CASS Newsletter Issue 1 - December 2009
Welcome message from Professor Chris Gane
I am delighted to welcome you to this first issue of the new College newsletter, which is aimed at keeping you informed of news and developments across the College. We hope you find it interesting and we warmly welcome your feedback and suggestions for future issues. In this particular issue you will find an article on the recent memorial service of our sadly-missed colleague George Watson, articles on the achievements of some of our staff, news on successful events that have taken place across the College, including the successful Investors in People assessment, as well as updates from other parts of the University, including the Library project and the Careers Service’s STAR Awards initiative.
I do hope that you enjoy the read, and wish you all the best for a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Memorial service and lecture in memory of George Watson |
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The University paid tribute to one of its longest serving scholars with a memorial service and lecture on October 30. Professor George Watson, who died on February 2 aged 66, was a popular and greatly respected scholar and teacher at the University for three decades. A former Director and Associate Director of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, Professor Watson was born in Portadown, Co Armagh, and educated at St Patrick’s College Armagh, Queen’s University Belfast and Wadham College Oxford. In 1966 he was appointed Lecturer in English at Aberdeen and spent his entire career at the University until his retirement in 2005. He was the last Head of the English Department before the School of Language & Literature was established in 2001 and was also a founding member of the British Association of Irish Studies and Director of the Yeats International Summer School in Sligo between 1998 and 2000. A service was held in St Machar’s Cathedral in Professor Watson’s memory on Friday October 30 at 11am. This was followed at 5.30pm by the first George Watson Memorial Lecture, Another Country: Politicising National Tales in Ireland and Scotland under the Union, delivered by Professor Roy Foster of Oxford University. Professor Watson, who lived in Kittybrewster, is survived by widow, Jo, daughters Anna and Judith, son Conor, and four grandchildren. Mrs Watson said her late husband was remembered with great fondness by all who knew him. “George and I were together for over 40 years of companionship and laughter. His wit and storytelling lightened many situations, and his mimicry defused many others. He wore his scholarship lightly and is missed by his family, colleagues and students alike. “We are touched that the University, to which he dedicated a great part of his life, remembered him in this way.” |
Spotlight falls on Old Norse mythology |
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Speakers reassessed and qualified current scholarly opinion with contributions from literary historians, linguists, archaeologists, ethnologists and historians of religions. The conference, on October 22 and 23, considered new ways of looking at written sources and the additional information which can be extracted from, for example, place names and through archaeology. Researchers argue that this could change our view on the Old Norse Gods and Goddesses, including Thor, the famous god of thunder, Odin, considered the chief god, and Freya, goddess of love. The conference has taken place annually since 2005, when Scandinavian scholars assembled in Aarhus, Denmark, to discuss progress in the study of Old Norse mythology. The Aberdeen event attracted strong interest and Professor Stefan Brink was interviewed by STV and BBC Radio Scotland and BBC News Online and the Press and Journal also ran articles on the conference. |
Library Project Update |
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Following completion of piling and pile cutting, the main contractor, Pihl UK Ltd, has started on the concrete works of the new library. The core sub–structures are complete and the concrete walls of the North and South cores are progressing while the ground floor slab is being prepared for concreting. Works on the refurbishment of the existing heating station as a plant room for the new building has commenced. The programme of works and a forecast of the likely disruption level is available at www.abdn.ac.uk/newlibrary/construction.shtml, along with access to views from the webcam. In a recent independent audit for the Considerate Contractors Scheme of construction site set up, procedures and working practices, Pihl were awarded a high score, which they aim to exceed at the next assessment. Pihl are working with the School of Engineering to promote academic links with the construction project. Access Alternative Accommodation Interior Layout of the New Library Proposals for the floor layouts are being finalised and the initial selection of furniture and shelving is progressing. An area in King’s Pavilion has been allocated to house a mock-up of the interiors which should be ready in early 2010. Further Information |
Celebration marks 500 years of King’s College Chapel |
