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An interview with Federico Enciso, Paraguay’s First Openly Gay Politician 

By
Adam Noad
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Image courtesy of Federico Enciso.

I am not going to lie. I myself was pretty much oblivious to Paraguay’s existence before being introduced to the documentary, 108: Cuchillo de Palo. Set during Stroessner’s dictatorship, it goes in search of the truth surrounding the director’s uncle, a gay ballet dancer who was found dead in his house one morning. It’s one of those documentaries that keeps you thinking for days. 

Spurred on by curiosity to find out what being gay in Paraguay is like today, I did what everyone does when they cannot stop thinking about something: I googled it. A few amateur searches composed of a jumble of disconnected words regarding the LGBT community in Paraguay allowed me to delve into the topic. At some point, I stumbled upon an article headline from the country’s main news outlet, ABC Paraguay, reading: ‘First openly gay candidate speaks out against vote-buying’. 

While the prevalence of ‘vote-buying’ is obviously condemnable, what caught my attention was the first part: the ‘first openly gay politician’. Having just read horror stories about the gay experience in South America’s most conservative country, I felt that I had to hear from him. A good dose of healthy stalking later, I found his Instagram profile, sent him a message, scheduled a Zoom call, and here we are. What follows is an interview with Federico Enciso, a 28-year-old master student in social work and the former candidate for the opposition party, PLRA (Authentic Radical Liberal Party), who just so happens to be gay: 

Why did you decide to become a politician? 

“Ever since I was a boy, politics has always interested me, despite the fact that my family was pretty much apathetic to the subject. I started investigating and became involved in my school’s student council. Though we initially only debated issues which affected education, we started contemplating the possibility of getting involved on other fronts, such as party politics. We all got involved because we wanted to – and still want to – discuss things which are simply not talked about in Paraguay. One of the things which we wanted to talk about was young people that political parties ignore.”

Is there a difference between Paraguayan young people’s attitude to politics and your parents’ generation? 

“Paraguay’s main problem is that it went through one of longest dictatorships in Latin America, and the main ‘achievement’ of this dictatorship was to instil fear, indifference, and apathy towards politics in the population. With regard to LGBT issues, I guess things have got better, but they are far from perfect. Above anything else, people are afraid. Even though there is no law against homosexuality in Paraguay like there is in Russia, for example, the fear of social rejection is still stronger than ever. For instance, if you are gay, it’s harder to get a job and there are many cases of abuse, not only mental but also physical. And if you are transexual, everything is a thousand times worse.”

Why has so little changed since Stroessner’s dictatorship? 

“Paraguay’s history is not like that of other South American countries. In Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay, dictatorships fell, giving way to – more or less – stable democracies with alternating governments. Here, the same party that supported the dictatorship is still in power and this makes change a lot harder. If you actually look at election results, you’ll see that most people don’t vote for the Colorado Party, but there’s a First-Past-the-Post system, which means that the opposition vote is split between three or four candidates. If the political system was different, a lot of change could have already been made in several areas.”

In which areas besides LGBT rights do you feel that Paraguay lags behind? 

“One of the most basic things that I think is lacking in Paraguay is a true democratic tradition. If you look at some surveys, you’ll see that most Paraguayans would support an authoritarian regime. Even if we have been a democracy for a long time now, there is still an absence of democratic values. The other big issue, for me, is inequality. In Paraguay, there is no middle class; you are either crazy rich or you live in poverty. This inequality affects all areas of life: education, healthcare, and employment. Most jobs are precarious and pay peanuts. There is no real industry apart from agriculture in Paraguay, and, as a consequence, people cannot find good jobs. All of this is aggravated by the fact that Paraguay has one of the worst education systems in the world.”

In the last few years, several important Paraguayan politicians have made homophobic remarks, most notably the country’s former president, Horacio Cartes, who said he would ‘shoot himself in the balls’ if he had a gay son. What do you make of these comments? 

“I think you have to split this topic in two. The first problem that we see is impunity. Politicians can say whatever comes to mind because they know that there are never any consequences. In fact, there is no law against homophobia in Paraguay. However, there is also another issue. In the past, people used to blame everything on communists in Paraguay. Anyone who criticised the government was a communist. If someone went out to protest against poverty, he was immediately labelled a communist. Not much has changed. Now, in Paraguay, the government blames everything on the UN’s ‘Vision 2030’. There’s a whole band of politicians who scare people saying that the LGBT community wants to indoctrinate children. All of this is merely a tactic to distract the population from the country’s real problems. Besides being homophobic, these politicians are also using this discourse with an aim in mind. For instance, Cartes is accused of being involved in narcoterrorism by the US government. Instead of taking these accusations seriously, all of Cartes’ political entourage has blamed them on the fact that the US ambassador to Paraguay is gay. He attributes the claims made against him to the dissonance between his conservative political views (as a defender of God, family and the fatherland) and the ambassador’s.”

