Professor Katharine Ellis has been elected to honorary membership of the American Musicological Society (AMS).
This is a rare distinction reserved for those who have made outstanding contributions to the field.
Katharine became a Fellow of Selwyn in 2017. She is a leading scholar of French musical culture. Her research spans the long nineteenth century and beyond, from medieval chant to Les Six, and includes work on music journalism, musical women, music education, and music in literature.
In 2023, she won the Society's senior book prize, the Kinkeldey Award, for French Musical Life: Local Dynamics in the Century to World War II (Oxford University Press, 2022). The book explores French musical centralisation and regionalism across a politically turbulent century. It redraws the historical map of musical power relations in France. Katharine has published three more books on music in France, three edited collections, and numerous articles. She is currently on a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship (2024-27) to research cultures of Catholic church music across France in the nineteenth century.
Selwyn College student Richard Wolfson has been accepted onto the University's Advanced Popular Performance Scheme (APPS), joining just three other vocalists selected from across Cambridge's colleges for 2025/26.
The scheme has expanded significantly this year, with 34 students from 12 colleges chosen to participate. Five bands were also selected, up from four last year.
As a vocal pathway member, Richard will receive regular one-to-one coaching from Anton Browne, a longstanding BRIT School tutor, and Rebecca Phillips, a vocal coach and singer-songwriter. The training focuses on performance, song writing techniques and vocal health.
Richard, who draws inspiration from indie folk artists including Nick Drake, Alex G and Pinegrove, said: "I love writing songs especially and have basically planned out an album worth of songs I want to work on. I really want to work on my tone at the top of my register, and navigating the break between my chest and head voice."
Simon Fairclough, Director of the Centre for Music Performance, said: "This initiative is all about nurturing creativity and giving Cambridge's popular musicians the same level of professional support and artistic development that classical performers have long enjoyed."
All APPS participants will have opportunities to perform at gigs organised by the Centre for Music Performance throughout the year.
On 11 November we remember those who died in conflict, particularly those from our college. Today we are highlighting just one of those people: Walter Selwyn Orpen, remembered by those who served with him as 'a charming and lovable character' who was 'always cheerful and brave'.
Walter Orpen was the youngest son of Rev Thomas Herbert Orpen, former tutor at Selwyn. He came up to Selwyn from Malvern College in 1912 and threw himself into college life, earning his colours in both hockey and tennis.
When war broke out in 1914, Walter was in his second year. He was already in the Officer Training Corps and received his commission to the North Staffordshire Regiment that September. After training, he was sent to France with the Lancashire Fusiliers, where he became Sniping and Intelligence Officer to his battalion.
On 6 July 1916, during the Somme Offensive, Walter was killed by a sniper's bullet as his regiment advanced through German trenches north of Fricourt. He was just 22 years old.
Those who served alongside him remembered a young man of exceptional character. His adjutant wrote: "During the time he has been with us I grew to like him more and more and to respect his many good qualities. He was always cheerful and brave." The battalion chaplain added simply: "He was indeed a charming and lovable character."
Walter's name is among those engraved on the war memorial in Selwyn Chapel, one of many Selwyn men who gave their lives in the Great War, and his story is preserved in our college archives. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France.
Walter Orpen with the Selwyn College Tennis Club
Selwyn holds two minutes' silence in Old Court with the Last Post and Reveille on 11 November at 11am.
Six Economics undergraduates who won places on an internship programme shared their research findings on 30 October.
This was the inaugural year of the internship programme, born from a simple idea: our students need real research experience on their CVs to stand out in today's competitive jobs market.
Over the summer, six students spent ten weeks working alongside Selwyn Economics fellows on genuine research projects. These were Lydia Luo, Julian Olechowski, Krish Agarwal, Iroo Hong, Pratham Mehrotra and Harrison Emery. They reviewed literature, collected and cleaned data, ran analyses, and built models. They tackled questions about working from home and productivity, income distribution in the US and UK, gender inequality, digital technologies and firm performance, and educational inequality.
Oleg Kitov, Associate Professor of Economics, who initiated and steered the programme, said: “This work gives our students something substantial to talk about in interviews and applications, whilst developing the skills and confidence that comes from contributing to real research.”
The internships were generously funded by fellow benefactor Robert Martin (SE 1984), who read economics and was managing director and CEO of Singapore-based BOC Aviation for 25 years until he retired in 2023.
Over 200 people joined us for a compelling discussion on “rewiring democracy” on 21 October.
Dr Hannah White and Suzanne Raine
Former Selwyn scholar Dr Hannah White OBE (SE 1997), Director of the Institute for Government, was in conversation with our master, Suzanne Raine, to explore the challenges facing democracies at a time of rapid change and conflict.
Fresh from attending five party conferences, Hannah tackled some uncomfortable truths about modern British politics and challenged the tendency to seek simple answers to complex governance problems.
