Bon Voyage from Oxford...

The last three days have been excellent. I have spent my hours at Oxford University. Oxford University (www.ox.ac.uk) is the oldest English speaking university in the world. Its traditions date back to the 1200s (lectures at Oxford date back even further to 1096, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford) and still live on today. Oxford was a place where some of the fundamental movements in higher education occurred and the University has come to embody the character of academia in our modern societies. Throughout its early growth, Oxford University was a place where scholars could debate ideas, rebel against the norms, and even discover new insights and ideologies. Today, like most other universities, these characteristics have lost their prominence. Academia, for the most part, has become risk averse, a safe space, a nice place where no one wants to offend each other or engage in harsh debates for the betterment of society. To me, these last few days were a time to reflect on my own research, develop a few new ideas to pursue over the next year, and also make progress on my new book. I have truly enjoyed my time here at Oxford University. For those in academia, if you have never been out here, I urge you to make time for a visit.

Now, I am off to London for a few days…A nice selection of interesting meetings awaits me…