The Oxford Tutorial has an almost mystic, cult status. It is Oxford ‘premium product’ for which, via college academic fees, it commands ‘a premium price’. But the Tutorial has its critics, both within and beyond Oxford. Is it an anachronism in the mass higher education system of the twenty-first century? Is the traditional tutoring of Oxford’s undergraduates now too labour intensive and too expensive a burden for the University and its colleges as State funding of higher education declines?
Do the dons want to escape the heavy burden of twelve hours per week of tutorial teaching and redirect valuable time into research as they key factor in achieving the plaudits of a successful academic career? Is the Tutorial a sacred cow to which Oxford pay mere lip-service as it quietly shifts to ‘small group teaching’?
Or is it a pedagogical gem, the jewel in Oxford’s crown, to be preserved at all costs as the best way to challenge, stimulate and truly educate oxford’s high-quality ‘young’ in the crucial ‘lifelong-learning’ skill of sound analysis and critical thinking?
If Oxford lets the Tutorial wither, will it be failing future generations of talented undergraduates who need the intensity of the demanding tutorial teaching methodology to ensure their intellectual resources best serve them in their careers and in turn Society? Moreover, how does the Oxford Tutorial fit with the concept of a Liberal Education, and anyway what is higher education?
This little book brings together experienced Oxford Dons from across the academic disciplines who discuss their personal belief in and commitment to the Tutorial as an utterly essential element in all Oxford’s degree subjects. It is hoped that students new to Oxford will find these essays helpful in sharing with them, as ‘the consumers’, what the Dons, as ‘the producers’, are trying to achieve, while stressing that the whole process is both a ‘team effort’ and also one that is not fixed in format since it allows tutor and tutee to vary the nature of the Tutorial to optimal effect. Thus, it can be at the same time a process which falls apart if either undergraduate or teacher short-changes the tutorial experience.
Yet, as the sometime President of Magdalen College, Oxford, noted when reviewing the 2001 first edition of this book in the Times Higher (13/9/02, p 23): ‘the tutorial is renewed, flexible, dynamic and popular’ (and he added, ‘even though this news often appears unwelcome to our national educational bureaucracy!’).
The sub-title (“Thanks, you taught me how to think”) comes from a former student writing to one of our Contributors after achieving a good degree result.The Editor and the Contributors are grateful to Blackwell’s, the justly world-famous landmark Oxford bookshop since 1879, for support in the production and distribution of the 2001 first edition, and again for the 2008 second edition, which pays due tribute to another special feature of Oxford in the form of the tutorial as the trademark of the University and its colleges.
This is a 2019 Kindle and Amazon paperback edition, with an added Primer.
Publisher : Independently published (May 29, 2019)
Climate change is hitting the Northeast hard, bringing heat waves and floods that threaten health, homes and the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen. But there’s also good news, like laws to reduce greenhouse gasses and innovative ways to protect ourselves.
Those are some conclusions from the fifth National Climate Assessment, which was released Tuesday. Fourteen federal agencies contributed to the report, which is mandated by law and produced at least every four years, although this one took close to five.
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The conclusions are similar to those in the 2018 report, with more effort to integrate indigenous knowledge and a deeper acknowledgement that historically disadvantaged communities will be the hardest hit. This is also the first National Climate Assessment that will be fully available in Spanish.
The report also points out that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 12% between 2005 and 2019, and wind and solar energy costs dropped 70% and 90%, respectively, over the last decade. In 2021 and 2022, however, emissions increased.
Here are eight takeaways for the Northeast from the report.
New England leads the country on climate laws
Five of the New England states have laws requiring emissions reductions of at least 80% by 2050 (usually against a 1990 baseline). New Hampshire’s climate plan just “recommends” that level of reduction. The groundbreaking Massachusetts climate law mandates that all new vehicles sales be zero emissions by 2035, and introduced a pilot program allowing some municipalities to ban fossil fuel connections in new construction.
Climate action plans in the Northeast increasingly include nature-based solutions, like planting urban trees and building green infrastructure for slowing and holding stormwater runoff, like a new series of stormwater-catching ponds in Reading. The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) rebuilt and replanted beach dunes for coastal protection. Green infrastructure can also add other benefits like shade, improved air quality, and even fresh food.
The report also gave a shout-out to Massachusetts’ Mass timber accelerator program, which encourages next-generation buildings made out of carbon-storing, extra-strong, “cross laminated” timber. Projects like 11 East Lenox, Boston’s first mass timber net-zero building, demonstrate the potential for beautiful buildings that help alleviate the effects of climate change.
