Reading ASNC
On Arrival in Cambridge
We are delighted to welcome you to Cambridge , and hope that you will enjoy all aspects of your undergraduate career as a member of the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. You will have received this Guide as part of a package of information distributed by the Departmental Secretary, and we hope that you will find it of some help in making sense of what may initially be an unfamiliar landscape.
You will find on arrival in Cambridge that your college will do everything that it can to help you settle down in your new surroundings, and to organise your time in the few days before the beginning of lectures (and other activities). In this process you will soon meet two persons who will be of special importance to you as a student: your Tutor, and your Director of Studies. In general, your Tutor will be a Fellow of your college, and is appointed by the college to protect your interests, and to help you in all domestic (i.e. college) matters (college rooms, complaints about the food, book grants, travel grants, etc.). Your Director of Studies may be a Fellow of your college, or a Fellow of another college, and is appointed by the college to look after your academic welfare. S/he will see you formally at the beginning and at the end of each term, and will assist you in making your choice of papers, in organising your supervisions, in checking your examination entries, and in planning your work during the course of the year. S/he will also discuss the reports submitted by a supervisor or supervisors towards the end of each term. Note, however, that the duties assigned to each officer may vary from one college to another, and that your Tutor also receives and will certainly wish to discuss your supervision reports.
No less important, of course, will be your fellow students, whether in college or in the Department. You will soon make many new friends, some of whom may remain your friends for a lifetime. Friends in college and in the Department will be a useful source of support, advice, stimulation and encouragement on various aspects of your academic work. You may also be interested to know that a guide to the ASNC Tripos, written by students, is available on the Departmental website.
Once settled in, it is important that you should start thinking carefully about your selection of papers for Part I (below, section IV), and that you should obtain a copy of the University’s Lecture List (or a photocopy of the relevant pages). The Lecture List (a special issue of the University Reporter, available in any good bookshop) gives details of the introductory meeting for all new students which takes place in the ASNC Common Room.