Yesterday was a day of strong opinions strongly expressed, as students in Law School Preparation were instructed in the ways of good argumentation ahead of their mock trials next week, and all students banded together in the evening to tackle the global issue of women’s representation in the public sphere in a Model UN.

Focusing on strategies of increasing the proportion of women in politics internationally, countries such as the UK and Thailand proposed resolutions; however, Iran and Nigeria were not disposed to accept them, due to conflicts with other interests and stakeholders domestically. The session got eyes gleaming and arms pumping with political fervour, as students spoke passionately and put their all into achieving a final compromise. It was especially good to see a healthy number of our female students speaking out and representing their viewpoints on this issue.

Those studying Art and Architecture with esteemed Oxford artist Stuart Bebb engaged with more visual expressions as they took a tour of the city, and were invited to look upon Oxford’s famous landmarks with critical and curious eyes. They stood before the Tower of the Five Orders in the Old Schools Quadrangle (the courtyard of the Old Bodleian Library), and learned of how it came to be named so―the tower is ornamented with columns in each of the five orders of classical architecture: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The monumental moustache of the Earl of Pembroke was also much admired.