College bulletin: 18 February
As Storm Eunice lashes the UK, do remember to close your windows as glass panes have already been shattered in a bedroom in Chapel Court so please take precautions to keep everyone safe until it literally blows over. Despite my best efforts my unruly hair often looks like I’ve battled through record-breaking winds to get to work so Eunice is having no real impact on me.
College news
Two-dimensional material could store quantum information at room temperature
Researchers from the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, with colleagues from UT Sydney in Australia, have identified two-dimensional material, hexagonal boron nitride, which can emit single photons from atomic-scale defects in its structure at room temperature.
They discovered that the light emitted from these isolated defects gives information about a quantum property that can be used to store quantum information, called spin, meaning the material could be useful for quantum applications – including future global communication networks.
Professor Mete Atature, who is a Fellow at St John’s and supervised the work, said: “The next steps will be to understand their photophysics in detail and explore the operation regimes for possible applications including information storage and quantum sensing. There will be a stream of fun physics following this work.”
We’ll be there for you, say friends who have invented new tool for meetups
Three undergraduates from St John’s have created a new app that aims to take the hassle out of arranging meetups with family and friends.
Third years Towhid Ahmed, who is studying Land Economy, Engineer Oscar Saharoy and Chemical Engineer Jack Burt have created the free online tool, called Groupi.me, with two other university pals.
Covid-19 updates
There are currently 10 cases of Covid-19 in College. Everyone is asked to remember that face coverings are currently still required in communal spaces such as the Buttery.
Other news
New Dean of Discipline
The College’s new Dean of Discipline is Dr Nick Friedman. If you wish to contact the Dean of Discipline, please use the Dean email address, which will then reach Dr Friedman via his PA.
Permission forms for events should be first sought from the Head Porter; once approved they should then be sent to the Domestic Bursar (if required), and only then to the Dean. Find full details about the process on the College website.
College Research Associates competition opens
Applications are now open for the St John’s College Research Associates competition. St John’s intends to appoint six College Research Associates from 1 September 2022.
Candidates must be of postdoctoral standing and may be graduates of any university. The deadline for applications is 2pm on 22 April 2022.
Cheer on Maggie’s crews!
Students, staff and Fellow supporters of Lady Margaret Boat Club (LMBC) are encouraged to head along to Pembroke Regatta tomorrow to cheer on St John’s. Francis Treherne Pollock, from the LMBC Men, said: “It should be pretty exciting. It’s a knock out tournament, each race is a 1km sprint, two boats side by side, winner moves on. “The finish is at Stourbridge Common but I think the best of the action will be seen from Ditton Common.
“For the uninitiated we have red blades and kit, and shout ‘Yeah Maggie’ to show each other support.”
Races will start at 8am with finals at 4.30pm becoming less chaotic and closer fought as the day goes on. The W1’s first race is at 2pm, M1 at 3pm.
What’s on
Chapel
Morning prayer – weekdays, 8.30am
In Ante-Chapel every weekday morning, lasting about 15 minutes.
Evensong – daily, 6.30pm.
Choral services continue as listed on the website.
Evensong with Finzi’s Lo, the full, final sacrifice – Saturday 19February, 6.30pm
Our Director of Music Andrew Nethsingha recommends attending Evensong tomorrow (Saturday), as the College Choir will be performing Gerald Finzi’s Lo, the full, final sacrifice. The anthem is one of the most well-known and loved works from the Anglican choral tradition.
Free entry, open to all.
Student communion – Sunday 20 February, 8.30am
Student Communion takes place every Sunday at 8.30am, followed by a subsidised cooked breakfast in Hall.
Sung Eucharist – Sunday 20 February, 10.30-11.45am
On the second Sunday before Lent the Sung Eucharist will hear from preacher Will Alvarez, Ordinand at Ridley Hall.
Organ recital – Sunday 20 February, 6-6.30pm
St John’s own Junior Organ Scholar Alex Trigg will be performing this week’s organ recital, which will include works by J.S. Bach and Mendelssohn.
Free entry, open to all.
Evensong sermon series: Doctors and the Divine – Sunday 20 February, 6.30pm
Every Sunday this term a Fellow of the College is speaking at Evensong about whether their academic subject in any way connects to the human search for God. This Sunday’s preacher is Dr Alex Wong, College Associate Lecturer in English.
