News Release Archive 2000
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New Index |
2000 press releases are listed in date order, with the most
recent first. For further details, please contact Katie
Price, Press and PR Officer, External Relations Office
on 01784 443967.
28.11.00 Medieval music manuscripts now
on-line
28.11.00 Insanity Scoops Student Radio Award
8.11.00 Student magazine wins Guardian
award
3.11.00 Student gymnast comes fourth
in European Championships
13.10.00 Royal Holloway historians
give Guildford lectures
13.10.00 AUCC Recognition for Royal
Holloway Counselling Service
11.10.00 Seminars explore changing UK labour
market
9.10.00 Welling woman elected SU President!
5.10.00 Royal Holloway student gets
top marks for enterprise
1.10.00 Royal Holloway student's scientific
feat
1.10.00 Pupils make conceptual art
for new building
25.09.00 UK-India university link promotes
enterprise for women
25.09.00 20th-century music laid bare in
lecture series
22.09.00
Royal Opening of International Building
22.09.00 Changing Rooms
1.09.00 Media Masters
1.08.00 Royal Holloway's towering trees
top the charts
20.07.00 College Chapel restored
20.06.00 Lottery brings prestigious artists
to Royal Holloway
15.06.00 Kiss of Peace has lost its meaning,
claims scholar
2.06.00 David Jenkins reflects on power
of the market at Thanksgiving Service
2.06.00 Robot-racing at Royal Holloway
26.05.00 Nineteenth-century music conference
- 29 June to 2 July
5.05.00 Portable particle physics from
the car boot
4.05.00 Conference explores the kiss in history
5.04.00 Murder enquiry shows Surrey schoolchildren
the power of science
4.04.00 Royal Holloway teams up with Royal
& Ancient to offer golf scholarship
28.03.00 Royal Holloway wins Ray Denne
Rosebowl as new Sports Centre opens
23.03.00 Joint bid wins English Subject
Centre
23.03.00 A S Byatt guests at English teacher's
forum
16.03.00 Royal Holloway scientists test GM
food safety
21.02.00 World and early music meet
14.02.00 Exploring Science Open Day -
Saturday 11 March
14.02.00 Brownie Guider goes down under
to see sunrise
18.01.00 Royal Holloway celebrates
bicentenary of Founder's birth
18.01.00 Royal Holloway students in
rainforest drama on Channel Four
18.01.00 Future of the firm explored by
Royal Holloway expert
17.01.00 Felicity Lott and Susan Bullock
mark Founder's bicentenary
17.01.00 Royal Holloway scholar is
expert witness in Holocaust libel trial
28.11.00 Medieval music manuscripts
now on-line
Colour images of priceless, fragile and rarely-seen medieval
music manuscripts held in repositories across the UK are now
available through the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
website (http://www.diamm.ac.uk).
This wealth of material, a large collection of unique and
delicate fragments, has hitherto only been seen by a handful
of scholars. Special copyright permission has been obtained;
visitors to the site wishing to browse the images will require
a password, obtainable free of charge from julia.craig-mcfeely@music.ox.ac.uk.
The DIAMM project is led by Andrew Wathey of Royal Holloway,
University of London and Margaret Bent, of All Souls College
Oxford. It is a new resource for scholars which aims to digitize,
archive and make available images of British manuscripts of
medieval polyphonic music, and to develop techniques of digital
image enhancement, or 'virtual restoration', to retrieve lost
data or improve the legibility of materials that cannot at
present be read. Further groups of images, amounting to the
entire corpus of fragmentary English manuscripts of pre-Reformation
polyphony, totalling circa 2300 pages from over 85 separate
repositories, will be made available over the coming months.
Professor Andrew Wathey of Royal Holloway, University of
London said: "The study of these manuscripts has until now
been hampered by illegibility, and also by their very wide
geographic spread. We warmly invite colleagues to explore
these materials, and to make use of them in their research
and teaching."
ENDS Notes to editors: Documents from the following repositories
are accessible from November 2000: Arundel Castle Cambridge,
King's College Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys Library
Coventry, City Archives Exeter, Devon Record Office Leeds
University, Brotherton Library London, British Library [in
progress] London, Private Collection of Christopher de Hamel
London, Lambeth Palace London, Lincoln's Inn London, Royal
College of Physicians London, Westminster Abbey Oxford, All
Souls College Oxford, Bodleian Library [in progress] Oxford,
Corpus Christi College Oxford, Magdalen College Stratford,
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Winchester, Winchester College
Worcester, Dean and Chapter Library York, Borthwick Institute
of Historical Research York, Minster Archives
28.11.00 Insanity Scoops Student Radio
Award
Insanity, Royal Holloway's student radio station has scooped
Best Marketing and Promotions in the Student Radio Awards
2000 for the second year in a row. Ex Station Manager Matt
Deegan and current Head of Production Tom Shaw picked up the
award at the glittering ceremony sponsored by BBC Radio 1
and student pub chain It's A Scream.
Radio 1's Emma B said the station won it's awards by "Making
sure that the hard work put into the station’s output is enjoyed
by ensuring the audience is listening. This year’s entrants
all made a visible impression on their campuses on and off
air. The winner this year however had the conviction to concentrate
its energies on one campaign". The station was also one of
the most recognised at the Awards with nominations for Best
Female presenter for current Station Manager Natasha Sims,
Best Technical Innovation for Matt Deegan and Best Speech
show for Marija Skara and Derek Szeto's Verbal Fish.
ENDS
8.11.00 Student magazine wins Guardian
award
Orbital, the monthly magazine produced by students at Royal
Holloway, University of London, was runner-up in the Student
Magazine of the Year category at the Guardian Student Media
Awards. Oxford University's Isis won the title.
The awards were announced at a ceremony in central London
hosted by Dermont O'Leary, presenter of the Channel 4 show
T4. The panel of judges included Alan Rusbridger, editor of
the Guardian; Piers Morgan, editor of the Mirror; Jon Snow,
Channel 4 News; Jeremy Vine, Newsnight; Marta Lane Fox of
lastminute.com; Janes Brown, former editor of GQ and Loaded;
and Mark Thomas, comedian and broadcaster.
ENDS
3.11.00 Student gymnast comes fourth
in European Championships
Tumbler Ross Gibson, a member of Royal Holloway's Elite Sportspersons
Scheme, took a silver medal as part of Great Britain's team
at the European Championships in Eindoven, Holland, on the
last weekend of October. The 20-year-old, now in the third
year of a French and Management Degree, also came fourth in
the trampoline and tumbling tournament, after a small mistake
in his final routine put him out of the individual medals.
Ross is a member of the Spelthorne Sports Acrobatics club
in Ashford. His coach, Alison Cooper, said: "Ross was absolutely
outstanding and was the highest-placed western European in
a discipline normally dominated by the old eastern block."
Ross is currently ranked number two (GB) and number seven
tumbler in the world and appeared in the Opening Ceremony
of the Sydney Olympics on 15th September.
ENDS
13.10.00 Royal Holloway historians
give Guildford lectures
The Guildford Museum Lecture Series, which encourages public
interest in archaeology, history and the fine arts, begins
its 2000/2001 season in October. This year all the illustrated
lectures come from one of the finest History Departments in
the country - Egham-based Royal Holloway, University of London.
