Monday 13th October 2025
Blog Page 508

Calm Down About Your Five-Year Plan

Timea Iliffe
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Calm Down About Your Five-Year Plan

The five-year plan is an invisible timeline that you can either craft for yourself, or have written for you by others. It dictates the big steps that a young professional can take to reach their dreams and goals; the extra-curriculars, the internships, the degree classification, the first job out of university.

You can basically fall into two camps; someone who has one – the career plan, the dream firm, and an actual LinkedIn account – and someone who’s still working it out. The universal, I think, is that we’ve all felt the twinge of anxiety that comes from meeting someone who seems to have it all figured out, who knows where they have been and seems to know exactly where they are going.

Though different for each person, the five-year plan seems to end its maker at one of three end goals: finance, consultancy, or law. Politics or journalism, if you’re feeling adventurous. This isn’t to say, of course, that going into a career in any of these sectors is necessarily a bad thing. There are obviously worse things in life than working diligently at your degree, building a marketable CV and going into a well-paid job in a competitive field. But it’s worth asking where the five-year plan comes from, and why it’s so insidious here in particular.

It makes sense that the five-year plan is so attractive for Oxbridge students, particularly those for whom “getting into Oxford” has been a goal for so long. If you have spent a year or longer frantically working at the ever-more competitive application process then you have already trained to compete with your peers in a familiar, regulated way. You have already achieved a marker of societally-approved, parentally-sanctioned, institutional success and it can feel difficult to know exactly where to go from there.

The straight path from a place like Oxford to a place like Deutsche Bank, or McKinsey, or the Magic Circle can feel as familiar as the path you took to get here. The undergraduate who has their second-year internship planned out, who is lining their CV from the first term they get here, is only going to feel the same safety and warmth of validation they got from their acceptance email.

This isn’t to say that it’s something to be criticised, but it is something to be questioned. Oxford is a place that often attracts a certain personality type; the dedicated, the ambitious, and the person who has grown so used to working under pressure that it can feel uncomfortable not having a goal to aim at. Ambiguity about what you want the rest of your life to look like is, after all, completely terrifying. 

Oxford is not a place that leaves a great deal of time for self-reflection. We should all think about asking the critical questions, even if it is only for a moment. Have you decided what the you of your late twenties is going to look like, or have you just chosen from a list of options offered to you?  Have you decided what success for you actually looks like, or do you just want to be successful, whatever that means? Do you know what you want to do, or are you just afraid of not knowing?

Antisocial Media

Isobel Merriman
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Antisocial Media

Between digging the bunker in the back garden and foraging for loo roll, I’ve mostly been scrolling through Oxlove recently, becoming increasingly invested in the plights of Oxford romantics. Encouraged by the prospect of months in ‘isolation’ students are taking to the internet, “sliding into DMs” or releasing the family carrier pigeon to tell people how they really feel about them. Aside from being a startlingly British response to a global pandemic (“You mean I won’t have to see them for six months? Ample time to recover from any awkwardness? Fabulous, I can send that text then!”) I think it’s the smallest of silver linings in this difficult time, and should be nurtured rather than dismissed. 

When it comes to sending a potentially rash message, I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a little too trigger happy. A few of you may even be reading this and reminiscing on an overly-forward, potentially awkward, ‘you-weren’t-meant-to-actually-acknowledge-that-in-writing’ message you’ve received from me. If so, I would say I’m sorry but the likelihood is I’m almost certainly not. Maybe this is because I don’t like rollercoasters, but nothing else gives me the same rush of adrenaline that I get after pressing send. Nothing beats the dizzying high of hindsight when you realise the message you’ve sent, currently rattling down the airwaves, is akin to the start of your own personal disaster film. (You know, the scene where the beach goes quiet and the tide retreats, or the one with the distant, ominous rumble before the ground starts to fall away.) Perhaps I just like the drama, but I think there’s a little more to it than that. I should stress that these messages are never malevolent. They normally take the form of reckless admissions of attraction or nosy questions about unclassified situations – the messages we all want to send, but that most of us rarely do.

I’ve never been very good at following the unwritten rules of online conduct and more often than not they really irritate me. The idea that when people are ‘active’ they could be doing anything from brushing their teeth with facebook open, to chatting to other people and choosing not to prioritise you, particularly bugs me. The fact that someone can ignore your message without actually ignoring it, but you can pretty much assume that they are, though you have no right to call them out on it without coming across as petty and ridiculous, is insane. It’s the perfect crime; elegant, stylish and completely infuriating in the way it renders you utterly helpless, bound by social media etiquette. Consider too, the concept of leaving someone ‘on read’. In a modern digital age this is a devastating insult and as a result conversations often drag on painfully until one party manages to gracefully extricate themselves. Or worse, it’s used as power play – a way to assert your dominance and claim the greater degree of ambivalence in an uncertain relationship. The idea of ‘messaging first’ can be anything from a white flag, to a sign of interest and the ironic use of emojis continues to baffle me. Not to mention the fact messages are often carefully edited to be as short as they can be, ‘brief and breezy’ rather than heartfelt and sincere. At this minute more than ever I’d rather receive a long, rambling message that strikes a genuine tone, than continue this weird digital dance. 

Thankfully now, with the world turned slightly upside down, people are turning their backs on this performative interaction for something far more real. They’re defiantly messaging first and frequently, writing bravely and honestly. Yes, you should tell that person you’ve always secretly thought that they were the bee’s knees! Or query that one time that person did that thing, that could have been flirting, or could have just been the result of one too many glasses of wine – find out what it meant. Ask the questions you want to ask and say the things you want to say. It can be incredibly cathartic. It can be (in times as dull as these) an absolute thrill, bonus points if it’s someone you’ve never messaged before. There’s no relief, no matter the consequences, like finally being able to blurt out how beautiful you think someone is, or eventually asking that burning question. This is the way we should be! We’re a sociable species and whilst rejection (or 18 hours with a message left unopened though the recipient is persistently, irritatingly active) is never particularly pleasant, there’s never been a better time for it than now.

