College bulletin: 4 November
Heartfelt tributes have poured in this week to Fellow Dr Joe McDermott who died on Sunday. Do read the comments made by his friends at St John’s in the article below if you have time, they are very moving.
In this week’s bulletin find out about the forthcoming Postgraduate Research Symposium, the launch of foodbank collection points, and why an eye-catching College plant has gone bananas for its new home.
College news
Tributes pour in for historian with generous spirit who loved St John’s
A leading historian of China and Fellow of St John’s known for his ‘intellectual energy’ and kindness has been remembered with great affection after his death.
Dr Joseph (‘Joe’) P. McDermott died on Sunday 30 October, only days before his 77th birthday, after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in May. He had been a Fellow at St John’s for 32 years.
Spotlight on postgraduate research
‘Innovative and important’ research being done by PhD students at St John’s College will be given the chance to shine at an annual presentation event.
The St John’s Postgraduate Research Symposium will see 10 postgraduates from the College give short presentations on their research across a wide range of topics on Saturday 12 November.
The Dean’s Diary
“I love the theatre. It’s a gymnasium for our under-used imagination, just as faith should be.”
Read The Rev'd Dr Mark Oakley’s diary in The Church Times
Foodbank collections to help struggling city dwellers
The JCR and Chapel have started a joint venture to collect items for Cambridge City Foodbank.
It might seem amazing that there are people in Cambridge who need a foodbank, given how prosperous the city seems, but it is very necessary. As winter comes, with the extra pressures on already-overstretched budgets, many will really need what the foodbank can provide.
All members of the College community are encouraged to make a regular weekly donation to the foodbank via three new collection points in College. The idea is that each individual remembers once a week to add one extra thing to their food shop to donate.
Latest list of donations needed
Collection boxes have been placed outside Chapel in Chapel Court (below), by A Staircase, New Court and by Cripps’ Porters Lodge. With a community as big as ours, it is hoped that we can make a difference to local people’s lives.
Read all about the new St John’s Book Clubs
Wish you read more contemporary literature?
Vona Groarke, new Writer in Residence at St John’s, is starting two new monthly Book Clubs –one for College students, and one for academics and staff.
First up will be Claire Keegan’s 2010 miniature masterpiece, Foster (filmed as ‘An Cailín Ciúin / The Quiet Girl’, and hotly tipped for a 2023 Academy Award nomination). At just 88-pages, Foster will set the tone for a book club that will focus on short, good books published since 2000, for relaxed and friendly discussion.
The first meetings will be in the first week of December. If you are interested, please email Vona for more details.
Calling all budding gardeners
The St John’s gardeners would like some help at 2pm next Thursday 10 November to plant a mixture of spring bulbs on the patio of the new Buttery.
Space is limited but if you are interested in joining the gardeners to get some crocus, daffodils and tulips in the ground, please email the Gardens team. Trowels, gloves and fresh air will be provided.
St John’s Picturehouse back on your screens
All University students, academics and staff are invited along to the screenings of the newly relaunched Picturehouse film society, which is currently showing movies on Sunday nights in the Palmerston Room of the Fisher Building.
This weekend’s fare is The Rocky Horror Picture Show and tickets cost just £4 each. For early access to tickets, join the Picturehouse mailing list
Admission of Scholars ceremony takes place
Ninety-eight students were admitted as Scholars of St John’s this week in a ceremony that dates back more than 500 years.
The honour goes to those who have shown academic excellence by achieving First Class results in their University exams. Congratulations to all our new Scholars of the College.
Movember
The JCR have created a Movember page to encourage donations towards the Movember cause. They shall be growing out their moustaches and publicising their progress on the JCR Instagram page throughout the month.
Other news
Congestion charge consultation launched
The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) have launched a consultation on proposals to introduce a £5 charge to drive into and around Cambridge.
If the plan goes ahead in 2027, it would apply to vehicles entering the city between 7am and 7pm on weekdays.
