Disrupted Community Involvement? Changes in Civic Engagement Across Life Events

The programme throughout the week covered a variety of areas. Overall, the three participating students attended many seminars that were given by outstanding researchers of politics, sociology, economics, and psychology. Inken, Isabell, and Kilian expected that attending seminars meant to visit classes of Master’s degrees and were surprised to find out that most of the seminars were actually extracurricular events. They were visited by dozens of scientists at every career stage, which brought forward constructive discussions and critical exchange at a very high level of scientific quality. From the students' perspective, the Nuffield College seminars stood out in particular. 

Ozan Aksoy (University of Oxford) presented his findings on the causal relationship of blue laws on church attendance and the liberalization of moral attitudes in the US. Analysing causal relationships can be a challenge in sociology and he proposed a very well-developed approach through the impact of blue laws. His presentation resulted in an interesting discussion about sociological methods. 

Melissa Sands (LSE) presented “Measuring Racial Avoidance on Virtual Streets”, a complex study that used Virtual Reality to analyse racial avoidance in public spaces. The following discussion questioned what the opposite of avoidance could be: openness, confrontation, or even something else? 

Steven Alvarado (University of Notre Dame) shared his work “Success by Address”, exploring how childhood neighbourhood disadvantage affects college enrolment in the Unites States – a highly relevant topic that resonated strongly with those of us studying inequality and mobility. 

In 'Child Disability and Family Spillover Effects', Nicolleta Balbo (Bocconi University) demonstrated how the income and employment situation of parents changes when they have a child with disability. Her work is based on complex global data, which made her talk even more outstanding to us. 

Inken, Isabell, and Kilian also had the chance to attend Justin Parkhurst’s (London School of Economics) seminar on evidence-based policymaking, Stefano Caria’s (University of Oxford) seminar on “Training to End Poverty?” and Liam Foster’s (University of Sheffield) talk on “Pensions Policy and Gendered Work Lives” from other departments at the University of Oxford. All sessions reminded them how research can inform real policy change and shape public debates on inequality, work, and ageing.

In addition to having the opportunity to listen to scientific lectures held by speakers from all over the world, the three participating students also presented research results from their master's theses to a small group of Nuffield scientists. Inken Fischer discussed cases of undiagnosed Diabetes in Europe, Isabell Skrzeba presented a research proposal on the effects of the COVID pandemic on unemployment of labor market entrants, and Kilian Steigner presented his ideas on future directions in loneliness research across the life-course. The feedback they received was enriching for all and provided them with valuable tips for their own research.

Lastly, getting to know the life at Nuffield and in Oxford rounded off the three participating students' experience. They were very happy about the openness of fellows and doctoral students at Nuffield who shared insights to their research paths and the daily life at Nuffield. A particular highlight for them was the traditional High Table dinner, which takes place weekly during term time. It was far from an ordinary experience and introduced Inken, Isabell, and Kilian to the historical traditions of British university culture. Of course, it was yet another great opportunity for an exchange with the scientists at Nuffield.

Looking back, this visit was much more than a study trip. It offered Inken, Isabell, and Kilian an authentic glimpse into what academic life at Oxford looks like - collaborative, critical, and internationally connected. They are deeply thankful for this opportunity, for the funding by the International Office and the nomination through Dr. Kasimir Dederichs and Dr. Ansgar Hudde. For all of them, the Nuffield visit will remain a highlight of their Master’s studies - both academically and personally. The three participating students returned to Cologne with lots of ideas for our research and future career paths and the reassurance that scientists in Oxford are normal people, too. So why would it be impossible for them to study there?