The last 12 months have been the hottest on record
Heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S. When combined with humidity, even lower temperatures can be harmful. The “heat index” is what the temperature feels like when you combine humidity and air temperature. By midcentury, days with a heat index over 100°F are projected to increase threefold in the Northeast. Public officials recommend taking “extreme caution” any time the heat index reaches 90 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit, as prolonged exposure can lead to heat stroke.
Tomas Cardoso and Romeo Gonzales remove the burpal covering the roots of the tree at Prescott Sq. Park in East Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
More heavy rain means trouble
Extreme precipitation has increased by about 60% in the region, the largest increase in the U.S. These sudden downpours cause all sorts of problems.
In rural areas, flash flooding can cause rivers to overflow; this happened in Vermont and western Massachusetts in July, drowning many crops. Wetter springs are also expected to delay planting, postpone harvests and reduce yields.
Flood waters cover Morrissey Boulevard in November 2020. (Matt Stone/ MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Bigger storm surges are coming, too
A “storm surge” is when sea levels rise abnormally high and fast due to stormy weather. Stronger hurricanes and rising sea levels are increasing the risk of stronger storm surges, and coastal floods will be bigger anymore frequent. By 2050, coastal sea levels are expected to rise about 11 inches — That’s about as much as they’ve risen in the last 100 years. As a result, coastal flooding will occur five to 10 times more often by 2050 than in 2020.
Coastal flooding is increasing risks to drinking water supplies and septic tanks and also causing shoreline erosion, road damage and drowned wetlands (ironic, right?), according to the report.
Rebecca Shoer, education and engagement program manager at Stone Living Lab, talks to a group of students during a king tide at Long Wharf. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Most homeowners still don’t have flood insurance
On average, 6.5% of homeowners in Northeast coastal counties have flood insurance. Inland it’s a measly 1.3%. There are only two counties in the Northeast where more than half of homeowners have flood insurance: Cape May, New Jersey, and Worcester, Maryland. The report blames this lack of flood insurance on high costs and “the underestimation of risk by individuals.”
Also, National Flood Insurance policy limits have not kept pace with coastal house prices. Payouts are capped at $250,000 for residential structures, well below the current median value for an existing single-family dwelling in the Northeast ($366,000) and far below the $900,000 median price tag for a home in Greater Boston.
On average only 6.5% of northeast coastal homeowners have flood insurance. (Source: Fifth National Climate Assessment)
One more reason why people don’t have flood insurance: nobody checks. People who have a mortgage in a flood zone are required by law to get flood insurance, but lenders rarely continue to verify coverage; as a result, about one-third of policyholders dump the flood insurance after three years.
Climate change is hitting some harder than others
Extreme heat, storms, flooding and other climate-related hazards are causing disproportionate harm to historically marginalized communities in the Northeast, including racial and ethnic minorities, people of lower socioeconomic status and older adults.
Triple-deckers along Edgewood Street in Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Indigenous peoples in the Northeast are responding to climate change
In the Northeast, the reservation land of some tribal nations has been reduced to one square mile or less. This poses serious threats to tribal cultures as ecosystems and animals migrate beyond tribal land. But many tribal nations are developing culturally responsive approaches to climate change.
For example, the Mi’kmaq Nation of Northern Maine (formerly known as the Aroostook Band of Micmacs) approved its Thirteen Moons Climate Change Adaptation Plan in 2022. The primary concern for the Mi’kmaq Nation is warming winters, which encourage the spread of invasive species. Already, the emerald ash borer is damaging trees and winter ticks are harming moose.
The plan calls for proactive efforts to address climate change, such as the development of solar energy, community education, and forest and wildlife health monitoring.
The report also gave a shout-out to a sea-level rise plan developed by Shinnecock Indian Nation citizen Kelsey Leonard. Called the WAMPUM Indigenous adaptation framework, it acknowledges that sea-level rise may force some tribal communities to relocate, but insists that the communities remain in charge of any moves.
Eric Pray unpacks a lobster on a wharf in Portland, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP File)
Changing oceans mean more squid and fewer lobster
Ocean and coastal habitats in the Northeast are experiencing unprecedented changes, including ocean warming, marine heatwaves, sea level rise and ocean acidification. That includes:
More black seabass and longfin squid are showing up as the water warms. By 2050, many cold-water species like American lobster, Atlantic cod, and Atlantic herring are expected to decline.
More lobster trouble: Spring warming and summer heat has led to changing molting patterns and more shell disease in American lobster.
More zooplankton but maybe the wrong kind: The overall diversity and abundance of zooplankton has increased, but key species have declined. For example, the decline of a tiny critter called Calanus — the favorite food of the endangered right whales —has been linked to shifts in the whales’ migration. Eventually, right whales will likely move out of the Gulf of Maine.
