MyGlasgow News

Welcome to Avenue, the summer 2019 issue of our quarterly magazine for alumni and friends of the University

Read the latest edition of Avenue magazine here.

There are now four issues of Avenue per year: three digital issues (spring, summer, winter) and one print and digital issue (autumn).

 

Professor Hester Parr elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Hester Parr of the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences has been elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. 

Between 2011-2014 she worked on the ESRC funded project 'Geographies of Missing People: experiences, processes, responses'. This project was a collaboration between Police Scotland and the MPS London, the UK Missing Persons Bureau and the Missing People charity. The project investigated the geographies of missing persons and the geographical knowledges of the people and agencies that search for them. The project was awarded a national prize in 2013 for excellence in Applied Policing Research and was also in receipt of the ESRC 2015 Outstanding Impact Award and the Royal Geographical Society awarded me the 2018 Back Award. She is currently exploring collaborative engagements between cultural geography and social psychiatry via research on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). 

The Academy is the national academy of academics, learned societies and practitioners in the social sciences. The Academy is composed of 1335 individual Fellows, elected from leading academics and professional practitioners drawn from across the breadth of the social sciences. The Academy also has 43 Learned Society members and a number of affiliates. This community of organisations together represents nearly 90,000 social scientists.

Prof. Hester Parr was awarded her Fellowship certificate at a ceremony following the Academy's Annual General Meeting on 20 June 2019 by its President Sir Ivor Crewe.

 

“Out of sight, out of mind?” Institute of Health and Wellbeing (IHW) raises awareness of invisible disabilities in the workplace

Fifty-seven staff and students from IHW and beyond spent the morning of Thursday, 23 May 2019 hearing about the impact of invisible disabilities in work and study environments, and how managers and colleagues can best support those affected, and start to bring about positive cultural change.

The centrepiece of the event was a series of talks delivered by "experts by experience" - five staff members and a former student who themselves have an unseen condition. All gave frank, compelling accounts of the disabling impact of their conditions (Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, hearing loss, narcolepsy, social anxiety disorder, and Type 1 diabetes) on all aspects of life and work. What helps (flexibility, kindness, taking conditions seriously, a focus on ability rather than disability) and what doesn't (assumptions, stereotyping, joking about symptoms) also formed part of their presentations, guiding those in management positions towards supporting their staff more effectively and peers to become key allies.

Representatives from Occupational Health, MVLS HR, Health, Safety and Wellbeing, Disability Service and GU's Disability Champion, Professor Frank Coton, made important contributions to attendees’ understanding of the topic and signposted sources of support. Professor Nick Watson urged us to call out unhelpful, unkind behaviours and combat stigma, as an important element of easing the burden of living and working with a disability.

Light relief was provided by stand-up comedian Ray Bradshaw talking about his experience of growing up with parents with profound hearing loss. Over lunchtime, participants had the opportunity to unwind and de-stress by spending time with dogs from Canine Concern's Therapet Service.

Feedback following the event indicates that many found it useful and enjoyable (some inevitably challenging content notwithstanding) and that some "conversations" may already have begun.

IHW's Jane Goodfellow, speaking on behalf of the organising committee and who herself has an invisible disability, reflected afterwards: "Many unseen conditions, whether physical or mental, are with us for life. But, as I know from my own experience, working or studying in supportive, accepting environments can significantly reduce the disabling impact. We hope that this event, and the conversations that come out of it, will give colleagues the confidence to disclose, and managers and supervisors the insight to respond sensitively and helpfully."

Professor Coton said: "It was an excellent, thought-provoking but emotionally challenging event. It explored the issues faced by colleagues with invisible disabilities in a variety of ways including through personal accounts from individuals with a range of impairments. Listening to their stories made me very aware not only of the challenges they face but it also underlined the importance of working collectively to build a supportive and inclusive environment for all staff and students in this university."

 

Bard in the Boatincs - £10 ticket deal for University staff and students

Bard in the Botanics is delighted to be returning to the beautiful surroundings of Glasgow's Botanic Gardens for our 18th consecutive summer season of Shakespeare, writes Lynsey-Anne Moffat, a staff member, actress and current participant in Bard in the Botanics.

This year's "Muse of Fire" season features brand new productions of some of Shakespeare's most iconic stories - As You Like It and Hamlet outdoors and Henry V and Richard III in the Kibble Palace Glasshouse.