Details of the Autumn lectures are as follows:
- Thursday 26 October 'Byzantium: the Forgotten Empire'
by Jonathan Harris, Lecturer in Byzantine History at Royal
Holloway, University of London.
- Wednesday 22 November 'Their name shall live on: English
medieval church brasses' by Nigel Saul is Professor of Medieval
History, Royal Holloway, University of London, and President
of the Monumental Brass Society.
- Thursday 14 December 'Richard the Lionheart and Saladin'
by Dr Jonathan Phillips, Lecturer in Medieval History at
Royal Holloway, University of London.
All lectures take place in the Guildhall in Guildford High
Street and start at 7.30pm. Further details from the Lecture
Series Coordinator, Guildford Museum on 01483 444752.
ENDS
13.10.00 AUCC Recognition for
Royal Holloway Counselling Service
The Royal Holloway Counselling Service became the first
Service in Britain to be granted Service Recognition by the
AUCC (Association of University and College Counsellors),
a division of the British Association for Counselling on 9
October 2000.
The Recognition was granted after the Service was assessed
for its performance under eight detailed criteria of quality.
The assessment process included a lengthy visit. The Service
was thoroughly inspected, representatives of the College,
the Health Centre and the Student Union were interviewed,
and our client feedback was scrutinised. The assessors had
concluded in their report that they were "extremely happy
with all aspects ... of what they found".
The Counselling Service has always been a firm supporter
of the proper regulation of counsellling and so is proud to
be the first to be able to offer this new assurance of quality.
ENDS
11.10.00 Seminars explore changing
UK labour market
The rapidly changing UK labour market comes under scrutiny
in a series of seminars being staged for the business community
by the Department of Economics, Royal Holloway, University
of London. Led by academic experts, the seminar series will
consider, amongst other issues, the effects of new union recognition
legislation, the growth of temporary and part-time work, the
changing ethnic composition of the labour force and the dynamics
of innovation and employee performance. Seminars take place
at Royal Holloway's Gower Street offices in central London
from 5pm to 7pm on Wednesday 20th September 2000, Wednesday
25th October and Wednesday 22nd November 2000.
The seminar leaders are Professor Willie Brown (University
of Cambridge), Professor Angela Dale (University of Manchester),
Professor Alison Booth (University of Essex), and Professor
Jonathan Michie (Birkbeck College). The seminars are part
of the Economic & Social Research Council's major 'Future
of Work' programme which brings together leading researchers
in a fresh investigation of the future prospects for paid
and unpaid work. The Programme is producing evidence-based
research to assist policy makers and practitioners to interpret
the changing world of work in era of rapid social, technological
and economic change.
Professor Jeff Frank, Head of Economics at Royal Holloway,
said: "The patterns of work are undergoing radical change
as we move into the new economy. Explorations of the new labour
market are best done with feedback between business and academic
economists. This series of workshops is designed to further
that goal."
For more details about the seminars, contact Stephen Hughes
at Royal Holloway, University of London on 01784 414317 or
e-mail connections@rhul.ac.uk
ENDS
9.10.00 Welling woman elected SU President!
A woman from Welling in south-east London has been elected
president of one of the most successful Student Unions in
the country. Kirsty Duncombe is the new President of the Students'
Union at Royal Holloway, University of London, the first woman
in the post for six years. Kirsty, 21, read English and Drama
at Royal Holloway, graduating this year with a 2.I. The only
child of a Thames boatman and a bank clerk, she attended Townley
Grammar School for Girls.
"I wanted to be a History teacher for years," says Kirsty,
"But as GCSEs approached I realised that History wouldn't
give me so many chances to perform." Kirsty has tap-danced
since she was tiny, though in recent years she has concentrated
on modern dance. A levels of Politics, English and Theatre
gained her a place at Royal Holloway, where she has continued
to dance and act. As a student she was the vice-president
of the Dance Society, directed and wrote the RAG-week pantomime
and choreographed many of the shows put on by other students,
such as the Rugby Club's Full Monty. She has continued to
pursue politics too, working as Elections Officer for the
Students' Union and being involved in campaigns like the fight
against tuition fees.
"I had a fantastic time as a student at Royal Holloway. The
best thing about it is the campus community," she says. "The
Students' Union is very active and I ran for President because
I want it to continue to be the best it can be."
In her forthcoming year in office, Kirsty has very specific
targets. She wants to consolidate the professionalism within
the Students' Union, developing accreditation for its 300-odd
student employees in their work as bar staff, security guards,
welfare officers, business managers and so on. She is also
keen to develop external affairs, strengthening relationships
with the local community and schools. She wants to build strong
links with all the secondary schools in the area, and extend
initiatives like the community sports days, students tutoring
scheme and RAG week, which raises money for local and national
charities.
And after her presidential year? As a student, Kirsty spent
her summers working as a holiday camp entertainer at Haven
camps in Plymouth and Skegness. She says she is seriously
tempted by the lifestyle ("You basically get paid to dance
to YMCA!"). However, politics loom larger and she is very
interested in political lobbying and animal rights. But for
now, her sights are firmly fixed on developing the Students'
Union to its full potential. "Students now pay so much for
a university education, the least we can do is offer them
the best."
ENDS
5.10.00 Royal Holloway student
gets top marks for enterprise
A Royal Holloway student has won the title of most enterprising
student in London. 20-year-old Paul Jackson, who comes from
Sydenham, south-east London, is in the third year of a four-year
Physics degree. On 4 October he won the London final of the
Shell Technology Enterprise Programme, a scheme that gives
undergraduate students 8-week summer work placements with
small and medium sized businesses across Britain.
The students write reports and give presentations on completion
of their placements, and special awards are given for the
best performance in each region of Britain. During his placement,
Paul introduced an innovative process mapping system for a
Kent based research & development organisation - SIRA Test
& Certification Ltd. The process mapping system is a business
tool that allows the flow of a company's processes to be followed
so that any discontinuities or inefficiencies can be found.
Paul said: "Using this method I saved the company £5,000
per annum and left them with the skills and infrastructure
(I also redesigned their Intranet front end) to allow them
to continue process mapping and thus make massive savings
throughout the business. When I finish my degree, I hope to
work in the IT industry, possibly with my own web design company."
ENDS
1.10.00 Royal Holloway student's scientific
feat
A dyslexic student from Royal Holloway, University of London
has the rare achievement of the publication of a scientific
paper while only in his second year at university. Ashley
Huxham, 21, a second-year student in Biological Sciences,
is the co-author on a scientific paper based on work he did
in Dr Simon Cutting's laboratory in his spare time (not as
part of any coursework).
Characterisation of Bacillus Species Used for Oral Bacteriotherapy
and Bacterioprophylaxis of Gastrointestinal Disorders by Hoa,
N.T., Baccigalupi, L., Huxham, A., Smertenko, A., Van, P.H.,
Ricca, E. & Cutting, S.M. (2000) is published in the December
issue of the scientific journal, Applied Environmental Microbiology.
Ashley worked on edible bacteria called probiotics, which
are believed to improve your diet and prevent mild intestinal
disorders such as diarrhoea. Bacillus subtilis spores are
now being sold to the public in health food shops, labelled
as novel foods. Since B. subtilis is an aerobic saprophyte,
how spores may benefit the gut microbiota is an intriguing
question, since other probiotics which colonise the gut, such
as Lactobacillus spp, are anaerobes.
