St John's College News
History - Elizabeth Prochaska
History - Elizabeth ProchaskaElizabeth went to St Paul's Girls' School in London before coming to study History at St John's in 1999. She graduated from Cambridge in 2002 and continued to study history on a Henry Fellowship at Yale University. She is now a graduate student in law at Somerville College, Oxford. 'After three years at Cambridge, marked by excessive acting, politicking and far too little history, I wasn’t…read moreHistory - Laura Dix
History - Laura DixLaura studied A-Levels History, Politics and French at Hereford Sixth Form College before coming to St John's to read History in 2001. She graduated in 2004 and is now working in Management Consulting for Accenture in London.'What especially drew me to the Cambridge History Tripos was its diversity. In Part 1 I chose to study topics spanning a huge variety of time periods and geographies,…read moreHistory - Rowland Manthorpe
History - Rowland ManthorpeRowland Manthorpe graduated from St John’s in 2005 with a first in History. He comes from London, where he attended St Paul’s School, taking A-Levels in Biology, History and English. 'Given the inevitable randomness of these things, I feel incredibly lucky that I ended up at St. John’s. It really is a community in the true sense of the word – at times insular and conservative, perhaps, but…read moreHistory - Sian Pooley
History - Sian PooleySian Pooley is a graduate student at St John’s. She attended a state grammar school in north Lancashire before coming to study history at St John’s in 2002. Sian graduated from her undergraduate degree with a double Starred First in 2005, having achieved the highest result in her year in both Part I and Part II. She then continued to study at Cambridge, gaining a distinction in the MPhil in…read moreHistory - Greg Lowden
History - Greg LowdenGreg attended a state grammar school in Buckinghamshire and spent a year working in London before coming to St John's in 2002. He is currently living in Tokyo, supported by a scholarship from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.'The sheer volume of opportunities, both academic and extra-curricular, on offer to history undergraduates at St John's is almost overwhelming. The flexibility of a…read moreHistory - Daisy Leitch
History - Daisy LeitchDaisy Leitch graduated from St John’s in 2005 with a 2:1 in History. She comes from London, attending Godolphin and Latymer School for girls for GCSE and for sixth form Westminster School, where she took A-levels in Maths, History and English.'I studied history at St John’s taking three political thought papers and the Hobbes special subject; I graduated in 2005. Two years on, I’m now…read moreHistory - Ruth Smith
History - Ruth SmithRuth Smith attended grammar school in Northern Ireland and took A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and History before coming to St John’s in 2003.'I arrived at St John’s full of enthusiasm for my subject, and was delighted throughout my three years to study a huge variety of topics. The Cambridge course is wonderful in allowing one to pursue any interest, and so as well as building on my…read moreHistory - Chris Barnes
History - Chris BarnesChris Barnes comes from London and went to Dulwich College where he took A levels in Economics, English Literature and History. 'I was unusual in being given my chance to come to John's through the pool system, having originally applied to Pembroke - in that respect I was also incredibly fortunate. Though nerve-wracking and involving another set of interviews in January the system of pooling…read moreHistory - Giles Reid
History - Giles ReidGiles Reid grew up in Edinburgh where he attended the Edinburgh Academy. He graduated from St John's in 2007 with a double first, and is continuing his studies at Harvard University, where he is the Joseph Hodges Choate Memorial Fellow.'The history tripos at Cambridge is both wonderful and unusual in that it allows you to do pretty much what you want pretty much most of the time. Over my…read moreHistory - Anthony Hinton
History - Anthony HintonAnthony grew up in Oxford where he attended Magdalen College School, taking A-Levels in History, English Literature, Philosophy, and Media Studies, before coming to St. John’s in 2004. He is currently working for a publishing company doing editorial work.'Studying History at John’s is a fabulous experience, and the opportunities both in terms of study and extra-curricular activities are…read moreDr Levi Roach
Dr Levi RoachMy research interests encompass various aspects of the political, religious and social history of Western Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages (broadly speaking c. 400–c. 1200), with a focus on English and German history between the ninth and the late eleventh centuries. My present work focuses on two main themes: rulership and the ‘state’ in the Early Middle Ages (particularly in England);…read moreDr Joshua Billings
Dr Joshua BillingsMy research focuses on tragedy and intellectual history in the classical tradition, centering on ancient Greece and modern Germany. My dissertation and current book project, provisionally entitled A Genealogy of the Tragic, looks at the theory of tragedy in Germany around 1800. It concentrates on Schiller, Schelling, Hegel, and Hölderlin, important thinkers and artists who were fascinated…read moreKnut Drescher
Knut DrescherCell-Cell interactions How do cells interact with each other? What benefits do cells derive from interacting with each other? I am interested in answering these basic science questions by working on microbial model systems, using experiments and theory. Physical interaction mechanisms have been largely neglected in the past, and were the focus of my doctoral research. In fact, many collective…read moreExhibitions and Recordings
Exhibitions and RecordingsSee below for online exhibitions and talk recordingsread moreAbout the Samuel Butler Project
About the Samuel Butler Projectread moreNew website launched!