Hannah said: "There is a real difficulty for democratic systems in reforming themselves. All the incentives are set up for people within the system not to do it when they have opportunity to do it.”
The evening sparked probing questions from our audience on the relationship between public information, media cycles, and effective governance in addressing major challenges. Closing the event, Suzanne thanked everyone who made this such a thought-provoking evening.
Researchers led by Selwyn Bye-Fellow Dr Jonathan Duquette are uncovering how 'pundits' kept Sanskrit scholarship thriving in remote Indian villages during British colonial expansion.
While English speakers know the word 'pundit', few know that it comes from the Sanskrit word paṇḍita meaning 'learned'. Jonathan, from Cambridge's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, is leading a five-year project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), to study the work of pundits, Brahmin scholars, who wrote poems, plays, philosophy, theology, and legal texts in Sanskrit.
Challenging assumptions that British power suffocated Sanskrit learning, the research focuses on the Kaveri Delta in southern India between 1650-1800. Here, hundreds of pundits worked in rural Brahmin settlements (agrahāra) and monasteries (maṭha), producing significant literary and intellectual works.
Dr Jonathan Duquette on the Kaveri river. Picture by Dr Vinoth Murali
Jonathan (pictured left) said: "There were literary geniuses among these men, historically significant figures, but many people in India don't know them. We will study texts that have never been translated or printed and it is quite likely we’ll come across texts that have never been studied in Western scholarship or even catalogued.”
These scholars survived colonial pressures partly due to their remote locations and land grants held in perpetuity from the Maratha Bhonsle dynasty. The village of Tiruvisainallur, founded around 1693, housed distinguished figures including Ramasubba Shastri, one of the most original Sanskrit scholars of his day, and the poet-saint Sridhara Venkatesa 'Ayyaval'.
The team will identify twenty or more settlements of intellectual significance, studying land donations, manuscripts, and geographical connections between pundits, temples, and courts.
The project builds on Cambridge's prestigious Sanskrit research tradition dating back to 1867. The University Library holds an internationally important collection of Sanskrit manuscripts.
Welcome to our new graduate and undergraduate students.
Our postgraduates gathered in Old Court braving the wind and rain on 3 October, while our undergraduates had sunnier weather for their traditional photograph.
Our postgraduate students celebrated with dinner in Hall on their matriculation evening, while our undergraduate freshers will enjoy their matriculation dinner in the coming days.
All of our freshers have an excellent academic record. They have averaged 8.8 A* grades at GCSEs and 3.0 A* at A level (arts/social sciences 2.6 A*, sciences 3.6*) and those who took the International Baccalaureate gaining 44 out of 45.
To all our new members, arriving from around the world and from right across the UK: we wish you every success and happiness in your studies at Selwyn College and in Cambridge.
Suzanne Raine was installed as Master of Selwyn College on 2 October, becoming the first woman to lead the college in its 143-year history.
The ceremony was attended by the Fellowship, staff and students of the college, along with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. The formal installation was followed by Choral Evensong after which Fellows congratulated the new Master outside the Chapel.
Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, presided over the installation ceremony, standing in for the College Visitor, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Selwyn is unique among Cambridge colleges in having the Archbishop of Canterbury as its Visitor.
In her declaration Suzanne pledged to faithfully perform her duties, observe the college's statutes and promote the honour and well-being of Selwyn.
We have extended our particular thanks to Dame Sarah Mullally for conducting the installation ceremony and offered congratulations on her appointment as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, announced today, on 3 October.
Today, 1 October 2025, Suzanne Raine formally becomes Master of Selwyn College, succeeding Roger Mosey, who recently concluded his term. Her election to this office was announced in February 2025.
Suzanne brings to Selwyn a distinguished background in public service and a commitment to inclusive outreach, dialogue, and academic engagement.
“I am honoured to step into this role,” said Suzanne. “Selwyn is a college with warmth, ambition and a proud history of combining excellence with openness. I look forward to meeting everyone, listening, and working together to build on the foundations Roger and those before him have laid.”
Janet O’Sullivan, vice-master, said: “We are delighted to welcome Suzanne as Master. Her exceptional experience and commitment to excellence and inclusivity make her ideally suited to lead Selwyn into its next chapter."
The college offers its gratitude to Roger Mosey, who retired yesterday, 30 September, after 12 years of service, and wishes him well in his new chapter. Roger becomes an emeritus fellow from today and will continue to have a number of roles in the University.
Coverage of the new Master’s formal installation events will follow in due course.
Selwyn has had an excellent year academically - finishing in the Top 3 Cambridge colleges for exam performance and representing our best set of results since 2009.
League tables are compiled using different methodologies. In one version, we have come second overall behind only Trinity College; and in the unofficial Tompkins Table, published by Varsity, we are third.
The strong performance of Selwyn undergraduates was reflected in a high number of Firsts: 38.2% (compared with a university average of 30%) and again only surpassed by Trinity. We congratulate our students on this success, and also thank our academics and support staff for their contribution to the college.