As a first step in understanding the potential effects of
ingesting spores, Ashley worked as part of a team to characterise
five commercial products. An extensive analysis revealed that
four of these products are miss-labelled - they claimed to
contain the organism B. subtilis but in fact contained a different
species. Moreover, four of these products showed high levels
of antibiotic resistance. The results of the team's analysis,
published in the forthcoming paper, are important because
they illustrate the current poor state of testing and food
standards and fuels demand for proper characterisation of
products to avoid health threats.
Royal Holloway's Dr Cutting said: "It is extremely unusual
for undergraduates to get publications. Ashley is very motivated
and carried out this worked in his spare time. Getting a paper
so early puts him in a good position in the future."
Ashley comes from Richmond and went to London Oratory School
followed by Kingston College.
ENDS
1.10.00 Pupils make conceptual
art for new building
Schoolchildren from Englefield Green, Surrey, are working
alongside artist Alan Ball to make a new artwork based on
their favourite words. Alan Ball, whose work features in the
Saatchi Collection and the Arts Council of England's collection,
is one of two artists-in-residence for the new Public Art
Project at Royal Holloway, University of London. An artist
who works with text and photographic images, his practice
is aligned with the Public Art Project's theme of 'Text and
Internationalism'. He will work with three Year Five classes
from St Jude's Church of England Primary School in Englefield
Green, the village adjoining Royal Holloway's campus.
During October, Ball will spend days at the school discussing
his practice and making work with the children. These sessions
will be followed by visits to the award-winning new International
Building at Royal Holloway, where each child will participate
in the making of a new piece of art. The overall idea of the
project is to focus on the theme of people's favourite words.
Working with the children Ball will compile a database of
words, which will then be installed into a computer. These
words will eventually be randomly projected (by means of an
interactive display) on a wall in the new International Building.
The International Building, which houses the modern languages
department including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
and Japanese, is officially opened in October 2000 by HRH
Princess Royal.
ENDS
25.09.00 UK-India university link promotes
enterprise for women
Royal Holloway, University of London has teamed up with
an Indian university to encourage small businesses in Tamil
Nadu. Dr Vandana Desai of Royal Holloway's Department of Geography,
has established a research partnership with Mother Teresa
Women's University (MTWU), Kodaikanal. The collaboration's
first project is entitled "Women, Empowerment and Poverty
Reduction: Promoting Microlevel Enterprises" and is supported
by the British Council Higher Education Link Programme.
The project's main aim is to promote self-employment among
women and influence NGO and government policies. It will develop
new short and long-term training programmes for women on developing
micro-enterprises, providing workshops on various experiences
of microlevel enterprises in other developing countries, giving
relevant seminars and case study exposure to the local academic
staff, and develop their skills in running the training programmes.
The participants in these training programmes are women who
have not completed schooling and so have no basic qualifications.
They are targeted under the poverty alleviation programme
of the state government of Tamil Nadu, and come from both
urban areas in and around Chennai and rural areas in and around
Kodaikanal.
Dr Yasodha Shanmugasundaram, the Vice Chancellor of the MTWU,
visited Royal Holloway in August, when she and Dr Desai finalised
the curriculum for the certificate and diploma courses on
micro-enterprises for women. In December 2000, Dr Desai will
visit the MTWU campuses in Chennai and Kodaikanal and conduct
workshops for MTWU staff who will be delivering the new training
programme. Dr Desai's expertise lies in urban issues, particularly
in slum housing, community participation in developmental
programmes, gender issues in developing countries, and the
role of non-government organisation (NGOs) in delivering services
at the grassroots and now in promoting micro-level enterprises.
During her visit in December, Dr Desai will be interviewing
women and NGOs as part of her continuing research into empowerment
strategies for poor women.
Dr Desai said: "We are very excited about the chance to collaborate
with staff and students at Mother Teresa Women's University.
During the project we will explore future research possibilities
between the two institutions. We will be promoting postgraduate
opportunities here at our Surrey campus and looking at the
potential for our students to do research in Chennai and Kodaikanal
through Mother Teresa Women's University."
ENDS
25.09.00 20th-century music laid bare
in lecture series
In a series of six public lectures, Arnold Whittall explores
the world of 20th-century music, ranging from the relationship
between music and place to the meaning of modernism. Through
scrutiny of some of the great composers of the last century
- Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Boulez, Birtwistle, Britten, and
Carter - Professor Whittall examines the aesthetic, technique
and cultural practices which characterised a period of phenomenal
diversification in musical life.
Arnold Whittall is Emeritus Professor of Musical Theory and
Analysis at King's College London, Visiting Professor at the
University of Reading, and Distinguished Visiting Lecturer
at Royal Holloway, University of London. The lectures are
sponsored by the Department of Music, Royal Holloway, University
of London, and supported by the Society for Music Analysis.
They take place on Thursdays from 6pm to 7pm in the Chancellor's
Hall, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London
WC1. Admission is free, without ticket.
Dates and titles of lectures are as follows:
- 6 October 2000 Western Discontents: Locating Modernism
before 1914
- 16 November 2000 Old Institutions, New Music
- 7 December 2000 Schoenberg or Stravinsky?
- 25 January 2001 The Subject of Britten
- 22 February 2001 Playing the Establishment: Boulez, Carter,
Birtwistle
- 15 March 2001 Revoicing Expression: Postmodern Classicism
For abstracts and further information, please contact Professor
John Rink at Royal Holloway, University of London (j.rink@rhul.ac.uk).
ENDS
22.09.00 Royal Opening of International
Building
HRH The Princess Royal visits the College for the second
time in two years, when she opens the award-winning International
Building. Her visit in October, in her capacity as Chancellor
of the University of London, will also mark the launch of
Royal Holloway's Public Art Project. Two newly commissioned
artworks - by Turner Prize nominee Simon Patterson and glass
artist Helen Maurer - will be on show.
The visit is a highlight of this year's celebrations of the
Bicentenary of the Birth of Thomas Holloway. The Princess
Royal will meet colleagues from the Department of Estates
and Facilities who have been involved in the design and construction
of the International Building, which houses the College's
language departments and language centre. In 1999 the Building
won a regional prize for excellence in design from the Royal
Institute of British Architects, and members of ECD, the architects
of the building, will meet the Princess. She will make a tour
of the English Department, guided by Professor Kiernan Ryan,
and the Language Centre, guided by Dr Sheryl Simon. The Princess
Royal will also meet the artists and co-ordinators of the
Public Art Project, as well as representatives of the school
and community groups involved in an education and interpretation
programme.
The Principal will host the visit and special guests will
include the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, the Chair of the Surrey
County Council, the Mayor of Runnymede, the High Sheriff,
Honorary Fellows and Associates and representatives of the
Business Partnership. The Princess Royal's previous visit
in 1999 was a highlight of the Sesquicentenary Celebrations
of the founding of Bedford College.
ENDS
22.09.00 Changing Rooms
The Bedford Centre for the History of Women is a key player
in one of eight new Research Centres to be funded by the Arts
and Humanities Research Council. In partnership with the School
of Humanities at the Royal College of Art and the Research
Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Bedford
Centre has won £850,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research
Council (AHRB) to establish the Centre for the Study of the
Domestic Interior. The AHRB funded only eight centres, out
of nearly 150 applications.
