Paul Keim | Oxford Sabbatical

Paul Keim Shares Details on His Oxford Sabbatical

Friday, March 10th, 2023

I am spending this academic year in England at Oxford University studying infectious diseases. This University is over 1,000 years old and filled with academic traditions and iconic architecture. The Oxford spires fill the skyline as I walk the Biology Department to engage in my scientific pursuits. In this environment, I routine meet and interact with global leaders of infectious disease research.

It has departments like US universities, but also Colleges that house, feed, and tutor the students. Faculty are assigned to both an academic department and a College. It has been my pleasure to be a Visiting Scholar at Hertford College. As a member of the Hertford Senior Commons Room, one of my privileges is to free food. Yes, I can eat all of my meals “in college” including at the evening High Table. These meals are similar to what you would see in a Harry Potter movie, which were filmed in Oxford, but without owls flying by.

This year is an experience of an academic lifetime, but I am looking forward to my return to NAU. Dave Wagner and I are developing a new General Studies course for the Fall of 2023 called “Germs: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” that will use a case study approach to teaching microbiology and infectious diseases. This has evolved out of my sabbatical studies and our interest in broadly educating a general audience in science.