The Queen

One can not go to England without at least paying notice to the Legacy of the Crown. In less than a year, Queen Elizabeth II will have been reigning as sovereign for 60 years (Diamond Jubilee). She is 85 and is the constitutional monarch of 16 commonwealth realms, head of state of the United Kingdom and supreme governor of the church of England. During her reign the UK has perhaps seen more change than during any other, having gone from an extremely dominate world empire to relative insignificance. 12 prime ministers have served her, and 12 US presidents have met with her.

Tate Modern

Today we completed the curating portion of the class with a visit to the Tate Modern museum in London. The Tate Modern, directly across the thames from Saint Paul's cathedral, is the most visited Modern art museum in the world. It is considered one of the most ambitious artistic developments of millennial Britain. The Building was originally a power factory, not opened as a museum until 2000. Despite the overwhelming fanfare, I have honestly never see such a bunch of garbage and wasted canvass in my entire life!

Britain and Euro

In this video British prime minister David Cameron shows his support for the euro zone while continuing the conservative position that it will and should not join.

Many wonder why Great Britain never joined the euro. Tony Blair always adamantly wanted it to but his Chancellor, and long time rival Gordon Brown would not stand for it. Now the Euro is in deep trouble due in part to the economic fall of Greece and Portugal strengthening the claim from those who supported the UK remaining on the pound system. There are current political tensions between the UK and the countries in the euro zone pertaining to the UK not contributing finically to the euro crisis.

Christ Church College

Christ church is the largest of the Oxford colleges with more than 500 students. It is also the official head church of the Oxford Diocese.

This tower is one of the dominating spires gracing the Oxford skyline, although always intended, it was added long after the majority of the rest of the college was complete.  The first two Harry Potter films were filmed in part at christ church college including the "great hall" scenes as well as various others.

Union Jack

Despight the incredible fame of the union jack throughout the world, few know anything about it's origins. In 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England, thus uniting the kingdoms to this day. 

At that time the official Flag of Scotland was the St. Andrews cross: 

Whereas the official flag of England was the St. George cross:

So naturally the Union jack, in 1606 was originally a simple combination of the two:

Cross of St. Patrick:

That is until the "Act of Union" in 1801 that united the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain forming the United kingdom. Fortunately the Irish flag at the time was simply the cross of St. Patrick so only a minor change need be made. This of course, is the final and current version:

Ashmolean museum

Founded in 1677, Oxford's "Ashmolean Museum" is the oldest university museum in the world. Like the Pitt rivers museum, it has an unusual thematic layout. The main theme being, "East meets West", where artifacts of similar uses such as tapestries, clothing and ancient writings are displayed together regardless of their geographical or chronological order. One of the most notable Art works on display is the "Hunt in the Forest" by Paolo Ucello (1397-1475). It is one of the first non-religious paintings done and the first to emphasis three dimensional perspective bringing together mathematical, scientific and artistic ideas. 

Pitt Rivers Museum

Founded in 1884 by General Augustas Pitt Rivers, the Pitt Rivers Museum is a massive old train station later converted to a museum. It gives great insight into the developments of British museum curating through the years. A unique museum, it is in many ways not what I expected. It includes thousands of artifacts collected, donated and in many cases pillaged by British explorers and travelers. Most of the items come from the americas and british commonwealth nations, exhibited in a somewhat random fashion by modern curating standards; the objects are arranged according to how they were used rather than by their age and origins. In the main hall there are many impressive dinosaur mounts  - not surprising considering that the first dinosaur (Megalosaurus) was discovered in Oxfordshire - additionally there are countless stuffed mammals and birds from all over the world. The place is a great reminder of the pros and cons of British global conquest and domination.  Pros being the education, civilization and in some cases increased wealth through trade brought by the empire. Cons being the imposing imperialism and often subjection of the native peoples, as well as massive destruction of habitat and extinction of species such as the Dodo bird (exhibited in the hall).  With free admission, it is a fun, educational and great place to go in Oxford.