The purpose of the Centre is to enrich our understanding
of the domestic interior in Western Europe and North America
from the Renaissance to the present day. It will research
the changing appearance and layout of rooms in a range of
buildings, from cottages to palaces. It will investigate the
objects that furnished those rooms and the ways rooms and
objects were depicted, whether in Renaissance paintings or
twentieth-century advertisements. It will consider how people
used rooms and furnishings, and how they thought about them.
Simply stated, the goal is to develop a new history of the
home and its contents.
The existing research interests of staff and students at
the Bedford Centre feed directly into the work of the new
Centre. Domestic spaces have, in the western tradition, often
been regarded as female spaces. A key theme for the new Centre
is the way this cultural link between women and the domestic
sphere translated into female control of the look and use
of the domestic interior. The Director of the Centre will
be Jeremy Aynsley at the Royal College of Art, the lead institution.
Associate Directors will be Amanda Vickery, Co-Director of
the Bedford Centre, and John Styles, Head of Postgraduate
Studies at the V&A.
ENDS
1.09.00 Media Masters
Two important figures from the world of TV have joined the
Media Arts staff. Tony Garnett, the most respected and creative
drama producer working in British television (including Cathy
Come Home, This Life) and Mike Grigsby, renowned television
documentarist, start teaching this year.
The MA programmes have been redeveloped to capitalise on
the Department's practical and theoretical strengths, with
masters in film and television production, documentary by
practice, feature film screen writing and gender and sexuality
on film. Susan Rogers, former head of development at Zoetrope
Studios and United Artists, West Coast, and creator of Kavanagh
QC, already leads the Feature Film Screenwriting MA. Professor
Mandy Merck, new Head of Department, leads the MA in Gender
and Sexuality on Film, together with Dr Stella Bruzzi.
ENDS
1.08.00 Royal Holloway's towering trees
top the charts
Royal Holloway is home to some of the finest rare trees Britain.
A recent visit by the Tree Register, a charity which keeps
a unique record of notable and ancient trees in Britain and
Ireland, confirms that several of the College's trees 'national
champions', the largest examples currently known in Britain.
The old arboretum, tucked away between residential streets
in Englefield Green, is tended by, amongst others, the College's
longest-serving gardener Ron Wyatt, who retires this year.
Ron, a lifelong resident of Egham, joined the College close
to 40 years ago and was instrumental in the development of
the arboretum in the 1960s and the planting of some of the
rare specimens. The arboretum is home to three champion trees,
an American larch, a native of Alaska and Canada, a Simon's
poplar and an impressive north American white oak. Another
champion is the western plane tree that flourishes near the
Drama Department, though it is not supposed to be cultivatable
in Britain. The monkey puzzle tree by the Founder's Building
is exceptional for south east England, the strawberry is one
of the tallest in the country and the Californian nutmeg and
the Chilean yew by the Computer Centre also drew the attention
of the surveyors.
Sarah Case, curator of the College's botanical supply unit,
said: "Trees grow very quickly on our campus because it is
sited on underlying sand, which provides good drainage and
allows their roots to spread rapidly. The Tree Register makes
a continuous survey of Britain and Ireland, which means they
manage to visit us about once every ten years. We always knew
we had a very special collection of trees here at Royal Holloway,
but it's exciting to find just how important they are on a
national scale."
Dr Owen Johnson, of the Tree Register, says: "Many of the
plantings are of great rarity and as they approach maturity
there are becoming an increasingly important collection. The
group of southern beeches may be unique in Britain for the
opportunity it offers of seeing good examples of nearly all
the species in cultivation, growing side by side."
Royal Holloway's trees have an important educational role
and are used by the departments of Biology, Geography and
Geology in the teaching of students as well as in research.
The Tree Register was founded in 1988 by the late Alan Mitchell,
in order to continue work begun in the 1800s registering rare
and exceptional trees in Britain and Ireland. Its Patron is
the Duchess of Devonshire. The unique register is a computer
database with details of more than 125,000 trees, and provides
information on the size and growth of trees which is not available
from any other source. Visit www.tree-register.org
ENDS
20.07.00 College Chapel restored
After 5 months of scaffolding and dustsheets, Royal Holloway's
Chapel is revealed in all its glory. The fine ceiling plasterwork
and wall and ceiling decorations have undergone a programme
of cleaning, conservation and repair by a team of craftspeople
from the renowned Cliveden Conservation Workshop.
The works were prompted by the urgent need to secure the
large and heavy modelled plasterwork which had moved over
the years and exhibited ugly cracks and was considered in
such a poor state that a safety net had been installed to
catch falling pieces. Under the direction of architect Peter
Riddington of Donald Insall Associates (who restored three
of the State Rooms at Windsor Castle) the works programme
has involved:
- Installing, above the ceiling, twelve hundred stainless
steel ties to ensure the plaster will remain in place even
if the original fixings fail.
- Cleaning and consolidating all of the gilded and painted
surfaces to reveal the original schemes. No attempt has been
made to redecorate, but rather only to expose the original
scheme.
- Filling of cracks and touching in lost decoration.
The Chapel was constructed as part of W H Crossland's work
creating the Founders Building and completed in July 1887.
The modelled plasterwork to the ceiling was created by an
Italian, Fucigná, who, alas, died before works were completed
and the apse end figures were completed by his pupils. The
decorations were carried out by Messrs Clayton & Ball and
are both directly onto the plaster and stonework and onto
canvas roundels pinned to the plaster ceiling.
ENDS
Back to Top |
20.06.00 Lottery brings prestigious
artists to Royal Holloway
The new visual arts programme at Royal Holloway, University
of London has been strengthened by a grant from the National
Lottery. The College has received the award for the first
stage of its Public Art Project, a scheme to commission works
of art for its recently completed International Building.
In the Public Art Project, coordinated by APM for Royal Holloway,
artists Simon Patterson and Helen Maurer will make new work
for the International Building, which received one of the
RIBA's Regional Awards for Architecture last year. In addition,
the Public Arts Project will include an education and interpretation
programme run by local artists for local schools and arts
groups.
The National Lottery award comes as the College secures two
of the first AHRB 3-year Fellowships in Creative and Performing
Arts. Visual artist Kathy Prendergast joins the Department
of Geography and multi-media artist Rona Lee joins the Department
of Drama and Theatre Studies in September.
Vice-Principal Francis Robinson said: "The College has a
fine tradition of nurturing creativity. The Lottery funding
and the AHRB fellowship scheme further advance our commitment
to the interaction between scholarship and the arts."
Royal Holloway is renowned for its strengths in the performing
arts. Its departments of Drama and Theatre Studies, Media
Arts, and Music are all carry the top rating - 5* - for research.
It also has an important collection of paintings - including
works by Frith and Millais - housed in its famous Picture
Gallery, which attracts thousands of visitors every year.
ENDS
15.06.00 Kiss of Peace has lost its meaning,
claims scholar
The position of the kiss of peace in the modern eucharist
is currently a subject of heated controversy. At a forthcoming
conference convened by the Bedford Centre for the History
of Women at Royal Holloway, University of London, a session
is devoted to the kiss in worship and ritual.
