Latest news with #Sheldonian
BBC News
30-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
University of Oxford posthumous award to first indigenous student
A university has awarded a posthumous degree to its first indigenous student more than 100 years after she began her in New Zealand in 1873, Mākereti Papakura is believed to be the first indigenous woman to enrol at the University of Oxford. The university said she had explored the customs of her people of the Māori Te Arawa iwi tribe from a female perspective through her "groundbreaking" research. But she died in 1930, just weeks before she was due to present her thesis. Prof Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, will award the degree of MPhil in Anthropology at a ceremony in the Sheldonian theatre later in the year. Ms Papakura was born Margaret Pattison Thom at Matatā in the Bay of Plenty to an English father, William Thom, and a Māori mother, Pia Ngarotū Te enrolled in 1922 to read anthropology at Pitt Rivers Museum, where much of the teaching was conducted at the time, and at the Society of Home Students, now St Anne's university said her scholarship, combined with her indigenous worldview, "earned her the respect of many Oxford academics at the time".It added that it had gone on "to be celebrated by members of Māori communities and researchers worldwide".After her sudden death, her family agreed that her good friend Thomas Kenneth Penniman, a Rhodes Scholar and fellow Oxford anthropologist, published her book titled The Old-Time Māori became the first study of Māori life published by a Māori author and is recognised as such by the New Zealand Royal Society. 'An inspiring figure' The posthumous award was requested by the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, which applied to the university's education application was supported by St Anne's College and the Pitt Rivers Museum, to which Ms Papakura and her family donated numerous artefacts and papers both during her lifetime and after her death. Prof Clare Harris, head of the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, called Ms Papakura "an inspiring figure, not only to many in Aotearoa [which has been used when referring to New Zealand in Māori] but to students and scholars around the world".Members of her family and representatives of the Māori community are expected to attend the award Northcroft Grant, on behalf of Ms Papakura's family and Tūhourangi – Ngāti Wāhiao tribe, said her story was "a testament to the lasting power of education, culture, and the determination of one woman to ensure that Māori stories would not be forgotten."This recognition belongs to Mākereti, to our ancestors, and to the Māori community worldwide". You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lord Hague inaugurated as university chancellor
William Hague will be formally inaugurated as Oxford University chancellor today. Lord Hague will become the 160th recorded chancellor in the University's history and will succeed Lord Patten of Barnes, who announced his retirement from the post in February 2024. The ceremony will take place in the Sheldonian theatre in Oxford. Lord Hague previously said he regarded his election for the position "as the greatest honour of my life". Profile: William Hague The 10-year role dates back at least 800 years. Duties include advisory and fundraising work and acting as an ambassador for the University at local, national and international events. Lord Hague graduated from Magdalen College in 1982, where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He was president of the Oxford Union, the university's esteemed debating society, during his time as a student. He became leader of the Conservative in 1997 at the age of just 36, and later became foreign secretary from 2010 to 2014. Lord Hague spent 26 years as the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire. He won the final run-off of voting that took place throughout November against Lady Elish Angiolini by a margin of 1600 votes. He said he would "dedicate myself in the coming years to serving the university I love". "What happens at Oxford in the next decade is critical to the success of the UK," Lord Hague added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. William Hague elected Oxford University chancellor Imran Khan uni chancellor bid rejected, says adviser Oxford University could have its first female Chancellor University of Oxford