How do you feel being an openly gay politician in such a conservative country? 

“What I have noticed, since I am a public figure, is the power of social media. Because of what I do, I receive a non-negligible amount of hostility on my social platforms, but rarely in person. I know that it’s not just because I’m gay. It’s the whole package, you see? I’m gay, and I criticise the government. I don’t really let it affect me; often, on social media, there are profiles that are quite visibly fake or bots. What makes me happy is that I have received lots of messages of support, from lots of people who tell me that they would not have the guts to do what I do and are happy to see someone defending the cause.”

How was your coming out? 

“My story does not reflect that of the majority. I was also supported by my family and friends, something which normally does not happen here. In Paraguay, if you come out, generally, you have to move out too. Hostility to gay people exists pretty much everywhere; maybe there is not so much discrimination in Asunción [the capital city], but that is not to say it does not exist.”

You now live in Argentina. Why did you decide to leave Paraguay? 

“First and foremost, I’m here for academic reasons; I came to study here. In Argentina, public universities are good and accessible, something which cannot be said of universities in Paraguay. While education is a right set out in the Paraguayan Constitution, nobody respects the legislation in practice. The other reason why I am here is because I’m tired. Let me explain. Many of the people I knew in Paraguay who were involved in the same struggle went through a process of thinking things were going to change quickly to understanding that the problem was much deeper-rooted. Paraguay has been a democracy for over thirty years, but not much has changed over that time period. Partially, it was this lack of change which pushed me to leave. I was tired of seeing gay friends suffer for being who they were. It’s all very tiring. To be honest, I think I am going to stay in Argentina.”

Is there a difference in attitudes between Argentina and Paraguay? 

“Just by crossing the river which separates the two countries, everything changes. It has been a while now that there is legislation which protects the rights of the LGBT community. In my university course, I have a fellow student who is trans in my class, and everybody calls her the name that she has chosen. I just can’t see this happening in Paraguay. All of this is a relief for me. Obviously, there are still conservative politicians, and, in fact, the president of Argentina is a conservative. Despite this, in general, things are much better, not just among young people but also among older generations who accept diversity.”

Do you not want to go back to Paraguay to try to change the situation? 

“I could, if I wanted to, but I would have to give too much of myself. I would have to put in so much energy and put my mental health on the line in the process. I’ll give you an example. I remember that about two years ago I had a boyfriend, and we were lying down hugging each other on a beach when a man who worked for the local council came over to tell us that we couldn’t do what we were doing. At that moment, I faced two options: either to complain and make a scene, as I usually do, or to keep quiet and leave. The latter is what people usually do, because putting up a fight is tiring. It’s so tiring having to explain the obvious. I know this might seem like a bit of a petty example, but it’s a constant. All the little things that happen on a daily basis add up and affect your mental health. Paraguay is among the countries with the highest rate of young people with depression, anxiety…. It’s because of all of this that, at least for now, I am staying put in Argentina. I love my family and friends, but the political situation in Paraguay is just too complicated.”

All this time that I had been speaking with Federico Enciso, I could not help remembering what Augusto Roa Bastos, by far the country’s most famous novelist, had said during an interview in exile in 1986: ‘Today, Paraguay is a republic of besieged citizens. Half of the population has been corrupted, and the other half domesticated.’ Almost forty years later, the phrase still fits. Sure, Paraguay is no longer a dictatorship, there are no longer arbitrary arrests, and people do not disappear from one moment to the next without any explanation, but the country still lives in a state of fear and fatigue. It would be much easier if Paraguay could start a blank page; however, in the real world, this is impractical. Paraguay must not fake dementia about its dark past, but recognise the damage inflicted by the Stroessner’s dictatorship. Individuals, like Federico Enciso, who refuse to be domesticated or corrupted, will be the protagonists in the next chapter of Paraguay’s history.

Academics criticise the loss of political diversity at Oxford University

By
Éilis Mathur
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Image Credit: James Morrell

The Head of the Equality and Diversity Unit (EDU) at Oxford University has been criticised by academics for his support of Belgian police’s attempts to close down a conservative conference. Scott’s social media post celebrating the attempted shutting down of the National Conservatism Conference has provoked comments from Oxford professors and tutors and the University itself.

On a since deleted post on X Vernal Scott said: “I applaud the mayor and police of Brussels for their decision to close down this conference.” Scott has been Head of the EDU since October 2023 having previously led Diversity and Inclusion at Essex Police. 

The National Conservative Conference, which was attended by Nigel Farage and Suella Braveman, was shut down by local authorities “to guarantee public safety.” The local mayor, Emir Kir, feared the conference could “be homophobic, offend minorities or incite public disorder.” This was later reversed by the court and declared by the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, to be “unconstitutional”. 