There is no lovelier thing than a random message from someone near or far, with a message of love or a subtext that smacks of bravery. Life isn’t that long, love and meaningful friendship is more than worth the risk and in adhering to the current unwritten rules we’re denying ourselves happiness. It can be scary to be vulnerable, even with our closest friends, but why not send them a message of appreciation at a time when it’s easy to feel lonely or overthink the relationships founded or furthered at Oxford.  We have so much love to give and we shouldn’t restrict it to carefully timed heart emojis or the odd drunken reveal. (I’m still waiting for my future husband to read my articles, fall madly in love with me through only my words and reach out to me – just saying.) But that said, nothing made me beam more than a friend messaging me this week out of the blue, just to say she was thinking of me. In a time of isolation we have to fight to stay connected and we should all learn from the brave people of Oxlove who are casting off the shackles of socially acceptable messaging in the pursuit of a connection. They may be shrouded in anonymity, but they are still managing to be more open and honest than the rest of us put together. Let’s change that. Let’s make a generation of brave, open people the legacy of this surreal time. 

Bread Making, Simplified

Caitlin Overmeyer
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Bread Making, Simplified

There are many different love languages, but for many people, including myself, bread is one that shouts above the rest. A good bread can fill the soul with warmth and comfort, something that seems to be needed now more than ever. In this trying time, I have taken it upon myself to fight the good fight for all bread lovers out there and present you with a solid bread recipe that can be easily recreated at home. All it takes is time, patience, and a lot of love. 

Two weeks ago, I arrived home to the United States from Oxford, into the midst of panic and hysteria about the pandemic we have all come to know and definitely not love. One of the first necessities to fly off of grocery shelves was, of course, bread. Luckily enough for me, I happened to have some yeast and flour at home, and so my path to bread making was born. I am an avid baker, and have been extremely sad while at Oxford with no access to an oven. I have never baked bread before, and it has always been explained to me as a hard process to do. That week, I made a simple white sandwich bread loaf that turned out delicious and tasty, but I hungered for something more challenging, and for more bread. 

Enter in the no-knead Dutch oven loaf. I have seen this type of bread making method, putting slowly risen dough into a Dutch oven and baking it, numerous times on various cooking shows. I was intrigued by the no-kneading aspect, as I hate the messy process of flour-covered counters and sticky dough hands. This particular recipe jumped out to me in a New York Times article as it was their most requested recipe, and so I decided to try it out. 

I made a couple of tweaks to the recipe based on recommendations by commenters. Firstly, I used active dry yeast instead of instant because that’s what I had on hand. Secondly, I proofed the bread for all rounds in the bowl, up until the moment of baking. This just made it less messy and easier to control. The process of making the bread was extremely easy, and I proofed the dough overnight for the recommended 18 hours. You will want to either set a timer or mark down when you begin proofing your bread, as overproofing can damage your carefully created gluten strands and cause the bread to collapse. 

The dough before and after proofing.
Photo courtesy of Caitlin Overmeyer

When it came to baking time, I plopped my bread into the warm Dutch oven, covered it, and let it do its thing. The final result, after baking it uncovered for another 15 minutes, resulted in a delightfully crunchy exterior. I let the bread cool for about 15 minutes before I cut into it for a taste. The fermentation overnight resulted in a subtle sourdough  flavour reminiscent of a French-style baguette, and a chew that had a nice mouthfeel. The crust was perfectly crisp, a nice contrast to the soft interior.

This bread has since served me as a delicious toast with eggs for breakfast, and as the perfect base for an afternoon sandwich. In my opinion, fresh bread should be consumed as quickly as possible so that it retains its crunch on the outside and doesn’t become gummy on the inside. Once you taste this bread, I guarantee that it will not last on your counter for very long. 

This recipe is baker friendly for all levels of expertise, and I was shocked by how little I had to do for it to turn out perfectly. I do wish I had gotten a more even shape on the bread, as it didn’t spread on its own whilst baking as the recipe said. The amount of time it takes to create the perfect bread makes you feel as though you’re being productive, something many of us probably need during lockdown.

If you happen to have yeast and flour, try making this bread. It is hearty, warm, and a perfect complement to any meal. It’s also likely to keep you from going insane while you’re at home, and we all know we need a little something to keep ourselves grounded. Add this to your baking wheelhouse, and you’ll surely impress your friends. At least, once this is all over. For now, treat yourself. You deserve it. 

The finished loaf.
Photo courtesy of Caitlin Overmeyer

No-knead Dutch oven loaf

Ingredients:
3 cups of all purpose or bread flour, and more for dusting
1 packet of active dry yeast or instant yeast (roughly ¼ ounces if measuring by hand)
1 ¼ teaspoons of salt

Method:

  1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups of room temperature water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature at about 70 degrees.
  2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
  3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Put back into the bowl carefully, seam side down. Cover again and let it rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, the dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
  4. At least a half-hour before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the dough and flip it into the pot (you can also just turn the bowl over and it will likely fall right out); it may look like a mess, but that is okay. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Enjoy!

This recipe is based off: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

Rethinking Chocolate

George Phillips
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Rethinking Chocolate

When did you last eat chocolate? If you’re anything like the average Brit, your answer will likely fall within the last 48 hours. But what is the cost of our sweet tooth, and how can we make sure the chocolate we eat is ethically and sustainably produced? 

When I was young, my dad would take me to our local corner shop every Friday after school. I can’t remember exactly when this ritual started, but it lasted for most of primary school. Dad would chat to the elderly man behind the counter and I would pick two bars of chocolate off the shelf. Sometimes this would be easy – other times I would spend several minutes mulling over the options. There was only ever one rule for this Friday night trip: I had to choose two different bars, so that Dad and I could trade a square outside the shop. 

