Dear Students, Parents and Teachers,

It is my great pleasure to invite you to read about The Oxford Tradition, now in its twenty-fourth year, and to consider joining the select group of students who will gather in the renowned ‘city of dreaming spires’ in July 2008 for a summer that truly promises to be life-changing.

Oxford itself needs little introduction. From those far-off days in the 11th century when scholars first began gathering there from all over Europe, Oxford has established itself as one of the most famous and respected universities in the world. The beauty of its architecture and the achievements of its members – in politics, literature, the humanities and sciences – are rivaled only by Oxford’s great competitor to the east, Cambridge.

The history of Oxford reflects the very history of England and English culture, and it is yours to experience. You can walk beneath the Castle Tower in which King John was besieged by the barons, or retrace the flight of Charles I’s cavalry across Port Meadow, passing by the mounds where Saxon villages once stood. You can read Samuel Johnson, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Oscar Wilde in the very colleges where they lived and wrote, or see Shakespearean plays performed in gardens the Bard himself could have walked in. You can hear Handel’s Oratorios sung in the magnificent Sheldonian Theater, or attend a recital in the Holywell Music Room, Europe’s oldest concert hall, where Handel himself once played. Regardless of your chosen subject, these are the kinds of unique and inspiring experiences that await you in Oxford. 

The beauty and history of the place aside, the great tradition of Oxford University has always rested on the encounter between diversely brilliant and imaginative minds, and indeed this is the tradition that our program sets out to continue each year. As you can see, our faculty comprises a marvelous array of Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, professional directors and artists, and other brilliant talents, and we are privileged every year to get an outstanding group of students from all over the world. We gather together in this magnificent setting, and the results are extraordinary.

 The goal of The Oxford Tradition is a simple one: to ensure that every student has the chance to experience the unique quality of Oxford so that he or she may be inspired to attain the highest levels of imagination and achievement, and to uphold the rich legacy that Oxford passes on to all who spend time there. I hope you will join us in Oxford and I look forward to meeting you there.

Yours sincerely,

Steven Farrelly-Jackson, D.Phil. (Oxon)

Program Director

About the Director:

Born in England, Steven grew up in Zimbabwe and South Africa and pursued his undergraduate studies in science and philosophy at the University of Cape Town, receiving his BA with First Class Honours. He then returned to the United Kingdom to earn his doctorate in philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford University. After teaching philosophy at Oxford and the University of London (as well as on The Oxford Tradition), he moved to New York where he became Executive Director of Oxbridge Academic Programs, a position he held from 1997 to 2002.

In recent years, Steven taught on The Cambridge Tradition and for three years was Director of the Académie de Paris before returning to Oxford to direct The Oxford Tradition. His academic research has centered on ethics, aesthetics and the philosophy of Wittgenstein, in which areas he has published a number of scholarly articles. His other interests range from the study and performance of Renaissance and Baroque lute music to writing fiction. Steven lives with his wife and two sons in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he combines writing with teaching philosophy and literature at Allegheny College.