Oxford
University Gazette, 30 July 2009: Notices
- Links to some University institutions:
SPEECHES BY THE PUBLIC ORATOR
THE PUBLIC ORATOR delivered the following speeches in
presenting the recipients of the Honorary Degree of Doctor
of Letters in a Congregation held on
Saturday, 18 July:
Professor Natalie Zemon Davis
Professor
Emerita, Princeton University
μεγ&alpha
βιβλιο&nu
μεγ&alpha
κακο&nu,
inquit Callimachus, qui opera huius feminae quam hodie
produco sine dubio laudaret; multum enim ea in parvo scit
dicere. Si forte putas historias necessario grandes esse et
verbosas et tam aridas quam pulverem in eorum paginis
collectum, huius feminae scripta tolle, lege. In illo
celeberrimo e commentariis suis, cui Martini Guerre
Reditus inscribitur, narrationem melius disponit
quam complures qui fabulas commenticias condiderunt: haud
pauci sunt lectores, ut credo, qui id volumen sustulerunt
nec deposuerunt quoad omne evolverint. Hoc in libro (pace
Aristotelis liceat dixisse) parvam tragoediam explicat; nec
de regibus nec de principibus disserit, sed vitas hominum
pauperum e tenebris in lucem diei protrahit. At dum
lectores delectat, simul consuetudinem hominum agrestium,
advocatorum usus, causas quibus impellebantur mulieres
examinat. Fontium e quibus sapientiam hausit magna est
varietas: aliis in commentariolis suis ad mores
Francogallorum sexto decimo saeculo melius intellegendos
non solum tabulas publicas atque hominum doctorum libros
sed versus populares et picturas lignea forma expressas
scrutata est. Quamobrem constat principem hanc esse inter
eos qui microhistoriam, ut vocatur, creaverunt. Multos
coram erudivit, plurimos suis libris instruxit; bene igitur
uni ex eis Donum est titulus, quia tantum
beneficium reipublicae litterarum dedit. Itaque nos nostrum
donum laeto animo hodie tribuimus.
Praesento rerum scriptricem oculatissimam, Nataliam
Zemon Davis, nunc apud Torontonenses et quondam in
Universitate Princetoniana professorem necnon apud
Balliolenses quondam Professorem Eastmanianum, ut
admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in
Litteris.
Admission by the Vice-Chancellor
Femina docta et perspicax, quae calamo et acuto et
eleganti vitas plebeias descripsisti, ego auctoritate mea
et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in
Litteris honoris causa.
Paraphrase
A big book is a big pain: that was the opinion of
Callimachus, who would undoubtedly have applauded the works
of the lady whom I present today; for she knows how to say
much within a small compass. If you suppose that history
books are bound to be solemn, prolix and as dry as the dust
that collects on their pages, then pick up her works and
read them. In the most famous of her studies, The
Return of Martin Guerre, she tells the story better
than a good many professional novelists; a fair number of
readers, I fancy, have taken this volume up and found
themselves unable to put it down again until they had
finished it. In this book she unfolds a small tragedy (if
one may speak in such un-Aristotelian terms); she does not
take kings and princes as her subject but draws the lives
of common people out of their obscurity into the light of
day. But while delighting her readers, she is also
analysing the nature of peasant society, the culture of the
lawyers, and the motives of women. Great is the variety of
sources on which she has drawn: thus in her book of essays,
Society and Culture in Early Modern France,
she has not restricted herself to public records and the
studies of other scholars but has investigated prints and
folk rhymes. She is accordingly recognised as a pioneer
among those who have developed what is now known as
microhistory. She has had many pupils of her own, and
taught many more people through her writings; it is
appropriate, therefore, that one of her books should be
called The Gift, as she has given so much to
the republic of letters. And so it is with great pleasure
that we offer her our own gift today.
I present a penetrating historian, Natalie Zemon Davis,
Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, Professor
Emerita of Princeton University, and sometime George
Eastman Professor at Balliol College, to be admitted to the
honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.
Admission by the Vice-Chancellor
Learned and perspicacious historian, who have described
the lives of ordinary people with a pen as keen as it is
elegant, I on my own authority and that of the whole
University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of
Letters.
