Oxford Alumna

This July, I returned to Oxford as an alumna. How cool is that? I traveled there to receive an award and present my research at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. The conference's theme was "Food & Markets," which aligned really really (dare I say, "perfectly") with my dissertation research. It was such an intellectual treat to converse with academics whose work aligns so well with my own. I look forward to returning to this conference in the future! Here are a few snapshots from presentations on high art, leftovers in 19th century Paris, and qualities of freshness in the fish industry, respectively (NB: the Piccolo Napoli reference from Palermo in the third image):

 
On the final day of the conference, I was able to take a few hours to go explore my old stomping grounds. I made my way out along the Cherwell and to the Thames. As I wove my way along the river, I couldn't help but think about my time on the Lincoln College rowing team! I laughed when I spotted the long horn cattle in the Corpus Christi College gardens. They're still there! I always enjoyed walking by them at 5:30 am in the morning. They were one of the highlights on an otherwise exhausting walk to morning practice.

After walking along the river, I made my way over to my college, Regent's Park! It was kind of eerie to walk around the college's grounds when no one was around. I guess you get to a point where your college isn't your own space anymore. Strange how that works...