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A University Service of Celebration started the day at 11am. The preacher was the Very Reverend Professor Iain R. Torrance, a former Dean of Arts and Divinity at the University. Now President of Princeton Theological Seminary, who remains an Emeritus Professor of Aberdeen. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2003—04 and has also served as Chaplain to the Queen. An original piece of music by Dr Paul Mealor, Senior Lecturer in the University’s Music Department, was premiered at the service, performed by the chapel choir and a small exhibition of material relating to the chapel from the University’s Special Library Collections and Museum Collections was displayed in the Old Senate Room, which was accompanied by an archival talk by Professor Peter Davidson. In King’s College Conference Centre, Professor Jane Geddes, of the University's Department of Art History, gave a virtual tour of King’s College Chapel and heritage consultant, Mrs Anne Simpson, led walking tours of Old Aberdeen. The day culminated in a Roman Catholic Consecration Anniversary Mass at 6.30pm, celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien. His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, Apostolic Nuncio, and the Right Reverend Peter A. Moran, Bishop of Aberdeen were among the concelebrants. The preacher was Father Allan White, OP, formerly Prior Provincial of the English Province of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and now the Master of the Order’s Sociusfor North West Europe and Canada. |
Director’s Cut returns for successful third series |
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The popular Director’s Cut programme returned in November, with actor Simon Callow opening the curtain on Series 3. Callow, famous for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and A Room With a View, among many others, proved a popular draw with all tickets snapped up within three days. Callow, who has also accumulated an impressive list of credits in theatre, opera and TV, addressed a full house at King’s College Conference Centre on November 23. The free events were hosted by BBC Movie Café presenter Janice Forsyth and will be broadcast on the Director’s cut website. Since it began in 2007, the Director’s Cut has seen some of the biggest names in international film and broadcasting share their experiences with audiences at the University. “Our first two guests, Simon Callow and Craig Armstrong, have been identified with some of the most popular and stimulating films made in the UK in the last twenty years, and we are particularly pleased to have them appear on the Director’s Cut to illuminate the fascinating process of movie making.” |
Hong Kong composer scoops 2009 Aberdeen Music Prize |
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The Aberdeen Music Prize hit the right note with aspiring composers and audiences in the Granite City alike as the winner of the 2009 competition was unveiled. A successful weekend of performances and workshops ended with a Gala Concert at the Cowdray hall on Sunday November 22 where Hong Kong’s May Kay Yau took the honours. The Aberdeen Music Prize, a collaboration between the University and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, has earned a reputation as one of the most prestigious contemporary composition prizes across the globe. This year it attracted entrants from 36 countries across the globe and May Kay Yau can expect her profile to rise in contemporary music circles. As winner of the 2009 Aberdeen Music Prize, she received £5,000 in the form of a commission to write a full piece for symphony orchestra, which will be premiered by the BBC SSO at The Music Hall in 2010, before being broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The biannual contest has brought great success to previous recipients and Jun Lee, who was victorious at the 2007 event, has since worked on a variety of projects, including a commission to re-orchestrate Apollo for a screening of For All Mankind at the Science Museum in London. May Kay Yau’s score, Vernarrtheit, won over judge and pre-eminent Scottish composer James MacMillan and she was awarded the Prize ahead of fellow finalists David Elliott (USA), Hiroshi Nakamura (Japan), Yuko Ohara (Japan), and Jonas Valfridsson (Sweden). “The 2009 Aberdeen Music Prize certainly did not disappoint and we attracted good numbers to each of our events, and for the grand finale and gala concert.” |
Leading soprano holds student masterclass |
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Dame Emma Kirkby performed at St Machar’s Cathedral and visited the University the following day for a singing workshop. Dame Emma is one of Britain's foremost singers of early music - a term which usually refers to music from before the 18th Century. Her crystal clear voice has won her the respect and admiration of classical music fans from around the globe. To date she has made well over a hundred recordings of all kinds, from sequences of Hildegarde of Bingen, to madrigals of the Italian and English Renaissance, cantatas and oratorios of the Baroque, works of Mozart, Haydn and J C Bach. In 1999 she was voted Artist of the Year by Classic FM Radio listeners; in November 2000 she received the Order of the British Empire, and in June 2007 was included in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for appointment as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. |
Muslim women’s rights explored as world renowned lecture series returned to Aberdeen |
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Lila Abu-Lughod, who has worked on women's issues in the Middle East for more than 20 years and written a number of acclaimed books on the issue, presented the 2009 Radcliffe-Brown Lecture in Social Anthropology. She is Professor of Anthropology and Women's and Gender Studies at Columbia University in New York and has penned the award-winning ethnographiesVeiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society, Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories and Dramas of Nationhood: The Politics of Television in Egypt. Professor Abu-Lughod is also the editor and co-editor of: Remaking Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle East; Media Worlds, and Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the Claims of Memory. She presented Anthropology in the Territory of Rights — Human or Otherwise for the Radcliffe Brown lecture series, a biennial programme established in 1972 by the British Academy and the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth. |
