Lydia Carr. MA (Hons) University of St Andrews, Scotland, MA University College London. Lydia is a doctoral student at Exeter College, Oxford University, where she is studying Roman and Anglo-Saxon archeology.  Notably, she returns to The Oxford Tradition, having studied Archeology herself on the program in 1997. Her previous degrees have covered ancient, classical, and medieval archeology, and she has spent a considerable amount of time volunteering at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She has assisted at the City and Country School in New York City, where she realized her love of teaching, and has most recently worked with the Curator of Archeology at the Museum’s Resource Centre in Oxfordshire.

Nick Ferreira. BA (Hons), BPhil Rhodes University, South Africa. A Rhodes Scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford University, Nick is also the Junior Dean at Harris Manchester College. Nick is studying for a DPhil in Philosophy at Oxford and graduated from Rhodes University with a distinction in the subject and the distinguished DCS Oosthuisen Prize. As well as being an accomplished rugby, water polo, and soccer player, he is a keen and experienced debater. A competitor in British parliamentary style and a trainer in BP and World Schools Style, he reached the semi-finals of the World Universities Debating Championships in 2003.

Bhooma Aravamuthan. BSc (Hons) Michigan State University. A Marshall Scholar with additional sponsorship from the National Institute of Health, Bhooma is a doctoral student at Oxford University who is pursuing research into Parkinson’s disease at Oxford’s Radcliffe Infirmary and the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre.  At Michigan State University, where she developed broad interests in biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, and bioethics, she was the Ronald E. McNair Research Scholar, the Dallas J. Chapin Natural Science Scholar, and a Goldwater Scholar.

Elaine Binns. BA (Hons), PG Dip. Reading University. Elaine is the Director of OpenHand OpenSpace, a locally-funded arts society which holds regular exhibitions in the South-East of England. She is also a Fine Art Lecturer at Uxbridge College and an Arts Lecturer at Wokingham and Bracknell College. With extensive experience of many more conventional artistic media, Elaine also has expertise in Shamanic Art, Stone-carving and is a practising artist. Her comprehensive but uniquely individual talents have inspired exhibitions throughout the UK.

Chelsea Payne. BA, LLB (Hons), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, BCL Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar and admitted barrister and solicitor from New Zealand, Chelsea has completed a Bachelor of Civil Law at Balliol College, Oxford University, and is studying for an MSc in African Studies, examining transitional justice in Liberia. Her practical experience is considerable: Chelsea has interned for the United Nations in Liberia, the Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor, and worked as a Judge’s clerk in the Supreme Court of New Zealand. At Oxford, she is the MCR President of Balliol College, the former MCR Women’s Officer, and an accomplished debater.

Tarsha Finney. BArch (Hons) University of New South Wales, Australia, MA Architecture Association, London. Tarsha is a prize-winning architect who is pursuing her doctorate in New York housing projects at London’s Architecture Association. She received the New South Wales Mallesons Stephen Jacques Scholarship for her outstanding undergraduate degree and the Michael Ventris Memorial Award from the Architecture Association in 2003. She has taught in Sydney, Australia, and worked at a number of design studios, including for Brian Meyerson Architects and the Christina Markham Architectural Studio.

Dr Karlee Silver. BSc (Hons) University of Winnipeg, DPhil Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar from Canada, Karlee specializes in Clinical Medicine at Oxford. She is also a seven-time national rowing champion in Canada and a member of Canada’s national rowing squad; in 2003, she won a Varsity Rowing Blue for Oxford. She is also the winner of the University of Winnipeg’s Gold Medal for Biochemistry and Canada’s Society for Chemical Industry Outstanding Academic Achievement Merit Award.

Dr Stephen Forrest. BA (Hons) University of Montana, MA London School of Economics, DEd Oklahoma State University. An award-winning scholar who is researching a doctorate in modern Irish history at Hertford College, Oxford, Stephen already has a doctorate in education that specializes in adult learning theory’s implications for American democracy. He is also the former MCR President of Hertford College.

