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Welcome to our weekly in Focus update...... |
Past Issues << | Issue 45: Monday 26 March 2007
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From today you can get on a bike and enjoy the warm, spring sunshine courtesy of innovative self-service bicycle rental company OYBike.
To register FREE for this service colleagues need to contact Greg Price, Organisational Development Manager with the following information:
First Name, Surname, Home Address, including Postcode, Mobile Telephone Number, Personal Identification Number (PIN). Needs to be 4 digits, Emergency Telephone Number, Emergency Contact Name, Preferred contact method - Email or Mobile Telephone.
Please note: it takes 48 hours for you to be registered with OYBike and able to use the bikes and Greg will email you to confirm your registration. If you change your mobile number your existing registration becomes null and void and you will have to re-register with Greg.
Hire rates are:
Staff
First 2 .5 hours are free, Next 30 minutes 80 pence, Then £2 an hour up to a maximum of £8 for a day.
Students
First 30 minutes free, Next 30 minutes 80 pence, Then £2 an hour up to maximum of £8 a day.
We are currently looking into an overnight rate which will probably be in the region of £8.
Insurance
Staff DO NOT have to take out additional insurance. Students and visitors are recommended to take out annual insurance for £10 against theft and damage. They may find they are already covered by their household insurance.
Self-service Bike Rental stations are situated at:
Stratford
1 rental station at Stratford mainline station University House site 1 rental station at Stratford mainline station Duncan House site 1 rental station
Docklands
1 Rental stations outside the Business School, 1 rental station outside the main atrium of the East Building at the car park end, 1 rental stations outside the Student Village bar, 1 rental stations and 4 bikes at Gallions Reach (opposite Next clothing shop)
While not included with the bike we recommend you wear protective headgear when you ride for your own safety.
You can view a silent animated instruction movie on the link below: http://www.oybike.com/OYBIKE/obhome.nsf/how_it_works.html
To register for with OYBike contact Greg Price g.price@uel.ac.uk
Celebrated Canadian author and senior lecturer Tessa McWatt will lead the MA Writing: Imaginative Practice' teaching team of renowned novelists, poets and script-writers, which starts this September.
Tessa said: “Writing has been a passion of mine since childhood, and I'm excited by the opportunity this new MA offers for aspiring authors to develop their own creativity and enthusiasm.
"The programme takes an exciting, mixed-genre approach to its subject, enabling students to greatly develop their critical and creative instincts. It will also reflect our distinctively cosmopolitan and international nature by encouraging students to expand their horizons and create exciting new hybrid forms.”
MA Writing: Imaginative Practice will enable students to develop their writing through workshops, seminars and tutorials, leading to supervised preparation for a practice-based dissertation. The MA combines the strengths of many of our existing programmes, incorporating film, drama, music, new media, fiction and poetry.
Alongside Tessa, the core teaching team consists of play-write Mark O’Thomas, poet Tim Atkins and script-writer Jill Nelmes. Tessa is currently working with ScreenSiren to develop her screenplay of John Berger's novel To the Wedding. Her own fifth novel, This Body, will be published in the UK by Macmillan on 27 April. Mark’s translation of Drende (Drylands) will be on stage at the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre in May and his own play Chet Baker – Speedball premieres at the London Jazz Festival in November. Tim will begin a reading tour of the US in April to mark the publication of his latest collection, Horace. Jill currently has screenplays in development with various production companies, including the BBC.
MA Writing: Imaginative Practice is offered as a full-time or part-time programme, starting in September 2007. Most seminars and workshops will take place in the evenings. For further information, contact Tessa McWatt on Tel: 020 8223 7237 or Email: t.a.mcwatt@uel.ac.uk
The Centre on Human Rights in Conflict (COHRIC) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded £80,000 funding for two years by the British Academy for a project entitled: Rule of Law in African Countries Emerging from Violent Conflict: Critical Issues and Cases.
The project will analyze and assess the needs of African countries emerging from violent conflict, focusing upon the use of rule of law programmes in peacebuilding efforts. The Centre proposed a multi-author series of policy papers, ranging from the general to the specific, by expert scholars in law, African politics, and conflict analysis.
The papers will examine both the general challenges of rule of law programming post-conflict, and specific experiences in particular African countries, and in efforts in particular domains of ‘rule of law’, ranging from transitional justice to specific judicial reforms to the informal justice sector. These papers will draw extensively upon the insights from both scholars and policymakers.
Paper authors will include leading scholars of African politics and peacebuilding in the UK and the US, and leading practitioners working in the UN system and in UN field offices, as well as NGOs in Africa. The lessons learned from these papers should be of interest therefore to policymakers in the UN and bilateral donor governments such as the UK.