Open to all, free admission.
Chapel Concert – Tuesday 1 March, 8-9.30pm
Camilla de Rossi, Instrumental excerpts from ‘Il Sacrificio di Abramo’, Anton Arensky Variations of a Theme by Tchaikovsky and G.F. Handel Dixit Dominus.
Memorial Service for Dr Peter Linehan – Saturday 5 March, 12pm
College Chapel.
A Memorial Service is taking place for Dr Peter Anthony Linehan, MA, PhD, FBA, Fellow and former Dean of St John’s College. The deadline for ticket applications has now passed.
A Lent Meditation – Saturday 12 March, 6pm
A service of readings, poetry and music will take place for Lent and Passiontide. All Fellows, staff and students are warmly invited to attend this poignant and reflective service, and to bring up to three guests.
No charge is made for services but tickets are issued to cater for anticipated high demand and to endeavour to give members of the College and their guests priority. Please note the service is not suitable for babies and toddlers.
Please note the deadline for applying for tickets is this Monday 21 February.
The Sixteen Choral Pilgrimage 2022: Cambridge concert – Friday, 18 March, 8pm
The critically-acclaimed UK-based choir and period-instrument orchestra The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers, will be performing a concert in the Chapel including Hubert Parry’s moving Songs of Farewell, three short pieces by Campion, a selection of medieval carols and a new work by Cecilia McDowall.
Tickets £15-£35 (booking fees apply).
Follow the Facebook page, SJC Chaplain, for service updates; and Andrew is on TikTok @thedetoxpriest.
The Chapel is always keen to hear from more volunteers to read in services or assist in other ways (e.g. carrying a processional candle at Sunday Evensong). Please contact Andrew if you’d like to be involved.
Other events
Live lunchtime meditation – 1.15-1.30pm Monday to Friday (online)
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.
Casual badminton session – Friday 18 February, 5pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
Weekly two-hour sessions for players of all abilities. Rackets and shuttlecocks are available at Cripps Porters’ Lodge upon request.
Open to all College members. Admission free, no booking required.
Pink Ents – Saturday 19 February, 9pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
A stash sale where all profits go to the Pink Week charity. Email Lingquan if you have any questions about Pink Week events.
St John’s History Society: Professor Adam Chau, Mao’s Mango Fever – Monday 21 February, 5pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Do you know that a basket of mangoes can change the course of history? It certainly did on 5 August 1968, when Chairman Mao gave a basket of mangoes to the Workers’ Mao Zedong Thought Propaganda Team sent to university campuses to quell the escalating armed Red-Guard factionalism. Mango fever enveloped the whole country, and the mangoes played a crucial role in delegitimating the Red Guards.
This presentation by Professor Adam Chau, a Fellow of St John’s, is a crucial chapter at the height of the Cultural Revolution that has heretofore been neglected even by experts on this period of China’s political history.
Palaeography for beginners – Tuesday 22 February, 3pm
Weekly online sessions for anyone interested in reading handwriting from c.1500-c.1750, 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. Photographs of the documents will be emailed out in advance.
Open to all College members, admission free.
To register or make further enquiries, contact the archivist, Dr Lynsey Darby.
Rainbow Super Hall – Tuesday 22 February, 6.45pm
In conjunction with the SJC LGBTQ+ community. Doors open at 6.45pm, sit down at 7.30pm.
Open to all students, guests permitted.
£25.60. Tickets available on Upay. Booking closes at 2pm the day before the event. Ticket numbers are limited and nearly sold out at time of writing.
St John’s FemSoc presents… an evening in conversation with Andrew Nethsingha – Wednesday 23 February, 6pm
Boys Smith Room, Fisher Building
Enjoy an evening of conversation at St John’s Feminist Society with Andrew Nethsingha, the Director of Music at St John’s College. Open to all, free entry.
Cambridge Digital Ethics: Algorithmic Justice: The Ethics of Legal Automation – Wednesday 23 February, 6pm
Lightfoot Room, Old Divinity School.