Roulla Georgio. BA (Hons) Camberwell College of Art, PGCE Southgate College. Roulla has extensive experience in many of the creative arts as a freelance graphic designer, a filmmaker, a silk screen designer, and a professional photographer. Having exhibited throughout London and worked as a photographer for a number of fashion labels, magazines, and bands, she works for Local Mag and Juicy magazines, London hip-hop bands Lazy Habits and Chewbaka. She teaches photography and fine arts at Southgate College, London, and is studying for an MA at the London College of Fashion.

Dr Richard Grayson. FRSA, FRGS. BA (Hons), MA, MPhil Cambridge, DPhil Oxford. Former Bureau Chief and Senior Correspondent of British Television News and President of the Foreign Press Association, Richard was educated in International Law and Politics at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Between degrees, he was an Avalon Fellow at the School of International Service in Washington.  He has spent the last decade in the television news industry as a war and White House correspondent.

Claudine van Hensbergen. BA (Hons) King’s College London, MSt Oxford. A member of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Claudine is pursuing doctoral research in the poetry of the English Civil War. With a First Class Honours degree from King’s College London, she won the Brewer Prize which is awarded collectively by the English Department’s academic staff.  Having also worked at The Literary Review in London, Bath’s Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, at several museums in Bristol, including Explore and Wildwalk, Claudine brings a lively and engaged interest in public education to the program.

Jeni Whalan. BA (Hons), University of New South Wales, Australia, MPhil Oxford. An Australian Rhodes Scholar, Jeni is studying for an MPhil in International Relations, specializing in post-conflict peace operations, having worked at the International Crisis Group in Brussels and the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. At Oxford, she has served as Convenor of the Rhodes Scholars’ Southern African Forum, a student-run development organization funding poverty alleviation projects in sub-Saharan Africa. At the University of New South Wales, she gained First Class Honours and won the School of Politics and International Relations Prize for Best Thesis. In 2001, she was a member of Australia’s Olympic Sailing Squad.

Enrique Sacau-Ferreira. BA (Hons), CAP University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, MSt Oxford. Enrique won the University of Oxford’s James Ingham Halstead Prize from the Faculty of Music in 2004, when he won a Distinction for his Master’s in Musicology. He has since been pursuing his doctorate on the use of music in post-WWII Europe as propaganda, specifically in Franco’s Spain. He has taught widely, in Oxford and at the University Ca’Foscari in Venice.

Victoria Staveley. BA Memorial University of Newfoundland. (Dean of Faculty) Victoria is a Rhodes Scholar and winner of a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is also Senior Warden at St Clare’s International College in Oxford where she also teaches the International Baccalaureate. A specialist in Renaissance poetry and politics, she returns to teach for us for a fifteenth year.

Lucy Wylde. BA (Hons) Rhodes University, South Africa, MA Central School of Speech and Drama. Lucy is the Head of Drama and Theatre Studies at D’Overbroeck’s College. She is also a successful performer in her own right, having directed a number of plays in South Africa and England and played the roles of Lady Macbeth, Goneril, Desdemona, Marianna, and Portia in several Shakespeare plays.

Dr Amitava Banerjee. BA (Hons), MA, MBBCh Oxford, MPH Harvard University. Ami is an award-winning medical doctor, who studied at Harvard as a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow and, at Oxford, was named the medical school’s ‘Teacher of the Month’ and won the Radcliffe Prize. At Harvard, he developed research interests in essential medicines and the global burden of cardiovascular disease, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, and he is now a trainee cardiologist, in addition to his role as a Senior House Officer in renal, general medicine, infectious diseases, cardiology, endocrinology, and geratology.  He has also worked with the World Health Organization as an intern and as a Temporary Advisor regarding improving access to medicines for chronic diseases. He is the former President of the Oxford Medical Students’ Union and the Christ Church Medical Society.