Academics and tutors at the University of Oxford expressed their upset at Vernal Scott’s support of the attempted shutting down. Professor Lawrence Goldman, a history lecturer at St Peter’s College, said: “Vernal Scott’s comment sums up the problem in our universities.” He noted that universities have allowed “intellectual and political diversity to wither away.”

Sir Noel Malcolm, a research fellow at All Souls College, said: “It’s very troubling to think that someone appointed to promote ‘diversity’ has such a narrow concept of what diversity is.” He also expressed concern that “students will never learn the basic habits of respectful argument…if they are encouraged to think that the best way to deal with such people is just to silence them.” 

The University of Oxford also released a statement that Scott’s comments “do not represent the views of the university.” 

OUCA members accused of defacing campaign sign in garden of local official

By
Cherwell News
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Image Credit: Ruth Smith

Three members of the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) were accused of putting a Conservative leaflet over a campaign sign in the garden of Cllr Ruth Smith, Councillor on West Oxfordshire District Council, during a campaigning expedition to Witney on Saturday 27 April.

Smith, who is also Leader of Witney Town Council, 15 miles west of Oxford, posted an account of the events to Facebook and X on Monday. 

As part of an expedition to deliver leaflets organised by West Oxfordshire Conservatives last weekend, three members of OUCA were accused of leaving a conservative leaflet over a campaign poster in Smith’s private garden. 

One of OUCA’s senior officers, who was removed and later reinstated as OUCA president last Trinity term, was identified by Smith as “the lad who defaced our sign and took a while in conversation to concede any wrongdoing.” 

Another one of the group was identified as a junior officer in OUCA.

Smith alleged that the senior officer “danced about our Labour sign, holding the leaflet against it [before folding] it over our sign and [leaving] it there.”

She told Cherwell: “[My husband and I] knew they were not campaigning acceptably” and “[my husband] felt the contempt and mockery quite keenly.” 

President Hugo Roma Wilson told Cherwell on behalf of OUCA: “We were profoundly disappointed to hear of our members’ conduct during this campaigning expedition.  We expect our members to conduct themselves appropriately and respectfully at all times. The account we’ve heard is a direct breach of our rules, and in no way representative of OUCA’s values.  We do not approve of their conduct, we condemn it, and they will be investigated accordingly by our Disciplinary Committee. On behalf of the Association, I apologise for the distress and disturbance caused to Ms. Smith and Witney residents, and can only reassure them that we will take steps to prevent this happening again.” 

Local Oxfordshire elections will be held Thursday for City Council councillors, a Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley Police Area, and parish council councillors. 

The senior officer accused by Smith declined to make a comment.

Hassan’s final: St Catz defeat New College 7-0

By
Raghav Chari
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Image Credit: Raghav Chari

St Catherine’s College soundly thrashed New College in the Hassan’s cup final on Saturday 1st week. The match, which was played at the Oxford City ground in Marston, was a close contest until halftime, after which Catz scored six goals to take the cup home with a canter. 

I trudged up to Marston from my cosy OX1 bubble, unsure of where exactly to find the match I was meant to be reporting on for the day. Even after reaching the ground, for a moment I was transfixed by what looked like an under-12s match that had gone to penalties. They were playing in the main pitch but with kiddie goals, and their huddles and celebrations as the penalties went down were strongly reminiscent of the recent City vs Madrid match. Strangely riveting as it was, I set off to find the place where the real action was about to go down. If the under-12s were so captivating, what could Oxford have in store?

The Hassan’s final: St Catz vs New, the clash of two titans. College football has few greater encounters than this. The destination for the day turned out to be a ground in the back, where I caught the two teams warming up. It had just rained and the benches were sopping wet, so I, along with all the other spectators, elected to stand for the entirety of the match. The sky was very overcast and temperatures were near 8 degrees. Really, it was all rather very scenic. It felt much like it was out of the rhetorical question: the teams were good, but could they do it on a cold rainy afternoon in Marston?

(A note to the uninformed reader: Hassan’s is a knockout cup held between teams that were knocked out in the first round of Cuppers. It’s so called for being sponsored by Hassan’s, as the tale goes.)

Catz took kickoff and immediately took possession too. The first half in general was characterised by rather steady build-up play by Catz, who were especially strong through the wings, making many runs and constantly pressing the New back line. The New defence did a good job warding off the attempts made by Catz early on, and most of the first half was very tightly contested by both teams, with New being right in the game and making a few runs on the break. Slowly, though, the Catz team began to push through. A few shots were made, and then a shot on target. Finally, right before halftime, Catz made a play through the centre and scored their first goal in the 39th minute. 

