The Victorian poet Matthew Arnold described Oxford as the “city of dreaming spires”. But there’s nothing sleepy about The Awakening Project, an Oxford based initiative led by Dr Madalena Brito who lives in Winton, the DHEF centre there.
The Awakening Project gives sixth form students from around the UK a week of preparation for life at whichever university they go to. Young people stay in an Oxford college and take part in sessions to assess their life goals, take a step forward in personal maturity and delve deeper into their academic subjects with the help of tutors drawn from post graduate Oxford students.
“This is a wonderful week”, says Madalena. “It’s a unique experience for young people; a week of real growth for sixth formers. I love being part of it.”
Madalena is Portuguese and came to London as a visiting student at King’s College London University. Her thesis looked at natural law, which is a very human and at the same time a profoundly Christian topic. Madalena thought, “The UK needs to hear about this!” and when a professor at Oxford University became interested in her work, she finished her thesis in Oxford and fell in love with the city.The Awakening Project is part of Madalena’s role at the Canterbury Institute, where she is office manager. The Canterbury Institute awards grants to postgraduate students, mainly from the US, to continue their studies at Oxford University.
“Working for the Canterbury Institute is my dream job”, says Madalena. “The Institute is a community which fosters dialogue and friendship, the pursuit of the truth and sees knowledge as a gift.”
Central to the Canterbury Institute is the idea of academic study as vocation and that the truth can be reached through intellectual humility.
In Madalena’s view, The Canterbury Institute takes a counter cultural approach to academia. She describes the Humility Dinner, where the directors of the Institute serve the scholars, and professors listen to the students. Events like this, along with the supportive atmosphere of the Institute, “give our students wings” says Madalena.
The Canterbury Institute has no religious base, but Madalena sees how academic excellence pursued in a spirit of humility leads you to God.
