College bulletin: 2 June
College Bulletin – 2 June 2023
This week we bring you an introduction to the new Domestic Bursar, a photo of our cygnets-in-residence and some reasons to be cheerful about how academia will help tackle the climate emergency.
College news
Rather be at St John’s
A new Domestic Bursar has started at St John’s to oversee the operational management of the College.
Alison Cox spent the best part of 30 years at Sir Robert McAlpine where she rose through the ranks of the construction company, progressing from student engineer to managing director of the London unit with responsibility for a £750m budget and 800 staff.
The Oxford graduate talks about what attracted her to Cambridge and specifically St John’s where she will play a leading role in developing mission-critical projects and departments including maintenance, housekeeping, catering and more.
Lifetime honour for Fellow recognised by Royal Irish Academy
A pioneering academic at St John’s College has been formally admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy, Ireland’s leading body of experts in the sciences and humanities.
Professor Máire Ní Mhaonaigh was elected with 27 other new members chosen for their exceptional contributions to the sciences, humanities and social sciences, and to public service.
Reasons to be cheerful: the scientist pioneering solar technology to tackle the climate crisis
In the latest article of our series focusing on energy, we profile Professor Sir Richard Friend, Fellow of St John’s, whose research is transforming the efficiency of solar cells, dramatically boosting the prospects of cheap electricity powered by the sun.
In an age when efforts to reverse the climate crisis are fraught with challenges, Professor Sir Richard Friend – physicist and expert on solar cells – delivers a charge of that all too rare resource: optimism.
Winners revealed in Student Art & Photography exhibition 2023
Talented winners and runners-up in the 2023 St John’s College Student Art and Photography Competition have been announced.
Chapel
Student Communion – Sunday 4 June, 8.30am
Gather in the small chapel in the Ante-Chapel for a half-hour service of Holy Communion (aka the Eucharist) with sermon, and then go to Hall for cooked breakfast (which is subsidised). This appeals to a real cross-section of the student community.
Organ recital – Sunday 4 June, 6pm
Benedict Turner-Berry, Corpus Christi College, will be performing works by Bach, Howells, Pärt and Vierne.
Open to all, admission free.
Sunday Evensong with Sermon – Sunday 4 June, 6.30pm
This term’s sermon series – ‘The Disappeared: attending to the unseen’ – has been inspired by the piece of music that the Choir will sing on 2 July, one of James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados. In these MacMillan is responding to the horrors of political oppression in Latin America, especially ‘The Disappeared’ in Argentina. This evening The Rev’d Canon Mark Oakley, Dean at St John’s, will be preaching on the taken for granted.
For all 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
Student Art and Photography Exhibition 2023 – runs until Thursday 15 June
Library Exhibition Area.
View entries in this year’s St John’s College Student Art and Photography Competition.
Urinetown, The Musical – Friday 2 June to Saturday 10 June, 7.45pm
ADC Theatre.
Dr Matt Lampitt, College Research Fellow in MMLL and ASNC, will be playing the lead role of Bobby Strong in Urinetown, The Musical, presented by Festival Players, Cambridge.
Urinetown is a political satire set in a not-so-distant future where a 20-year drought has crippled a city’s water supplies, leading to a ban on private toilets in an effort to control water consumption. Urinetown is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold.
Open to all, recommended for ages 12 and above.
Buy tickets
Pub quiz – Monday 5 June, 8.30pm
College Bar.
Open to all, admission free. Follow the St John’s College Catering Instagram page for updates.
Live lunchtime meditation – Tuesdays to Thursdays, 1pm-1.15pm
Via Teams.
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.
Full details and Mindfulness programme
Palaeography for beginners – Tuesday 6 June, 3pm
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.
Johnian Entrepreneurs Club coffee and chat – Wednesday 7 June, 2pm
College Café.
Meeting weekly, the Johnian Entrepreneurs Club is for College members who are interested in business or entrepreneurship. This could be people who are wanting to start their own business of any kind or network with those who already have startups etc.
The club will have some speakers this term and aims to help people get started on their entrepreneurial journey. There is a WhatsApp group for those who would like to get involved.