It’s a fond memory and, much to my mum’s dismay, probably explains my insatiable sweet tooth. Over the years my tastes have matured a little, and I’ll take a bar of 85% Green & Blacks over a Crunchie any day of the week. Still, my love of chocolate is still very much present. 

Thankfully I don’t feel guilty about this, safe in the knowledge that my obsession is shared by many. In fact, our infatuation with chocolate can be traced back centuries, during which we’ve romanticised, fetishised and even worshipped the cocoa bean. The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were a gift from the heavens and were so valuable that they were used as currency. A few hundred years later in 17th century France, hot chocolate was revered by courtiers at Versailles who vouched for its power as an aphrodisiac.

This mythical status gradually fell away as technology progressed. Ever ingenious, the Victorians catalysed a seismic shift in the chocolate industry and, with mass-production and supply chain streamlining, the treat was suddenly within reach of the working class. 

Nowadays we’d be hard pressed to imagine a world without chocolate. Whether bars, blocks, slabs, squares, eggs or bunnies, we just can’t get enough. The UK occupies a healthy – or perhaps not so healthy – fourth place in global consumption rankings, hot on the heels of our European cousins in Switzerland, Germany and Ireland. To be more precise, your average Brit consumes 9.5kg of chocolate each year (for the curious, this equates to 530 Freddos, or 212 bars of Dairy Milk). It’s no wonder our doctors and dentists are under strain. More concerning however is that our chocolatey love affair isn’t just clogging our arteries and rotting our teeth – it’s destroying the planet. 

If the industry fails to change, we’re at risk of damaging the planet beyond repair. That’s according to a 2015 study published in the journal Food Research International, which looked at the environmental impacts of chocolate production. The sheer scale of the problem may come as a surprise to many. In my bid to help the planet I stopped eating meat three years ago, traded cow’s milk for an oat-based substitute, and avoid purchasing foods with a disproportionate carbon footprint. Put simply, I thought I’d all but nailed the ‘woke millennial’ trifecta. But this was not the case.

The report analysed the damage wrought by ingredients, manufacturing and packaging. Food Research International found that in Britain alone the chocolate industry produces the equivalent of more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – roughly equal to that produced by a city the size of Belfast. Chocolate’s raw materials – sugar, palm oil and packaging components – are drivers of deforestation, and their farming is incredibly difficult for governments to regulate. 

Dig a little deeper and it becomes clear that the impact of cocoa farming extends far beyond carbon footprint. Just as the consequences of fast-fashion are felt primarily by sweatshop workers, the brunt of cheap chocolate production is borne by some of the poorest communities around the world. Cocoa farmers rely heavily on questionable employment practices and, despite claims from industry giants, child labor still plagues farms in Western Africa. Between 2013 and 2014, an estimated 2 million children were thought to be working in the cocoa trade in Ghana and Ivory Coast alone. 

‘But I only buy fair-trade!’ you may exclaim. While in theory buying fair-trade is a sensible move, in practice it has become clear that such labels carry little weight. Chocolate with certifications from Fair Trade and the Rainforest Alliance may claim to respect the rights and needs of workers, but those certifications rarely prove to be entirely free from exploitative labour practices. This is even more clear as most fair-trade inspections do not happen regularly – giving farm owners plenty of time to hide their unethical practices. Panorama revealed that in September 2009 seven cocoa farms were suspended in Ghana due to evidence of child labour. Further investigation showed that both Cadbury and Divine were supplied by these growers. Even aside from these practices, the economic downsides of fair-trade are numerous, with minimum price guidelines both limiting income for growers and discouraging output of higher quality cocoa. 

Many of these problems have been acknowledged by industry leaders and policymakers who are supposedly working hard to reduce the human and environmental costs of chocolate production. EU proposals to promote better land and resource management in target countries, as well as supporting research on sustainable farming practices, go some way to address key issues. However, The Guardian first reported on such plans in early 2018 and we’re yet to see any tangible benefits from these plans. Thankfully, chocolate companies have largely been receptive to proposed changes, showing there is genuine interest in improving business practices. In line with their sustainability goals, Nestlé now monitors ‘100% of [their] palm oil supply chain using satellite technology’ and in 2018 they joined the High Carbon Stock Approach Steering Group to further improve conduct. Change is coming, but it’s going to take time. 

To truly improve the industry will require effort from both consumers and corporations. On a personal level we have the power to turn the industry on its head, and with Easter just around the corner it’s more important than ever that we shop responsibly. Easter chocolate sales make up 10% of Britain’s annual spending on chocolate with a staggering 80 million eggs sold each year. Whilst tempting, these eggs are among the key culprits when it comes to carbon emissions. Cheap milk chocolate married with excessive packaging makes for a killer combination. The solution is simple: steer clear of eggs and opt for bars instead. Chances are the product will taste nicer, and you’ll do your bit to reduce the 80 million tons of food packaging we generate each year. 

For those prepared to spend a little more, there’s no shortage of companies producing delicious and ethically sourced chocolate. Original Beans’ award-winning range can be enjoyed in full knowledge that you’re contributing to a good cause. Founded in 2008, the company protects rainforests around the world, planting a new tree for every bar sold. Better still, you can enter your unique tracking code on their website to follow the progress of each new sapling. Furthermore, Original Beans are increasingly supplying independent chocolate manufacturers such as Edinburgh based Ocelot who recognise the growing demand for high-quality, environmentally friendly cocoa – and from black cherry to blood orange, their chocolate is a far more sensible (and tastier) option than offerings from Cadbury and Nestlé. 

