Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/Laudian Professor of Arabic/archive1

The following is an archived discussion of a featured list nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured list candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The list was promoted by Dabomb87 03:05, 24 February 2010 [1].

Laudian Professor of Arabic[edit]

Nominator(s): Bencherlite ^Talk 14:46, 21 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Featured list candidates/Laudian Professor of Arabic/archive1

With Bodley's Librarian looking to be running well below, I thought I'd try again. On a similar theme to that list, but this is the first in what I hope will be a series about some Oxford professorships – plenty of detail about the chair, then a list of professors with detailed notes about each. I hope that it makes a change from the excellent music and sports lists that tend to be the staple diet of FLC. I also hope it's an interesting read – a mixture of excellent and incompetent professors dating back to the middle of the 17th century.

.شكرا لك على الوقت والاهتمام

(which Google Translate assures me is "Thank you for your time and attention"). Bencherlite ^Talk 14:46, 21 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved comments from KV5

Comments from KV5

This list fascinates me. My minimal exposure to Bishop William Laud is as a semi-fictional character in a novel series by Jack Cavanaugh, in which he is the principal antagonist in the first of eight books. That said, to see a little perspective on the true historical man is an interesting twist on what I already believed (based purely on fiction, of course!). My comments on the structure follow:

Lead image could be much larger, considering the voluminous size of the lead. I recommend between 250 and 300px.
"The Laudian Professor of Arabic is a professorship" - any way to be less redundant than saying "professor" twice in quick succession?
I would assume that "DPhil" is a common British English abbreviation, where we in the States use "Ph.D.". Perhaps this should be written out to Doctor of Philosophy so as not to invite confusion?
"Between 1916, when the Oxford DPhil (research doctorate) was introduced, and 1939," - this comma within a comma structure doesn't sit well with me. Perhaps consider changing the parenthetical set of commas to either spaced en-dashes or unspaced em-dashes per WP:DASH?
"Numbers of students grew after the Second World War" - might be better stated as The number of students grew. The current wording just seems awkward to me, but again this may just be UK/US and me not knowing that.
You link languages in the lead but not the table. Any reasoning here?
Footnote 2 needs a period/full stop.

Well-executed. KV5 (Talk • Phils) 15:06, 21 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your swift comments!

Image changed to 250. I tried 300, which was a frighteningly large...
Reworded to avoid this, some info shuffled as a result.
"DPhil" is the Oxford term, other UK universities (except York, I think) use "PhD", which is why I explained it. However, it overcomplicates matters, doesn't it? So, reworded to "when the university introduced a Doctorate of Philosophy for research"
m-dashes used; although I try to avoid them normally, but I can't immediately think how else to do it without multiple commas.
I was in two minds about this before submitting, so have changed it as suggested.
Links added
Added

Hope this meets your wishes. Bencherlite ^Talk 15:50, 21 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The only other way to do the em-dashes would be to use parentheses, since that's what em-dashes replace, but I think it looks good as is. Great work! KV5 (Talk • Phils) 16:11, 21 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support from KV5 (Talk • Phils) 13:58, 26 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved comments from The Rambling Man (talk) 20:50, 4 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

Not wishing to be too picky right off the bat but I think a nice ref for Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury wouldn't go amiss.
- done
"to request his " with the other "to..." in this sentence, I just think "requesting his" would scan a little better?
- done
"learning of Barbary" any chance of letting us into the secret of what this means? I'm sure it's not related to ducks...
- Added "(i.e. the Barbary Coast of north Africa)"
"during Lent and the vacations on" - odd call here - vacations is these days USEng, and this usage is probably not what current USEng means. Any chance of a subtle reword?
- Hmm, how about "between university terms"?
"all bachelors of arts at" worth linking that BA?
- Done
"this does not seem to have been followed" - regulations were plural, so perhaps "these appear not to have been followed" or something?
- "Although all bachelors of arts at the university and all medical students were required to attend, this does not seem to have happened"
" Sir Hamilton Gibb was the first professor to be a fellow ..." perhaps we need to reinforce which particular professor we're talking about?
- done
"The number of students grew after the Second World War: Gibb had an international reputation that attracted foreign students, while many home students who had spent time in the Middle East ." students x 3, maybe a rephrase?
- Reworded
"Islamic World Subject Group" if this is notable enough to be discussed, it's probably notable enough to be linked?
- Don't think so, really - it's a sub-group of a faculty, so not particularly notable in the grand scheme of things.
"of his time... and" does this comply with MOS re:ellipsis and spaces?
- Gosh, no, how awful of me. Gulp. Please forgive me, oh mighty TRM. nsbp added.
"because of the drudgery of the work" fact, your opinion or a rephrase? Probably worth a quote/ref.
- Expanded to "the toil and drudgery of daily attendance in all times and weathers" and direct citation given
Should "stupor mundi" be in italics really?
- MOS:ITALIC "Wikipedia prefers italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that do not yet have everyday use in non-specialised English", so yes I think so.
"He published extensively" himself or was his work published? (Nitpicky)
- My Concise Oxford Dictionary says that the term can be used of authors as well as publishers.
"one of the sons of" why not just "son of" or, if you really want, "a son of"?
- "a son of" it is

The Rambling Man (talk) 21:47, 3 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hope that these changes mean that it's looking better for you now, sir. Bencherlite ^Talk 22:15, 3 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"... mighty TRM ..." is happy... Good work. Gets my support (a rare commodity...!) The Rambling Man (talk) 22:21, 3 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

<Chin hits floor>Thank you, sir. Must try blatant grovelling more often. </Chin hits floor> Bencherlite ^Talk 22:23, 3 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved comments from Truco

Comments from Truco (talk · contribs)

General

Alt text, contributors, dabs and external links all check out fine.
Why is St Johns not St. Johns?

Because the college doesn't use the "." Bencherlite ^Talk 20:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

University regulations introduced by Laud prescribed that the professor was to lecture weekly during Lent and between university terms on Arabic grammar and literature. -- the lowercase 'university' is a general usage correct [in this sentence]?

I'm happy that lowercase is correct here. Bencherlite ^Talk 20:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Although all bachelors of arts at the university and all medical students were required to attend, this does not seem to have happened: --why not Although all bachelors of arts and all medical students at the university were required to attend, this does not seem to have happened:

Reworded, with one fewer "all" than your suggestion. Bencherlite ^Talk 20:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He is a member of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, based at the Oriental Institute, and is one of about 25 faculty members in the Islamic World Subject Group. -- instead of about how about at least, seems less WP:WEASEL

Source says "about 25", so who am I to disagree? Bencherlite ^Talk 20:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

IMO, I would have thought to see this broken up into sections due to its length, and I can see that happening but the section headers would be on your personal judgment.--Truco ₅₀₃ 23:02, 19 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

OK, lead and sub-headings added. How's it looking now? (Sorry I didn't spot your comments / suggestions earlier, must have slipped off my watchlist at the weekend) Bencherlite ^Talk 20:17, 23 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support--Truco ₅₀₃ 02:51, 24 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.