Speaking Out
Living in a country where academic protest is generally synonymous with claims for higher pay, there is something quite refreshing about Czech Classicist Dr Julius Tomin’s current campaign. Lamenting Oxford’s refusal to grant him a lecture series (to present a revisionist look at the work of Plato), the one-man vigil Dr Tomin plans outside Balliol looks unlikely to snowball into a mass populist movement – but this newspaper believes he has stumbled upon the right idea.
For too long the secretive pulling of strings in dusty meeting rooms has dictated undergraduate syllabuses in Oxford: it is time to reclaim the curriculum. With this in mind, may we suggest a few ‘alternative’ lecture courses for Wellington Square’s consideration: ‘Pigeon safety’, delivered by the Principal of Brasenose; ‘Sticking to my guns’, by the Keble Bursar; and, last but not least, ‘Page 3 girls’ by the Rector of Lincoln. To the streets.
28th Apr 2005