"The Kiss in History" is a one-day conference on Saturday
1 July 2000 at the Institute of Historical Research in Central
London. The 'kiss of peace' was that point in the mass when
the priest took the peace of God from the body of Christ on
the altar and then passed it in the form of a kiss to the
deacon and subdeacon. From them it passed among those present,
each receiving the peace of God from his neighbour and passing
it on in return.
The ecclesiastical historian Alan Bray, a fellow of Birkbeck
College, who chairs the Worship and Ritual session, says:
"The social significance of the kiss made its use rare and
potentially momentous when employed. In historical terms,
the modern form of the kiss of peace, originating with the
individual, is askew. The point of the gesture was that this
was God's peace, given unmerited and as an act of grace. Hence
the importance of its passing from the altar."
Cate Gunn, University of Southampton, explores the significance
of the kiss of peace in thirteenth-century liturgy and its
relevance to the female spirituality advocated in Ancrene
Wisse. Craig Koslofsky, University of Illinois, claims that
the elimination of the kiss from Protestant liturgy during
the Reformation signified a profound development in the history
of the body. Jonathan Durrant, Royal Holloway, University
of London, examines the osculum infame, the kiss of shame
on the buttocks of the Devil, a particularly obscene perversion
of the kiss of peace. As an effective metaphor for apostasy,
the kiss of shame dominated pictorial representations of heretical
groups, but Durrant concludes the Catholic Church's assault
on popular culture in Early Modern Europe failed to have much
impact on the behaviour or identities of the faithful. Other
sessions during the day are devoted to Intimacy and Emotion,
Power and Identity and Ambiguity and Transgression.
ENDS
The Rt Revd David Jenkins is the guest preacher at the annual
Thanksgiving Service to mark the end of the Academic Year
at Royal Holloway, University of London, on Sunday 11 June
2000 at 6.00pm. The former Bishop of Durham takes as his theme
Pentecost, Pluralism and Market Performances. In his sermon
he will seek to reflect on the ways in which both the Holy
Spirit and the Market claim to unify our human enterprise,
and what this has to say about the Christian faith and the
responsibilities of universities to the quest for truth.The
service also includes the first performance of two newly commissioned
pieces of music for the Chapel Choir: a setting of Psalm 96
by Andrew Downes, and Polyeleos by Ivan Moody, a former choir
member.
The service will take place in the Church of the Assumption,
Harvest Road, Englefield Green, Surrey because of renovation
work in the College Chapel.
ENDS
The Computer Science Department at Royal Holloway, hosts
the national Micromouse Competition for universities on Saturday
3 June. In this annual robotics competition, universities
design autonomous robot micromice, which can navigate a maze.
These small maze-solving robots race to complete a route around
an 8-foot square maze. Royal Holloway is fielding several
squads from its own micromouse design and construction team
against a dozen other teams from universities around the UK.
Dr Adrian Johnstone, Senior Lecturer in Computing, said:
"The Micromouse competition is a first rate opportunity to
build up students' computing skills and have some fun at the
same time."
ENDS
Back to Top
The eleventh International Conference on Nineteenth-Century
Music is hosted next month by Royal Holloway's Department
of Music, which has internationally- recognised research strengths
in the subject. Professor Hermann Danuser (Humboldt Universität,
Berlin) gives the keynote paper on 'Specificity in Musicology'
and special round-table sessions explore Romanticism and the
Historical Consciousness (chair: John Daverio, Boston University);
The Beethoven Influence (chair: Daniel Chua); and Editing
Opera (chair: Richard Langham Smith). Kenneth Hamilton (University
of Birmingham) gives a recital on an Erard piano from 1851,
and the internationally acclaimed Florestan Trio perform in
Royal Holloway's magnificent Picture Gallery.
Royal Holloway fields five of the 74 international speakers
who will give presentations to an additional 100 delegates.
Sessions include: Music, Literature and the Arts; Italian
Studies; Nationalism; The Victorian Era; Music as Commodity;
Paris: Decadence, Eroticism and the Grotesque; Lieder; Homage
and Appropriation; Performing Traditions; Ethnomusicology
in the Nineteenth Century; Popular Musics; Politics and the
State; Women's History; Gender Studies; Mozart's Legacy; and
Issues in Theory and Analysis.
Royal Holloway's Department of Music is largest music department
in the UK to hold the coveted top 5* rating for research in
the last Research Assessment Exercise. The Conference has
received financial support from the Arts and Humanities Research
Board, Music and Letters Trust, Grove Dictionaries of Music,
Society for Music Analysis, University of Birmingham Music
Department, Oxford University Press Journals, Cambridge University
Press and Ashgate Publishing.
ENDS
Scientists from Royal Holloway are developing a neat device
designed to bring practical particle physics into the classroom.
Most experiments to investigate the elementary particles of
matter take place at large international accelerator laboratories
that few people get a chance to visit. However, more A-level
courses are introducing particle physics into the syllabus
and the project has been developed by Royal Holloway physicists
to offer students a taste of practical aspects of the subject.
The new device, developed by Professor Mike Green, will easily
fit in the boot of a car and can be taken to schools to demonstrate
the existence of cosmic rays and measure the mean lifetime
of muons. The device is a small detector for muons, elementary
particles found in the showers of cosmic rays that bombard
the earth from space. These particles are created in the atmosphere
and decay in about a millionth of a second in a process similar
to radioactive decay. The detector consists of a block of
special transparent plastic, called scintillator, which gives
off light when a particle passes through it. This light is
detected by a photomultiplier to produce electronic signals
that are analysed by a small circuit. The data is collected
and displayed on a PC.
The project, entitled "Measurement of the muon lifetime",
is one of 16 recently awarded funding by PPARC in their annual
Small Awards scheme to encourage the public understanding
of science. It has also been awarded a kitemark by the European
Commission to draw attention to some of the best practices
in physics teaching in schools with the aim of raising standards
and improving scientific literacy at all levels.
ENDS
The Bedford Centre for the History of Women, Royal Holloway,
University of London stages a conference in July to examine
the kiss in history. This one-day conference, organised by
Karen Harvey, will be held at the Institute of Historical
Research, University of London on Saturday 1 July 2000.
The kiss has served as a capacious carrier of much social,
political and cultural freight. As a ritual, the kiss was
tied to religiosity, and was a controversial part of Mass.
It has acted as a gesture through which a range of social
relationships were forged and reproduced. Indeed, the kiss
has been infused with notions of power and authority. While
clearly bearing connotations of a sexual and erotic nature,
the kiss has signalled danger, transgression, betrayal and
the power to transform. The key themes include intimacy and
love, power and friendship, reverence and worship, danger,
transgression and profanity. At the conference, a series of
discussions explore the kiss in cultural artefacts, print
cultures or practice in a range of times and places, from
Greco-Roman antiquity to Paris in the 1950s.
Talks include: The emotional and the physical: 'Kiss
me, Hardy': The Dying Kiss in the First World War Trenches
Santanu Das (St. John’s College, Cambridge); A kiss between
a mistress and her maid in the late eighteenth century Carole
Williams (University of Essex) Power: 'Give me a thousand
kisses': the kiss, identity, and power in Greco-Roman antiquity
Richard Hawley (Royal Holloway); Kisses for votes in eighteenth-century
politics Elaine Chalus (BathSpa University); The kiss of life
in eighteenth century resuscitation Luke Davidson (University
of York) Worship: Women and the kiss of peace in early
modern religion Cate Gunnet (University of Southampton); Shameful
kissing in the witch’s sabbath Jonathan Durrant (Royal
Holloway) Ambiguity: 'Kissing Cousins: the problem
of cousin marriage in early modern England' Seth Denbo (University
of Warwick); 'Lawful kisses? Sexual ambiguity and platonic
friendship in late seventeenth-century advice literature'
Helen Berry (University of Northumbria); 'Adulterous Kisses
and the Meanings of Familiarity in Early Modern Britain' David
Turner (University of Glamorgan).
