KEELE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY RECEPTION AT THE HOUSE OF LORDS

A special celebratory reception to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Keele Charter, hosted by Keele Honorary graduate Lord Puttnam took place at the House of Lords this week.
 
More than 80 guests representing Keele Alumni, VIP's, MP's, Keele Council and staff, listened to speeches by the Chancellor, Jonathon Porritt, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, pictured with former Chancellor Lord Moser, celebrating Keele's Golden Jubilee. The Chancellor recalled Keele's unique historic past as the first UK campus-based university and how a bold new curriculum model based on the principles of sustainability has created a different and highly successful learning environment.
 
The Vice-Chancellor went on to update guests (pictured left is Michael Mansfield talking with Lord Puttnam) on recent developments at Keele and adaptations to the curriculum to meet the needs of 21stC employers and how the present day expansion of the campus was required to meet the expectations of over 9,000 students and international students from 120 countries.

He also announced plans for Keele's 50th Anniversary £50million development appeal, which will be used to provide funds to advance the University's vision of providing students with a world-class, value centred university experience. This will include an Endowment fund for Chairs and Professorships, a Keele Scholarship Programme and the provision of "best in class" teaching, learning and social facilities.

A LITTLE ACT OF KINDNESS

A documentary performance entitled 'A Little Act of Kindness' has taken place in the New Vic Theatre, marking the final phase of the AHRC-funded 'Exploring Personal Communities: A Review of Volunteering Processes'. 

The project is a collaboration between Professor Mihaela Kelemen and Dr Anita Mangan, Keele Management School, and Sue Moffat, Director of New Vic Borderlines. 

The event brought together volunteers who participated in the audio-documentation of their experiences and who formed a new volunteering company to devise and perform a piece of documentary theatre sharing the story of volunteering with an audience of community members, academics and people involved in the voluntary sector. The performance was followed by an interactive workshop exploring what volunteering means in today's society.

NEW VOLUNTEERING PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED

Staff and students at Keele are set to benefit from a new volunteering partnership which was launched at the annual Volunteering Fair on campus. The event was attended by academic members of staff, SU staff, elected officers, students and 37 organisations.

Based in the Students' Union, the KeeleSU Volunteer Centre is the first Volunteering England-branded volunteer centre on a university campus.

Prospective volunteers will have access to a database which is maintained and updated by team members from across the local Volunteer Centres, meaning hundreds more volunteering opportunities and improved contacts within the local community.

Sarah Amphlett, KeeleSU Volunteer Project Leader, said: "We've spent the summer bringing the current two services together and looking at ways that we can work with local organisations to offer unique opportunities for our students. Students are here on campus for only short periods of time, but while they are at Keele they are learning skills which they can transfer to the local community to make a difference. Teaming up with the North Staffordshire Volunteer Centres will open up many more opportunities to them."

For more information contact Sarah Amphlett on 01782 733626 or email su.volunteering@keele.ac.uk

TURKEY'S STATUS AS A RISING POWER DISCUSSED IN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

An international workshop was held on Monday in Keele Hall hosted by School of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy (SPIRE) in collaboration with the Turkey's Foreign Ministry's Centre for Strategic Research (SAM).

Professor Bulent Gokay(Head of SPIRE), Professor Bulent Aras(Chairman of SAM), Dr. Tarik Oguzlu from Antalya University, and Dr Sadik Unay from Yildiz Technical University, presented papers on different aspects of Turkey's economy and foreign policy as a rising regional power in a troubled neighbourhood. www.keele.ac.uk/spire/sam

NAFKU CANADA SCHOLARSHIP

Cristina Polsinelli is the recipient of 2012-2013 NAFKU Canada Scholarship, which was created by the generosity of our alumni in North America. She graduated from Windsor University in Ontario in 2012. She spent one semester at Keele as a Study Abroad student in 2008.
 
She says: "My scholarship depends on the kindness and generosity of fellow Keelites in Canada - I want to thank them for being so kind and supportive. They have changed my life and made my dream come true, to study again at Keele! Thank you all so much."