Scallops are hurting: More CO2 makes the ocean more acidic, which makes it difficult for lobster, scallops, oysters, clams and mussels to build their shells. Sea scallops could decrease by more than 50% by the end of the century. This matters because scallops are what give New Bedford the highest valued catch of any single port in the country: $451 million. Sea scallops account for 84% of that haul.
The National Weather Service is forecasting most of the country will face record high temps this summer, with the Northeast also predicted to have more rainfall than normal. This comes as communities around the region are facing 60% more extreme rain, the largest increase for any region in the country according to the most recent National Climate Assessment.
We check in what all of this and more means for those living in Boston and New England with David Cash, administrator of the EPA’s New England region, and Dwaign Tyndal, executive director of Alternatives for Community and Environment, a non-profit that works on environmental justice in Roxbury.
Healey, along with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, will attend next month’s global conference with leaders from around the world on climate. Speaking on WBUR’s Radio Boston, the governor said she wants to tell the world that she’s trying to make Massachusetts an innovator in climate technology.
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“When I talk about us being a global hub of climate technology and innovation, to lead us through and forward in this time, I’m talking about bringing to Massachusetts the very best powers that be across realms right here in our state,” she said.
Healey noted that scientists and “those who are making significant investments” in climate technology will attend the conference, and she hopes to show them the “vision” for Massachusetts.
She pointed to her creation of a cabinet-level climate secretary position, stewardship of offshore wind creation in the state and how her administration recently secured more than $150 million from the Biden administration for the growth of the solar energy.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Healey also spoke about a recent series of college student protests against the war in Gaza that have sparked up on campuses in Massachusetts and across the country. In response to a question about the balance between protecting free speech rights and student safety, Healey said safety was important in her mind.
“You need to protect the safety and wellbeing of students. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a rise in antisemitism, a rise in Islamophobia, a rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Arab sentiment,” she said. “I think for me, it’s really important that we stay focused on combating hate, combating racism.”
She also said that people “have the right to express their views and protest within the bounds of the law, of course.”
Healey also responded comments made by Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt earlier this month. Tibbits-Nutt had floated the idea of creating tolls near the borders to Massachusetts. Healey had said in an earlier statement to WBUR that she did not support creating tolls, but faced questions about the Tibbits-Nutt’s comments about her statements becoming policy.
“The beauty of a microphone in all of these different places, especially when it’s being recorded: Once I say it, it’s there,” Tibbits-Nutt said at a talk in Cambridge. “I will 100% use that as a weapon, because once I say it, it is now a policy.”
In response, Healey said she had spoken to Tibbits-Nutt about the remarks and called it a “poor choice of words” and that the pair have “moved on.”
“What is important for folks to know is, at the end of the day as governor for better or worse, I’m going to make the policy in consultation with my team and make the recommendations,” said Healey.
Meanwhile, the state Legislature is in the midst of discussion over a supplemental budget that would direct more funding to the state emergency family shelter system. When asked about when shelter system would run out of money, the governor demurred, saying “we’ve identified sources that we can use to cover things.”
Late last week, a Healey administration official said the system could run out of funding in less than two weeks.
About 18 communities across Massachusetts — including Boston, Cambridge, Lynn, Haverhill — have some combined sewage and storm water systems, many of which were built in the mid-1800s. When it rains heavily, these systems are designed to overflow into nearby rivers and bays to avoid backing up into people’s homes.
As climate change brings more and heavier rain storms to the Northeast, it’s likely that Massachusetts will experience more combined sewage overflows, or CSOs. A 2021 state law requires cities and towns to notify residents within two hours of an overflow. However, the system only works if residents know to sign up for the text or email alerts, and for some water bodies residents would have to sign up for alerts from multiple towns to get the full picture. The Charles River, for example, has 10 different CSOs that flow into it.
WBUR has built a system to track real-time alerts for more than 180 CSOs across the state in one convenient place. Public health officials recommend waiting at least 48 hours after a CSO event to swim, boat or let pets into affected water.
Following a slate of lawsuits in the 1980s, many municipalities have worked to reengineer and shut down CSOs. Some estimates say prior to that cleanup, CSOs discharged about 3 billion gallons of untreated wastewater every year in Greater Boston. These days, that volume is closer to 400 million, and much of it is at least partially treated.
But separating sewage and stormwater pipes is very expensive — as is building a CSO water treatment plant — so tackling the remaining CSOs may be a slow process.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
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Tomas Cardoso and Romeo Gonzales remove the burpal covering the roots of the tree at Prescott Sq. Park in East Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
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