As it stands, the coming months and years will be crucial for the chocolate industry. The growing focus on sustainable and ethical trade is already making waves across the food and drink industry. From alternative milk to meat substitutes, we have shown that we’re genuinely passionate about reducing our carbon footprint. Coupled with an increasing demand for premium-quality products, I suspect we will see chocolate production follow a similar trajectory to the coffee industry. The specialty coffee market has exploded over the last decade and its growth shows few signs of slowing – traceability and single origin may sound like buzzwords, but for millions of customers they play a key role when buying beans.

Interestingly, coffee roasters are also experimenting with direct-trade models whereby working relationships are established between roaster and farmer, doing away with brokers. If smaller chocolate companies succeed in establishing similar business models, the results will be positive for growers, manufacturers and consumers. These changes aren’t going to happen overnight of course, and many of the underlying problems will require a monumental effort to resolve. That manufacturers and consumers are willing to engage with ethical and environmental debates are promising to say the least, and with specialty cocoa already predicted to be one of the fastest-growing market areas in Europe, the future looks bright. But to assume that as consumers we can sit back and wait for issues to be solved by others is naive, and with Easter fast approaching it’s the perfect time to reflect on our purchasing habits. I’m not going to stop buying chocolate for friends and family, but I will certainly focus on shopping small, shopping sensibly and spending just a little bit more money on higher quality, more sustainable treats.

The 2020 NFL Draft: who should we be looking out for?

Tristan Varakuta
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The 2020 NFL Draft: who should we be looking out for?

The 2020 NFL Draft will be without the pageantry normally expected of the event. It was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas to coincide with the Raiders’ arrival in the city but, instead, it will take place remotely. This move should come as no surprise following the NFL’s decision to ban all in-person meetings between teams and players in the lead-up to the draft due to Coronavirus. It will be interesting to see how this affects the draft process, as teams won’t be able to get up close to any of the prospects they are evaluating. Perhaps certain prospects will fall down in the draft order, as they will not have had the chance to smooth out any injuries or off-field concerns with potential suitors.

Quarterbacks: Reigning Heisman trophy winner Joe Burrow is almost certain to be selected first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, after a meteoric rise over the past 12 months. This time last year, Burrow would likely have gone undrafted if he had chosen to declare for the NFL draft. His college football career up to that point had been extremely disappointing: after failing to win the starting quarterback job at Ohio State three seasons in a row he transferred to LSU and had a disappointing first season. However, since LSU implemented a new offensive system last spring, Burrow has been unstoppable. He led LSU to a national championship, with the team going undefeated and beating five of the top-10 ranked college football teams in what was arguably the greatest college football season by a quarterback of all time. Having grown up a stone’s throw away from Cincinnati, it will be truly shocking if the Bengals don’t select him.

A victim of Burrow’s ascendance is Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa has had an illustrious college career, and in his first season, he came off the bench in the national championship game as a freshman to lead a comeback victory. He went on to repeat this feat, winning a second national championship the following season as the starting quarterback. However, in 2019 he suffered a dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture from a brutal sack, thereby missing large parts of the season. There are lingering question marks over the long-term impact of this injury which have not been resolved, with coronavirus preventing teams from conducting medical examinations on Tagovailoa. With both Miami and the Chargers on the hunt for a quarterback, one of these teams will likely move in and grab him in a blockbuster trade, with the other taking Justin Herbert as a consolation prize. Herbert is a typical quarterback at 6’6”, with all the physical attributes needed to play in the NFL. He impressed at the Senior Bowl and has high potential, but his football IQ and tendency for misthrows may hold him back in the NFL.

Wide Receivers: The 2020 wide receiver class is being hailed as one of the best of all time and is expected that over ten will be selected in the first two rounds of the draft. Spear-heading this class are Alabama duo Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. Jeudy is an extremely polished prospect with crisp route running and excellent ability to gain yards after the catch, whilst Ruggs offers truly electric speed, having recorded a 4.27 second 40-yard dash at this year’s combine. Ruggs’ skillset may not translate well to being a number one receiver in the NFL, but the attention he would demand as a secondary threat, and the dimension his pace could add to an offence, means he is certain to command a first round pick. Ceedee Lamb is also projected to go high. Whilst he may not have the blistering pace of Ruggs, his excellent ball handling skills and ability to win 50/50 match-ups potentially make him a more viable number one receiver in the NFL.

Tackles: It is expected that four elite tackle prospects will be selected in the first round, although it is difficult to predict the order they will be selected in. How General Managers rank them will be based on the classic draft dilemma: whether to draft sure-fire prospects or draft for potential. Jedrick Wills is perhaps the best overall prospect: he is polished in both pass-protection and run-blocking. However, teams may be put off by the fact he played right-tackle at college level. Andrew Thomas is a powerful run-blocker and would be an attractive prospect for teams running power-scheme offences, but his pass protection will need development. Tristan Wirfs, although less polished than the previous two prospects, offers tremendous upside due to his mobility and will likely attract attention from zone-scheme teams. Mekhi Becton’s skills as a tackle are a cut below the other three prospects, but his unique physical stature (6’7”, 369 lbs) means that he has the highest potential of the bunch. Coaches who believe they can teach Becton the skills to succeed at the next level may see him as a potential Hall of Famer.

Defence: Defensively, this year’s draft is thin on the ground compared to previous years, although Ohio State’s Chase Young is on par with any of the great edge rushing prospects to enter the NFL over the past 5 years. He matches elite physical attributes with a unique polish as a pass rusher. Young’s varied skillset means that teams will expect him to be an elite NFL pass rusher from the first day he sets foot on their training field and it is highly likely he is selected in the first three picks of the draft. Jeffrey Okudah offers similar promise as a cornerback and should be selected in the top 5. Moreover, Isaiah Simmons is a unique prospect and could be selected anywhere in the top half of the first round. Simmons’ athleticism is unrivalled; his 40-yard-dash time of 4.39 seconds at the combine was faster than all but six receivers, despite the fact that he weighed in at 238 lbs. At Clemson he was equally adept at rushing the quarterback, disrupting the run, or dropping into coverage. Coaches seeking to add complexity to their defensive schemes will love him as a prospect.