Cambridge Digital Ethics, a new student society, is hosting this panel discussion with three leading experts – Dr Christopher Markou from the Faculty of Law, Dr Geoffrey Barnes from the Institute of Criminology and Dr Adrian Weller, Programme Director for Artificial Intelligence at The Turing Institute – centring around the integration of AI into the criminal justice/legal system.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
St John's College Music Society (SJCMS) lunchtime recital – Thursday 24 February, 1.15pm
Lightfoot Room, Old Divinity School.
With Alma Vink on violin, Emma Bain on French Horn and Mark Englander on piano. Open to all, booking is not required.
Drop-in dissertation support group – Thursday 24 February, 2pm
Weekly online group run by the Library, offering a structured study space, support and encouragement for any undergraduate student who is taking on a dissertation next academic year.
Email Rebecca if you have any questions.
China Research Seminar Series talk by Professor Philip Clart – Thursday 24 February, 2pm
Runcie Room, Faculty of Divinity.
As part of the Series, Professor Philip Clart is giving a talk on The Fraught Marriage of Lin Ying and Han Xiangzi: Death and Immortality, Women and Men in Qing-Period Popular Literature. Professor Clart is Professor of Chinese Culture and History at Leipzig University and a Beaufort Visiting Fellow at St John’s. Open to all, admission free, no booking required.
History Panel Discussion: Woman in Academia – Friday 25 February, 6pm
Central Hall, Old Divinity School.
Panel discussion organised by St John’s FemSoc in collaboration with St John’s History Society, with Professor Helen McCarthy, a Fellow of St John’s; Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian and Director of Library Services, and author, researcher and Cambridge alumna Ann Kennedy Smith. Open to all, free entry.
Quiz Night – Sunday 27 February, 8-9pm
College Bar.
Test your knowledge and win prizes. Free admission, all welcome.
Harper-Wood Literary Reading: Madeleine Pulman-Jones – Thursday 3 March, 5.15pm
Wordsworth Room.
Madeleine Pulman-Jones (pictured below), current Harper-Wood Award holder at St John’s College, will read from some of her recent work. Her poems have appeared in publications including PN Review, Poetry Birmingham and Adroit Journal, where she was a finalist for the 2020 Adroit Prize for Poetry judged by Jericho Brown.
The reading will be introduced and chaired by poet and translator Sasha Dugdale, Writer in Residence at St John’s. She will also chair a discussion after the reading.
The event is free to attend, and all are warmly welcome. Drinks will be offered.
International Women’s Day celebration event and Hall – Tuesday 8 March, times tbc
Join St John’s Feminist Society to celebrate International Women’s Day in collaboration with Cambridge University Women in Business, starting with speakers and performances in the Palmerston room.
Open to all. Hall tickets available on UPay. No booking is required for the events earlier on in the day.
Aquila concert for International Women’s Day – Tuesday 8 March, 6-7pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Head over to the Old Divinity School for a selection of songs performed by Aquila, the St John’s College all-female vocal group. All welcome, free admission, no booking required.
Newell Classical Event talk The Black Sappho – Thursday 10 March, 7.15pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
A talk by Professor Emily Greenwood on The Black Sappho, a recurrent presence in the work of African American women writers, using the figure of the Sappho to examine intersections of gender, sexuality, and race in the modern reception of Sappho. Emily is Professor of Classics at Princeton University and a Cambridge alumna.
Open to all, admission free, no booking required. Can also be attended via Zoom.
Castalian Quartet – Sunday 13 March, 2-4pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Internationally-renowned ensemble presents an exciting and eclectic programme of 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century quartets
Tea and biscuits in the Central Hall after the concert. Free admission, all welcome, though booking is recommended.
And finally
Damage caused by a storm in 1916 was captured on camera by Sir Harold Jeffreys, alumnus and Fellow of St John’s. Jeffreys was elected a fellow of St John's College in November 1914 and remained one for the rest of his life.
He held the Isaac Newton Studentship, 1914-1917, worked part-time at the Cavendish Laboratory on war-time problems before he moved to the Meteorological Office in London in 1917. Jeffreys was one of the small international group of scientists who founded modern geophysics. He applied classical mechanics to investigate the interior of the earth, showing that the core of the Earth was liquid and that there is a substantial difference between the upper and lower mantle.