After that the floodgates opened. No more goals were scored until halftime but the Catz presses seemed ever more dangerous. And once the second half resumed, it was all over for New. Catz scored again within five minutes of resumption, a lovely long strike from captain Jake Wong from over 40 yards out, beating all the defenders and the keeper in the air. The sustained impact of Catz’s presses in the first half, and then the wondrous volley from the skipper, broke the dam of New’s defence that had been holding Catz back in the first half. 

Within a 14-minute passage of play, from the 58th to the 72nd minute, Catz scored thrice in rapid succession, each one coming from the result of aggressive build-up play and some fine finishing from the Catz strikers. And then, for good measure, they scored twice again after that, in the 81st and 83rd minutes. By this point the New defenders looked well and truly defeated and exhausted. The second half, which Catz had so completely dominated, saw them saunter to victory assuredly. 

The point of difference between the two sides was their respective midfields. In truth, in the first half, Catz only had a slight advantage in possession, and New was able to wrest control reasonably often. But where the Catz midfielders were able to make use of possession, making plays and being dynamic both defensively and offensively, the New midfield were rather ordinary and none of their presses resulted in genuine pressure on the Catz defence. The New midfield was ineffective in assisting their own defence against Catz’s high line, resulting in the New defence having to absorb all the pressure. And once the defence buckled, it was a goalfest. 

Catz supporters were in greater evidence compared to their New counterparts. One Catz supporter, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘We’ve got a strong squad… we came second to Keble in the league and lost to Balliol in Cuppers, probably were better than them though’. They added that they were ‘happy with [this season]’. Spirits were high in the Catz camp all throughout. Captain Jake Wong, speaking to Cherwell after the victory, said: ‘We’re absolutely buzzing, happy to have any bit of silverware.’ When asked about his long goal in the 49th minute, he said, ‘Don’t score too many [as a defender], so to get that in the big game felt really good’. He added that he was excited for the celebrations later, stating: ‘I believe we’re going to get free drinks for our medals in the JCR!’ All in all, Catz walked away with a comfortable and well-celebrated victory.

Cherwell Introducing: Phoebe Blue

By
Joseph Lomax
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Image Credit: Phoebe Blue

Joining me this week is the radiant Phoebe Blue, a 2nd year classicist at Balliol, singer-songwriter, and bassist. Meeting me on a blustery Saturday afternoon outside the Ashmolean, Phoebe told me all about her neo-soul sound, her first busking experience at age nine, and the importance of songwriting as a creative mode of emotional expression.

Please introduce yourself!

I’m Phoebe Blue, I do classics at Balliol, I’m in my second year and I’m also a singer-songwriter who plays bass. I mostly play music in the genres of jazz, neo-soul, r&b, but my music taste is widespread…eclectic!

Who is your biggest musical inspiration?

As a songwriter, Aimee Mann. I think that the way she writes her lyrics is so beautiful, when you listen to them it just gives you that feeling – her musicality is also incredible. As a singer, I find Nina Simone incredible – a basic answer, but it’s basic for a reason!

We all know Feeling Good, but I watched this film recently called Perfect Days and it was used in such a beautiful ending scene – it means something different to me know, something more. As a bassist, Marcus Miller is an inspiration. There’s a performance I love of his is at the Blue Note in New York, playing his piece Untamed. I could watch it a million times. Nik West is also an amazing bassist.

What has your experience at Oxford been like musically?

I was very lucky to get into the music scene quite early on. From first term I was in DFO (Dot’s Funk Odyssey), Oxford University Jazz Orchestra, and Doubletime. Performing with a jazz orchestra is something I’d never done before. Being able to learn about my voice, and how I work with other people and why has been so important. You cannot do this – music – alone, you need people around you. Every musician should value that. Music is, after all, communicating.  Especially in a jam, where nothing is prepared. You have to listen to each other with improvising and scatting.

What is your first musical memory?

I guess one is when my mum got me this keyboard which played different rhythms and styles of music with each key: I loved exploring different genres. I’ve always loved how music is literally just vibrations in our ears, that somehow make us want to move and dance, to react. 

My first experience of busking was when I was 9.  I’m certainly not in my nine-year-old mindset anymore but performing remains a wonderful feeling. Doing something you love whilst giving people joy simultaneously: that’s what music is about really.

Do you find any connection between your studies and your music?

With the oral tradition, there was a heavy emphasis on the performance of poems. While we now read in our own heads in an isolated way, poems would be sung aloud by a bard. There’s also representation of music in antiquity in what I study on vases, and work I’ve done on the aulos, a type of flute.

Just as music is very present in our society today, it was very present in antiquity. It was entertainment, it made people happy – while being a musician wasn’t respectable as a profession back then, it can be seen to have served the same purpose.

Describe your sound in three words.
Sentimental, soulful, and free.

What’s your favourite song right now?
Love has fallen on me by Chaka Khan, and America by Simon and Garfunkel.

What about a favourite song of all time?