Overall, this year’s draft promises spark, and I would expect some blockbuster trades early on in the first round, as teams scramble to secure their franchise quarterback. How teams rank the tackles is likely to be extremely influential in the first round. It will be particularly interesting to see where this impressive class of wide-receivers get selected. A surplus of talent could perhaps mean they fall lower in the draft than many expect.

The Virtual Museum: Can technology transform the gallery space?

Adam Dalrymple
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The Virtual Museum: Can technology transform the gallery space?

It makes sense that museums are stuck in the past. Having spent their lives surrounded by antiquities, we can forgive curators for not being savvy with the latest technologies. Many of the most prominent museums in the world have not fundamentally changed over the past century, except for certain acquisitions and design tweaks. Entering the Ashmolean or the British Museum today, you still walk through colonnaded halls with glass cabinets, peering at the little written descriptions of the artefacts as you go.

However, developments in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology provide curators with an opportunity to revolutionise our relationship with the artefacts of the past. Imagine, upon entering the Natural History Museum, you raise your phone camera and the blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling comes to life, swimming through the air above your head. Or upon entering a room of Roman sculptures in the British Museum, you can put on a VR headset and be transported to a street in Ancient Rome, where you can appreciate the statues in their original context. The potential of AR and VR in museums is to bring the past to life.

Currently, these technologies exist in museums only as small gimmicks for landmark exhibitions or virtual tours online. The British Museum’s “virtual tour” is limited to a wander around its foyer, while the Ashmolean tour consists of low-resolution three-second videos of various galleries.

Some museums have been more creative: visitors to the Modigliani retrospective at the Tate Modern could enter his studio as it was in the 1910s through a VR headset, while the Louvre took people Beyond the Glass of the Mona Lisa for a landmark exhibition commemorating 500 years since the death of Leonardo da Vinci. Yet none of these museums have fully exploited the potential of VR and AR by integrating the technology into their galleries in a meaningful way.

Firstly, we need to clarify what is meant by VR and AR. VR, or Virtual Reality, is a simulated virtual world, experienced through headsets such as the Oculus Rift. Curators might protest that this technology, by its very nature, is against what museums are all about as it removes people from the artefacts that museums exist to showcase. However, if you come to museums to immerse yourself in the past, Virtual Reality has the potential to actually take you there. As opposed to simply looking at a model of prehistoric huts, it is far more engaging to put on a headset and enter one. VR should not replace the objects on display but rather place them in their historical context.

AR, or Augmented Reality, involves projecting visuals onto a real-world background; think Snapchat filters or Pokémon Go. Only fragments of the past survive in the present day, but AR could fill in these gaps. Take, for example, the magnificent contents of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, displayed in the British Museum, which has been eroded from centuries spent underground. What if, through AR, you could see the missing pieces of the famous Sutton Hoo helmet and shield slotting back into place, allowing visitors to appreciate the grandeur of Anglo-Saxon armour in its original condition? Phil Stewart, Creative Director of the company which modelled Modigliani’s studio for the Tate said, “Understanding art is about understanding the painter and the paintings, and also the historical and social context.” Bringing this technology into museums would not mean relegating the importance of the artefacts themselves to a secondary role but would, in fact, serve to enhance the viewing experience; rendering the displays within a virtually reconstructed historical context and allowing the opportunity to view them in their original condition.

New technologies also have the potential to bring these relics of our cultural heritage outside of their cabinets, beyond the walls of the museums themselves, and into our classrooms and our homes.

Google Arts and Culture is an online platform developed in association with museums and heritage sites across the planet. When it first came online in 2011, it was essentially an archive of high-quality photos of some of the world’s greatest artworks and historical artefacts. Since then it has developed an array of technologically sophisticated features that allow people to interact with these objects from their home. The outbreak of the coronavirus may have temporarily closed museums, but you can still walk through the halls of the Louvre, the Rijksmuseum and the MET from the comfort of your couch on the Google Arts and Culture app. The “Art Selfie” feature uses facial recognition to find a portrait that resembles you, while “Art Projector” brings masterpieces into your home through AR. Through “Pocket Gallery” I could enter the Cauvet Cave in France, home to figurative cave paintings that date back 36,000 years, which have been sealed off from the public since 1994 for preservation. At a moment when we cannot go to museums, museums can nevertheless come to us.

With the features developed by Google Arts and Culture, artefacts and artworks can become readily accessible to students who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to visit these museums. Likewise, when diplomatic deadlock prevents objects seized by colonial powers returning home, these platforms can allow people in post-colonial countries to engage with their cultural heritage without having to journey to the British Museum – although this virtual engagement is, of course, no substitute for the return of the artefacts.

A more recent development, pioneered by The Kremer Collection, is even more revolutionary. The collection consists of 70 works by Dutch Masters, acquired by George and Ilone Kremer since 1996 including masterpieces by Rembrandt. While the artworks are loaned to museums across the world, they were finally brought together and housed in a single space for the first time in October 2017: the virtual Kremer Museum. Designed by architect John van Lierop, the space is only accessible through a Virtual Reality headset, making it one of the world’s first exclusively virtual museums.

It is worth emphasising the value of interacting with artworks and artefacts in person. Nothing compares to walking beneath a statue of an Egyptian pharaoh and being astounded by its grand scale or squinting to see the texture of Van Gogh’s brushstrokes on a canvas. The value of these objects is in their authenticity. They are relics of lost societies, sculpted and painted by people who are long since dead. No matter how accurate the virtual reproductions of the paintings in the Kremer Museum are, they were still not painted by Rembrandt’s hand.

The question is not whether we should replace our museums with virtual galleries but how we can enhance the museum experience with this new technology. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have the potential to transform our relationship with the past, making ancient artefacts accessible and placing them in their original historical context. Museum curators must employ the technology of the future to breathe life into the past.