Darcey Andrea Bussell
Formerly Principal
Ballerina, Royal Ballet
Poetae fingunt Orphea musicam tam pulchram invenisse ut
et bestias domaret et arbores atque alta montium cacumina
de loco moveri cogeret. Quae fabula, licet incredibilis
sit, aliquid veritatis per allegoriam habet; nam sonis
musicis cum mulcentur animi nostri tum simul ita
commoventur ut nostra corpora agitare atque artus vibrare
gestiamus. Ars enim saltationis, quae et oculos delectat et
aures, intima humani cordis penetralia attingit; nec mirum
est Romanos magno gaudio nomen exsultationis dedisse, quia
nisi saltando meram laetitiam plene significare vix
possumus. Haud igitur sine causa Graeci adfirmabant Musam
saltationis praesidem nomen Terpsichores habere; et haec
femina quam nunc produco, sive illum cycnorum lacum viserit
sive Gisellae dolorem expresserit, quamvis nos spectatores
miseratione afficiat, tamen illud gaudium angore profundius
(verbis Frederici Nietzsche utor) nescioquo pacto
repraesentat. Omni quidem saltatrici magnae artis opus est,
sed haec femina peritiae praestantissimae ingenium addit et
leporem, ita ut decus et motionis et suae indolis exhibere
videatur; quare non solum permultorum admirationem sed
etiam amorem recepit. Praeterea, vult eos qui altas Odei
Regii portas fortasse reformidant voluptatem quam dat ars
sua capere; quamobrem cum cantatrice Cambrensi satis nota
novum genus spectaculi excogitavit, cui nomen Vivat
Diva dedit. Quibus verbis eam ipsam maximo plausu
salutamus.
Praesento saltatricem lepidissimam, Darcey Andream
Bussell, Excellentissimi Ordinis Britannici Commendatricem,
ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in
Litteris.
Admission by the Vice-Chancellor
Motionis venustae magistra, quae sine verbis pectora
spectatorum tetigisti, ego auctoritate mea et totius
Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris
honoris causa.
Paraphrase
The poets feign that Orpheus made music
so beautiful that he tamed the wild beasts and compelled
the trees and the mountains to move from their places.
Unbelievable though this story is, it contains a measure of
symbolic truth, for although the sound of music soothes our
spirits, at the same time it moves them in such a way that
we feel the urge to shake our limbs and let our bodies
sway. Indeed, the art of dancing, which delights both eyes
and ears, reaches the innermost depths of the human heart,
nor is it surprising that the Romans called great happiness
'exultation' ('exsultatio', literally 'dancing' or 'jumping
about'); for we are scarcely able to give full expression
to pure joy without dancing. The Greeks had good reason,
therefore, to declare that the Muse who was patron of
dancing bore the name Terpsichore (a name which indicates
the pleasure of the dance); and the lady whom I now
present, whether she is visiting Swan Lake or interpreting
the sufferings of Giselle, for all the sympathy that she
excites in us the spectators, nevertheless in some
intangible way expresses what Nietzsche calls the 'joy
deeper than heart's woe'. Every ballerina needs a fine
technique, but she adds to technical mastery charm and
imagination, in such a way that she seems to reveal the
grace of her personality as well as the grace of movement;
and this has earned her both the admiration and the
affection of a great many people. Moreover, she wants those
who are perhaps put off by the grand portals of the Royal
Opera House to enjoy the pleasures that ballet affords, and
so with the singer Katherine Jenkins she devised a new kind
of entertainment, entitled Viva la Diva. We
can welcome and applaud her too with those selfsame words.
Admission by the Vice-Chancellor
Mistress of lovely movement, who have wordlessly touched
the hearts of those who have watched you, I on my own
authority and that of the whole University admit you to the
honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.
Return to Contents of this section
GENERAL NOTICES
Proposed Establishment of Professorship of Israel
Studies
Council, on the recommendation of the Planning and
Resource Allocation Committee and the Social Sciences
Board, has approved regulations to establish a
Professorship of Israel Studies, subject to confirmation of
the donation and the name of the donor. It is anticipated
that the regulations will be published in the
Gazette early in Michaelmas Term.
Audit and Scrutiny Committee
Full opinions from reports issued by the Internal
Auditors
The following full opinions from reports issued by the
Internal Auditors were accepted by the Audit and Scrutiny
Committee on 22 June 2009:
- Departmental Review—Education
- Faculty of History
- Humanities
- Faculty of Law
- Departmental Review—Sir William Dunn School of
Pathology
- Departmental Review—Psychiatry
- Disaster Recovery
- ORACLE Database Security
- Oxford University's Computer Emergency Response Team
(OxCERT)
- Oxford Colleges—UUK SCOP Code of Practice
These opinions have now been
posted on the intranet at
www.admin.ox.ac.uk/councilsec/oxonly/audit/auditrep.shtml.
Additional material associated with the opinions may be
consulted by members of Congregation at the University
Offices by arrangement with the Head of the Council
Secretariat, Ms Emma Rampton (e-mail: emma.rampton@admin.ox.ac.uk,
telephone: (2)70002).
Return to Contents of this section
Creweian Oration 2009
Corrigendum
It is regretted that in the Public Orator's introduction
to the Crewieian Oration, a reference to a gift in memory
of Mr Wing Tat Lee was misplaced. The gift was not, as
stated in the Oration, for the Gray Institute of Radiation
Oncology and Biology, but for the expansion and
refurbishment of Osler House, at the John Radcliffe
Hospital.