To celebrate our 18th birthday season, we would like to offer all staff members at Glasgow University tickets to our opening productions - "As You Like It" and "Henry V" - for just £10 (that's more than 50% off!)

These tickets are valid for performances from Wed 3rd - Sat 6th July and from Wed 10th - Sat 13th July.

Tickets can be booked by emailing Jennifer@bardinthebotanics.co.uk to request the date and number of tickets you require (up to 5 tickets per person can be booked through this offer).

Please note that all ticket bookings under this offer are subject to availability, particularly for "Henry V" which has a limited capacity.

For more information on these productions, visit our website at www.bardinthebotanics.co.uk .

CDT Conclave

The Centre for Doctoral Training in Photonic Integration and Advanced Data Storage CDT held its fourth annual Conclave on 17-18 June at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast. This year, the 2018 cohort intake took leadership on the event planning and execution of the conference, with support from the CDT management team. They coped very well managing the demands of their CDT training programme whilst concurrently prescribing an impressive and successful conference.

This conference exceeded over 100 attendees – the biggest gathering for CDT PIADS’ extended network to date. The meeting was vibrant, with representation from existing industry partners and networks, key CDT academics and the CDT cohort as a whole. Professor David Cumming, Head of the James Watt School of Engineering was also present, helping to mark a pivotal turning point in Conclave 2019, as the CDT begins its second lifetime in September 2019. Additionally, incoming students holding offers for a place in Cohort 2019 were able to attend, giving them insight into the CDT experience, including the welcoming network they will inherit this September.

 

Explorathon – Information Sessions & Final Deadline

Europe’s biggest research-fuelled festival is back! Explorathon will take place in venues across Glasgow on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th September 2019. From busy family days to workshops and performances, this is a fantastic opportunity for public engagement.

Staff and students from ANY DISCIPLINE can get involved as volunteers or presenters. Support, training and expenses are available. The deadline for registering interest (no commitment at this stage!) is Friday 12th July via this form: https://glasgow.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/explorathon-2019 

Want to find out more ahead of the deadline? Pop along to a 30-minute information session (this includes time for questions), no booking required:

• Wednesday 10th July, 12:00-12:30, Gilchrist Postgraduate Club Seminar Room
• Thursday 11th July, 12:00-12:30, Gilchrist Postgraduate Club Seminar Room

For general queries contact publicengagement@glasgow.ac.uk.

Find out more here

 

Two half-day short courses in BSL starting in July

Short Courses are offering two half-day events in BSL starting ithis month. One is an introduction to BSL and the other offers practice sessions for anyone who has already done 15-20 hours' study. Prices are attractive and both courses are held on a Saturday.

An Introduction to British Sign Language

https://www.gla.ac.uk/study/short/book/course/ADED11775F

This half-day event is designed for learners who are new to British Sign Language and wish to gain an insight into it. It aims to develop simple communication skills, familiarise learners with the basics of fingerspelling and make learners aware of the importance of body language when communicating in BSL.

British Sign Language Conversation Classes: Develop your Confidence and Skills

https://www.gla.ac.uk/study/short/book/course/ADED11776F

This half-day event is designed for learners who have studied a minimum of 15-20 hours of British Sign Language and wish to practise and improve their skills. It aims to develop a range of signs to exchange information in some common everyday situations, provide practice opportunities and become more confident with fingerspelling to understand and spell back. Each session will cover a different topic.

 

Technician Commitment Signatory Event, Monday 24 June

We are pleased to confirm that the University of Glasgow received our Award of Submission from the Technician Commitment in recognition of the successful submission of our Self-assessment and Action Plan and for becoming a Signatory of the Technician Commitment and the key themes it represents. This was awarded at the Technician Commitment Signatory Event which took place on Monday, 24 June, at the Jaguar Experience Castle Bromwich. Mohammad Ali Salik (School of Geographical and Earth Sciences) and Hannah Bialic (GLAZgo Discovery Centre) attended the event and received the award as the Institutional representatives of the University of Glasgow.