An Introduction to K-dramas

Daniya Jawwad
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An Introduction to K-dramas

On the 9th of February 2020, history was made at the Oscars when Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite became the first ever non-English film to win ‘Best Picture’. However, that wasn’t the only award Parasite took home: the film went on to receive awards for ‘Best Director’, ‘Best International Feature Film’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’, an unprecedented feat. As a result, more and more people find themselves curious about the South Korean film and television industry, with special attention being paid to K-dramas (or Korean television series), which have attained fan followings all over the world. Given the popularity of Parasite, here are four K-dramas (all available on Netflix) that should definitely be on your “must watch” list.  

MR SUNSHINE 

Don’t be deceived by the name. You need only to watch the first episode to discover that this series’ preoccupations are anything but sunny. Set in the late 19th century, the series focuses on the events leading up to the Japanese occupation of Korea and the gradual dissolution of the Joseon dynasty, which precipitated drastic social change. At the centre of these chaotic times are Choi Yoo-jin/Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-hun) and Go Ae-sin (Kim Tae-ri), whose lives are intricately connected. Eugune Choi is a Joseon man who fled to the US as a child and, having grown up now, is a part of the US Marines. He returns to Joseon as part of the Korean expedition in 1871, accompanying an American delegation for a simple mission. However, this one mission spirals out of control when he becomes increasingly involved in the secret life of a Joseon noblewoman and, soon, past traumas from his childhood resurface. 

One of the main reasons I enjoyed Mr Sunshine was because of its portrayal of women. Usually the women in K-dramas don’t have much agency but this show changed that and many other K-dramas have followed suit. Go Ae-sin, for example, is frustrated at how, being a part of the aristocracy, she can’t help her fellow countrymen against the growing presence of foreign forces. She decides to fight her helplessness by secretly taking lessons in marksmanship, allowing her to become an asset to the independence fighters. As such a game-changing example of the genre, Mr Sunshine would make for an excellent introduction into K-dramas; you might even recognise Lee Jeong-eun, the housekeeper in Parasite, who plays a supporting role.

Lee Byung-hun in Mr Sunshine

SKY CASTLE

If you’re in search of a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, look no further than SKY Castle. SKY Castle focuses on the academic pressure that high school students face in South Korea when applying to universities, as well as the rat race that is ‘elite’ society. The name of the series is derived from the names of the most competitive universities in South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. 

What I love about this series is that they focus on the impact mothers can have on their children. The actors shine through in their roles, especially Kim Seo-hyung, who plays the elusive and mysterious Kim Joo-young, charged with preparing rich, competent students for university entrance exams. Han Seo-jin (Yum Jung-ah) is an obsessive, perfectionist mother who seeks out Kim Joo-young to help her daughter get into SNU’s medical school. However, a series of strange events start to occur, affecting Han Seo-jin’s neighbours, No Seung-hye, Jin Jin-hee and Lee Soo-im. No Seung-hye (Yoon Se-ah) loves her children very much and wishes to put their well-being first, but is pressured into pushing her children to their limits by her husband. Likewise, Jin Jin-hee (Oh Na-ra) wants the best for her child but doesn’t always know what to do and so is easily influenced by others, and usually bound to follow Han Seo-jin’s example. Lee Soo-im (Lee Tae-ran) is a stepmother, but she too cares about her child very much. She doesn’t understand the frenzied concern of the other mothers around her, much to the distaste of Han Seo-jin. Suffice to say, the complex and multi-layered narrative of this drama led to its success and earned it a place as the highest rated drama in Korean cable television history.

A promotional poster for Sky Castle

ROMANCE IS A BONUS BOOK

What I don’t like about other K-dramas is that they sometimes go a little too ‘over the top’ and seem exaggerated. However, Romance is a Bonus Book is an exception – it’s chill, casual, feel-good watching, and well suited to quarantine watching. This drama centers on Kang Dan-i (Lee Na-young), a single mother and divorcee who is struggling to re-enter the workforce after having taken some time off to raise her child. Despite the fact that she is very experienced in her field and had previously held a high position, her extended hiatus, and the fact that she’s a single mother, discourages employers from taking her on. Desperate for a job, Dan-i destroys evidence of her many qualifications in order to be eligible for a job aimed at high school graduates. The job is at a publishing company that is partially owned by her childhood friend, Cha Eun-ho (Lee Jong-seok), who is much surprised by Dan-i’s entrance to the workplace. Romance ensues. 

This drama sheds a light on the particular difficulties working women face and, of course, seeing a show take an active role in encouraging social awareness is always refreshing. Also, Kang Dan-i is older than Cha Eun-ho in the show and it’s interesting to explore why it is still frowned upon for older women to date younger men in Korean society. The friendship between these two characters that blossoms into love is beautiful to watch and is wonderfully complemented by the mellow soundtrack, featuring K-indie bands like Jannabi and The Black Skirts.

The two leads in Romance is a Bonus Book

ONE SPRING NIGHT

Last but not least there is One Spring Night. Again, this K-drama is unlike other romantic dramas in that it is very subtle and low-key, yet heartwarming. In other words, it offers us a depiction of real life with real people and real problems. At the centre of it is Lee Jeong-in (Han Ji-min), a librarian who is unsatisfied with her four year long loveless relationship with her boyfriend, and Yu Ji-ho (Jung Hae-in), a pharmacist and single father, who meet one day and start to develop feelings for each other. One Spring Night explores the ‘grey area’ a lot of couples find themselves in after being with each other for a long time and slowly starting to recognise that the feelings they once held for each other are no longer there. Lee Jeong-in doesn’t love her boyfriend but still feels an obligation towards him, which prevents her from pursuing a relationship with Yu Ji-ho. Add to that the social stigma around single fathers in Korean society and we find ourselves immersed in the details of a very complex set of relationships.  