Geddes-Harrower Lectures bring Old Aberdeen and Ancient Athens together |
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Cambridge professor Mary Beard explored the changing engagement with classical archaeology and art of different social groups and classes of nineteenth century society. She presented a series of public lectures in November on the theme From Ancient Athens to Old Aberdeen: artists and archaeologists, travellers and tourists in the nineteenth century. The lectures were extremely well-attended throughout the series, with approximately 90 people at each of the five lectures. Professor Beard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as the Society of Antiquaries and has curated several exhibitions, most recently "From Ancient Art to Post-Impressionism" at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. She is the author or co-author of over 60 articles and nine books on topics ranging from Greek and Roman religion, epigraphy, art history, social history, and literature, to the history of the museum and the reception of Classics in the modern world. Professor Beard’s most recent book Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town (2008) won the Wolfson History Prize. She is also Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement and author of the immensely popular Times Online blog 'A Don's Life'. |
Martin Bell joins University for Act of Remembrance |
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As one of the most distinguished foreign affairs reporters of his generation, Martin Bell was among those who defined the term "war correspondent". He joined the BBC in Norwich in 1962 and over the next 30 years reported from 80 countries and covered 11 conflicts. His sparse, uncompromising style of journalism won him the Royal Television Society's Reporter of the Year award in 1977, and again in 1993. He was awarded an OBE in 1992. He left the BBC in April 1997 to stand as an independent against the sitting MP for Tatton, the Tory Neil Hamilton. He won with an 11,000-vote majority, to become the first elected independent MP since 1951. Bell was appointed Unicef ambassador for humanitarian emergencies in 2001. His assignments for Unicef have included Burundi, Kosovo, Tajikistan, Iraq, Malawi, Bosnia, Sudan and Sri Lanka. He has written five books: In Harm's Way (1995), An Accidental MP (2000) Through Gates of Fire (2003), The Truth That Sticks: New Labour's Breach of Trust (2007), and A Very British Revolution: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy (2009). Following the Act of Remembrance, he observed the inspection of the Officer’s Training Corps and later returned to the University where he gave a lively lecture to politics students and took part in a question and answer session. |
Ministers help to celebrate 10 years of Scottish and Irish studies |
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The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies celebrated its 10th anniversary with a visit from the Irish and Scottish culture ministers when leading scholars gathered for Global Nations, from October 30 to November 1. The conference explored the impact of Irish and Scottish migrants throughout the world, including such figures as north-east born Patrick Gordon, who became the right-hand man of Peter the Great. The event also focused on the development of both Gaelic and Scots in Ireland and Scotland, and on the ways in which devolution has impacted on the politics of both countries. Irish Minister of State with special responsibility for the arts Dr Martin Mansergh TD, and his Scottish counterpart, Mike Russell MSP, Minister for Culture, External Affairs, and the Constitution, addressed delegates on building contemporary relations. Mike Russell said: “The histories of Scotland and Ireland are closely linked and our shared cultural heritage binds us together. The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS) has played, and continues to play, an important role in understanding those links.” The conference also featured readings by Northern Irish poet and Newsnight panellist Tom Paulin and Scotland’s Kathleen Jamie, one of the most acclaimed of contemporary poets, and a lecture by Professor Tom Devine, the previous Director of the Centre and author of Scotland’s Empireon which the BBC 2 television series of the same name was based. |
Brahan Seer book holds Highland attraction |
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Dr Sutherland investigated the Seer from a new perspective, examining records which have not previously been considered in the context of the legend and believes he has uncovered new evidence which strengthens the argument that the legendary figure belongs to a much earlier period of history than commonly perceived. He draws together folklore, historical events and oral tradition to show how we arrived at the popular version of the story still circulating today. His research attracted strong interest from media outlets in the Highlands and he hit the headlines in the Press and Journal, the North Star, Northern Times, Northern Scot, Times Educational Supplement and on Moray Firth Radio and Northsound radio. Dr Sutherland narrowly missed out when the winner of the award was unveiled in London but said he was delighted by the interest in his work as a result of the nomination. |
Language & Literature staff raise funds for Children in Need |
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Owing to the efforts of all the staff involved, the School raised an impressive total of £260.00. |
School of Education hosts important symposium |
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In addition to this, Professor Lani Florian of the School of Education was a rapporteur at the International Congress on Education organised by the United Nations in Geneva, and has been working with UNESCO on the implementation of the outcomes of the congress. |