The relevant paragraph, corrected, reads as follows
(Supplement (1) to No. 4887, 26 June 2009, p. 1329,
left-hand column):
Our part in the fight against cancer gets deserved
recognition, and in the past year there have been generous
gifts from the Oak Foundation, for the Institute of Cancer
Medicine and the Oak Scientific Leadership Fellows, from
Dr Terrence Donnelly, also for the Institute of Cancer
Medicine, and from the Sir Samuel Scott of Yews Trust, for
the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, to
support clinical work. An anonymous donor has also made a
very substantial gift for the expansion and refurbishment
of Osler House for the benefit of medical students at the
John Radcliffe Hospital, in memory of Mr Wing Tat Lee; and
we have received a liberal benefaction from the Pharsalia
Charitable Trust for the refurbishment of the
Gastroenterology Laboratories, to be dedicated to the work
of Professor Derek Jewell.
A corrected version of the Supplement may be
found at
www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2008-9/supps/1_4887.pdf.
Return to Contents of this section
Queen's College
THE CHOIR OF SANTA MARIA DE BELEM will give a concert of
Portuguese sacred music at 1.30 p.m. on Sunday, 2 August,
in the chapel, Queen's College. Works by Manuel Cardoso,
Duarte Lobo, Diogo Dias Melgaz, and others, will be
performed. Admission is free.
Return to Contents of this section
APPOINTMENTS
Royal Society Professorship and Dr Lee's Professorship-elect of
Chemistry
CAROL V. ROBINSON, M.SC Wales, D.PHIL Camb, Professor of
Mass Spectrometry, Department of Chemistry, University of
Cambridge, Senior Research Fellow, Churchill College,
Cambridge, Fellow of the Royal Society and Royal Society
Research Professor, has been appointed Royal Society
Professor in the Department of Chemistry with effect from 1
October 2009. She will assume the Dr Lee's Professorship of
Chemistry upon expiry of the Royal Society
Professorship.
Professor Robinson will be a fellow of Exeter
College.
His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa
al Thani Professorship of Contemporary Islamic
Studies
TARIQ RAMADAN, M.PHIL PH.D Geneva, Research Fellow of St
Antony's College, Research Fellow of the Lokahi Foundation,
London and of Doshisha Universityu in Kyoto, Japan, and
Visiting Professor at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, has
been appointed His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al
Thani Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the
Faculty of Oriental Studies with effect from 1 October
2009.
Professor Ramadan will be a fellow of St Antony's
College.
American Standard Companies
Professorship of Operations Management
DAVID M. UPTON, BA M.ENG Camb, D.PHIL Purdue, Albert J.
Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration,
Harvard Business School, has been appointed American
Standard Companies Professor of Operations Management in
the Saïd Business School, with effect from 4 January
2010.
Professor Upton will be a Student of Christ Church.
Professorship of Musculoskeletal Sciences
UDO CHRISTIAN THOMAS OPPERMANN, B.SC M.SC PH.D Philipps
University, Marburg, Professor in Molecular Biology,
Principal Investigator: Dehydrogenases and Metabolism,
Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), Botnar Research
Centre and University Research Lecturer, University of
Oxford, has been appointed to the Professorship of
Musculoskeletal Sciences in the Nuffield Department of
Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences
with effect from 1 July 2009.
Professor Oppermann will be a fellow of St Catherine's
College.
Reconferment of the Title of Visiting Professor
The Humanities Board has reconferred the title of
Visiting Professor on PROFESSOR JAMES HIGGINBOTHAM, BS PH.D
Columbia, MA Oxf, Professor of Philosophy and Linguistics
at the University of Southern California, for Trinity Term
2010 and Trinity Term 2011.
Return to Contents of this section
COMPOSITION OF ELECTORAL BOARD
The composition of the electoral board to the post
below, proceedings to fill which are currently in progress,
is as follows:
Taylor Professorship of the German Language and
Literature
Appointed by
The President of St John's Mr Vice-Chancellor [1]
The Provost of Queen's ex officio
Dr M. Minden, Cambridge Council
Professor L. Olschner, Queen Mary Council
Professor S. Shuttleworth Humanities Board
Professor K. Leeder Medieval and Modern Languages
Board
Professor J. Ryan, Harvard Medieval and Modern Languages
Board
Professor H. Watanabe-O'Kelly Medieval and Modern Languages
Board
Dr C. Louth Queen's College
[1] Appointed by Mr Vice-Chancellor under the provisions of
Sects. 10 and 11 of Statute IX (Supplement (1) to
Gazette No. 4633, 9 October 2002, Vol. 133,
p. 108).
Return to Contents of this section
|