The beauty of One Spring Night lies in the incredible acting on display. The English language soundtrack too (featuring Carla Bruni’s Spring Waltz) adds a unique touch to the show. Unfortunately, because One Spring Night is not a conventional K-drama filled with slapstick comedy and bolstered by a soundtrack featuring big names, the show didn’t received much attention, but I assure you that it is well worth the watch. 

Female friendship in One Spring Night

COVID-19 Is Changing the Way We Socialise

Janae Byrne
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COVID-19 Is Changing the Way We Socialise

With the UK in lockdown, we must resort to new forms of socialising. The lack of daily routine and inability to meet other people seems to provide an endless void for those staying at home, but once this void becomes filled with unlimited social media interactions, are we actually becoming overstimulated in our attempts to navigate social isolation?

The importance of social media has taken on a new meaning in the context of a global pandemic. It is a powerful tool for bringing people together which many relationships and friendships are currently dependent on. Unable to see my best friends for the foreseeable future, I feel very privileged to have the means of keeping in touch with them virtually. However, with this being the prime way of communicating with people outside of my household, I am finding myself spending more time than ever staring at a screen.

I must admit, there was a certain novelty to it at the beginning of this period of lockdown, with the non-stop Houseparty notifications resulting in impromptu conversations with people I hadn’t spoken to since high school. But once I’d FaceTimed everyone in my contacts and swiped through an endless stream of mundane Instagram stories, I noticed that what initially seemed like vast amounts of time to fill was actually becoming saturated with meaningless interactions.

As much as we can replicate reality through Zoom calls, it can never replace it. When my friend and I ran out of things to talk about 1 hour into a FaceTime call I seriously started to question the basis of our friendship. But when in real life would you sit and talk face-to-face with someone without any external distractions? I can hardly offer them a virtual cup of tea when the conversation runs dry.

Video-calling loses the subtleties of real-life and intensifies social interaction to the point that it feels unnatural. This is a concerning factor with the majority of students receiving teaching online over the coming weeks. I worry that video-call tutorials and seminars will never achieve the same dynamic as those in person.

Social media provides a fast-paced stream of communication that is alien to real life. In under a minute I can watch someone cook their dinner, flick through an album of photos of ‘pre-corona’ times or read a series of quarantine routines on Twitter.  The mutual boredom of all those without a job or classes to go to means that social media is, now more than ever, the nation’s stream of consciousness.

In a recent article in The Guardian, Joel Golby claims, “coronavirus has infected our culture, and the discourse is mutating around us, and the language and intensity of discussion will be permanently disfigured by this once-in-a-lifetime event”. People are aware of each other’s lives now more than ever and the effort needed to keep in contact is reduced to simply picking up the phone.

I wonder, when we finally reach the light at the end of the tunnel, how we will re-adjust to the coffee dates and pub trips which require more careful planning. I hope that the magic of casual interaction, the sitting and enjoying the presence of someone else without formal communication, is something we will have a new appreciation for when normality resumes.

Currently, socialising online is our only option. Yet I would encourage people to see social media as a complement to reality rather than a replacement for it. We must be creative with the way we use the technology we are privileged to have. It warms me to see people getting together for virtual dinner parties, movie nights and reading groups. Keeping up the routines and activities we took for granted before this pandemic helps to make this craziness feel slightly more normal.

Socialising is important, but it isn’t everything. While many of us are blessed with more free time than we’ve ever known, why not take up a new hobby or do those things that you previously never had time for? I have started reading a book for pleasure for the first time since high school, spent more time playing the piano, and even made time to do arts and crafts. So next time you find yourself scrolling through an endless stream of ‘hot takes’ on Twitter, why not take some time for yourself? I promise you won’t be missing out on much. These past couple of weeks have taught me not to be ashamed of declining group calls to continue with my knitting.

Friday Favourite: The Things They Carried

Wei Khai Lim
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Friday Favourite: The Things They Carried

In the perverse manner of a bored and immature conscript in peacetime, I spent my weekends off in 2015 and 2016 consuming as much media about wars as I could. The Vietnam War was a favourite theme. Everything was so familiar to me: the vulgar cadence songs in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket declared themselves ancestors to the ones we inherited in the Singapore Army; Pte. Chris Taylor’s dog-tag sticking to his neck after hours of sweat in Platoon (1986) reminded me of the recurrent heat rashes we all got outfield. Even the way men react to enemy fire recalled my own instructors, and the sheer fatigue of each week spent in the jungle.

Thankfully, the similarities ended there. After all, I wasn’t fighting in a war, and I could still bring books into the barracks – all the while pretending to myself that being able to strip and re-assemble my assault rifle made me a patriotic hero. So I looked for, and found, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1990), which accompanied me on the interminable hours in the live-firing range. Like the movies, it insists: ‘a true war story is never moral.’ And insists again:

‘If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue.’

Of course, as both Wilfred Owen and military clichés remind us, the real ‘victim’ of the lie is the dead soldier. Yet the silly strength of O’Brien’s ‘true’ war stories is their ability to make us believe how beautiful dirt is, and in how much courage narrative gives us when we’re far enough away from the events it is based on. Away from any real theatre of war, I nevertheless felt convinced to perform nobly for my bored friends and family – ‘the infantry is so tough, I should’ve malingered like <person X> instead’, or ‘yeah I gave up my foot for the country’ (I didn’t even catch footrot, I had just bruised it kicking a root). To rehash some tired platitudes, O’Brien’s power is more than his ability to formulate a world that isolates narrative from reality, but also consists in his capacity to transport us away from the latter. The Things They Carried carried me through moments of isolation – isolation that inevitably washes in when you pluck an irritable and unready boy fresh out of school, throw him into a group of other angry young men and tell him he has to earn their respect. Lieutenants in armies worldwide still famously fail to accomplish this, let alone the enlisted corps that can’t hide from their men once commissioned officers have long disappeared into their field offices.  I was a sergeant, and so enlisted, and so for the first time in my life I truly had nowhere else to go. Every tomorrow was something different, and I had to roll with the (sometimes literal) punches.

