Sarah Zaides is a first generation Russian immigrant who is majoring in History with a particular focus on the study of Race, Ethnicity and Immigration. In order to study these issues in a global and comparative context, Sarah applied to and was accepted for a year at the Butler Institute for Study Abroad at Oxford University’s St. Catherine’s College. Sarah reports that she has “never, ever, worked this hard” in her life. Her tutorials are on Indian and Irish history, requiring two papers every week. There are no lectures. “Instead, my tutors assign a weekly reading list, usually about twelve texts, and I take off for the Bodleain (where Marx studied) to read the texts and write a paper.” On another subject: “The ritual here is very charming, although sometimes too patriarchal for my taste. The dining hall looks like something out of Harry Potter (not surprising since it was filmed here). We sit at long tables and are served 3 – course meals. The faculty sits at the head tables, and when they enter (wearing black robes, of course) we stand, wait for them to reach their seats, and then the master slams down a gavel and says a prayer in Latin!” While these studies also fit in well with Sarah’s minor, Literature, she is not likely to be able to indulge her pastimes of equestrian competition, surfing and snowboarding this year – but perhaps she will be able to find a piano somewhere (as Achim Lyon did in Beijing).