ACADEMICS
Teaching practices, classroom expectations, student-teacher relationships, exam schedules, assessments and subject matters are quite different at Mansfield College than at Dickinson. Most students adjust positively to the different academic situation and take advantage of the opportunity to learn from a new perspective. Areas of study available to visiting students include classics, economics, English, geography, history, management, philosophy, politics and theology.
Mansfield College’s Visiting Student Programme offers suitably qualified students the opportunity to come to Oxford as full members of the College and Registered Visiting Students of the University of Oxford. Normally, Mansfield admits approximately 30-35 visiting students per year. Visiting students typically come from the Ivy League, the most highly selective liberal arts colleges, and a few select public universities.
Visiting students study arts, humanities, and social science subjects for one year. Visiting students have access to all college facilities and are members of the JCR (Junior Common Room–the undergraduate student body). As registered visiting students of the university, they also have access to a wide range of University facilities, including the Bodleian Library, Faculty (subject) libraries, the Oxford University Computing Services, and the great wealth of lectures organized by the University throughout the academic year.
At the heart of the Oxford teaching system is the tutorial, an hour-long meeting between one to three students and their tutor. Compared to systems where the main vehicle of teaching is the lecture or seminar, the tutorial system places great emphasis upon the independent study skills of the student. In general, students produce one essay (or ‘paper’) per tutorial, which they either hand in to the tutor for marking or read out. The reading of the tutorial essay will lead into a general discussion of the subject matter being explored. Essays are not simply summaries of what a student has read in preparation for a tutorial, but critical engagements with a topic. During the eight weeks of term students also have access to university lectures, which they attend at the recommendation of their tutors or out of personal interest. Like regular undergraduate students, visiting students are taught by fellows and lecturers of Mansfield and other colleges within the university.
Visiting students at Mansfield College can apply to study arts, humanities, and social science subjects in which Mansfield accepts regular degree students. It may be possible to study tutorials in other subjects within this broad area: in the past students have studied subjects including art history, anthropology, oriental studies, and development studies. Visiting students at Mansfield are permitted the flexibility to take tutorials in subjects other than their major; however, the tutorial system is not suitable for the study of subjects at an introductory level. Visiting students will be expected to select tutorial options that build on knowledge they have already acquired at their home institutions.
ACADEMIC EXCURSIONS
Activities and excursions will be arranged by Mansfield College. Students are encouraged to use the cultural allowance credited to their Dickinson student account each semester to participate in these activities or to plan independent travel on their own.
HOUSING AND MEALS
Visiting students live in college accommodations. They also have access to the college Dining Hall for meals during term time together with all other college facilities.
STAFF
Dickinson students are supported on-site by the staff on the Mansfield College Visiting Student Programme. The on-campus coordinator is Professor of English Wendy Moffat.
