Societies

The mathematical society of St John’s College is called the Adams Society. Founded in 1923, we are one of the oldest undergraduate societies in Cambridge.

We are named after St John’s mathematician John Couch Adams, who is famous for predicting the existence of the planet Neptune using nothing but its gravitational effects on the orbit of Uranus.

Our members are Mathematics undergraduate and postgraduate students and Fellows at St John’s. We hold academic talks by well-known mathematicians and our social events include an annual dinner and garden party.

The society reflects our strong Architecture community at St John’s, where we have our own well-resourced Art Room.

We promote the subject as an academic discipline, encourage creative pursuits, represent the interests of College architects, and look after the Art Room, where students can produce drawings, build elaborate models and ask peers for guidance.

Events include talks, discussions and career sessions with professionals, with the chance to network and expand architectural thinking.

St John’s Architecture students are automatically in the society and enquiries are welcome from other College members.

St John’s Art Society is a down-to-earth group of artists from all backgrounds, including beginners to advanced creatives.

We have space in the College’s Art Room, where students can unwind from academic studies and explore their artistic side, with the materials and resources to hand for creating art with a wide variety of mediums.

The society runs creative sessions every week in term time, many of which are themed, allowing students to work on individual pieces that can then be displayed in the Art Room or taken away.

The Beekeepers Society is a group of novice beekeepers who care for three colonies of honey bees, with the aim of producing honey.

Everyone is very welcome to join our hive visits and get hands-on with beekeeping, with no experience or commitment required. It is an opportunity to learn more about the fascinating behaviour of thousands of bees.

Throughout the year we run seasonal events, tastings and hive visits during the honey-gathering season. We also send beginners onto a regional beekeeping course to become the next generation of College beekeepers.

The Christian Union is a group of students at St John’s who follow Jesus and meet regularly during the term to chat, share, pray, and learn more about our faith.

We run a variety of events every term, including Bible study, seminars, socials and outreach, and we join with other college Christian Unions for University-wide occasions.

We welcome all St John’s College students to join our Christian community.

We organise academic and social events that bring together all generations of the St John’s Classics community.

These include drinks parties, an annual dessert night in Lent Term, theatre trips to see classical drama or adaptations, and an annual play-reading.

All classicists at St John’s are automatically members of the society.

We are the Clinical Medicine society of St John’s. One of the few collegiate societies dedicated to the subject, we promote the study of Clinical Medicine and support College students through academic, social and welfare events, such as advice sessions, talks and large annual dinners.

Also known as ‘ClinSoc’, we are open to St John’s Clinical Medics, Fellows, researchers and Medical Studies undergraduates.

We foster engagement between College members, alumni, and often collaborate with other St John’s societies.

We are the College’s Education society, named after the late Professor Sir Christopher Dobson, a former Master of St John’s College.

We create opportunities for all undergraduate and postgraduate Education students at St John’s to socialise and mentor each another. As a small cohort, we believe building strong relationships between the Education degree courses is key to creating a thriving hub of ideas and innovation.

We aim to enlighten everyone on the wonders of the Education Faculty through hosting speaker events open to all St John’s students.

Our society encourages interaction and the exchange of ideas between Economics students in the College.

Our primary aim is to support the academic life of economists at St John’s through information evenings and social events.

We encourage Economics graduates to return to St John’s to speak about their experiences and act as a resource for the future careers of our current students.

All undergraduate and postgraduate economists are automatically members of the society.

Our society is for all students of English at St John’s, bringing together literary-minded people.

We host free public readings and lectures as well as social events for our members.

Alumni and past Fellows of St John’s include many literary greats, from poet William Wordsworth and satirist Samuel Butler to Douglas Adams, creator of The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy.

Through its Harper-Wood studentship, St John's has supported many important writers and also appoints a Writer-in-Residence who is closely involved with our events.

English students are automatically enrolled but other members of College are welcome.

St John’s has one the most active history societies in Cambridge, bringing together College historians across the generations.

We hold events across Michaelmas and Lent Terms, an annual dinner and a garden party.