Critical findings from papers will be presented on the Centre’s website at http://www.uel.ac.uk/chrc/index.htm, and the Centre is exploring the publication of the papers in book form.
Following on from the success of our launch issue of Now and Then last summer, the Alumni Office will shortly be working on our next issue, giving news and information from UEL to our graduates worldwide.
We would like all Schools and Services to send information or details of any news which they would like to publicise to the Alumni Network.
Please send all information to Emma Cale at e.cale@uel.ac.uk
Produced through partnership between cSPACE, Royal Docks Community School, NewVIc Sixth Form College, Newham College of Further Education and University of East London
Launch event Tuesday 27 March 1–3pm
1pm Lunch
1.30-2.30pm Participant presentations
with
Michèle Bailleux, Royal Docks Partnership
Sid Hughes, Principal, NewVIc Sixth Form College
Alan Ingle, Vice Chancellor Group, University of East London
Sean McGrath, Head Teacher, Royal Docks Community School
2.30-3pm Explore the guide
Wilberforce Theatre/Quayside Room Museum in Docklands
West India Quay London E14 4AL
www.museumindocklands.org.uk
Public Transport: DLR to West India Quay or tube to Canary Wharf or bus 277, D3, D6, D7, D8, 115 ALL STAFF WELCOME
Which places around London’s Royal Docks do you think would be of interest to young people? Some you may guess at, but others might surprise you! From London City Airport to the Garden Café, Newham teenagers have given their views on where they really like to go, and what they feel is good about this area. Visit the web site to see their recommendations.
The project has been inspired by the cultural development of the London Docklands, as the focus of its regeneration turns ever more eastward. The Royal Docks is a key site of cultural heritage and renewal within the developing London Thames Gateway region, and over the next few years will witness many rapid changes. Participants have taken a critical look at their own neighbourhoods, considering the present against its historical context and future plans. As co-creators of their own heritage, they have thought about how they might frame and represent their present day experience for their own and future generations. New skills have been learned to record and document their findings, with support from arts and media professionals, University of East London undergraduates and their own teachers. The materials they have produced represent a particular snapshot in time and space from a young person’s perspective.
Production work has been linked to the Cascade mentoring programme run by cSPACE arts organisation, which enables transfer of skills, knowledge and experience through different levels of education from university to college to schools, supported by local centres of arts, heritage and industry. In this way Cascade provides positive learning experiences for all involved, while enabling young people to make public comment on issues of regeneration that will affect their future lives.
Vist http://www.ypg2rd.org/ to see the website for yourself.
Don’t miss extracts from the guide on DLR trains during March and April! For further information contact: Loraine Leeson, Director, cSPACE Tel. 020 8223 7531 l.leeson@uel.ac.uk www.cspace.org.uk
The official opening of the Graduate School’s new space takes place on Tuesday 17 April 2007. The Graduate School is delighted to open the evening at 5.30pm with a talk to launch Dr Tim Brooks’ well-received debut publication British Propaganda to France 1940-1944: Machinery, Method and Message.
The evening kicks off in room EB 1.41, moving to EB 1.43 for a wine reception.
Please RSVP to Janet Riddle at j.riddle@uel.ac.uk. ALL WELCOME.
Over 570 delegates will attend the 2007 Annual Conference of the British Sociological Association (BSA). Organised and hosted by a team of sociologists at UEL, this will be the biggest ever sociology conference to take place in the UK.
The conference, entitled ‘Social Connections: Identities, Technologies and Relationships’, will feature key-note speeches from some of the world’s most distinguished contemporary sociologists.
An exhibition of the work of women artists ‘Am I that name’? Nomadic lines in becoming a woman artist’ convened by Maria Tamboukou of the Centre for Narrative research in the Social Sciences, University of East London will form one of the Conference’s many highlights.
To register or find out more,visit www.britsoc.co.uk
To conduct a search of current funding opportunities, or to set up email alerts specific to your interests, visit www.researchresearch.com. If you intend to submit an application for funding please contact Becky Whitham in the Graduate School.
To find a listing of all the major competitions visit:http://www.uel.ac.uk/gradschool/events/deadlines/deadlines.htm
Are you currently studying for a UEL degree programme? Then why not try out for the University Challenge UEL team 2007.
Final trials - lunchtime tomorrow
Contact General Secretary Caston Matewu at the Students’ Union on Tel: 020 8223 7025.
Tuesday 27 March at 5pm at West Building Lecture Theatre, Docklands
Next Screening Pan's Labyrinth after Easter! 17 April at 5pm in the Business School Lecture Theatre.
Tickets £1.50 to non-members.
Our Student Film Society was recently set up. Contact Alejandra Fernandez uvona@hotmail.com or ross crabb shoeless_ross@hotmail.com for more information
Death row survivor and Reprieve spokesperson
Speaker: Nick Yarris Nick Yarris spent 23 years on death row before he was exonerated by DNA evidence. He is an excellent speaker, and puts human face on the death penalty in the USA.