But later, in those long, silent hours (quiet for ‘tactical’ reasons) marching through the green, I imagined that someone who had come before me can sympathise, and that if I have it hard, someone else has had, and will have, it harder – including my own troops:

‘They plodded along slowly, dumbly, leaning forward against the heat, unthinking, all blood and bone, simple grunts, soldiering with their legs…’

I took each step as I did each clause here, with no wailing but some gnashing of teeth. O’Brien gave me a way to think and talk about these muddy memories in retrospect: with more modesty than I had managed, but we shared that tone of relief all people speak in when we no longer have to  do something difficult.

Now, over 3 years after I finished my term of service, I find myself in isolation again, this time with the law itself putting a cordon around my movement. At time of writing, I am serving day 7 of a 14-day isolation notice. I realised that I have finished 8 terms of a degree in English (with my tutors, all 4 of whom would probably disapprove of my mawkish review). I have used the houseparty app 3 times in the past 6 days for ‘virtual pubbing’. I sleep 4 hours a day, twice a day owing to jetlag. I am putting numbers on things to have a grasp on time passing, but even that is slowly slipping away from me. So for some calm and control I returned to O’Brien, but the things I value about The Things They Carried are no longer the same. I am more cynical now; more self-reflective about how much power books and movies and poetry really have about the way they move me. In the recent, crazy days, people have rightfully called out Waterstones supremo James Daunt for attempting to argue that book retailing should go on business-as-usual. Opponent arguments have gone many ways, including the fact that Audible – recognising the essential importance of books – has now made hundreds of volumes available for free to stave off our cabin fever. Good things, and good conversations about how important books and movies are to our cultures. Perhaps a sign that I should watch, read, or listen to something new.

Yet I still go back to The Things They Carried. It must be said that I hate to think about metaphors of ‘war’ in relation to the novel coronavirus. Susan Sontag years ago had already warned us that ‘military metaphors contribute to the stigmatizing of certain illnesses and by extension, of those who are ill.’ But military metaphors are productive because they are triumphalist, so they persist with us as we look forward to eventual victory over an illness that has and will continue to rob us of the vulnerable in our midst, not to mention countless milestones in our lives. As NHS England curiously declares ‘outbreaks of altruism’, O’Brien gives the time of day to the heroes in our midst: heroes because, like the soldiers who have been sold pipe dreams of glory, they are just like us.

‘They carried all the emotional baggage of [women and] men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing – these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.’

As he takes us away from the gore and the dirt, O’Brien brings his camera eye-level with the people who push past the rubble for the rest of us. I can’t look away. Once again, I have nowhere else to go. Auden would have us believe that violence is ‘history’, that 30s slang for public affairs ‘that never sleeps or dies, / and, held one moment, burns the hand’. O’Brien will burn your hand while letting you watch how he does it. In the time of Coronavirus, he will prove that loving yourself can also come through loving other people.

EXCLUSIVE: Union to move to podcast format for Trinity

Tilly Walters
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EXCLUSIVE: Union to move to podcast format for Trinity

The Union will go online only for Trinity Term, with talks and debates in podcast format, Cherwell can exclusively reveal. 

The society will continue with a full termcard, which will be released in 0th week. It will have regular individual speakers, two debates a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays), and will hold several “weekend specials” throughout the term. 

Talks will be similar to their standard format, with the President or Librarian interviewing. Debates will more closely resemble a panel format, with the hosts interviewing the speakers one by one, followed by a discussion. The talks will be recorded collectively, so individual speakers have the chance to respond to each other. All podcasts will be pre-recorded. 

Speaking to Cherwell, President Mahi Joshi said: “With teaching going fully online for Trinity, and few students expected to be in Oxford, it would be impossible to hold our traditional events in Oxford. Not only would few of our members be able to attend, but it would potentially jeopardise the health and safety of all those involved.

“Moreover, current travel restrictions mean that it would be effectively impossible to secure any confirmations, either from UK-based or International speakers. All the work we as a committee do over the vacation is in the interests of putting together a term card which shares exciting and important voices with our members, and organising fully online events is the only way to achieve this in TT20.”

Interviewing speakers, and conducting debates remotely will allow a solution for travel restrictions currently in place globally. Joshi commented that, “The online format of the podcasts means that it will be easier to welcome speakers who might not be able to make it to the Union for a traditional event, whether for reasons of mobility or distance. We hope that, as a result, we will have a broad range of participants joining us, making for a diverse and exciting term card.”

Members will be able to submit questions to speakers through a form shared on the Union’s Facebook page. The host will choose the most popular and interesting questions and pose these to the speaker. Joshi said, “For individual speaker events, tough lines of questioning by the host, as well as pre-submitted member questions, will challenge speakers as normal. 

“For our debate podcasts, the opportunity for speakers to engage more directly with each other than they might in a debate means that any controversial views will be directly and intelligently challenged by speakers with differing views.”

She hopes that the online talks will provide a convenient alternative to traditional events, and noted that: “We appreciate that few people’s first thought at the announcement of Trinity being fully online is, “oh no, what about the Oxford Union!” But during these isolating times, our podcasts will hopefully give members the opportunity to listen to something insightful and inspiring, outside the day-to-day COVID news.

“We also hope, with students feeling disconnected from Oxford during this remote term, our podcasts will offer students a connection to Oxford life, and will give them something to look forward to each day.”

The Union buildings, including its members’ bar and library, closed early at the end of 8th week. Buildings will be reopened as and when government measures are changed. Library loans will be extended to the 13th of October, 2nd week of Michaelmas Term 2020. 

The Oxford Union podcasts will be released on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Alexa.

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