STAR Awards presented to University students |
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The academic year 2009-10 sees the launch of an extended and enhanced co-curricular STAR Award. The award accredits learning that takes place outside formal taught courses and aims to recognise the transferable skills and competencies that students develop through activities beyond the curriculum. Participants include students involved in sports, societies & volunteering and taught course class representatives. This year the enhanced co-curricular award also offers students the opportunity to recognise their learning in an increased range of co-curricular activities, including the STEM Ambassadors programme, the Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) Intern scheme and the BP Student Tutoring scheme. The award has been developed as a result of discussions with academic Colleges, student representatives and other stakeholders, and is destined to become a key feature of the University’s ongoing Curriculum Reform project. The award is currently led by the University’s Careers Service with operational support for the scheme provided by the Students’ Association. Dr Joy Perkins, Careers Service |
College success in accreditation to the Investors in People standard |
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A significant amount of work, including that relating to appraisal, induction and training, has been undertaken over the past few years to prepare the College for this goal. The favourable outcome of the assessment demonstrates how well the College has developed during that time and shows that the changes that have taken place have been valuable and are recognised as such. The assessor’s report also gives details of recommendations for continuous improvement which will be addressed over time to ensure that the College continues to meet the criterion required to be deemed suitable for accreditation to the IiP standard. IiP is an effective means of ensuring that staff are aligned with organisational objectives, understand how their roles contribute to this, and are given the necessary leadership, management, support, and development to make their contributions as effective as possible, and so many thanks are due to all of those involved, particularly Gordon Robertson, Human Resources, for the support he gave the College prior to and throughout the assessment. |
Viking, or Old Norse, mythology was in the spotlight at an international conference organised by the Centre for Scandinavian Studies.
King’s College Chapel celebrated its quincentenary with a sequence of special events on Sunday October 4.
Music students benefitted from a masterclass with one of the world’s leading sopranos on November 20.
One of the world’s leading voices on Muslim women’s rights delivered a lecture at the University Monday November 16.
A leading scholar of classics and award-winning author brought together Old Aberdeen and Ancient Athens for the 2009 Geddes-Harrower Lectures.
Former BBC war correspondent and ex-independent MP Martin Bell joined the University for the Act of Remembrance on Sunday November 8. He addressed the congregation at the Chapel as staff, students, local residents, and Army, Navy and Air Force cadets, came together to remember those who have given their lives in conflict.
Teaching fellow Dr Alex Sutherland hit the headlines in October for his book examining the legend of the Brahan Seer. He was nominated for the prestigious Katharine Briggs Folklore Award for his work, which cast a new light on our understanding of the origins of the Highland figure – said to have foreseen events ranging from the construction of the Caledonian Canal to the Piper Alpha disaster.
The staff in the School of Language & Literature demonstrated their philanthropic nature on Friday 20 November when they held a bake sale in aid of Children in Need. A lovely selection of cakes, biscuits, muffins and tablet were on sale, along with tea and coffee, in order to raise money for the BBC charity. In addition to the bake sale, the School also hosted two fundraising competitions, the first of which, "Guess the Pudsey", was won by Dr Mercedes Durham, Lecturer. The second competition, "Guess the Celebrity", was won by Eve McGill, a member of the support staff team.
The work of the Inclusive Practice Project in the School of Education has featured in the latest newsletter from the International Bureau of Education, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) centre specialised in the contents, methods and structure of education. The newsletter provided details of the recent symposium on Teacher Education for Inclusion which was hosted by the School, at the University, in October. Colleagues with expertise in inclusive education and/or teacher education addressed aspects of the six ICE recommendations specific to teacher education and served to stimulate discussions about how to take ideas and put them into practice.
Students who make a contribution to University life beyond the formal academic curriculum were recognised at a special awards ceremony in October. Professor Stephen Logan, Senior Vice-Principal presented STAR (Students Taking Active Roles) Awards to students who successfully completed the pilot scheme last academic year. The ceremony also provided an opportunity for those interested in taking the STAR Award this year to find out more about how the scheme operates. 97 students from across the three Colleges attended the event and 136 students have now registered for the award.
Following assessment by an external assessor week commencing 23rd November, it has been confirmed that the College has been successful in obtaining accreditation to the Investors in People (IiP) standard. If you have any comments or suggestions for features in future issues please contact us.