Open to all College members. Admission free, no booking required.
Upper Library opening – Wednesday 7 June, 2-4pm
Enter via E staircase, Second Court.
Open every Wednesday afternoon during term time, manuscripts and rare printed books from the collections are on display in the 17th-century Upper Library.
Requests for material to be exhibited can be emailed to Special Collections and they will do their best to accommodate these over the course of the term.
Open to College members and their guests. Admission free, no booking required.
Postgraduates Dine with Fellows – Wednesday 7 June, 7.30pm
Hall.
Open to College postgraduates. Free of charge, limited places, register via Upay.
Women’s tennis sessions – Thursday 8 June, 11am
St John’s tennis courts, behind the College playing fields.
Hour-long sessions for women of all ages and abilities with some experience of the sport, this should be a fantastic break from revision to get some fresh air and play some tennis.
There is no need to come with a partner, racquet or tennis balls. Email Emilia Murray if you’re interested in joining or if you need a racquet.
Open to all St John’s female members. Free, no booking required.
St John's College Music Society (SJCMS) lunchtime recital – Thursday 8 June, 1.15pm
New Music Room.
Imaan Kashim on violin, Raphael Herberg on cello and Sohan Kalirai on piano.
Open to all, admission free, no booking required.
St John’s Book Group for postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff – Tuesday 13 June, 5.45pm
Merton Hall Cottage.
Postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff are invited to join Vona Groarke, St John’s Writer-in-Residence, to discuss Denis Johnson's short 2002 novel, Train Dreams, set in the American West. The book was described as, ‘a small masterpiece’ by Anthony Doerr in the New York Times, while the Guardian says of Johnson: “In Train Dreams he stakes his claim as one of the key voices in contemporary American fiction. It is a miniature novel that delineates an epic yet ordinary life in passages of often startling descriptive power.”
If you are interested in joining this or the book group for undergraduates, email Vona.
Tour of the College gardens – Wednesday 14 June, 2pm
Meet in front of the President’s Border, at the front of College, beside the Great Gate.
With a focus on sustainability, David Austrin, Head Gardener, will give a tour of the beautiful and varied grounds of St John’s.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, Visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme. Free event.
No more than 15 in a group. To reserve a place please contact the Postgraduate Administrator by 30 May. A reserve list will be kept in case there are sufficient people interested to make up a second tour group.
Superhall: Lazy hazy crazy days of summer – Friday 16 June, 7pm
Hall.
Doors open at 7pm for drinks, dinner at 7.30pm.
Open to College students, maximum two guests per person. Tickets £21.90 for students,
£26.25 for guests. Register via Upay.
Buttery Summer BBQ Lunch – Saturday 17 June, 11.30am-2pm
Buttery patio.
Open to all College members, no booking required.
St John’s College May Concert 2023 – Monday 19 June, 8pm
College Chapel.
With contributions from the College Choir, St John’s Voices, Aquila and a number of wonderful solo instrumentalists from the College. The concert will be followed by drinks and nibbles in Chapel Court, all finishing in time for those who want to watch the Trinity fireworks from the Paddock.
Open to College members, admission free. Limited places, applications close on Monday 12 June.
St John’s College May Ball 2023 – Tuesday 20 June
The College’s spectacular annual May Ball will span the length and breadth of the historic courts of St John’s. This lavish event features live music, all-you-can-eat food and drink and a world-class fireworks display, with the theme famously kept secret until the night itself.
The Ball is now sold-out.
Andrew Chamblin Memorial Concert 2023 – Thursday 22 June, 8pm
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and online.
The 17th annual Andrew Chamblin Memorial Concert will be given by Thierry Escaich, who will play an hour-long programme of organ works by Bach, Franck, Vierne, Brahms and Widor. The performance will also be livestreamed.
Open to all, admission free, no booking required.
Bin end wine sale: magnums and mixed cases – Friday 23 June, from 2pm
College Bar.
List of wines to be confirmed.
Open to all College members.
And finally
Professor David R Midgley, Emeritus Professor of German Literature and Intellectual History and Fellow of St John’s, captured this serene family scene of a swan and cygnets near Cripps Lodge.
