your attention as you dragged your tired feet. It was as carefully organised, and as thoughtfully curated as the museum’s galleries.

But there was something that tugged at my undulating admiration of the sea of souvenirs and replicas dotted across the shop. Maybe it was in the way an artefact as revolutionary and monumental as the Rosetta Stone was now available as a mass-produced box of bite-sized chocolates. Or perhaps it was the amusement at what appeared to be a Roman soldier, equipped with a shield and spear, but now reincarnated as a collectable rubber duck. But such gimmicks certainly aren’t unique to the British Museum. Up and down the country, and across the world, there will be something in a museum gift shop that is so bizarre, and so far removed from its historical context, that it will make you pause and raise an eyebrow.

The bemused scepticism towards what might be for sale in a museum gift shop isn’t, of course, a revelation. Each time I’ve found myself meandering through a gift shop, there is a quote that perches front row in my mind, one that guides my hand as I sift through the colourful displays, and squints disdainfully as I choose something to add to my ever-growing collection of miscellanea:

“Endless processions of people in graceless clothing file through these palaces, staring at the gold cups and the silver bowls, which are not even used any more. Then they go to a sort of market inside the palace and buy pictures of these things, or miniature versions of them that are not real silver and gold. That is why I say trash.”

Margaret Atwood, in The Penelopiad, puts these words in the mouth of Penelope, as she talks to the reader from the Underworld and reflects on the events of her life, as described in Homer’s Odyssey. In this particular quote, Penelope is perplexed by the farce of modern museums: we are the “people in graceless clothing”, museum gift shops are the “market inside the palace”, and the historically-inspired souvenirs and knickknacks for sale are the “trash”. The disdain towards this particular niche in the consumer market is palpable – to Penelope, we are philistines fumbling through the materiality of the past, and certainly not ‘connoisseurs’ of history.

Many people will doubtless share Penelope’s criticisms, because there absolutely is something ever-so-slightly absurd about a Roman-duck hybrid, and its relevance to wider cultural history is questionable. Should this be perceived as reducing the achievements and culture of entire civilisations to mere merchandise? By their very nature, museums are institutions that are dedicated to preserving the often priceless, and typically one-of-a-kind, archaeological remnants of the past. There is a certain irony to all of this: these priceless objects, which thousands will flock to admire and observe every year, are replicated, mass-produced, packed in storage containers, stocked on shelves, and slapped with a price tag rounded to the penny.

Yet as someone whose desk is littered with ceramic miniatures – the Colosseum, an assortment of Greek vases, the Parthenon, you name it – and has carried a Roman coin replica on a keychain for years, this disparity has always felt difficult to reconcile. But now, having visited many gift shops, it seems this very contradiction is also its greatest strength. For many, an interest in history is limited to the words of scholars on a page and an artefact sealed carefully behind glass panes. Replicas and souvenirs offer access to history in ways the original objects cannot. 

At Oxford, I am in the unique and privileged position to be able to handle ancient artefacts as frequently as I write essays about them. For most, opportunities to tangibly interact with history, whether by handling an ancient vase or tracing the outline of a mosaic, are few and far between. The physicality of history has been an enduring passion of mine, so although I appreciate that reproductions and replicas cannot replace originals, what’s inside a museum gift shop can sometimes offer something just as unique: history that can be carried home, where its provenance can become intimately intertwined with an identity and heritage of your own. 

It is perhaps for this reason that museum gift shops have remained so steadfastly popular. The innate human desire to connect with the past and make sense of what came before is inextinguishable. So whilst there still might be an element of ridiculousness to the shelves of mass-produced plush scarab beetles, if museums are there to make history accessible, perhaps the gift shops are merely an extension of such a purpose.

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