College bulletin: 10 March
Not just hot air: bringing sustainable heating to a 500-year-old College
Energy is one of the key issues of our age. How we eat, how we keep ourselves and our buildings warm, how we counter the destructive effects of carbon emissions on our climate as we transition to cleaner energy.
We look at the work being done to move the College towards energy-efficient heating and decarbonisation as part of our green manifesto.
Credit: Nordin Ćatić
Coffee, cake and a jug of ‘Party on the Backs’ – meet the team ensuring St John’s food and drink is second to none
Our new social spaces are bringing a new buzz to College (and some spectacular coffee and pastries). We meet some of the members of staff managing the new facilities.
Credit: Nordin Ćatić
Professor Usha Goswami gives Linacre Lecture 2023
This year’s Linacre Lecture, entitled Dyslexia, Rhythm, Language and the Developing Brain has been given by Professor Usha Goswami, Fellow of St John’s.
Other news
Cambridge Students’ Awards launched
Cambridge SU has created the 'Cambridge Students' Awards' to celebrate the achievements of students who volunteer across the University and wider community throughout the year.
Whether you are, or want to recognise, a student in a society, campaign, JCR/MCR committee or another area of student volunteering, Cambridge SU wants to recognise you.
Nominations for the awards are now open to both students and staff until Thursday 23 March.
Jenny takes a bow for oboe solo
Second-year St John’s music student Jenny Ryan has won an accolade in the 2022-2023 University Concerto Competition.
Undergraduate Jenny, who plays the oboe, is the runner-up in the prestigious competition, which is held each year by Cambridge University Musical Society, now in partnership with the Centre for Music Performance. Pianist Madeleine Brown, from Trinity, is this year’s winner and fellow pianist Calvin Leung, also from Trinity, is highly commended.
Prize-winners have the chance to perform a concerto with one of the University orchestras.
What’s on
Chapel
Student communion – Sunday 12 March, 8.30am
Gather in the small chapel in the Ante-Chapel for a half-hour service of Communion with sermon, and then go to Hall for a subsidised cooked breakfast. This appeals to a real cross-section of the student community.
Sung Eucharist – Sunday 12 March, 10.30am
Organ recital – Sunday 12 March, 6pm
Andreana Chan of Pembroke College will be performing works by Gowers, Demessieux,
Buxtehude, Jackson and Bach.
Sunday Evensong with Sermon – Sunday 12 March, 6.30pm
This term’s sermon series invites the preachers to help our faith learn from the past. The preachers have chosen figures from the 16th and 17th centuries in order to suggest ways in which our faith might deepen through a closer encounter with their life and work.
The preacher this evening, who draws her subject from the title ‘Past tense, future perfect? Learning from the history of faith’, is Professor Helen Wilcox, Emeritus Professor of English at Bangor University, who will be preaching on Mary Sidney (sister of the better-known Philip Sidney).
Morning prayer – weekdays, 8.30am
Taking place in Ante-Chapel every weekday morning, lasting about 15 minutes.
Evensong – Monday 13 March, 6.30pm
Sung by St John’s Voices.
Evensong – Friday 17 March, 6.30pm
The choir is joined by Ignacio Mañá Mesas, soprano saxophone.
St John’s Voices Concert – Saturday 18 March, 6pm
St John’s Voices will be performing Parry’s Songs of Farewell and Victoria’s Requiem.
Tickets: Main Chapel £20 + £2.15 fee, Ante-Chapel £10 + £1.37 fee. Student ticket for Main Chapel £10 + £1.37 fee, Ante-Chapel £5 + 98p fee. Book tickets
For all our other regular services, see the Chapel webpage. Follow the Facebook page, SJC Chaplain, for Chapel service updates; and Andrew is on TikTok @thedetoxpriest. The Chapel team is always keen to hear from more volunteers to read in services or assist in other ways: please contact Andrew.