As part of the consultation, the GCP is also asking for opinions on the new bus network for the city, alongside improvements to cycling and walking routes. Any member of the public can submit a consultation response, and the Collegiate University is encouraging all staff to share their views.
Find out more about the proposals and submit a response
An online open meeting for staff and students with representatives from the GCP will be held on 10 November from 12.30pm to 1.30pm.
What’s on
Chapel
Jonathan Gilmour memorial service – Saturday 5 November, 12pm
St John’s College Chapel.
A memorial service is being held for postgraduate student Jonathan Gilmour, who died in April.
All welcome to attend. Please register in advance to assist with planning seating and refreshments.
Full details and registration form
Student communion – Sunday 6 November, 8.30am
Student Communion takes place every Sunday at 8.30am, followed by a subsidised cooked breakfast in Hall.
Sung Eucharist – Sunday 6 November, 10.30am
Open to all, admission free.
Organ recital – Sunday 6 November, 6pm
John Challenger of Salisbury Cathedral will be performing works by Alain, Nadia Boulanger and Franck.
Open to all, admission free.
Sunday Evensong with Sermon – Sunday 6 November, 6.30pm
The preacher this evening is The Rev’d Canon Leanne Roberts, Dean of Clergy Well-being, Southwark.
Open to all, admission free.
Morning prayer – weekdays, 8.30am
Taking place in Ante-Chapel every weekday morning, lasting about 15 minutes.
Eucharist sung by St John’s Voices – Monday 7 November, 6.30pm
Open to all, admission free.
Compline by candlelight – Tuesday 8 November, 10pm & Tuesday 15 November, 10pm
Back by popular demand, these are late night services lasting about half an hour, the perfect way to end the day. The music and feel are monastic and reflective. Followed by port and our kitchen’s legendary hot chocolate.
Open to all College members and their guests, admission free.
Remembrance Day – Friday 11 November, 11am
There will be a short act of remembrance and silence held in the Ante-Chapel to remember those who have fallen in conflict. Please arrive by 10.55am. The commemoration will last about 10 minutes.
Open to all College members and their guests, admission free.
Remembrance Sunday – Sunday 13 November, 10.30am
The College Choir will be singing the Duruflé Requiem, one of the most movingly beautiful pieces of choral music.
Open to all, admission free.
Advent Carol Services – Saturday 26 November, 6pm, and Sunday 27 November, 3pm
Organ music will be played by George Herbert, Assistant Organist, and Alex Robson, Herbert Howells Organ Scholar. Full programme to be confirmed.
The Sunday service will be broadcast live by BBC Radio 3.
Applications have now closed.
Follow the Facebook page, SJC Chaplain, for Chapel 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: please contact Andrew.
Other events
St John’s Picturehouse: The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Sunday 6 November, 6.45pm and 9.45pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
An iconic screening of the cult film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which holds the record of being the longest-running release in film history. Since this is a traditional viewing, please note that water, rice, confetti and other such things may be thrown during the screening. Please see the Virgin's guide on the Picturehouse’s Instagram or Facebook for more details.
All films are shown with a cinema-grade DCP projector and events are open to all University students and staff.
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.
Drop-in dissertation support group – Monday 7 November, 2pm
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 taking on a dissertation next academic year.
Email Rebecca for the Zoom link or if you have any questions.
Maths for Everyone lecture series: Uncertainty – Monday 7 November, 5.30pm
Boys Smith Room, Fisher Building.
St John’s Fellow Professor Nick Manton presents the fifth in a series of eight maths refresher lectures aiming to broaden and deepen understanding of what maths can do and how it works. This lecture looks at notions of probability, rules of probability, indifference – the fair coin, conditional probability and Bayes’ theorem.
It will help if you have some familiarity with A-Level maths topics.
Open to all College members. Admission free, booking not required.
