Universitas Oxoniensis

On occasion, I have posted writing pieces that referred to my trip to Oxford University in the summer of 2005. Most of them were about how I got there or what I learned from the experience. Some would say that I have looked at this unique experience "ad nausea." I prefer to think of it as "reminiscing." However you look at it, it was a remarkable experience. That is probably because Oxford is a remarkable place. It is the oldest university in the English speaking world, founded only a few years after the Norman Invasion of England in 1066. There are 38 separate and distinct colleges in the university. Oxford also contains a world-class museum in the Ashmolean and a world-class library in the Bodleian, as well as the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Museum of Natural History. It is also the home of arguably the most famous debating society in the world, the Oxford Union.

The Harry Potter movies have been filmed there (Hogwarts Dining Hall is actually Christ Church Dining Hall). The Golden Compass is another movie with scenes from Oxford, and the Inspector Morse mysteries as well as the Inspector Lewis mysteries have all been filmed in Oxford, as well. As a matter of fact, I watched the filming of the first Inspector Lewis mystery at Waldham College while I was there.

But beyond all of this, there is an atmosphere in the place. It is hard to describe. It might be its age, its beauty, all of the famous authors, scholars, scientists and politicians that have gone there, or any number of other factors that make Oxford a magical place, and not just to wizards but to muggles as well. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis sat in the Eagle and Child and read to each other. Tolkien read The Lord of the Rings and Lewis, the tales of Narnia.

Oxford is just an amazing place. I know that there are those who feel that Cambridge is too; but, as for me, I choose Oxford.