New website launched!Welcome to the new website of St John’s College, Cambridge. We hope you enjoy exploring the site, which provides a centralised source of information for the public, prospective students and members of the College.read moreFellows' information area
Fellows' information areaReturn to your homepage.read moreIf I’m not successful, can I reapply to St John’s next year?
If I’m not successful, can I reapply to St John’s next year?We strongly advise such applicants to have a fresh start and re-apply to another Cambridge College next time. We are happy to accept applications from those who applied to another Cambridge College in a previous year.read moreIf St John’s turns me down in January, is that the end of my application to Cambridge?
If St John’s turns me down in January, is that the end of my application to Cambridge?Not necessarily. If we don’t have a place for you, but feel that you are a strong applicant then we might place your application in the Winter Pool, where it will be available to all other Cambridge Colleges that might be looking for stronger applications than those they received directly. The Winter Pool is designed to ensure that the best applicants are offered place, whichever college they…read moreWhat sort of questions will I be asked at interview?
What sort of questions will I be asked at interview?Most applicants will have two interviews. One will be conducted by the Tutor for your chosen subject, and will be of a more general nature. You will also have at least one subject-specific interview conducted by at least one of the Teaching Fellows in that subject. Here the interviewer(s) will not be as interested in your capacity to recall facts from your courses, as in your ability to think…read moreHow should I dress for the interviews?
How should I dress for the interviews?In whatever makes you feel the most comfortable and confident! There is no need to dress formally at all, and a lot of applicants opt to dress “clean but casual”. Remember that it will be winter, and it may be bitterly cold and raining: dress appropriately!read moreWhat do you really look for in an applicant?
What do you really look for in an applicant?Our students come from every imaginable background and have the widest possible variety of experiences, interests and skills. The one thing they share is intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm for their subject, and the potential to get the most out of what a Cambridge degree has to offer. These qualities are often clear in the school record, but they may be apparent in a range of other ways.…read moreLanguage & Literature
Language & LiteratureEnglish literature Among the earlier English material, William Thynne's 2nd edition of the works of Chaucer (1542) stands out, with its woodcuts of the various pilgrims. Moving into the 17th century, notable items include the first collected works of Ben Jonson (1616), and the first collected poems of John Donne (1633). The earliest Shakespeare in the Library is the relatively common Fourth…read moreClassics
ClassicsTexts Typically for a library developing over the 16th to 18th centuries St John's special collections contain a fair number of classical editions from the entire span of the period. The earliest printed book in the Library is one of the very first printings of a classical text, Fust and Schoeffer's 1466 edition of Cicero's De officiis. There are over seventy other classical incunabula…read moreHighlights from the collections
Highlights from the collectionsThe following is a list of on-line images of some of the more interesting early printed books in the collections organized chronologically. This is by no means an exhaustive list and is subject to ammendment and expansion. Digital images of provenance evidence and notable bindings associated with early printed books are also available via the Provenance and Binding Index. If you would like…read more