Panel discussion to celebrate 40 years of Women at St John’s – Tuesday 8 November, 5.30pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Hosted by the SBR, a panel discussion featuring prominent alumnae. The panellists will reflect upon their time at the College, their career development and the future directions they may take, and offer advice to inspire all, regardless of gender identity. Followed by questions from the audience and a reception in the Central Hall.
Open to all College members and alumni, admission free.
Further details and to register
Pre-dinner lecture series: The ‘French of Wales’? Possibilities, Approaches, Implications – Tuesday 8 November, 6.15pm
Lightfoot Room, Old Divinity School.
In recent decades, medieval French studies have seen a boom in interest in medieval francophonies outside of France, from Ireland to Outremer. Medieval England has provided particularly rich pickings, given the significance of the language(s) known as ‘Anglo-Norman’, ‘Anglo-French’, ‘insular French’, and, perhaps most influentially in recent years, the ‘French of England’. But what about Wales?
In this talk Dr Matt Lampitt, Research Fellow in Modern and Medieval Languages at St John’s, will explore the various French-language literary texts that were circulated, translated, and/or produced in Welsh contexts, all the while considering some of the broader implications (methodological, literary-historical, etc) of the ‘French of Wales’.
The lecture will last for about 20-30 minutes and will be followed by questions from the audience. Drinks will be served afterwards in the Lightfoot Room.
Open to all Fellows and Affiliates. Free admission, booking not required.
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 new 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.
The Waste Land – Wednesday 9 November to Saturday 12 November, 11pm (Wed-Fri), 2.30pm (Sat)
ADC Theatre.
Several students from St John’s are involved in this new and experimental response to T.S Eliot’s The Waste Land, marking the poem’s 100th anniversary.
The production will explore the broken fragments of our culture, examine the nature of human connection, and seek to push the boundaries of theatrical conventions. It translates the stylistic and thematic features of Eliot's poem to a visual medium, aiming to demonstrate that theatre can communicate before it is understood.
This amateur production is presented by an arrangement with Faber and Faber on behalf of the Eliot Estate and is proudly supported by The Mighty Players.
St John's College Music Society (SJCMS) lunchtime recital – Thursday 10 November, 1.15pm
Lightfoot Room, Old Divinity School.
Performed by Daniel Livermore on horn.
Open to all, admission free, booking is not required.
The Master’s Concert Series – Friday 11 November, 8.45 for 9pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Professor Laura Mondiello, professor of guitar at the Monteverdi Conservatoire in Bolzano, Italy, and Beaufort Visiting Fellow at St John’s, will play music on the guitar by J.S. Bach, Britten and others.
The concert will be followed by a drinks reception hosted by the Sans Frontières programme.
Members of the College and their friends are most welcome. Free to attend, booking not required.
St John’s Postgraduate Research Symposium – Saturday 12 November, from 12.30pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
The SBR’s annual Symposium will see 10 postgraduates from St John’s give short presentations on their research across a wide range of topics, from tiger conservation and marble in art, to green technologies and the treatment of depression.
The talks will be followed by a drinks reception in the Fisher Building Foyer from 5.30-7pm.
Open to all College members. Admission free, booking not required. Email any questions to Matt Coulter, SBR Academic Officer.
Read the full programme of presentations
Stephanie Childress Conducts St John’s Sinfonietta – Saturday 12 November, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, Stephanie Childress, Assistant Musical Director of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Missouri and currently conducting Glyndebourne’s touring production of The Marriage of Figaro, returns to St John’s to conduct a sinfonietta ensemble of talented student musicians.
The programme includes the world premieres of two new celebratory new works commissioned from Johnian alumnae Victoria Pham and Katrina Toner.
All welcome. Register for free tickets
German translation workshop – Monday 14 November, 4pm
Teaching Room 2, Old Divinity School.
One of Germany’s most celebrated essayists, Daniel Schreiber, will offer a translation workshop based on an extract from his recently published book Alone (2021). Daniel is a writer and translator based in Berlin. He is the author of the Susan Sontag biography Geist und Glamour (Intellect and Glamour, 2007), as well as the celebrated personal-philosophical essays Nüchtern (Sober, 2014), Zuhause (At Home, 2017), and Allein (Alone, 2021).