I have a list of all my favourite things I’ll need to check. Ok, I’d have to say Your Song by Al Jarreau, his version.

What is a song that made you want to become a songwriter?

Becoming a songwriter just kind of happened. But Ella Fitzgerald made me understand that you can do anything with music. She changes her lyrics and is amazing in the way she was so free with her music. To have the ability to put your words and feelings to music and sound is therapeutic.

It sounds like flexibility is important to you.

Yes! I guess I had this gradual realisation that I have the capabilities to make music a mode of expression. I always loved creative writing, so to put them together is something that I love that I can do!

Catch Phoebe Blue during her set with Roo & The Smyths on the 16th of June at Common Ground, and all across Oxford throughout Trinity!

Oxford’s top choirs lag behind national gender trends

By
Charlotte Dawson
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Artwork by Camille Simon

Strolling around college quads certain evenings of the week, you’re likely to catch a glimpse of a sea of waist-high gowns and ruffled collars clustered outside. Almost every day, dressed in white cassocks, a select few boys break the silence of college chapels as they lead services in both song and in prayer. 

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Magdalen College Choir, and New College Choir are Oxford’s three choral foundations – so called because a choir and a school were part of their original founding statutes. At the age of seven or eight, young boys can apply to their prestigious choristerships so that if successful, and until their voices break, they are given access to extensive music training as well as generous bursaries to help cover school fees and the cost of their music lessons. Usually, two-thirds of school tuition fees are paid for. 

The 16 boys in each choir typically sing four to six days a week, up to three times a day in the week’s most popular services – Evensong, Sunday services, and Communions. Most also learn two instruments and sing in the choirs’ official recordings, broadcasts, concerts, and tours. 

Oxford choral foundations’ choristerships are some of the most prestigious in the country. They are also the only British choirs outside of London that don’t include girl choristers. 

Historic and modern background

The tradition of boys and men singing in parish choirs existed in Oxford as early as the 14th century, long before it became popular in the wider Anglican church in the early 19th century (fueled in part by the Oxford Movement, which introduced Catholic liturgical practice in Anglican churches). The tradition “played a part in making UK choral music the envy of the world,” Mark Williams, Informator Choristarum (music director) of Magdalen College Choir, told Cherwell. 

One argument in favour of boy choirs is that only boys can have the desired pure treble voice – that the discrimination is not based on gender, but rather on sound. Yet most music critics say the differences are barely noticeable and that if young male voices sound unique it is simply because they have benefitted from more intensive training. 

More strikingly, the vast majority of adult female sopranos can emulate boy trebles. If the issue were only about sound, it would be preferable to employ adults, who are more experienced and competent, than eight-year-old boys. 

Cathedrals across the country struggling with the cost of educating their choristers have increasingly replaced them with adult sopranos. “Education is an expensive business,” Williams observed, but Oxford choral foundations “hold fast to the value of educating young singers.” 

Tradition, today 

Tradition is one reason why foundation choristers have kept all-male choristerships. Boys have sung for New College Chapel since the College’s foundation in 1379, as originally provisioned by the founder of the College, William of Wykeham. Magdalen College Choir have worked with boy choristers since the foundation of the College in 1480, and Christ Church Cathedral Choir since Henry VIII founded the College in 1546. 

Salisbury Cathedral became the first-ever cathedral to introduce girl choristers in 1991. Since then, most across the country have followed. In 2022, St Paul’s Cathedral in London announced the establishment of a choir of girl choristers who will share the singing of services with the choir of boy choristers. In 2023 Westminster Abbey established a choir of girl choristers to sing some services, separately to the boys choir. 

All three of Oxford’s choir schools which educate the choristers – Christ Church Cathedral School, Magdalen College School and New College School – are boys’ schools, with Magdalen College School accepting girls in the sixth form only.

Williams told Cherwell: “Those schools’ understanding, flexibility and support of the choristers is intrinsic to the success and wellbeing of children … but, for the time being, the schools continue … educating only boys in a city and area where, for whatever reason, there are far more single sex schools than in most parts of the country.”

Current research

A research paper on Oxford’s choral system also found that “construction costs and difficulties in putting up girl’s toilets and facilities” have been cited to justify their reluctance to accept girls to choirs.

Another argument for protecting boy choristers is that these positions have become less and less popular amongst boys, and so if girls were allowed to sing in them fewer boys would join choirs. In 2019, The Times reported that the number of girl choristers was higher than the number of boy choristers in the UK for the first time. 

Mark Williams agrees that people must be careful not to discourage young boys from singing. “Boys [need] a safe space in which to sing and to be proud of singing at a high level, in a world where dressing up in robes and singing in church doesn’t align with preconceived stereotypes of what boys should do.” 