ENDS
Royal Holloway and Surrey County Council have teamed up to
stage a special Forensic Science Day for gifted students.
On 14 April, over 100 students from secondary schools all
over the county converge on the laboratories of Royal Holloway
at its Egham campus for hands-on experience of a whole variety
of scientific techniques.
Three Year 10 students from each school will work alongside
postgraduate scientists in a mixed programme of practical
work and theoretical input. First, the students will be presented
with the details of a grisly murder and asked to establish
the identity of the murderer, where the murder took place
and when it occurred. The pupils will use DNA analysis, sedimentology,
scanning electron microscopy, chemistry and forensic biology
to piece together the clues. Then, the students will use a
variety of physical and chemical analytical techniques to.tackle
the question: are modern orange juices made from the juice
of oranges? Modern food packaging contains lots of scientific
information - but how do we check the content of our food
and is the labelling correct?
Ron Bibby, Surrey County Consultant for Science, said: "This
is part of the Education Committee's strategy to support gifted
and talented science students. The day has been planned to
give gifted science students access to postgraduate university
scientists and positive role models."
Royal Holloway Dean of Science, Professor John Lowe said:
"We are delighted to be collaborating with Surrey County Council.
Royal Holloway is justly proud of its science teaching and
research and this is an excellent way of showing talented
pupils just how compelling and exciting a training in science
can be."
ENDS
Royal Holloway and The Royal & Ancient Golf Club have
developed a bursary scheme to support outstanding golfers
through their higher education. The first Royal Holloway-Royal
& Ancient Golf Scholarship has been awarded to Alexander
Morgan from Weybridge, Surrey. Alexander, 20, a first year
student of Management and French, has played golf since he
was 12 and shows excellent promise as a first class golfer.
He plays off 4.7 at Wentworth and, in the words of his PGA
teacher, "has tremendous golfing ability".
The scholarship is the latest initiative in Royal Holloway's
flourishing Elite Sports Persons Programme, which turned out
two world champions (orienteering and canoeing) in 1999 and
this year sends three members to Sydney for the Olympics.
All members of the Programme perform at a National or International
level. The programme is seen as a partnership between the
elite performer and the College, striking a balance between
studying, sports training and competition at the highest level.
For more details about the Elite Sports Persons programme
or the Royal & Ancient Golf Scholarships, contact Royal
Holloway's Sports Development Officer on 01784 414170.
ENDS
Back to Top
Royal Holloway is the first recipient of the Ray Denne Rosebowl,
in recognition of the College's contribution to the development
of sport in the Borough. The Rosebowl, in memory of Ray Denne
who died last year, is awarded at the discretion of the Chairman
of Runnymede Sports Council to a person, people or organisation
for exceptional achievement or special merit. The award comes
just a week after the Mayor of Runnymede formally opened the
first two phases of Royal Holloway's new Sports Complex.
At the Borough's Sports Awards Evening on Monday 27 March,
Tony Babbage OBE, Chairman of Runnymede Sports Council, presented
the Rosebowl to Professor Francis Robinson, Vice-Principal.
Among other things, Royal Holloway students have raised nearly
£1,000 to support the Sports Council's work promoting
sport for disabled people and young people in the Borough.
On Tuesday 21 March, Councillor Peter Poole, Mayor of Runnymede,
opened Royal Holloway's new sports facilities, including a
38-station fitness suite and a new 33mx18m sports hall. Guests
included David DiGiulio, Vice President of Procter & Gamble
Research & Development Health and Beauty Care. Last year
Procter and Gamble made a contribution of £1/2million
to the development. Staff of Procter and Gamble's Rusham Park
Technical Centre, only half a mile away, are able to use the
new facilities. The facilities are also available to University
students and to local school groups and football clubs who
already have access to the College's 22 acres of sports pitches.
Royal Holloway's sports men and women have earned the College
a top reputation for sports. A select number of top international
athletes are assisted by the College's Elite Sports Persons
Programme, which this year sends three members to the Sydney
Olympics. Professor Francis Robinson said: "We are honoured
to receive the Ray Denne Rosebowl. Royal Holloway sets out
to contribute to community sport and life in the way that
Ray Denne did. We are proud of the contribution made by our
students to sport for the disabled and the young in our Borough."
ENDS
A unique partnership of Royal Holloway, the Council for College
and University English (CCUE) and the Centre for Computing
in the Humanities at King's College London has secured the
national Subject Centre for English. English has one of the
largest and most diverse subject communities in the UK, with
over 12,000 students and 2,200 academics. The Subject Centre
will establish best practice and drive innovation in the teaching
of English in Higher Education across the country. The Centre
will be based in the Department of English at Royal Holloway.
24 Subject Centres are being established nationwide to form
the national Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN).
The HEFCE-funded scheme, under the auspices of the Institute
for Learning and Teaching (ILT), aims to benchmark and develop
teaching in Higher Education across all subject areas. The
subject centre for English is the only centre in which the
subject community has taken a leading role in inspiring and
formulating its conception. The Centre will receive C&IT
support from the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at
King's College London and will establish a national presence
through CCUE and in developed regional networks.
Professor Drummond Bone, Principal of Royal Holloway and
a distinguished English scholar, said: "We are delighted that
the English Subject Centre will be situated at Royal Holloway,
in a thriving and innovative department. Our collaboration
with CCUE establishes for the Centre an authoritative position
within the sector and avoids the pitfalls of the special interests
endemic to the very diverse kinds of institution which are
involved in the teaching of English. Equally, our partnership
with the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King's
College London ensures that the Subject Centre is ideally
placed to discover and promote the latest techniques most
appropriate to the teaching of English."
The English Subject Centre will have a staff of 4 and will
attract funding from HEFCE of £240,000 per year for
5 years.
ENDS
Novelist and academic A S Byatt is the main guest speaker
at the 13th Annual Conference for Teachers of English at Royal
Holloway. This year's conference, on Friday 28 April, is entitled
The Development of English: Practical Responses to the Changing
Curriculum in A/AS level English Literature.
A S Byatt will read from her forthcoming novel The Biographer's
Tale. Her previous novels include Possession, which won the
Booker Prize in 1990, Babel Tower, Angels and Insects, The
Game and Still Life. She will also take questions from the
floor. The other speaker will be Dr Peter Buckroyd, Chief
Examiner for English at the NEAB. With Andrew Bennett and
Peter Thomas, he is the author of the NEAB English teacher's
resource file and with Jane Ogden, the author of Coursework
in A Level and AS English literature.
In the afternoon, the conference breaks into a number of
seminars, led by members of the department and others, focussing
on practical responses to the changing curriculum. The seminars
explore new approaches to literary texts and provide a forum
for discussing innovative ways of teaching literature. The
final session of the conference will be the panel session,
which allows ideas and responses to be shared with all participants.
