Week 8: Learning Community Newsletter

Posted on 2 June 2020

The latest newsletter

Today marks the start of the York Festival of Ideas - the annual event that brings together world-class speakers, artists, politicians, authors and many more interesting people and events to York. Whilst the Festival has moved online this year that doesn’t mean there’s any shortage of offerings. I counted 22 events scheduled to happen this week alone!

In this week’s Newsletter (as well as a couple of readings and some good news) I picked out a few events that had more of a political angle but the Festival caters to a huge range of interests. For example, I’m particularly looking forward to one event hosted by York’s English Department this Sunday - ‘Words and Swords’.

I would really recommend that you have a look at the full programme to see if there’s anything that appeals to you. The Festival runs from 2-14th June so there is plenty of time to get involved!

I hope you have a fantastic week,

Watch & participate

Roadmap to Recovery: York in a post-Covid world

Tuesday 2nd June

7-8:30pm

This packed panel event (seven speakers including our Vice Chancellor, Charlie Jeffery) will be discussing how York can play a role in the national recovery plan and what changes might be made in the city in order to facilitate that recovery. For more details on who all those speakers are and how to book, check out the event page.

Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias

Wednesday 3rd June

1-2pm

Behavioural scientist, activist and writer Pragya Agarwal will be delivering this public lecture to unravel the way our implicit or ‘unintentional biases affect the way we communicate and perceive the world, and how they affect our decision-making, even in life and death situations. Book here.

Brexiternity: The Uncertain Fate of Britain

Wednesday 3rd June

8-9pm

Denis MacShane - Britain’s former Minister of Europe, Labour MP for 18 years, and author of the new book Brexiternity - will warn in this public lecture that the UK faces years of negotiations and political wrangling. While that isn’t probably news to any student of politics, it’s still likely to be a fascinating event! Book here.

Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Time of Coronavirus: Perspectives from Brazil and India

Friday 12th June

12-2pm

A week’s advance warning for this event because it looks fantastic. Featuring our Department’s Dr Phil Roberts and Dr Indrajit Roy, as well as Dr Sabrina Fernandes and Harsh Mander. This session will explore how the coronavirus pandemic effects political dynamics in Brazil and India, and particular the perceived shift of both countries towards more authoritarian governance in recent years. You can book online now.

Good News

Last Thursday the results of YUSU’s Annual Excellence Awards (rebranded as E-xcellence Awards to reflect the shift online) were announced and it was an absolutely amazing year for our Department. Staff from our Department won in 4 of the 5 categories for which they were shortlisted making us the winningest Department of the year! The winners were:

Dr Pavlos Vasilopoulos - Outstanding Feedback
Dr Alasia Nuti - Promoting Equality & Diversity
Charlie King - Championing Careers
Dr Jeremy Moulton - Supporting the Student Voice

Thank you to everyone that took the time to nominate!