Elisabeth Stenlake, a first-year lawyer, is one of the two female singers in Magdalen College Choir this year. She joined Magdalen after singing as a chorister in Durham where there was both a girls choir and a boys choir. She told Cherwel: “Young girls should have the opportunity to be a chorister [just like the] boys do… but it should be done in a way that is an addition rather than replacing the boys with girls, as all children should have this chance.”

Two years ago, St John’s College Cambridge admitted its first girl choristers to sing alongside the boy choristers in a mixed soprano line. St John’s College School Cambridge is one of many choir schools that provide education for both boys and girls. Last month St John’s faced criticism after ending funding for a separate mixed voice choir, the St John’s Voices, in a move called “fundamentally regressive” by the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. 

In Oxford, Christ Church’s Frideswide Voices, created in 2014, and the Choir of Merton College both include more than 20 girls aged seven to 14 singing around twice each week. But the programmes are not nearly as intensive as those accessible to boys, who sing almost every day. 

Obstacles for older singers

The gender imbalance in top choirs permeates past youth. The three choral foundations choirs were all-male until 2016-2017 and today there are between one and three women in each of them. Some other college choirs have only a few female singers. 

One reason for this is that some men – countertenors – sing the same line as the altos, who are typically women. Traditionally the female voice was associated with the soprano role, and male countertenors were chosen over female altos, irrespective of musical skill and voice quality. The Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, for example, which has existed for almost a thousand years, appointed its first female alto in 2017.

Women in Oxford choral foundations told Cherwell their experiences have been positive. Stenlake said: “There have been few female altos in this choir before me, but I have found, especially as there is one other [woman], that it has been a very welcoming and supportive environment. It’s a very fun and social choir where I’ve made so many friends. [I] never feel as if my gender impacts my role within the choir.”

Magdalen College Choir is also unique among Oxford Choral Foundations thanks to its Consort of Voices, as it is the only one which gives the opportunity to adult sopranos to sing with the choir. It is made up of clerks from the College Choir and from sopranos from all over the University, and it sings evensong every Saturday during term time. They occasionally also sing extra services during school half-term. 

There are also active mixed choirs around the University which advocate for gender inclusivity. Many college chapel choirs, including all of those that are non-auditioning, are mixed. Quintin Beer, the Director of Music of the Choir of St Peter’s College, told Cherwell: “Our choir is 50/50 gender and it’s important that it remains that way… SPC is dedicated to providing equal opportunities to male, female, and non-binary singers.”

Professional musicians  

The gender imbalance persists in professional choir music, as well. Out of 29 Oxford choirs studied by Cherwell, 25 are conducted by men. Of the four remaining ones, two are conducted by women professionally – Christ Church College Choir and Hertford College Choir. Trinity College Choir and Lincoln College Choir are conducted by a pair of student organ scholars, with one female and one male student in each. 

A study conducted by the Church of England also shows that in 2020 in Church of England cathedrals 350 choral scholars and lay clerks – that is, professional adult singers – were men, against only 70 women. This means 80% of professional singers were male. These figures are very different to those for voluntary choirs, where 410 adult singers were men and 710 were women. 

There is hope that as choristerships are becoming more accessible to girls and as choirs are starting to appoint female singers, women will begin to gain more choral experience, and more will choose to pursue music at university or even professional level. While timelines for change remain unclear, inclusion at early ages will accelerate long term evolution in choral gender integration. 

Linacre College names boat after river campaign group

By
Emily Henson
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Image Credit: Simon Ho

Linacre College women’s first team names new boat after anti-pollution campaign group. The unveiling of River Action took place on 20 April at Linacre College Boat House. 

The College named the boat to praise the group’s efforts in “drawing attention to water pollution on the River Thames believed to be caused by Thames Water.” River Action, the namesake group, aims to promote awareness of river pollution and pressure companies into changing their practices to improve water quality.  

River Action recently tested the River Thames before the Oxford versus Cambridge Boat Race, finding E.coli “up to 10 times higher than what the Environment Agency considers acceptable for designated bathing waters graded poor.” 

Linacre College Boat Club President, Sydney Rose, said “Linacre Boat Club is proud to support the vision of River Action UK to preserve the health of this cherished historic waterway and the people who gather around it.” 

A University rower recently blamed the loss in the Boat Race on a significant portion of the team being ill with E.coli. The crews were advised against entering the water, and told to cover open wounds and wear footwear getting in and out of the boat. 

River Action CEO, James Wallace has said River Action is honored, commenting: “Rowers spend so much of their time on rivers, and they know better than most, because many of them are getting sick, the awful state of our waterways.

“Together with the rowing community, including all the rowers at Linacre College, we are standing up for river health, placing the polluters on notice that we will hold you accountable.”

Linacre College principal Dr Nick Leimu-Brown has said: “We are horrified that its polluted waters are now such a risk to wildlife and public health.” Pollution in Oxford has been of increasing concern in recent years and Port Meadow has been classified as having “poor” water quality for two years in a row. 

