News & events from Corpus Christi Cambridge
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Corpus Christi College | Easter 2022
Easter News from Corpus
A message from Rachel Lawson, Fellow and Director of Development
Crisp, clear blue skies framing Old and New Courts, wonderful wisteria gracing St Benet’s, blossom and bulbs galore at Leckhampton - these are the familiar signs of the arrival of Easter Term at Corpus. In this beautiful setting it is always a demanding, ‘split-personality’ term, starting quietly as students focus on their exams (in some cases their first exams since GCSEs). This week, our pair of ducks has returned, though they do not seem to have received the ‘Silence in Court’ memo! The Senior Tutor, Dr Marina Frasca-Spada, and our Tutorial team are busy providing outstanding support to help students maximise their performance.
We are all looking forward to the contrasting post-exams release of energy, and the intensity of summer celebrations. Most COVID restrictions have been lifted. There is a Corpus May Ball on the horizon, and the College is able to reinstate its historic ceremonial events such as the Parker Audit Lunch and the Name Day Feast. Added to this, we are pleased to welcome alumni to College to a range of special events such as the 1352 Foundation Society legacy lunch on 11 June, the Corpus Garden Party on 19 June, and a catch-up reunion on Friday 8 July for the 2001-2004 cohorts.
Our community is in full swing, and we look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to share this term with us.
Upcoming Events
Garden Party - booking open
We look forward to welcoming our community to our 2022 Garden Party on Sunday 19 June. All are welcome to join!
The event will be a family friendly picnic in the beautiful Leckhampton grounds. Jazz, family fun, garden games, wine tasting - and a walking tour of the garden with Head Gardener Andy Pullin.
Wednesday 25 May 2022: Digital transformation - a revolution in the humanities? With Professor Caroline Bassett. Book your place on the Cambridge University Alumni website.
Thursday 26 May: On Life Writing: Hermione Lee in Conversation with Eliza Haughton-Shaw. Please register by emailing development@corpus.cam.ac.uk
Saturday 11 June 2022: 1352 Foundation Legacy Society lunch (fully booked)
Friday 24 June 2022: May Ball Arcadia (sold out)
Friday 8 July 2022: 2001-2004 Reunion Dinner (book here)
Saturday 24 September 2022: MacCurdy Dinner (invitations to follow; for undergraduate matriculation years 2005-2008; please update your details if needed so we can send your invitation to the correct address)
Alumni News
Forty years of Corpus women
Next year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to Corpus as students. We want to celebrate this important milestone and would love to hear your memories from that time. Were you one of the early female scholars? Email development@corpus.cam.ac.uk with your recollections - and please share photos!
Corpus Masterminds
In what might be a first for a Cambridge College, two Corpus alumni competed in the final of the BBC television quiz show Mastermind. Patrick Buckingham (m1986 Law) and Ian Wang (m2016 English) were in the final six competitors of the season. You can still watch the program on the BBC iPlayer. (No spoilers!)
New book from Corpus alumna
Inspired by myths, magic and manuscripts, alumna Dr Amy Jeffs' first book Storyland is an illustrated mythology of Britain that became a Times bestseller. She tells us how the many hours she spent in the Parker Library charged her imagination and set her on a journey to bring some of Britain’s most ancient stories to life.
Amy's new book, Wild: A New Mythology of Britain, will be published in October 2022.
News from the Fellowship
Professor Caroline Bassett
“Each new wave of technology produces a new set of questions about culture, around social structures, and how they are going to relate to that technology, and how problems in them might be addressed or amplified or articulated differently," says Fellow of Corpus, Professor Caroline Bassett.
In an interview in the latest issue of CAM magazine, Professor Bassett describes the multi-faceted nature of her work at the intersection of technology and culture. Professor Bassett is the Director of the interdisciplinary research centre Cambridge Digital Humanities.
Alumni and guests are invited to the next Cambridge Conversations Digital transformation - a revolution in the humanities? Featuring Professor Caroline Bassett, Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope and Dr Siddharth Soni, the event takes place on 26 May at 17.30. Book your place on the Cambridge University Alumni website.
Dr Andrew Sanger
Dr Andrew Sanger has been shortlisted by the Cambridge Student Union for a Student-Led Teaching Award for Small-Group Teaching (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences).
