Ewing, NJ: What do Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien have in common? They all taught at Oxford University, where communication studies professors Paul D’Angelo and John Pollock were invited to present papers at an international conference September 16-18, and where senior Lauren Longo spent summer 2015 as a study abroad student. Attending sung Anglican evening daily chapel services, the communication studies travelers visited Christ Church College, where architect Christopher Wren designed a tall “Tom Tower,” and Lewis Carroll wrote “Alice in Wonderland” in the early 19th century. They also viewed the crenelated battlements, deer park, and beautiful landscaped gardens of Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis (of “Narnia” fame) taught, as well as Merton College, home of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” series.
Both student and faculty also benefited from a special “Marks of Genius” exhibit at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, where they viewed exhibits of the Gutenberg Bible, the first draft of Handel’s “Messiah” in his own hand, original paintings of American birds by James Audubon, sketches by Jane Austen, calligraphy by Elizabeth I, and even one of the few remaining copies of the Magna Carta, the forerunner of all subsequent assertions of individual rights curbing state power. The two TCNJ professors dined the first night they arrived at Wadham College, where John Locke taught, and whose “social contract” theory deeply inspired America’s founding fathers.
Studying medical ethics and the philosophy of religious worldviews, Lauren’s TCNJ communication studies background helped her thrive in an Oxford tutorial setting. She created 20-minute presentations for each class meeting, tackling ethical dilemmas that often involved theories of persuasion and message framing analytical techniques, applying communication techniques in an academic context that adheres to the “classics.” “Pollock, D’Angelo and Woodward’s courses taught me how to apply communication theory to challenging, real-world contexts, especially relating to international, health and political issues. The foundation they provided helped me create ideas that allowed me to engage my Oxford tutors, I think they found the perspective I brought from TCNJ to be refreshing,” Longo said. Over the summer as an associate member of New College, Longo frequented the Bodleian libraries, the Turf Tavern, a favorite haunt of Bill Clinton while a Rhodes Scholar, as well as the Eagle and Child, a pub Lewis and Tolkien used to frequent.
Thanks to Longo’s advice, Pollock and D’Angelo visited the same colleges and pubs, adding excitement and mystery to a prestigious, invitation-only gathering of the world’s leading political communication scholars at a conference sponsored by the Reuters Institute of Oxford University, where the two TCNJ scholars presented an innovative analysis of HIV/AIDS coverage in six of the leading newspapers in as many sub-Saharan countries. The paper was the outcome of two MUSE summer projects, including several student (now alumnae) participants: Kristen Kiernicki, Amanda Burd, and Janna Raudenbush, all of whom subsequently earned master’s degrees in such fields as health communication (Kentucky), public affairs
(Maxwell School, Syracuse), and public relations (Maryland). A previous paper from the same MUSE project senior-authored by D’Angelo was published in Politics and the Life Sciences in 2013. For the conference Pollock and D’Angelo created three original “media system” categories, arranged according to different levels of government control of the press (low, medium and high), and compared the influence of levels of press freedom with levels of AIDS prevalence (low or high) on variations in coverage of AIDS progress and responsibility/agency (government or society) in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although Longo loved her studies with a personal tutor/don at Oxford, and although D’Angelo and Pollock were delighted to exchange ideas on comparative political communication with so many distinguished colleagues, the TCNJ visitors, student and professors alike, were enchanted with the castle-like colleges and spires of Oxford, the omnipresent students and faculty bicycling, and the informal comradery and joy in the pubs. For the visitors from the TCNJ communication studies department, their voyage to Oxford was truly a magical mystery tour.