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Welcome to our weekly in Focus update...... |
Past Issues << | Issue 83: Tuesday 18 December 2007 |
The sixth and last graduation ceremony for 2007 took place last week (Weds 12 December) for the School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies, and The Graduate School.
At the SSMCS ceremony, honorary award holder and playwright Valerie Mason-John gave a moving description of her journey to creative success over a troubled and difficult period in her teens, and Tamzin Outhwaite, a successful actress, talked of her delight in being selected as one of our honoraries.
In total, Lord Rix shook hands with around 3,000 students from both postgraduate and undergraduate programmes who crossed the Barbican's stage in recent weeks; many of whom include our staff (pictured left: Mandy Estridge from Student Servcies at last week's graduation), as well as their children and relatives.
Secretary and Registrar, Alan Ingle, will be contacting all staff in January as the selection process begins once again to shorlist for our Honorary Degree awards.
Pictured: Front row left to right: Honorary Degree Holder Tamzin Outhwaite; The Mayor of Newham, Cllr Gagandharan; Chancellor Lord Rix; Honorary Degree Holder, Valerie Mason-John and Mandy Estridge, Student Services.
For news releases about each ceremony see: http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/index.htm
Our varied Public Lecture programme this year encompassed two inaugurals: Professor Andrew Silke's 21st Century Shocks: The Psychology of Terror and Barbara Taylor's Separations of the Soul: the Solitary Self in History in which Prof Taylor explored changing perceptions to solitude.
Black History month was commemorated by a number of Public Lectures, including film-makers Roy Thomas and Clarence Davies, and an exploration of gang culture with a celebration of performance poetry. A lecture in Leadership in HIV prevention led by Professor Corinne Squire and Dr Wendy Haste ( Newham PCT) marked World Aids Day.
Designed to capture, reflect and offer new insights into areas of popular interest; we held lectures on subjects as diverse as Dr John Preston's formations of race and class in Essex further education colleges, How the White Working Class Became 'Chav' and An Evening with the Attorney General - Baroness Scotland QC (http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/latest_news/stories/publiclecture.htm). Baroness Scotland (pictured left), who grew up in Walthamstow and is one of our Honorary Degree Holders revisited her East London roots as part of a national consultation on the role of the Attorney General.
For the New Year, look out for lectures taking place as part of Postgraduate Showcase, as well as lectures from Dr Donald Ridley, Dr Hamid Jahankhani, The Centre for Human Rights in Conflct and others from the School of Psychology.
If you would like to send in an idea for a Public Lecture in the New Year, please get in touch with Karen O'Connor, Email: infocus@uel.ac.uk
Pictured: Baroness Scotland (centre) with Head of School of Law Fiona Fairweather to her left, and Alumnus and well known lawyer Mark Stephens to her right. Event organiser George Laurencin, Employability Manager for the School of Law is on the right of the picture.
We will close for Christmas this year at the end of normal business on Friday 21 December 2007 and re-open on Wednesday 2 January 2008.
The Christmas closure includes as usual three statutory days and three additional days plus an extra day to take account of the day on which Christmas falls.
Marcia Hickling, Head of Security said: "I'd like to wish everyone a happy Christmas.
A reminder though as you're leaving your offices for the holiday, please make sure all your valuables are safely locked away, or if appropriate take them home, and make sure all windows and doors are locked.
If you notice any suspicious activity that gives you cause for concern don't hesitate to call our Security Team on Ext: 7771. Be safe and prosperous for the New Year!"
Pictured: Security Supervisors Jay and John Johnson wishing you a safe 2008.
Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 January, 10am - 3pm, Docklands Campus
Skillzone is running a two-day course to help students improve their study skills this semester.
The course covers: presentation, research techniques, academic writing and referencing, selecting and gathering information.
If you think your students could benefit please recommend them to contact the Skillzone Administration Team Lucene Barned or Yael Ilan on 020 8 223 3003.
