On the last day of its rehearsals, we spoke to playwright Ella Road (2010, English) about her new play, Robata, currently on at the Schwarzman. Ella uses Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. as a jumping-off point to ask urgent questions about big tech and the uncanny valley of AI.

On what would have been the Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann’s 100th birthday, we are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of an English translation of her fragments, translated and compiled by two Second Year Germanists at Somerville.

The memorial service for our Honorary Fellow and alumna, Professor Dame Averil Cameron (1940–2026) takes place today at Keble College. To mark this occasion, we thought we'd share the Last Word episode which celebrates her life and work. We recommend giving it a listen. buff.ly/GQ0td3S

Great to speak at @somervillecollege.bsky.social last night about ‘Radical Friendship’, based on my research on anti-racist organising in the 20th century. Always great to spend time here at Somerville ✨

We were immensely fortunate to welcome Dame Karen Pierce, former British ambassador to Washington, as our speaker for the return of the James Bryce Memorial Lecture on Friday 15th May. www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/the-dip...

We are proud to announce the winners of this year’s Pat Harris Spirit of Somerville Award: Reuben Smith (2023, Chemistry) and Ishani Mookherjee (2022, Law).

We found this a really interesting read, which includes an interview with our night porter, John, who has worked at Somerville for 19 years!

Somerville is delighted to announce that the Grammy-award winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre will be our Musician in Residence next academic year.

Somerville is delighted that Moonrise, the new album composed by Christopher Churcher and performed by The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford, has been selected as Georgia Mann’s Essential Classics Album of the Week on Radio 3. Read more and listen here: www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/somervi...

Delighted to discover Christopher Churcher's recent debut album Moonrise. Such uplifting #choral #music 'celebrating #queer love, identity and joy'. It's Georgia Mann's Album of the Week on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics. 🌈🎵 www.resonusclassics.com/products/moo... @somervillecollege.bsky.social

Beautiful day yesterday @somervillecollege.bsky.social Our incredibly talented gardening team make it a lovely place to be.

In case you missed it - Cherwell's interview with our principal Catherine Royle is an excellent read!

Beautiful tulips at @somervillecollege.bsky.social

The Schwarzman Centre is opening its doors this Saturday (25 April) for a free festival celebrating the humanities. Explore Oxford’s newest cultural space with music, dance, film, family activities & short talks from academics. ALL WELCOME! No need to book; just drop in!

We can't wait to welcome former members of Somerville College Choir back to College this Sunday! They will be joining current choir members for our weekly Choral Contemplation in Somerville Chapel, at 5.30pm - all are welcome to come and listen. We have a feeling it's going to sound good!

Happy Easter! We hope that those celebrating today have a peaceful and joyful time, and that everyone is enjoying the signs of spring and new life.

Chag Pesach Sameach to all our Jewish students, alumni, colleagues and friends who are celebrating. We wish you a joyful and meaningful passover!

The Guardian has published an obituary of Professor Dame Carole Jordan, our Tutor in Physics, who sadly died on 3rd Febuary. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

This March as we celebrate International Women’s Day – we celebrate Women in Politics and International Relations. Explore inspiring collaborations between female students and their supervisors, shared in their own words: https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/international-womens-day-8th-march-2026

Our History Fellow Professor Natalia Nowakowska has recorded a historical guide to Kraków for the ‘History’s Greatest Cities’ podcast, available to listen to now. Professor Nowakowska explores Kraków’s history, in conversation with journalist and travel writer Paul Bloomfield.

We're incredibly excited about the new exhibition at Kensington Palace, The Last Princesses of Punjab. It features Princesses Catherine and Bamba Duleep Singh, who studied at Somerville in the early 1890s. We were delighted to lend photographs from Somerville's archives to the exhibition.

Somerville alumni and friends were treated to talks on a dazzling array of topics at History Day 2026. On Saturday 21st March, all History alumni were invited back to College to find out about Somerville’s current research, and celebrate the endowment of the Liz Cooke Fellowship in the subject.

It's wonderful to see the splash that the latest research by our JRF Dr Lachie Scarsbrook is making in the news! @lachiescarsbrook.bsky.social

Our Fulford Junior Research Fellow Dr Lachie Scarsbrook has published a new study today in Nature, which pushes the earliest evidence for domestic dogs back by more than 5,000 years. www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/somervi...

A special episode of #BehindtheLines, a live event with three sanctuary scholars from @somervillecollege.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk. Three young academics displaced by conflict now changing the world, not just talking about it! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

We are delighted to be able to share this special episode of Behind the Lines, featuring members of the Somerville College sanctuary community. Listen now on Spotify or Apple podcasts.

