{"id":32777,"date":"2023-08-29T17:25:41","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T00:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32777"},"modified":"2023-08-29T17:25:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T00:25:41","slug":"my-oxford-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/my-oxford-portal\/","title":{"rendered":"My Oxford Portal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Secret History of Oxford<\/span><\/em> by Paul Sullivan delves into the lesser-known aspects of Oxford University’s rich and storied past. Unveiling hidden narratives, the book explores intriguing stories that have shaped the university’s history.\u00a0 Historical narratives and timelines are intriguing to me for so many reasons, one of the reasons being that historical narratives expose shifts in thinking, threshold concepts that have been unearthed, and often barriers to understanding that existed previously.\u00a0 I enjoy reading about the lives of people, including the challenges that they faced as they impacted their \u201cdash\u201d of existence here on Earth.\u00a0 The stories inspire and challenge me as I proceed through the portal of my own learning and journey with Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I read about Oxford\u2019s secret history, some of the stories and obscure facts that I found to be so intriguing included:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Men received honors degrees after answering two questions:\u00a0 What is the meaning of Golgotha? And who founded University College? [1]\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The ghost of Archbishop William Laud which is sometimes \u201cseen\u201d walking a few inches above ground, has even been known to bowl its head across the floor. [2]<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The poem written by John Clavell appealed to King James, resulting in Clavell\u2019s death penalty being lifted. [3]<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The transposition of sounds, known as metathesis, as exemplified by William Spooner. [4]<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The presence of blue plaques sprinkled throughout the book, signifies marks of historical presence by some of those named. [5]<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien was named the highest-earning dead writer in the world in 2009. [6]<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. The \u201cpipe-smoking ghost of Professor Tolkien\u201d that is spotted in the precincts of Merton College. [7]<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. The first hospital, named Radcliffe Infirmary, was founded as a charity to treat people who would not be able to afford it. [8]<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. The use of \u201chocus-pocus\u201d by Oxonian jokesters, as a hostile attempt to alter the words \u2018this is my body\u2019. [9]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And the list goes on. . . So many interesting stories, people, locations, and discoveries.\u00a0 Before reading the book, I honestly knew very little about Oxford except for its location, a few names of the Oxford celebrities, such as C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as its magnificent architecture as identified in movies.\u00a0 I am very intrigued and have expanded my knowledge of Oxford as well as my motivations for experiencing Oxford.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Upon reflection, my new learning mirrors a concept discussed in the book <\/span>Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding<\/span><\/i> by J. Meyer and R. Land, specifically the idea of threshold concepts.\u00a0 As defined in the book, a threshold concept is a portal, that opens up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. [10] <\/span>The learner is going from one point in their understanding to another and it is transformational.\u00a0 Because of this process, the mastery of a threshold concept is an irreversible process. \u00a0 A transformation takes place that involves shifts in thinking, new outlooks on a topic, and new eyes on a subject matter morphing into new perceptions or understandings about oneself and the world.\u00a0 <\/span>The learner cannot go back to a previous naive state.\u00a0 My new learning about Oxford University is irreversible and has inspired some creative methods for taking it all in. . . well as much of it as time allows (including using the book as a place to plot points of interest as I walk the streets, marking my explorations).\u00a0 There is much to see with little time to experience all of it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    From obscure academic rivalries to the existence of secret societies, the book probed the shadows of Oxford’s hallowed halls that in turn probed my imagination and anticipation for the Oxford Advance 2023. Through the compilation of anecdotes, events, and famous characters, I was intrigued as the book brought to light many of the untold tales that have contributed to the mystery of Oxford University. Through my reading, I was taken on a journey through time, uncovering the hidden layers that have shaped the world\u2019s second-oldest university with a rich legacy of academic excellence and tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [1] Paul Sullivan, <\/span>The Secret History of Oxford<\/span><\/i> (Stroud, UK: The History Press, 2013), 43.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [2] Ibid<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> 110.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [3] Ibid, 111.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [4] Ibid, 127.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [5] Ibid, 131.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [6] Ibid, 130.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [7] Ibid, 131.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [8] Ibid, 144.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [9] Ibid, 234.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [10] Meyer, Jan, F.H and Ray Land., <\/span>eds.<\/span><\/i> Overcoming Student Barrier to Student Understanding:\u00a0 Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge.<\/span><\/i> (London, UK: Routledge, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Secret History of Oxford by Paul Sullivan delves into the lesser-known aspects of Oxford University’s rich and storied past. Unveiling hidden narratives, the book explores intriguing stories that have shaped the university’s history.\u00a0 Historical narratives and timelines are intriguing to me for so many reasons, one of the reasons being that historical narratives expose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,1590],"class_list":["post-32777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-sullivan","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32778,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32777\/revisions\/32778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}