Tutorials

If you ever wonder what academics are like at Oxford, you first must forget EVERYTHING you know about school in America first. You can’t even call it school (literally). While I was visiting in Wales, I told someone I was going to school at Oxford, and they asked me how old I was. When I told him I was 21, I got a VERY weird look. It’s no wonder when you understand that here, when someone say’s they are going to school, it means they attend elementary through high school. When someone is going to the university, it means undergraduate/graduate work.

At “the university” in Oxford, there are few classes. There are lectures throughout the week… that are completely optional. My department (psychology) has one lecture a week (should I mention that these “lectures” are ALWAYS given by leading experts in their field). Instead of classes, students learn through “tutorials” which are one-on-one hour long meetings between a student and a “don” or tutor. To each tutorial, a student will bring a 2-3,000 word essay on a topic which the student and don decided on at the previous tutorial. A primary tutorial meets once a week, and a secondary tutorial meets every other week. Because it is completely independent study, students not only create their classes, but take an active role in directing the course throughout the term.

Earlier in the week, I met with one of my dons for my primary tutorial in Health Psychology. At the end of the week, I’ll meet with my other don for my secondary tutorial in Cognitive Psychology. Oxford is very eclectic and therefore, each tutor/tutorial is different. Some of my friends met their dons at a café in the afternoon, and others at a local pub in the evening. Things are very informal here in some ways (like discussing your latest essay with your professor over a pint) and formal in other ways (required attire for formal dinner every evening in the college dining hall is full college robes). Such are the ways in Oxford.