We were delighted to welcome so many alumni back to College last weekend for the annual Spring Meeting of the Somerville Association, followed by a fundraising concert for our Sanctuary Scholarship programme. Read more:

Spring is well and truly sprung @somervillecollege.bsky.social

Today marks the spring equinox and also Nowruz, Persian and Bahá’i New Year. We wish everyone celebrating a safe, peaceful and happy new year.

Eid Mubarak to all our students, colleagues, alumni, and friends who are celebrating today. We hope this Eid brings peace and happiness to you and your families.

Are you interested in the histories of squirrels, pirates or lesbians? These are all topics included in the research that will be presented at Somerville's History Day!This Saturday 21st March, our History alumni are warmly invited back to College for a research showcase and dinner. Find out more:

The JCR made everyone's day on Wednesday with their cake sale fundraiser for the Terrace renovation - the comms teams are still thinking about that chocolate Bailey's cake! The sale raised a fantastic £323.98, meaning we are now less than £1,700 away from our target. Read more: buff.ly/dx123m4

Somerville College looking wonderful in the early spring sunshine. So privileged to work in a lovely environment sustained by our terrific gardening team. @somervillecollege.bsky.social

For LGBTQ+ History Month, the University of Birmingham has published a wonderful piece about the relationship between our former principal Margery Fry and Rose Sidgwick. Read the full story here, thanks to the University of Birmingham.

Ramadan Mubarak to all our students, colleagues and friends observing the holy month! We hope your fasts and prayers bring you peace and joy. We also take this opportunity to share the dates of Tareweeh Prayers in Somerville College Chapel this month, with thanks to Arzhia and Fatima for organising!

On behalf of everyone at Somerville, we wish all who are celebrating today a very happy Lunar New Year and a fabulous Year of the Horse - 马到成功 (Mǎ Dào Chéng Gōng)！

Our Honorary Fellow Professor Emma Smith featured on In Our Time recently, discussing Henry IV Part 1, one of Shakespeare's most successful plays in his own time. We recommend listening to Emma in conversation with new In Our Time host, Misha Glenny.

You voted, and we did it! The next Somerville collectible to be sent out to our alumni will be this mini model of Vaughan. To make sure you get yours, remember to update your address by emailing [email protected]

Here is a heartening testament to citizen journalism by Somervillian Elspeth McPherson (1982), who first identified and then broke via BBC R4 that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor appears to have shared with Epstein official documents he received in his capacity as UK trade envoy. Listen from 47:00.

We're proud to share that Constable's Year by Somervillian Susan Owens (1990, English) was the BBC's Book of the Week last week. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of John Constable's birth, Susan looks at how the annual cycle of the natural world shaped the artist's life and work.

We've had this under our hats for the past six months, so we're thrilled to share that we welcomed Alan Carr and our fabulous alumna Susie Dent to Somerville, to do some filming for their new C4 show Secret Genius. See if you can spot the Ville in the trailer! www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uDP...

The JCR is transforming The Terrace into a more welcoming, flexible space for all Somervillians. Every gift helps shape a better Terrace for current and future Somervillians. Learn more and donate here: buff.ly/AavKMBl

Congratulations to Professor Patricia Owens, our Fellow and Tutor in International Relations, who has been awarded a three-year Major Research Fellowship by the Leverhulme Trust. @whitproject.bsky.social

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, when we commemorate the six million Jewish people murdered during the Holocaust, and the victims of subsequent genocides. For last year's Holocaust Memorial Day, we shared a piece by our History student, Lucy Pollock, whose family were killed in the Holocaust.

NEWS: New animation explains 5 principles of good sleep health A short animation based on research by Prof Colin Espie at @ndcnoxford.bsky.social explores how ‘better sleep’ improves our health and wellbeing. www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/news/new-ani...

All are welcome to attend our weekly Choral Contemplations, which start again this Sunday with the theme 'On Being Seen'. Please do join us in Somerville Chapel at 5.30pm, every Sunday during termtime.

Congratulations to everyone who has received an offer from us today! We can't wait to welcome you to Somerville later this year.

It's 0th week and we're so glad to have our students arriving back at Somerville! They just missed last week's sprinkling of snow, but perhaps there's more to come...

Our new Principal Catherine Royle has led a fascinating career as a British diplomat, including as Ambassador to Venezuela. Catherine was on LBC Radio yesterday, sharing her personal insights and expert analysis of the current situation there.

Happy Hannukah to everyone celebrating! Chag Sameach!