These awards exist to reward outstanding teaching and student support across Cambridge University and its Colleges. The winners will be announced at the Student-Led Teaching Awards Ceremony, which is taking place on the evening of 11 May 2022. Read more...
College News
Sustainability on the agenda
The College has recently formed a Sustainability Committee headed by Fellow of Corpus Dr Judy Hirst. Working with the JCR and MCR student Green Representatives, the operational teams and Domus Bursar Gemma Donaldson, the committee has spearheaded a number of initiatives this term, including a recycling pilot in student rooms and the elimination of single-use takeaway containers in Hall. Students, staff and Fellows have been snapping up these Corpus-branded reusable containers.
You can read about the College's sustainability goals and find out about new initiatives on our website.
Beldam Dinner
In April, we welcomed back Corpus alumni who matriculated between 1994-1998 for their undergraduate degree. Dr Philippa Hoskin showed the visitors the current exhibition on show in the Parker Library,
Keeper of the Corpus Clock Professor Ewan St. John Smith shared a few secrets of the Corpus Chronophage, and the group posed for a photo in Chapel before dinner. More photos on our Flickr account.
Thirty years a boatman
This month, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Tim Rhodes as the College Boatman. In New Court, surrounded by cheering staff and students, the Domus Bursar Gemma Donaldson presented him with a bottle of champagne and letter of congratulations.
Joking that people ask him "Boatman, is that a real job?" , Tim recounted how he spent his school days gazing out of the window towards the river, much to the consternation of his father. Read more...
Tim in New Court with current and past members of the Corpus Christi College Boat Club: Poppy Martin, Takashi Lawson, Katie Barker, (current Captain) Sarah Rafferty and John Clark.
Muhammad is also the JCR Ethnic Minorities Officer.
A visit to Number 10
Geography student Muhammad Mahmoud recently completed an internship at the Civil Service Fast Stream, specifically within HM Revenue & Customs Northern Ireland.
"The week was filled with many highlights, including meeting with the Prime Minister's Private Office to see how No. 10 as an office worked.
I also had the opportunity to present to civil servants on how technology can be used to improve HMRC’s work across the ROI - NI border."
Widening participation
In the last issue we told you about a new outreach initiative called the Pelican Programmes – targeted support for Year 12s in four Arts & Humanities subjects. Second year MML student Sadie Berry-Firth is convening the Modern Languages seminars, and both she and the students are very much enjoying it. Said one participant, "I am loving the programme so far. I love the fact that we read texts that are a refreshing change from the A-level ones, and it seems like it will be the perfect way to extend my French skills."
From the Development and Alumni Relations Office
If you didn’t receive a call, and would like to join in by making a one-off or regular gift, please follow this link.
Corpus calling - thank you for your support
Between 19 March and 3 April, 12 students spoke to 410 alumni to share news of College, to learn about alumni pathways post-university, and to raise funds for the Alumni Fund. We are hugely grateful for the generosity of 126 alumni who made gifts. These gifts will help fund student bursaries, the Bridging Programme and other key features of College life.
Your support is so important to us. For example, each year we contribute over £100,000 to fund entrance bursaries via the centrally administered Cambridge Bursary Scheme II. As bursary needs expand, we expect that in future we will need to raise £200,000 a year to support financially disadvantaged Corpus students through the scheme.
We want to hear from you!
The Record
We are gathering news for the next edition of The Record and we want to hear what you've been up to. Got a new academic position, professional promotion, new job, project or publication? Share the news with your fellow Corpuscles by submitting it via our online form.
Don't forget, you can also read back issues of The Record on our website.
Alumni Directory
Have you signed up to your Alumni Directory? The Directory allows you to update your details and to contact fellow alumni who are also registered for the service.
If you do not have a username and password, register now. If you are already registered, please login to your account.
The Pelican
We are working on a redesigned version of The Pelican, the College magazine, and expect to publish it in late summer.
To try and reduce the environmental impact of printing and mailing copies worldwide, we will also publish a digital version in an exciting new format. If you would like to opt out of receiving the print copy and prefer to read the digital version, please let us know your preference.