Academic Board: http://www.uel.ac.uk/qa/committees/acaboard.htm
Board of Governors: http://www.uel.ac.uk/governors/board.htm
Good news from the CMT: http://www.uel.ac.uk/vcg/news/index.htm
Written by Trish Cooke and Robert Hyman
Directed by Kerry Michael
"Enthusiastically driven by the strong cast” - The Stage
1 December 2007 - 19 January 2008
Theatre Royal is famed for home-produced pantomime that retains all the traditional splendours of the genre and up-to-the-minute allusions.
This year's production, Cinderella, is set on the fairytale French African-Caribbean island of Guadalumpa, and is a colourful cocktail of hilarity, wonder and romance.
Bookings 020 8534 0310 or www.stratfordeast.com (no booking fee) where you can find more information on schedule and prices.
WIN!! This is your chance to win 2 TICKETS to one of the performances of CINDERELLA at Theatre Royal Stratford East. Can you answer this question?
Who wrote the original Cinderella fairy tale in the XVII century?
Email your answer with your name, address and contact telephone number to Dan at d.cherry@uel.ac.uk by 5pm on Thursday 20 December. The winner will be drawn from the hat and informed by email.
For those of you who might have been wondering who won tickets to the Boat Show at ExCeL, In Focus can announce...
Student winners: Sandra Ellis-Hall, Alex McGuinness, William Hibell, Fiona Green and Tokunbo Odushegun
Staff winners: Clare Drought, Miles Thomas, Amanda Hey, Deborah Smith and Rob Neighbour
For more information about the Collins Stewart London Boat Show in association with the Daily Mail 11 - 20 January 2008, visit: www.londonboatshow.com
E-learning, blended learning and distance learning are increasingly important in Higher Education and in teaching and learning generally; however, to take full advantage and make the best use of them you may need to acquire new skills.
The MA in Online and Blended Learning is a flexible, online professional development programme that will help you take full advantage of 21st century pedagogic practice and online technologies.
The programme is pending accreditation with the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and confers Associate or Fellow status upon successful completion of 1 or 2 modules. Applications of Learning Technologies (the first module) is also a SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association) accredited programme.
Programme modules applications of Learning Technologies, supporting learners online, designing and evaluating online and blended learning, educational research and dissertation (practice-based research). We aim to offer maximum flexibility: you can study each full module or if you prefer, you can take a series of short courses, or you can mix and match courses to meet your own professional development needs.
All course activities happen online and are facilitated within UEL Plus, our Virtual Learning Environment.
Deadline for applications: 14 January.
For further information and an application form please go to: http://www.uel.ac.uk/dl/programmes/module_info/ma_obl.htm
Alternatively, contact the Distance Learning Advice Team on: distance.learning@uel.ac.uk / tel: +44 (0)20 8223 2564
To find out more about the wide range of E-Learning applications available to us in our everyday work, visit:
E-Learning Resources: http://www.uel.ac.uk/sdel/e_learning/resources.htm
SDEL staff development: http://www.uel.ac.uk/sdel/staff_development/index.htm
UEL Plus info: http://www.uel.ac.uk/uelplus/index.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
Alumni spanning many years of graduation and subject areas gathered at our Docklands campus for the annual Alumni Christmas party (Friday 7 December). As well as socialising and networking with one another our Alumni were able to meet up with some of their former lecturers and staff from their Schools.
Vice-Chancellor Professor
Martin Everett opened the evening by decribing our corporate achievements in recent years and our plans for the future and warmly welcomed the graduates many of whom were returning for the first time.
Hosted by Development and Alumni Officer, Emma Cale, and Head of Development, Fariba Salehi-Kellaway; Emma and Fariba told the group more about the work of the Alumni Network and how they can stay in touch and become more closely involved.
Biyana Gorji-Dinka who graduated with an MBA in 2003 and now works with Brent council said: "This is the first Alumni event I've come along to and I'm reallly interested in coming along to more throughout the year."
Senior Lecturer Chris Seow said: "It's so important to keep close ties with our graduates. They have learned from us and now they want to offerso much in return."
Seasonal cheer from our Psychology Helpdesk aka Santa's Grotto … with L-R Pete Donovan, Lucy Abraham, Tracy Boakes, Kevin Head.
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.
© 2007