Thames Water has recently published plans to upgrade over 250 of its sites, which would “improve performance and reduce the number of overflows during heavy rainfall.” 

Artificial insights: Decoding diversity and redefining art history with AI

By
Phillipe Luna
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Being an avid art enthusiast, I’ve always been fascinated by the power artistic expression has to push boundaries and connect people from different backgrounds. Recently, however, I’ve noticed a groundbreaking shift in the art world—a revolution driven by the intersection of creativity and technology. This revolution, spearheaded by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into artistic processes, is not only redefining the way we create and consume art but also amplifying voices that have long been marginalised. Imagine strolling through a gallery adorned with vibrant canvases, each telling a unique story inspired by different cultures, experiences, and perspectives. Now, envision these artworks not only created by human hands but also by AI algorithms, blurring the lines between human creativity and machine intelligence. This phenomenon is not science fiction; it’s the reality of contemporary art.

A pioneering example of this synergy is the project “DeepDream”, developed by Google’s AI researchers. DeepDream uses neural networks to generate mesmerising, dreamlike images that defy conventional aesthetics. By feeding these networks with vast datasets of images ranging from Renaissance masterpieces to modern digital art, the program learns to interpret and reinterpret visual patterns, allowing it to challenge our perception of reality. But AI’s impact on art extends far beyond the world of abstract imagery. It’s also revolutionising storytelling and narrative development. Take, for instance, the film “Zone Out,” which was created using an AI program called Benjamin and premiered in 2018. The film showed us how AI can be used to weave together narratives inspired by various cultural mythologies and, consequently, result in a cinematic experience that celebrates the richness of global storytelling traditions.

AI has also been democratising artistic expression by providing a platform for underrepresented voices to be heard. Organisations like Artrendex leverage AI algorithms to analyse art collections and identify patterns of cultural representation. This allows Artrendex to highlight artists whose work may have been overlooked due to systemic biases. For instance, these projects have the potential to uncover a previously unknown female sculptor from the Renaissance whose work was overshadowed by her male contemporaries. By promoting diversity and inclusivity in the art world, AI is challenging traditional hierarchies and fostering a more equitable creative landscape.

In the world of art history, it is no secret that the narratives framed around cultural representation have, more often than not, been shaped by biases and Eurocentric perspectives. However, with the rise of AI technologies, there’s newfound hope for decoding diversity and uncovering hidden stories within art collections worldwide. By harnessing AI’s analytical power, we can challenge the status quo and reshape our understanding of the past.

Another remarkable AI application right now is the “Art Genome Project” by Artsy—a comprehensive database that utilises machine learning algorithms to analyse and categorise artworks based on various criteria, such as artistic style, cultural origin, and historical significance. With a bold and ambitious vision, this project seeks to create a more inclusive and nuanced way to appreciate art, emphasising the connections between artists across different cultures and eras.

Perhaps the most impactful use of AI when it comes to reshaping art history narratives lies in its ability to uncover overlooked artists and artworks from underrepresented communities. Initiatives like the “AI for Cultural Heritage” project by Microsoft use machine learning algorithms to find patterns of cultural representation within digitised art collections in order to highlight marginalised voices from this new knowledge. By shedding light on artists who have been historically and systematically sidelined or ignored, AI can challenge longstanding narratives and enrich our collective understanding of artistic legacy.

As we embrace AI’s transformative potential in art history, it’s essential to recognise that technology alone cannot dismantle systemic biases or promote inclusivity. However, for today, I want to emphasise that by using AI’s abilities to partner with diverse communities and foster interdisciplinary collaboration, we gain the power to spark positive change and pave the way for a more equitable and diverse artistic landscape. In the age of AI-enhanced art, the possibilities for creativity and cultural exchange are limitless—and inclusive.

New humanities faculty building to open in 2025

By
Poppy Littler-Jennings
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Image Credit: Oliver Sandall

A new humanities facility, located in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter along Woodstock Road, is to join the faculty buildings of Oxford University. The Schwarzman Centre is set to open in 2025 and it will house the institute for Ethics in AI and the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre.

This new facility’s move to the University has been made possible by a £185 million donation by the Centre’s eponymous benefactor Stephen A. Schwarzman, co-founder of the Blackstone Group, as well as short-time chairman of President Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum. 

The Centre will consist of a 500-seat concert hall, a 250-seat theatre, a 100-seat ‘black box’ laboratory for experimental performance, a café and a new library. It promises to “encourage experiential learning and bold experimentation through cross-disciplinary and collaborative study.” 

In order to comply with the University’s aim to halve carbon emissions by 2030, the building’s construction will adhere to Passivhaus principles, including the use of solar power generation on the roof and high levels of insulation to reduce the heat needed in the building.

