Despite the variety of subjects studied at Cambridge, often the workload is such that it’s easy to have tunnel vision, and think about your subject alone. That’s why we, at Lifestyle, are keen to throw the spotlight on to the wide range of disciplines studied here. So, in our ‘Spotlight On Your Subject’ column, members of the Varsity team will be giving us a look inside their subject: the in’s and out’s of what they study, why they chose it, and what they enjoy the most about their subject. This week we hear from students studying English Literature, Natural Science, HSPS (Human, Social, and Political Sciences), and MML (Modern and Medieval Languages).
MML (Modern and Medieval Languages)
Alex Oxford — Varsity’s Digital Editor and 4th year MML student
“I am glad that little 17-year-old Alex stuck with Languages rather than the second choice of Medicine, because it was the one thing I could never see myself giving up”
I study Modern and Medieval Languages (the ‘Medieval’ is optional, I promise!) Often, I will joke that I’m spending £9,250 a year to learn how to talk but, in reality, I couldn’t imagine myself studying anything else. By now, the degree functions for me as a study of language, foreign literature and film, but I think its greatest strength is the freedom of choice in what you can do. If you choose it because of a passion for language learning, there is the option to take up to three languages (with additional ones available at the University Language Centre). If you choose it for its focus on European or Soviet history, there is the option to specialise in that, and borrow relevant papers from other faculties. And if you choose it for more scientific reasons, then there’s the linguistic approach for you. The way it is structured allows you time to find your strengths and thrive with them, and that’s what I’ve enjoyed the most in my four years of study. I am glad that little 17-year-old Alex stuck with Languages rather than the second choice of Medicine, because it was the one thing I could never see myself giving up, and the opportunities it has given me by the age of 21 - from studying and working in two different countries, to writing two dissertations on European cinema and eighteenth-century feminism, to gaining advanced knowledge of a language I couldn’t speak four years ago - these are things I am incredibly grateful for.
English Literature
Lotte Brundle — Lifestyle Editor and 1st year English student
“The reading lists, unsurprisingly, are intense”
Initially, studying English Literature at Cambridge felt a bit like being flung head first into a sea of books with no life-jacket. However, as my first year has progressed, I’ve developed a respect for the sheer number of writers and texts from the past that have gone on to influence and inform bestselling novels we read today. The reading lists, unsurprisingly, are intense. To say that it was quite a shock to begin with would be an understatement. But, the joy of this subject is that there really is a book for everyone! To be able to read and write full-time is such a privilege. Waking up and knowing that the day’s agenda is to read, dissect and discuss stories (that were written with the sole purpose of being enjoyable to read) seems to me to be an unbelievably gratifying way to live. That is, unless the day’s work revolves around reading Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, famous for being one of the longest (and slowest) poems in the English language.
Natural Sciences — specialising in Earth Sciences
Ellie Austin — Lifestyle Editor and 2nd year Natural Sciences student
“When someone asks me what Earth Sciences is, I often just tell them ‘rocks’”
Despite feeling an aversion to Science throughout my childhood, I somehow ended up studying it at University. I guess you can probably blame my dad for that change, with his constant enthusiasm for sharing his love of sci-fi and the potential of humankind with his kids (i.e., my sisters and me, who now study Earth Sciences, Chemistry, and Computer Science between us). I study Natural Sciences, although I’m gradually specialising towards Earth Sciences (aka Geology). When someone asks me what Earth Sciences is, I often just tell them ‘rocks’, and to be honest that sums it up pretty well. It is just rocks, but to be more specific, it’s about earth, and all the other earths — or planets. I study how and why the world is the way it is (physically), including volcanoes, earthquakes, the sea, the sky, life...everything! I look at dinosaurs (in rocks), reconstruct how the planet used to look and where the continents used to be (using rocks), and have travelled from Hawaii to the Himalayas, and from the moon right down to the deep depths of the earth (in rock-form). I study the minerals within rocks too, including the pretty sorts you’d find on a street market or even in an engagement ring — in practice I’m basically just admiring the pretty colours too, albeit under a microscope. I took Earth Sciences as my third paper during first year, inspired by the likes of The Martian, picturing myself as some astrobiologist exploring the cosmos and using my Geology knowledge to terraform a new planet. And, whilst the pandemic seems to have halted about 5 of my world-travelling (Scotland and Devon) Earth Sciences school trips so far, perhaps if I keep at it I’ll end up on Mars one day (in rock form).
HSPS (Human, Social and Political Sciences) - specialising in Social Anthropology
Scarlet Rowe— Senior Violet Editor and 2nd year HSPS student
“Social Anthropology seems to cover a little bit of everything: at its vaguest, it is the study of human culture. And, as human culture encompasses a lot, there is a lot of freedom within the subject to do what you want”
I study Social Anthropology which is part of the HSPS Tripos. I initially applied to study HSPS because I was starry-eyed and wanted to go into Politics, but then studying Hobbes and Weber nearly sent me to sleep, so I thought I’d try and shake things up a little bit and instead specialise in a subject I hardly knew anything about. If I’m completely honest, I didn’t even know that the subject existed before I started uni, and even now I am still a bit baffled as to exactly what it is. In all truth, Social Anthropology seems to cover a little bit of everything; at its vaguest, it is the study of human culture. And, as human culture encompasses a lot, there is a lot of freedom within the subject to do what you want (within reason of course). So, at the moment, I am doing papers on ‘The Foundations of Social Life’ (your guess is as good as mine), ‘Development and Social Justice’, ‘Anthropological Theory and Method’ (which I would not recommend to a friend), and ‘European Ethnography’. Even though sometimes I hate Social Anthropology with a burning passion, especially when the weather is nice and I just want to prance around outside (but my essay is saying otherwise), it’s actually sometimes surprisingly okay. So overall I would (begrudgingly) recommend to a friend.