Other events
Lent Bumps – Friday 10 March to Saturday 11 March
The Lent Bumps were cancelled today due to poor weather with M1 currently in pole position as Head of the River and W1 have bumped twice and have a ‘good chance’ of getting blades. Lance Badman, Boatman, said all of the St John’s crews have rowed commendably.
Specific timings of LMBC crews were scheduled to be:
Division Fri Sat
W1 16:40 16:40
M1 16:00 16:00
W2 15:20 15:20
M2 16:00 16:00
M3 13:20 13:20
Chapel Late – Friday 10 March, 8pm
Chapel.
Max Todes conducts Bach’s St John Passion. The retiring collection will be in support of British Red Cross’s DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal.
Open to all, admission free, booking is not required.
The Master’s concert series – Saturday 11 March, 8.45pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Joy Lisney (cello) and James Lisney (piano) will be performing two sonatas by Beethoven, and a shorter piece by Arvo Pärt. Joy is a cellist of international standing: her performances have been described as ‘a musical treat of rare quality’ (The Guardian). The performance will be followed by a drinks reception hosted by the Sans Frontières programme.
Open to College members and their guests, admission free, no booking required.
Exhibition: Mathematics and Mathematicians at St John's – weekdays, 9am-5pm
St John’s College Library.
Exhibition that is open to all, admission free, no booking required.
Live lunchtime meditation – Monday to Thursday, 1.15-1.30pm
Via Zoom.
Spend 15 mindful minutes relaxing or meditating with the University’s mindfulness practitioner, Dr Elizabeth English, in these weekday sessions, free to students and staff.
Lecture: Nanowires: Small but mighty building blocks for efficient electronics – Monday 13 March, 6pm
Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre (entrance next to Scott Polar Institute).
Professor Hannah Joyce, lecturer and Professor of Low-Dimensional Electronics and a St John’s Fellow, presents the fifth talk in a series of lectures organised by the Cambridge Philosophical Society this term.
‘Nanowires’ are filamentary crystals with diameters less than 1000th that of a human hair. They exhibit a host of extraordinary properties due to their one-dimensional geometry that, if harnessed, could help solve some of the most pressing problems facing society: energy security, climate change and connectivity. Somewhat paradoxically, the one-dimensional geometry that confers these amazing properties also creates challenges. Prof Joyce will discuss methods of ‘growing’ these nanowires from the bottom-up, contact-free schemes for measuring the intriguing electrical properties of these nanowires, and strategies for integrating nanowires into electronic devices that possess either entirely new functionality, or enhanced performance.
Open to all, admission free. Further information and to book
Palaeography for beginners – Tuesday 14 March, 3pm
Via Zoom.
Weekly ‘have-a-go’ sessions for anyone interested in reading handwriting c1500-c1700, using documents from the College’s institutional archives. Sessions are informal and aimed at beginners, or those with a little experience who wish to practise their skills. Meetings are held online, using photographs of the documents that will be emailed out in advance along with the Zoom link.
Open to all, attendance free. If you would like to join in, please contact the archivist, Dr Lynsey Darby.
Aquila concert – Tuesday 14 March, 7pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Join Aquila, St John’s all-female a capella group, for a short concert, with a retiring collection taken for ActionAid’s DEC Turkey-Syria appeal.
Open to all, admission free.
Food drive – Tuesday 14 March, 7.30-9pm
Ante-Chapel.
A College-wide food drive event is being held to collect non-perishable food items to be donated to the Cambridge City Food Bank. All College members are encouraged to contribute as many or as few items as possible, with all those who do welcome to refreshments (including the amazing Chapel hot chocolate!).
Open to all, admission free.
UniVox rehearsals – every Wednesday during term, 5.15-6.30pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
UniVox is a non-auditioned contemporary choir for students across the University run by the Centre for Music Performance (CMP) and hosted by St John’s.
Places are limited so must be booked via the UniVox page of the CMP website.
Special collection display – Wednesday 15 March, 2-4pm
Old Library.
