Last Oxford seminar

Yesterday at 5:00, just before Wilma's departure, I attended what is probably my last Oxford "class."

It was a seminar at Trinity College (pictured at right on a sunnier day) called "Crying Wolf: The Pope and the Lupercalia." It's part of a seminar series called After Rome. It doesn't relate to my exams but it sounded interesting, so off I went to take advantage of my last days as an Oxford student!

The paper was read by a professor from the Classics department, and was about 50 minutes long, followed by another half-hour of discussion. It was about a document written by Pope Gelasius that mentions the performance of the pagan festival Lupercalia. It was written in the 490s AD, so it's important as a source for the survival of pagan practices in Christian Rome, as well as the role of the Senate and such.

Lupercalia was held on February 15 in honor of fertility, and is the historical basis for Valentine's Day. In its Roman form, the central ritual was two teams of nearly naked young men racing down the Palatine Hill to the Forum, where they whipped select women in the audience. The presenter, a very British, older man with the requisite sweater and bad teeth, said the whole thing was "very sexy."

Two of my favorite professors showed up to the seminar: David McGwynn, who did the Constantine lectures I enjoyed so much and gave me kind references for my scholarship applications, and Mark Edwards, whose lectures on theology I attended. Dr. McGwynn chatted with me briefly afterwards, which was nice.

But the highlight was probably sitting across the table from Mark Edwards (pictured at right). He is an interesting guy - an impressive scholar who comes across as unapproachable but who people say is very nice when you get to know him. I remember from his lectures that his academic gown was very tattered and always falling off one shoulder.

Throughout yesterday's seminar, I got to watch him doodle all over his handout. He made 3-D boxes, checkerboards, and notes in Greek which he then circled and made into 3-D boxes. At one point he laid his head down on one elbow as he drew, like a kindergartener might do. I loved it.

This has been one of the coolest things about the Oxford experience: to see in person some of the scholars whose books I've read and will read in the future; to have a face and a voice to go with the name. Peter Brown was definitely a highlight, and of course the Archbishop of Canterbury - after all, he's a scholar as well as religious leader.

After the seminar was over, one of the professors passed around a birthday card for Wolf Liebeschuetz, who is turning 80. He is a German professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham and another notable scholar. I was familiar with his name because one of the three short essays I turned in for the MPhil was on pagans and Christians in Antioch, and I used his book on Antioch extensively. They said we could and should sign his birthday card even if we didn't know him, so I proudly did so!

It's hard to believe I'll be leaving Oxford in just a few weeks, and it's definitely sad. I'm excited for our next stage and very grateful to be nearly done with the work, but Oxford has come to feel like home and I have always felt so lucky to be here. As I walked out of the beautiful old buildings of Trinity College after my seminar, feeling like I actually belong, I soaked up every minute of it.