The panel will take questions from the floor. On the panel
will be: Adrian Beard, Head of English at Gosforth High School,
Newcastle Upon Tyne, Principal Moderator for English Literature
coursework with NEAB (AQA); Martin Blocksidge, Chair, English
Association; Jenny Stevens, Head of English at Godolphin and
Latimer School, Hammersmith; and Janet White, Principal Officer
for English, QCA.
Waterstones Bookshop on campus will be running a special
display of texts for teaching literature at A/AS-level. The
English Review, a journal for A/AS level students and teachers,
will have a stand. Both Routledge and Macmillan - both publish
text books for A-level - also plan to have stands at this
year's conference.
Previous teacher's conferences hosted by the Department
have covered a range of subjects - the contemporary British
novel, the teaching of poetry, Jane Austen and Shakespeare
- and had a number of major speakers: leading actor Fiona
Shaw in 1998 and Booker Prize winning novelist Ian MacEwan
in 1999.
ENDS
Scientists from Royal Holloway have won EC funding to investigate
the safety of genetically-modified (GM) food crops. Professor
Peter Bramley and his team in the Department of Biological
Sciences are one of eleven public laboratories across Europe
testing the hypothesis that GM technology will cause unintended
changes in food crops. The pan-European, 3-year GMOCARE project,
funded by the European Commission, seeks to discover the effects
of the genetic modification process on metabolic pathways
in plants and to develop methodologies to eliminate potentially
hazardous unintended changes in food crops at the earliest
step in the food chain.
The arrival of GM food crops into the European market met
with widespread public concern, particularly because of questions
over food safety. One of the key issues in the risk assessment
of GM crop plants is whether unexpected metabolic perturbations
(so-called unintended effects) may have taken place in the
organism due to genetic modification, affecting its food or
nutritional status. However, adequate models to identify and
trace the sources of potential unintended effects do not exist.
GMOCARE aims to rectify this.
Professor Bramley said: "Because of the commercial potential
for GM crops, a lot of the science has gone on behind closed
corporate doors. This has exacerbated public concern over
safety. One of the important aspects of this project is that
it involves academics throughout Europe, so the results will
all be in the public domain."
Professor Bramley's recent research has centred on transgenic
tomatoes and their potential in the fight against cancer,
cataract and heart disease. Lycopene, the carotenoid or pigment
in tomatoes, is an anti-oxidant, mopping up the free radicals
which are implicated in such illnesses. To significantly boost
plasma levels of carotenoids, you would need to consume the
equivalent of a tin of tomato puree a day. Or you could genetically
modify the tomatoes to produce higher levels of carotenoid
in individual fruit. Professor Bramley and his team have succeeded
in doing just that. However, in the current GMOCARE project,
he will investigate the potential for unintended changes in
transgenic tomatoes, developing a metabolic profiling or cellular
mapping technique which will detect differences between parent,
transgenic and mutant crops.
Professor Bramley says: "Advances in genetic modification
have closely followed bad-science scares like the BSE crisis
and it is understandable that the general public is suspicious.
This European-wide project will contribute to a more informed
awareness of any risks related to GM-foods by providing an
objective scientific data package which gives a holistic view
of the genetic modification process. As well as improving
existing food safety and quality assessments, we hope to rebuild
the confidence of the general public and their trust in the
supply of wholesome, safe, nutritious and healthy GM food
crops, balanced ecosystems and a safe environment."
ENDS
'The Sirens Odyssey', a concert on Wednesday 8th March at
7.30pm in the Picture Gallery, includes several new cross-cultural
compositions and features a staggering array of instruments.
Three virtuoso non-western musicians perform alongside an
early music ensemble SIRINU, interweaving stories and music
inspired by the Siren-mermaid from the Andes, Zimbabwe, Iran
and renaissance Europe.
Henry Stobart, lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the College,
is a member of SIRINU, which has a considerable reputation
for their innovative and dramatic performance style. Mbira
('thumb piano') virtuoso Chartwell Dutiro will lead a number
of traditional pieces from his native Zimbabwe. Fariborz Kiani,
a leading Iranian percussionist with breathtaking and hypnotic
technique, will introduce music from his native Iran including
a piece to appease the mermaids for Iranian bagpipes and percussion.
In the rural Andes the Sirens (sirinus) are widely claimed
to be the source of all music and instruments are sometimes
taken to the Sirens' springs or waterfalls to be magically
tuned. The superb charango player Carlos Munõz, who
originally came to Britain as an exile from the Pinochet regime
in Chile, completes the group.
The performance will be preceded from 7pm by informal Sundanese
Gamelan music played by pupils and friends of the American
Community School, led by Simon Cook, a leading expert on the
Sundanese music of Java. Simon Cook will teach Gamelan at
Royal Holloway, University of London from next year, as World
Music and Ethnomusicology become integral parts of the Music
Department's degree programme. This concert is the result
of a new collaborative cross-cultural venture, made possible
thanks to funding from the Arts Council of England.
ENDS
Roll up your sleeves and get stuck into science at the annual
Exploring Science open day at Royal Holloway, University of
London. The event is part of National Science Week and admission
is free. It takes place in the laboratories and lecture theatres
of Royal Holloway, offering people of all ages a window on
the work of the College's science departments.
A programme of talks, demonstrations, competitions, experiments
and exhibitions allows visitors to investigate all aspects
of science, from hypochondria to holograms, from robots to
reed warblers, from global warming to genetic modification
and from fossils to fresh water fish. Make your own DNA, follow
the campus Natural Trail, find out about volcanoes, see how
science is changing the wine we drink, present science news
to camera. Hear about cold space, the bottom of the ocean,
the language of toddlers - the list is endless.
Professor Drummond Bone, Principal, said: "The diversity
and novelty of the scientific research at Royal Holloway means
there is something for everyone at this immensely popular
event. The College is committed to the public understanding
of science, and endeavours to excite the public conscience
on issues that will shape our future."
ENDS
An administrator at Royal Holloway, University of London
has been selected to represent the UK Guide Association at
a special event in New Zealand next month. Ali Walker, aged
24 and from Twickenham, will be one of the first Guide members
in the world to see the sunrise on the first 'Thinking Day'
of the new millennium.
Ali, a Student Liaison and Ceremonies Assistant at Royal
Holloway, will join fellow Guides from around the world for
a sunrise service on top of a mountain just outside Auckland
on Thinking Day, the day on which the founding of the guiding
movement is celebrated. Thinking Day is also the joint birthday
of the founder of the Scout and Guide Movements, Lord Robert
Baden Powell and his wife Lady Olave Baden Powell, who was
Chief Guide for many years.
Ali won her place on the trip after a tough international
selection day where she was assessed through a range of activities,
games and troubleshooting exercises. In total 120 people from
the UK will take part in the trip, including 14 from Middlesex
South West, Ali's region. Ali is the Brownie Guider (Brown
Owl) at 6th Isleworth Brownies, an assistant Brownie Guider
(Snowy) at 2nd Isleworth Brownies and an assistant Guide Guider
at 2nd Spring Grove Guides. She is also the Division Pack
Holiday Adviser and has just completed her term of office
as the County Junior Council Representative.