The society attracts a high calibre of speakers, from distinguished academics, to knights and peers of the realm, all offering a unique perspective from the top of their fields.

Our talks allow speakers the freedom to focus on their expertise in a less formal and more intimate setting than a lecture and gives students the chance to listen and challenge renowned historians.

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Our College Islamic Society is a welcoming group of students at St John’s who meet regularly for various events during term time.

We work closely with other college Islamic societies and the official University Islamic Society, organising inter-college brunches and other joint events to foster a strong sense of the Islamic community across Cambridge.

All are welcome.

We are passionate about spreading entrepreneurial opportunities to help unlock students’ full business potential.

We aim to inspire the great minds of St John’s to act on their brilliant ideas by supporting their talent and growth and providing the resources and opportunities vital for their success.

We believe the leadership and critical thinking skills learned from working and engaging in entrepreneurship are integral to success in many fields and roles.

Through projects, discussions, networking opportunities and real-world learning experiences with entrepreneur alumni, we aim to build a powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem emanating from St John’s.

We are the theatrical society of St John’s, funding and promoting the dramatic arts within College and beyond.

We encourage students from St John’s and other colleges to take part in the performing arts, running theatrical events and aiming to build an inclusive community of theatre-lovers.

Our students are involved in all aspects of performance, from script-writing and stage management, to musical scores and acting.

Our productions are held in College and across Cambridge, including the University’s student-run ADC Theatre a stone’s throw from St John’s.

Our society promotes Natural Science. We bring together natural scientists and psychologists of all year groups at St John’s and we are a close and supportive community.

Our social events include the chance to dine in other Colleges, an annual dinner and a garden party.

We organise talks by prominent speakers and support our members throughout their studies.

Every natural scientist and psychologist at St John’s is a member, though all are welcome to attend our academic events.

Our society promotes the study of language and linguistics among College members and supports current students.

One of the few collegiate linguistics societies at Cambridge, we are all linguistics undergraduates, postgraduates, Fellows and researchers at St John’s, but anyone who shares a lively interest in the study of language is welcome to attend our events.

These include subject advice sessions, talks, meet and greets and Formal Halls, which create a great sense of community among College linguists.

Given the subject’s interdisciplinary nature, events may involve collaboration with St John’s societies that share an affinity with the study of language.

Known as ‘SJCMedSoc’, our society represents the College’s medical and veterinary students across all years of study.

MedSoc facilitates academic, social and welfare support and enrichment for all our medics and vets, making the six years as a student at St John’s as enjoyable as possible.

Our events can range from trips to the Royal Society of Medicine and talks by world-leading academics to more informal social events such as our student-favourite mulled wine and mince pies evening, therapy dog visits, and Formal Hall swaps with other colleges.

St John’s MMLL Soc was founded by students studying languages and linguistics as a way to connect College members across all academic years through fun socials.

Society events range from networking sessions with alumni, informal group discussions, and cinema or theatre trips to see the latest foreign language films and plays, to our ‘year abroad’ talk and special end-of-year candlelit dinner.

We take a holistic approach to MMLL life and the community is welcoming and social, with all MMLL students at St John’s automatically a part of the society.

The College Music Society runs a wide range of musical activities at St John’s, from lunchtime recitals and concert ‘Lates’ to music nights in the Bar.

All St John’s students are welcome to get involved in music-making, whether it by setting up an informal new musical ensemble or organising a concert, regardless of their level of musicianship and experience.

The Music Society Committee is involved in the many musical events and opportunities open to members of the College, which has an impressive range of venues to host rehearsals and performances.

Our society is named after Lord Palmerston, one of the four British prime ministers who studied at St John’s.

It is the only active political association in the College, encompassing undergraduates in Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) and History and Politics, as well as postgraduates studying and researching in these areas.

We organise talks and debates with influential politicians and academics, which students in other subjects are welcome to attend.

Our social events include an annual dinner and garden party, providing a supportive community for social scientists across St John’s.

The Engineering community at St John’s is large and vibrant, offering opportunities for College engineers to socialise across year groups and further their interest and knowledge in the subject through organised events.