At the event, there were several presentations/workshops promoting collaboration and how institutions are working together to promote the technician commitment, short presentations from signatory and stakeholder organisations and further opportunities to network and share best practice. Ali and Hannah had the opportunity to highlight the progress the University is making with our Technician Commitment Action Plan and future ambitions, including the recent launch event we held, the involvement of our volunteer Champions from across the University and the opportunities to network and work with other Universities. They also took away some valuable National and Institutional recommendations from the Steering Board.

Congratulations to Ali who also received a recognition award for becoming a Peer Reviewer for the Technician Commitment.

For further information on the University’s Technician Commitment, please see the following:

https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/technicians/

 

Smithsonian Institution Strategic Partnership – Inaugural Showcase.  Monday 7th- Friday 11th October 2019.  Save the dates.

The University and the Smithsonian Institution have deep historical links. James Smithson visited the University of Glasgow as a young man in the late 18th century, where he met the Natural Philosopher John Anderson, an early promoter of the education of women and working men. This informed Smithson’s idea to bequeath funds to establish a cultural institution in the United States dedicated to the “increase and diffusion of knowledge”. For the last 30 years there has been strengthening collaboration between the two institutions, involving staff exchanges, student internships, research projects, and a successful series of summer schools focusing on historic collections in Scotland, taught by leading academics.

Today the bond between the Smithsonian and the University of Glasgow has become even stronger with numerous projects in arts, anthropology, archaeology, education, life sciences, and astronomy. Research events were held in Washington (2015) and Glasgow (2016) to promote new collaborations across disciplines. This culminated first in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2016, followed by our full Strategic Partnership agreement on the 6th June 2018. Both acknowledge existing collaborations between the University and the Smithsonian and signal a shared goal to develop further opportunities for academic and educational partnership.

The Inaugural Showcase event of our Partnership aims to provide a forum for highlighting our existing collaborative research, teaching and exhibition projects; to raise awareness amongst University of Glasgow staff and students of the wealth of expertise and available research collections at The Smithsonian, and vice versa; to engage key Smithsonian Institution staff in initial discussions for the development of new partnerships; and to facilitate the opening up of strategic partnership themes between the University and the Smithsonian to staff and students across all Colleges of the University.-

The outline schedule of panels, tours, Arts Labs and workshops for the Inaugural Showcase week will run as follows:

Monday 7 Oct: Connections & Collections
Morning: Smithsonian Forum: Collections – Organisation - Expertise
Lunchtime: University Library Lab & Tour of Special Collections (David Anderson)
Afternoon: Collections Lab Showcase (Dahlia Porter, Lola Sanchez-Juaregui, Matthew Sangster)

Tuesday 8 Oct: Creating the 21st Century Museum
Morning: Digital Cultural Heritage Lab Showcase (Maria Economou)
Afternoon: Developing Historic Museums for the 21st Century (Panel Discussion)

Wednesday 9 Oct: New Directions
Morning: Education Developments (Margaret Jago)
Afternoon: Decolonise Glasgow Lab Showcase (Christine Whyte, Rachel Douglas)
All Day: Student Research Poster Showcase (Andrew Mills)

Thursday 10 October: Futures & Opportunities
Morning: Arts Lab Workshop: Building New Collaborations (Faye Hammill)
Lunchtime: Digital Humanities Research Showcase (Lorna Hughes)
Afternoon: Digital Departures Lab Showcase (Sarah Cook)
Evening: Private View of The Hunterian’s new exhibition, “GUGA. Exploring Gaelic Identities”

Friday 11 October: Smithsonian Placement Opportunities
Morning: Opportunities for Creative & Educational Placements (Rosie Spooner, Lorna Hughes)
Afternoon: Inaugural Showcase Keynote Lecture

A range of other events will surround these core sessions. Colleagues keen to be involved with these sessions are encouraged to contact the named organisers for details, or to reply directly to this email. Details of venues around campus, session times, and Eventbrite booking links for attendance will follow in the near future. Very best wishes,

Dr Andy Mills
Lecturer in History of Art
Smithsonian Institution Partnership Working Group (Support)
Andrew.Mills@glasgow.ac.uk

 

Oor Wullie's Big Walk

You may have seen statues of cartoon character Oor Wullie close to the University.  But did you know that Oor Wullie's Big Walk starts raight on our doorstep at Kelvingrove Park? 

https://www.glasgowchildrenshospitalcharity.org/support-us/events/113-oor-wullies-big-walk

 

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First published: 5 July 2019