Professor Daniel Grimley, head of the humanities division at Oxford, told Cherwell: “It will be a place to share knowledge and ideas, attend events of a varied nature, and ultimately to find innovative answers to the fundamental question of what it means to be human in an increasingly complex world.” 

As well as housing seven humanities faculties, this facility will now host the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre. It will be moving to the University from its previous host, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, after having been awarded extension funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The centre was created in 2019 to “enhance public understanding of modern slavery and transform the effectiveness of laws and policies designed to address it.”

Professor Grimley told Cherwell: “Working in this innovative manner has helped the centre to influence decision-making at a regional, national, and global level.” The recent example he cited was its work in support of the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, chaired by Theresa May, “for which researchers gave evidence at Parliamentary groups, and showed how human and evidence-led research can improve the world in tangible ways.”  

The Schwarzman Centre will also be home to Oxford’s new institute for Ethics in AI. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, has remarked: “If AI is to benefit humanity we must understand its moral and ethical implications. Oxford with its rich history in humanities and philosophy is ideally placed to do this.”  

Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey has highlighted the promise that the Centre holds to “benefit teaching and research in the humanities” and “to be a place which makes a genuine contribution to the local community in Oxford as well as the national and global cultural sector.”

War, Peace and Writing

By
Sebastian Hall
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Image Credit: CC0 1.0 DEED via Rawpixel

Throughout history, art has left an indelible cultural impact on humanity’s collective understanding of war. Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ is perhaps the most famous manifestation of this; but the richer historical tradition is certainly written, with a heritage as far back as Homer’s Iliad and its depiction of the Trojan War. As the outbreak of conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza over the past two years have made the public more cognizant of modern warfare – and while other conflicts continue to elude that public attention, such as humanitarian tragedies in Myanmar, Sudan and the Sahel it seems the right time to reflect on the power of words to poignantly portray the horrors of war for a civilian audience.

Mark Rawlinson argues that modern war literature is “incontestably a literature of disillusionment”, something he attributes to Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1869). This “disillusionment” that comes through in the war narratives was true of Tolstoy’s own military past, fighting in the Crimean War during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-55); but crucially, it also sets a precedent for modern war writing, which does away with the romantic, top-down narratives of battles that had dominated previously. Despite the grandeur of War and Peace as a ‘historical novel’ (a label its author would have disputed), Tolstoy grounds its scenes in the horrible realities of war and with themes of ignorance and cowardice grounded in a realism akin to Stendhal’s depiction of the Battle of Waterloo in The Charterhouse of Parma (1839). As a historian, Tolstoy repudiated the two most prominent theories of history  that of ‘great men’, and that of Hegelian determinism to demonstrate the helplessness of soldiers against the “antagonistic relation” of their countries. It is through this that Tolstoy gives a bleak picture of war, rooted in its grim realities of unglamorous death and wanton destruction: a picture that had a lasting impact on war literature; specifically, its power to resonate with readers’ emotions and senses of morality. 

Modernist literature of the early 20th century, over which the First World War cast an unmistakable shadow, also reflected a ‘morality’ which was rooted in the ‘reality’ of war. Modernist culture itself represented the “cumulative trauma” (Adam Phillips) of that war, which like War and Peace sought to reject any notions of heroism or romance in the Great War; this was made clear with the powerful anti-war message of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1929). The war literature of the early 20th century, while imbued with a distinctly modernist sense of nihilism, also harked back to Tolstoy’s insistence on the futility of war: Andrei’s “jeremiad” (Rawlinson) on page 775 is not dissimilar from some of the poetry of Siegfried Sassoon. Modernism in literature involved the desire to overturn traditional modes of representation in light of war’s horrors, placing the soldier’s experience at the fore to emphasise the true depravity of which mankind is capable. While modern media exposes the terrible humanitarian cost of wars to the public through ever-more-accurate photos and videos. In the days before technology there was something uniquely powerful about the written word in questioning the value, cost and morality of warfare. This literature was a world away from the antediluvian depictions of warfare as glorious and heroic; patriotic accounts by Robert Keable and Ernest Raymond have not made their mark on posterity. 

Indeed, in contrast to the hubristic accounts of victory presented by Renaissance humanists like Leonardo Bruni, modern war literature tends not to see victory as anything more than Pyrrhic; William Manchester’s Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War (1979), for instance, presents the reader with horrific accounts of death and human suffering. Even more recent was Sam Hamill’s 2003 Poets Against the War project, which reminds us of the continuing power of literature to act as a cultural bulwark of peace. Yet while the writings of Tolstoy, Sassoon and Martin Luther King present necessarily bleak anti-war messages, we must not lose sight of the power of war literature to bring hope during the bleakness of war itself. As Berthold Brecht pointed out in 1939, there would be singing during the dark times ahead  about the dark times, but singing nonetheless.

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