Rory Cox. BA (Hons), MA University College London. Rory is studying for a DPhil in History at St Peter’s College, Oxford University. After graduating with First Class Honours in Ancient History from University College London, during which he was awarded the Joel Horstfield Prize and the Sir William Meyer Prize for Academic Excellence, he returned to UCL to complete an MA in Medieval History, graduating with a Distinction. His DPhil research builds upon his Master’s research, which examines the place of war within the scholastic tradition, and specifically the development of ‘just war theory’. He is also a member of Oxford University’s fencing squad, a formerly internationally-recognized martial artist, and a keen marathon runner, mountain biker and sports diver.

Hannah Tonkin. BSc, LLB (Hons) University of Adelaide, Australia, BCL Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar and a qualified lawyer in Adelaide, Australia, Hannah graduated top of her class at the University of Adelaide in 2004, winning the University’s David Murray Scholarship.  She then worked as a Judge’s Associate in her native Australia and interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague before arriving at Oxford. She is now pursuing a DPhil in International Law and is a member of Balliol College, plays for the Oxford University Netball team, and holds the post of the Australian and New Zealand Society Sports Representative.

Sarah Flemig. BA (Hons) Oxford. Educated in Stuttgart, Germany, where she was the youngest graduate ever at the Eduard Spranger high school, Sarah joined Brasenose College, Oxford University, to study PPE as a Markel Foundation Scholar. She continues at Oxford, pursuing an MPhil in Comparative Government, specializing in Constitutional Law and Politics, as well as Political Economy, and is the founding President of Beijing Sun Village Support, a volunteer support group for the Beijing Sun Village Institute in China. With a flair for languages, she speaks English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Modern Greek, as well as rows for Brasenose College Boat Club and plays water polo for Oxford University.

Lakshmi Krishnan. BA (Hons) Wake Forest University. A Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford University, Lakshmi studies the psychology and aesthetics of Victorian literature. She graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University and was awarded the Drake Award for Excellence and James O’Flaherty Award. At Wake Forest, she was President of the University’s Amnesty International organization. She has volunteered at public health clinics and interned with Boston-based NGO Physicians for Human Rights, as well as taught secondary school English, Creative Writing and Chemistry. In Oxford, she has performed in several plays, including a performance of Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra and won Oxford’s ISIS Creative Writing Award for Poetry.

Keon West. BA (Hons) Macalester College. Keon is a Jamaican Rhodes Scholar, studying for a DPhil in Social Psychology at Balliol College, Oxford University. He graduated from Macalester College magna cum laude in both Psychology and French, and President of the Macalester chapter of Psi-Chi (National Psychology Honors Society) and winner of the Walter Mink Endowed Prize and Paterson Award. After briefly studying philosophy and psychoanalysis at the Sorbonne in Paris, he went to Oxford and, in his first term as a graduate student, founded the Black Association of Rhodes Scholars.  He balances his academics with a black belt in amalgamated martial arts, 6 years of Salsa dancing, and a passion for photography.

RESIDENTIAL DEANS

Andrea Brownstein. Andrea is a veteran English teacher of over 35 years, currently at Mary Institute and St Louis Country Day School (Missouri) and serves as our Head Dean of Students for both colleges.  She returns to the program for her fourteenth summer.

Kenneth Risley. Ken has 9 years of experience as a History teacher and is currently at Episcopal School (Virginia) and returns to the program for his third summer.

Erica Sturtevant. Erica is an English teacher and basketball coach at St Andrew’s School (Florida) with over 6 years’ experience. She returns to the program for her second summer.

Caswell Nilsen. Caswell is a History teacher at Shady Side Academy (Pennsylvania) with over 10 years’ teaching experience and returns to the program for his second summer.

David Hughes. David is a Grade Counselor at Collingwood School (British Columbia) with over 17 years’ teaching experience. He returns for his third summer on the program.

Brandy Gibb. Brandy is an English and Creative Writing teacher at Collingwood School (British Columbia) with over 10 years’ experience. She returns to the program for her second summer.