ENDS
Royal Holloway, University of London, marks 2000 with a year-long
celebration of its Founder's birth. Thomas Holloway, born
200 years ago as the son of a Plymouth baker, came to be described
during his lifetime as 'one of the wonders of the nineteenth
century' and Royal Holloway College was one of his greatest
legacies. To mark his bicentenary at the turn of the millennium,
the College is staging a series of high-profile events, including
a recital by world-famous opera singer and Royal Holloway
graduate Dame Felicity Lott, a top level science symposium
and the launch of the College's Public Art Project on the
beautiful Egham campus.
Thomas Holloway was the pioneer of mass advertising, the
founder of product placement, a driving force behind the establishment
of the pharmaceutical industry and a champion of progressive
mental health care and women's education. The Holloway Bicentenary
programme will include concerts, lectures and public events
throughout the year. Vice Principal Professor Francis Robinson
said: "The celebrations will capture the spirit of creativity,
enterprise and endeavour that Thomas Holloway bequeathed to
the College as we build on his vision into the new millennium.
We share Thomas Holloway's great legacy with the local and
regional community and higher education in general. We hope
as many people as possible will join our celebrations."
A Bicentenary Programme, detailing all the events, is published
this month. Details from 01784 443004.
ENDS
A documentary charting a Royal Holloway, University of London
expedition to the rainforest of Ecuador is screened on Channel
4 in February. 'First Contact' will be broadcast on 21 February
and charts the Yasuni National Park Expedition to Ecuador
last year, the first Royal Holloway expedition for three years.
The group of students and researchers was joined by a camera
crew from Cicada Films, making a one-hour documentary for
Channel Four's To the Ends of the Earth series. The team travelled
to the Yasuni National Park in the summer of 1999 to study
the impact of ecotourism and oil extraction on the indigenous
Huaorani tribe, and to bring their concerns to a wider public.
During the expedition, several members of the team were involved
in a dramatic incident with an uncontacted Huaorani group,
known as the Tagaeri or Los Bravos - The Angry Ones, who are
fiercely opposed to exploitation of their lands by 'outsiders'.
Members of the expedition will give a lecture entitled 'The
Yasuni National Park Expedition & The Tagaeri - Equador
1999' at Royal Holloway on 9th March. The talk will be given
by the Expedition Leader Chris Abbott, who graduated from
the College in 1999, and the Logistics & Medical Officer
John Groom. They will cover the research and the Tagaeri incident,
as well as giving the background to the project, outlining
the Huaorani way of life and giving details of next year's
return project to the Huaorani of Ecuador.
ENDS
Craig Littler, an international expert on corporate restructuring
and downsizing, examines the impact of corporate restructuring
on managers, employees and the future of the firm in a public
lecture next month. Recently appointed as Professor of Management
in the School of Management, he gives his inaugural lecture,
'Corporate Restructuring and the Future of the Firm' at the
College on Thursday 3 February at 5.30pm.
The decade of the 1990's was one of dramatic organisational
restructuring across most OECD economies. There were unprecedented
levels of mergers as well as de-mergers. At an organisational
level many restructuring initiatives involved downsizing,
delayering (stripping out layers of management and administration),
and outsourcing. It has been suggested that the organisation
of the 21st century will be a Swiss-cheese type organisation,
with all the stuffing pulled out of it and major functions
outsourced. This has been called the 'virtual organisation'.
Professor Littler is Director of External and Executive Programmes,
University of London. His prime responsibilities are the external
MBA programme, the external business undergraduate degree
under development with Senate House, and executive programmes
in conjunction with major firms like Flemings and Reed Corporation.
He is Director of Chiltern Consulting and Professorial Associate
at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social
Research, Melbourne University. He completed his degrees at
the LSE. He has lectured at Cambridge, London, Griffiths universities.
He has acted as a consultant to government bodies and companies
in Australia, Britain, Japan and USA.
ENDS
An historian from Royal Holloway, University of London, is
a key witness for the defence in a high profile case currently
being heard in the High Court. Dr Peter Longerich, Director
of Research Centre for the Holocaust and 20th-Century History
in the Department of German, Royal Holloway, University of
London, is one of seven expert witnesses for the defence in
the libel case brought by David Irving. Mr Irving is suing
Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books, who published her book,
Denying the Holocaust, which claimed, among other things,
that he is a "Holocaust denier". The case is so complex that,
unlike most libel trials, it is being heard in the High Court
by a sole judge rather than by a jury.
Dr Longerich, one of four historians acting as witnesses,
will be cross-examined by the plaintiff, David Irving. The
cross-examination is scheduled for the week starting 21 February
and is expected to last for a week or longer. Dr Longerich
is an internationally respected expert on the history of the
Weimar Republic, the Nazi Dictatorship and the Holocaust.
He is a sought-after speaker at prestigious institutions in
Germany, the United States and Israel. Among his publications
are a history of the Weimar Republic (Deutschland 1933-1945,
1996), a book on the Nazi Brown shirts (Die braunen
Bataillone, 1989) and, published in 1998, a history of
the Holocaust (Politik der Vernichtung - Policy of Annihilation).
He is co-editor of the German edition of the Encyclopedia
of the Holocaust. In 1998 he founded the Research Centre for
the Holocaust and 20th-Century History at Royal Holloway.
The Centre's mission is to promote research on the Holocaust,
its origins and aftermath, within a broadly defined historical
context, and to examine the extent to which genocide, war
and dictatorship can be understood as defining elements in
the history of the 20th century as a whole.
ENDS
Two renowned British opera singers and graduates of Royal
Holloway, University of London, make special appearances this
year to mark the bicentenary of the birth of College founder
Thomas Holloway.
On Saturday 11 March, Susan Bullock joins the Royal Holloway
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Peter Lipari, at St John's,
Smith Square in Central London. They perform Sullivan's Overture
di Ballo, Berg's Seven Early Songs and Tchaikovsky's Symphony
No.4 in F minor. This Bicentennial Concert begins at 7.30pm.
Tickets from St John's, Smith Square 0171 222 1061.
On Friday 30 June, Felicity Lott DBE gives a recital at
Crossland House, Virginia Water. Felicity Lott, an Honorary
Fellow of the College, will perform songs by Mozart, Strauss,
Poulenc and Oscar Straus.
Note to editors: in the classical music world, distinguished
graduates of Royal Holloway include: Catrin Wyn Davies, Sarah
Fox, Felicity Hammond, Deborah Fink, Ivan Sharpe, composers
Andrew Downes, Edward Longstaff and Ivan Moody, organists
Scott Farrell, Christopher Nickol and Scott Teilhard and BBC
Radio 3 boss Roger Wright. Symbols of Thomas Holloway's vision
are two great Surrey landmarks, the Founder's Building at
Royal Holloway, University of London and the Sanatorium (now
Crossland House) at Virginia Water. Both these extraordinary
buildings are the fruits of the partnership between Thomas
Holloway and the architect, William Crossland. Crossland House,
the venue for Felicity Lott's recital, is the centrepiece
of the former Holloway Sanatorium. The asylum for 200 paying
patients was opened in 1885. A board of trustees managed the
Sanatorium until the complex passed to the NHS after the last
war. It continued as a hospital until 1981, when it became
redundant. The building lay derelict for 14 years, until in
1994 Octagon's scheme to salvage this Grade I architectural
wonder for the nation was accepted.
ENDS
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