We hold many events throughout the year such as an annual dinner, a desserts party, Formal Hall swaps with other colleges, and talks from industry speakers.

Our informal events include a garden party, group study sessions and games on the College Backs. 

All students studying Engineering at St John’s are granted automatic membership.

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We promote the study and popularisation of Philosophy outside of the course at Cambridge.

Philosophy as a discipline is multifaceted, from metaphysics to aesthetics, Wittgenstein to Sartre, and anyone can become quickly engrossed in its study.

Cambridge is second to none with its philosophical history, with St John’s itself having alumni including Thomas Hobbes and Margaret Cavendish.

All students and researchers of Philosophy at St John’s are automatically members of the society, including undergraduates, postgraduates, Fellows and other researchers. However, anyone with interested in philosophy is welcome to attend our events.

St John’s PhotoSoc is for every student in the College interested in photography, including learning how to develop and print your own film.

Our committee is made up of passionate individuals who are dedicated to providing a space for photographers of all levels to come together and share their love of the art.

We offer access to our College darkroom, a specialised workspace used for developing photographic film. The society offers the opportunity to learn new skills and meet fellow photography enthusiasts atSt John’s.

It’s not surprising living at the College where William Wordsworth once roamed has inspired many student to try their hand at penning verse.

Our society, which meets weekly to read and write poetry, offers the opportunity for all students at St John’s to be a part of our rich literary past.

St John’s enjoys a thriving poetry scene with a Writer- -in-Residence to encourage and support anyone wanting to write creatively with a view to publication, or for pleasure.

The College is also home to the generous annual Harper-Wood Creative Writing and Travel Award for English Poetry and Literature.

Punting along the River Cam is a must-do Cambridge experience for students.

St John’s has its own punting pool and fleet of wooden boats managed by our student-run Punt Society. The punts can be hired by St John’s students, alumni, Fellows and members of staff.

Learn to punt and take your own guests out on a College vessel or join the society to help nurture a great College tradition.

St John’s Geography and Land Economy students are brought together as a community through The Purchas Society, named after the medieval English cleric and alumnus who published reports by travellers to foreign countries.

The Rev’d Samuel Purchas famously attempted to summarise the nature of the entire globe in 20 volumes without ever straying from his armchair. His works can be found in the College Library.

Our society establishes a creative and educational ecosystem for the College’s Geography and Land Economy students. We hold talks, competition initiatives and collaborative events, along with a termly Formal Hall.

The College has its own student-run cinema holding Sunday night film screenings during term that are also open to the wider Cambridge community.

We show an excellent selection of films and our cinema-grade equipment is accessible to other societies and student filmmakers through collaborative events.

Everyone is welcome to attend our screenings, and film fans can join the Picturehouse team to gain hands-on experience in cinema – perhaps as a projectionist, organising or promoting events, or helping to choose what movies are shown.

The society supports the personal and academic growth of all veterinary students at St John’s.

We arrange social events and guest speakers to allow vets from both the pre-clinical and clinical years a platform to meet together for discussions on relevant topics and to hear from College alumni now working in veterinary practice.

All veterinary students are automatically members of the society.

Computer Science students from St John’s, Peterhouse, and Girton Colleges are brought together in the Wilkes Society.

Our society is named after the mathematician and technologist Sir Maurice Wilkes (1913-2010), an alumnus of St John’s and Cambridge professor who invented the first stored-program digital computer and microprogramming.

Throughout the academic year the Wilkes Society organises talks and social events to give Computer Science students the opportunity to meet and get to know each other outside the classroom.

The vibrant legal community at St John’s has one of the largest College law societies in Cambridge, fostering connections between year groups, Fellows and alumni.

Our society is named after renowned legal scholar and historian Sir Percy Henry Winfield, who was a St John’s Fellow.

We organise a busy calendar of events such as mooting competitions and career workshops from leading Chambers and top commercial law firms, along with various other networking opportunities.

Social events include our annual dinner with distinguished guest speakers and alumni and talks on legal and non-legal topics.