Open to all undergraduate students with an intermediate or advanced level of German, limited places available.
Register at https://bit.ly/3DFWgg9
Postgraduates Dine with Fellows – Wednesday 16 November, 7.30pm
Hall.
Open to College postgraduates. Free of charge, limited places, register via Upay after 20 October.
Dramatisation from The Divine Comedy – Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 November, 7.30pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Fellow Professor Patrick Boyde presents Dante’s Virgil: the Tragedy of a More-than-Father, a semi-staging of scenes from Dante’s Divine Comedy.
In Italian with subtitles, images and music.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme.
Admission free, booking recommended.
Book for Wednesday 16 November performance or Thursday 17 November performance
Mya-Rose Craig, ‘Birdgirl’, at Cambridge Literary Festival – Saturday 19 November, 2-3pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
Mya-Rose Craig, author of Birdgirl and second-year BA student at St John’s, will be appearing at the Winter Festival in conversation with fellow birder and nature writer Helen McDonald.
Full-price tickets are £12; concs tickets are available to under 25s, the unwaged ‘and those feeling the pinch’.
Ghost walk – Thursday 24 November, 5.45pm
Meet in the Third Court Cloister by the Bridge of Sighs.
With Fellow Dr Mark Nicholls.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
Careers Service Barrister Fair – Thursday 24 November, 2.30-3.30pm
The Careers Service is holding a final Career Fair this term to help with applications and preparation. Registration opens a week in advance at 9am.
Further details and registration
Visit the Careers Service website for more information.
Johnian Society Careers Forum: Academia – Thursday 24 November, 6.30pm
Imperial College London.
Are you thinking about where your next steps in an academic career might take you? St John’s Fellow and alumnus Professor Nick McCave (1986) and alumnus Dr Oliver Buxton (2003) host an informal discussion on how to build and sustain a career in academia.
Nick and Oli will share the benefit of their extensive, international research careers in their respective specialisms of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Fluid Mechanics. Topics will include the academic job market, funding your research, and finding valuable networks and mentors.
Open to St John’s students, admission free, booking required by Tuesday 15 November.
Further details and to register
Precarious lives: inequalities in health through the lens of the film maker – Wednesday 30 November, 1.15pm for 1.45pm start
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
Director Ken Loach is due to appear at this rare afternoon workshop and screening of his acclaimed 2019 film Sorry We Missed You.
St John’s Reading Group on Health Inequalities has organised the event, which comes at a time of deep concern about the impact of rising poverty on child health and development, in association with the University’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH).
Free of charge. Donations will be collected at the event for Cambridge City Foodbank and Cambridge Aid.
Book your place via the CRASSH events page
Behn Quartet concert – Friday 2 December, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
In this term’s final concert to mark the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, the Behn Quartet – whose cellist is Johnian alumna Ghislaine McMullin – takes its name from the 17th-century playwright, political activist and philanthropist of the arts, Aphra Behn.
Its recital places two refined Neoclassical string quartets from the 20th century alongside one of Haydn’s most effervescent and soulful contributions to the medium. Tailleferre’s only string quartet gained her an invitation to the group of young composers that became known as Les Six, while the fourth and most widely performed of Bacewicz’s seven quartets draws eloquently on elements of Polish folklore.
All welcome. Register for free tickets
Ghost stories – Wednesday 7 December, 8.45pm
Combination Room.
With Professor Patrick Boyde.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
And finally…
An ensete ventricosum (Ethiopian banana) has been lifted from a flower bed in Chapel Court to be overwintered in the College glasshouse as it would not survive our Cambridge frosts.
It took four members of the Gardens team to carefully uproot the ensete, which had one leaf as tall as Erin Harrison, the new Apprentice Gardener. The plant is now peeling great in its new temporary home and will be returned to Chapel Court come spring.