Wednesday 28 March 5pm - 6.30pmDuncan House main lecture theatre Room DH001 Stratford High Street, E15 2JB
For more information contact Dr. Sylvie Langlaude Tel: 020 8223 2112 S.Langlaude@uel.ac.uk
One pair of tickets to be won to the any day of the London Golf Show by the first person to answer the following question:
Q: Who captained the successful 2006 European Ryder Cup team?
For more information about the London Golf Show visit: www.londongolfshow.com
Next month the School of Distance & E-Learning are running two NEW UEL Plus staff development sessions. These sessions are for staff who have already attended the introductory session to UEL Plus or who are already using UEL Plus regularly.
Assessment in UEL Plus In this3-hour session, participants willhave the opportunity toshare their experience of using different types of assessmentas well as receive a brief overview of issues related to electronic assessment and feedback. Participants will use theAssessment Tool in UEL Plusto build quizzes, self-tests and surveyscomprising a variety of question types. They willalso explore the differentfeatures and settingsfor delivery, marking and analysis of quizzes and surveys using the Assessment Manager Tool and the Grade Book. Participants will receive further information on best practice as well as onother types of Assessment software, articles of interest and related web links.
Managing UEL Plus sites In this session participants will have the opportunity to take another look at the site(s) they are currentlyusing in UEL Plus andplan for any new ones. Preliminary findings from student surveys of UEL Plus indicatethat there is a need to look again at good practice and student expectations of where to find information.Participants will also have the opportunity torevisit issues likefile management, navigation, tracking and categorising of discussion topics and web links. Failing tocategorise can make it hard for students to find information. The session will be run on a flexible basismaking itpossible to attend only those parts that are relevant to you. Before booking please contact your LTA to discuss your exact requirements.
For dates and to book a place please go to:
Assessment in UEL Plus: http://www.uel.ac.uk/uelplus/training/assessment.htm
Managing UEL Plus sites:http://www.uel.ac.uk/uelplus/training/managing_sites.htm
If you have any questions about these sessions please contact: elearning@uel.ac.ukFor further information and a booking form visit http://www.uel.ac.uk/sdel/staff_development/short_courses.htm
Brush up your IT skills and get an internationally recognised qualification online. Contact Greg Price, Organisational Development Manager on ext 4361 or email g.price@uel.ac.uk
Congratulations to all staff and students who have successfully passed the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL).
Professor Andrew MacDonald, Director of our Library and Learning Services, presented certificates to six course graduates on Thursday 22 March.
"We're committed to improving people's skills and increasing employability," said Andrew, "and that's exactly what ECDL is about. It's an internationally recognised programme that can benefit all of our staff and students."
For further information about ECDL, contact Cedrick Nosa on 020 8223 7842 or c.nosa@uel.ac.uk, or visit www.uel.ac.uk/ecdl.
Last week more than 200 students of UEL’s School of Law took part in evening mooting workshops in Stratford, with senior lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service giving advice on how best to prepare a case before judges in real-life courtrooms.
A moot is a competition in which teams of law students practice winning cases. On Thursday 22 March, the mooters debated before the ‘House of Lords’ as to whether or not an asylum seeker had entered the UK illegally. Both teams explored the law relating to asylum, immigration, human rights and had to prove their case before the court.
Lynne Townley, Barrister and co-author of Blackstone’s Book of Moots, Senior lawyer Tony Barnard and Tony Ostrin, a Solicitor Advocate, were among the expert panel.
Lynne Townley told the students: “Mooting is one of the most important skills that law students can develop for their confidence and general legal ability. If I hadn’t got involved in mooting as a student I would never had had the courage to apply to the Bar.”
Agnes Lee, who is in the final year of her LLB (Hons) Law degree and Master of Moots said: “The workshops are important because it is a way to ease the students into mooting. If you've never watched a moot or participated in one before, it can seem very daunting. I think many students found it comforting when the speakers shared their own experience of overcoming their personal challenges in public speaking. It was something we were all able to relate to.”
George Laurencin, the School of Law’s Employability Manager said: “The workshops were a great opportunity for all since very senior and experienced lawyers were willing to give up their time to come and help our student community.”
The Mooting Society is currently holding a series of competitive moots at Duncan House and the Moot Final takes place on Thursday 10 May 4.30pm-7.30pm at Stratford Magistrates Court.
For a round-up of events see www.uel.ac.uk/events.
In Focus Update is issued each Monday morning. If you would like items included in In Focus Update please send them to me by Wednesday of the preceding week at infocus@uel.ac.uk
Please print off a copy of In Focus Update for those of your colleagues who may not have easy access to email.
© 2006