The Old Library will be open on a drop-in basis for people to view a display of items from the special collections. Every Wednesday during full term.
Open to College members and their guests, admission free, no booking required.
St John's College Music Society (SJCMS) lunchtime recital – Thursday 16 March, 1.15pm
New Music Room.
Hannah Brookes-Hughes (violin), Sarah Henderson (cello) and Juliette Richards (piano) perform Brahms’ Piano Trio no 1.
Open to all, admission free, booking is not required.
Drop-in dissertation support group – Thursday 16 March, 2-5pm
Via Zoom.
Weekly online group run during term time by the Library, offering a structured study space, support and encouragement for any undergraduate student who is currently working on a dissertation.
Email Caroline for the Zoom link or if you have any questions.
Social tennis sessions – Friday 17 March, 3.30pm
St John’s tennis courts, behind the College playing fields.
Hour-long social tennis sessions run by St John’s Tennis Club every Friday during term time. No prior experience is needed, the games are intended for all students of all ages and all abilities. There is no need to attend with a partner or bring tennis balls. If you need a racquet or have any queries please contact Jonny Fox.
Open to all St John’s students, admission free, no booking required.
Botanic Garden tour – Sunday 19 March, 2pm
Meet at the entrance to the Botanic Garden, at the corner of Trumpington Road and Bateman Street.
Join Professor Tim Bayliss-Smith for an hour-long tour of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. See the spring flowers and learn about the garden’s history and the connections between the original tree planting and mid-19th century ideas about the origin of plant species.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, Visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme.
Admission £8. Students should bring their University cards for free entry. Booking not required.
Reading by Vona Groarke – Monday 20 March, 5pm
Faculty of English, GR06/07, 9 West Road.
As part of the Cambridge Festival, St John’s Writer-in-Residence Vona Groarke will be reading from her latest book, Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O'Hara.
Open to all, free to attend. Further details and to book
St John’s Book Group for postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff – Wednesday 22 March, 5.45pm
Merton Hall Cottage.
Postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff are invited to join Vona Groarke, St John’s Writer-in-Residence, for the third book group meeting of Lent Term. This month’s book is Jenny Offill's short and whip-smart 2014 novel, Dept. of Speculation, reviewed in the Guardian as,’'wistful, sad and very funn’', and in the LA Times as, ‘This jewel of a book is a novel as funny, honest and beguiling as any I have read’.
If you are interested in joining this, or the book group for undergraduate students, email Vona.
Cambridge Literary Festival: Talking to Juliet – Thursday 20 April, 4pm
Baillie Gifford Stage, Old Divinity School.
Exciting new voice in literary non-fiction Sophie Duncan draws on rich cultural and historical sources and new research to explore the legacy and reach of Romeo and Juliet far beyond the literary sphere, in her new book Searching for Juliet: the lives and deaths of Shakespeare’s first tragic heroine. In conversation with St John’s alumna Preti Taneja, award-winning author of contemporary retelling of King Lear We That Are Young, Sophie will explain why Juliet is for now, for ever, for everyone.
Tickets: £14, concessions (under 25s or unemployed) £10. Further information and to book tickets
Cambridge Literary Festival: How to Speak Whale – Friday 21 April, 8pm
Baillie Gifford Stage, Old Divinity School.
A life-threatening encounter with a whale while on a kayak led to biologist, wildlife filmmaker and St John’s alumnus Tom Mustill’s thrilling scientific investigation into the pioneering world of animal communication, where big data and artificial intelligence are changing our relationship with animals forever. Go along to hear about his findings.
Tickets: £14, concessions (under 25s or unemployed) £10.
Further information and to book tickets
And finally
It has been snowing in Cambridge and beyond this week which has led to traffic chaos in other parts of the UK and to the cancellation of today’s races in the Lent Bumps.
Here’s a pretty photograph of The Bridge of Sighs during one flurry of snow.
