Author Archives: Alice Prochaska

The past few weeks at Somerville, at least in the life of its Principal, have been hectic.  To start with the current week, the death of Margaret Thatcher has hit the media like a tornado. Although her early years form … Continue reading →

Too much time has passed. The two months since my last post, full of incident (though also flu) and somehow too busy to find the necessary twenty minutes or so – that time now seems like a blur. In early … Continue reading →

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 7,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the … Continue reading →

At Somerville, the arrival of a steady stream of applicants for next year’s undergraduate places heralds the onset of two weeks’ hard work, and then the approach of Christmas. Michaelmas Term is always long, with two weeks of Admissions administration … Continue reading →

Students are back, the first full week of term is over, and the College is filled with energy: staff, fellows and students all extremely busy, and my own diary filled with meetings and student appointments. I love this time of … Continue reading →

Summer’s past in sunshine and the good temper of the Olympic month, which seems to have affected everyone I meet in this country with a kind of surprised, collegial friendliness. Gazing out of the window at a day of mid … Continue reading →

The past month in Oxford began with exams and all the associated stress. Students straggled in to the Examination Schools on the High Street clad in sub fusc and often clutching notebooks full of revision notes as they walked, the … Continue reading →

Alumnae and Alumni Meeting Somervillians of every generation is always challenging and energising.  I don’t remember when I last met anyone from this College who did not have something interesting to say for themselves; though quite a few are unduly … Continue reading →

A week-long visit to India passed in a blur of meetings and impressions. Now, more than a week later, it is still a challenge to sort into some kind of mental order the many conversations and incipient friendships that came … Continue reading →

A week in the life…. An Oxford Principal’s life can be quite varied. A week ago I was in London for the meeting of a project that forms part of the new Re-Imagine programme set up by the British Council … Continue reading →