Keele Unity - Opening Doors 2012: Moving on from Care

Wednesday 24 October 2012, 1pm – 3.30pm, DHO.051, Dorothy Hodgkin Building

Developed in partnership with Staffordshire University National Care Leavers Week 2012 will explore the many different ways in which we can all in our various roles, from academic tutors to residential support staff, to ensure opportunities are made available to students who come to Keele from a background of care, as they progress on their journeys from care into university life and onwards.

National Care Leavers Week 2012 supports a theme of "Opening Doors", and specifically highlights the experiences and challenges experienced by young people who leave care and move into higher education. The key note speaker, Georgia Hyde-Dryden from Loughborough University, will talk specifically about her research entitled "Overcoming by degrees: exploring care leavers' experiences of higher education". The event will also hear directly from university students who have come from a care background.

All staff are invited to attend the event, which it is hoped will raise awareness, as well as shape future support and activities.
For the full event programme visit the Keele Unity web pages, or contact Ian Ronald, Student Developer, Student Services, Tel – 01782 733912; e-mail – i.ronald@keele.ac.uk.

LUNCHTIME DINING AT KEELE HALL

This week saw the official opening of Keele Hall for lunchtime dining. The team have been busy serving their new customers, whilst diners have been able to take in the views from the Staff Common Room.

Alan Searle, Front of House Manager, said: "We're really pleased with the feedback from diners this week, and it's a pleasure to be working with the Staff Common Room (SCR) Committee. Keele Hall is a fantastic location for staff and SCR members to meet with colleagues and friends.

The lunchtime menu is available each week, Mon - Fri, between 12.00 - 2.00 p.m.  There is no need to pre-book; simply place your order in the SCR Bar and find your table in the bar or Common Room. Check the menu here.

KEELE MUSIC STUDENT BROADCASTS ON BBC

Sarah Watts (PhD, Music) did a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 with her trio Cuillin Sound. In the introduction she mentioned Keele and talked about her experience at the University.

She studied clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Angela Malsbury, and specialised in the bass clarinet at the Rotterdam Conservatorium, on the postgraduate solo bass clarinet course with Henri Bok, where she won the Exxon prize for the best student. Her studies were funded by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust (2002) and the Leverhulme Trust. Currently she is finalising her PhD project on bass clarinet multiphonics at Keele.
 
Sarah has won many international competitions and has performed as a chamber musician and a soloist all over the UK, Europe and America. She has premiered many new works written especially for her. She teaches bass clarinet at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and clarinet at Nottingham University.

DEATH, LOSS AND MEMORY

Professor Emma Bell, Keele Management School, recently co-organised a workshop on 'Death, Memory and Loss' with Janne Tienari, Aalto University, Finland and Örebro University, Sweden.

The two-day event at Keele was attended by eighteen researchers from UK universities, including Essex, Bradford, London and Swansea, and by scholars from National University of Ireland, University of Gothenburg and Stockholm University. 

There was also a presentation from Tony Walter, Professor of Death Studies at the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath. 

Papers covered a range of topics, including company closure and workplace suicides, and will form the basis for a Special Issue of the journal 'Culture and Organization'.

WHAT'S ON

Tuesday, 23 October, 2012

Professor Emma Bell, Keele Management School, will give the opening lecture in the University's programme of Inaugural Professorial Lectures for 2012/13, in the Westminster Theatre on the University campus.

The title of the lecture is "Cults and Cultures of Management".

The lecture starts at 6 pm. Admission is free; no ticket is required. For more information or to confirm attendance please email: events@keele.ac.uk

Wednesday, 24 October, from 2pm:

Public launch of new community legal service

An innovative new legal service that is being trialled in North Staffordshire will be launched in the Exhibition Suite at Keele next week. The initiative is the first of its kind in the UK.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, with several regional partners, will officially launch the Community Legal Companion (CLC) – an initiative that will see Keele Law students paired with partner organisations to provide unrepresented litigants assistance in court.

From providing moral support to helping to sort through papers, the CLC will be able to offer assistance on the diversity of legal pathways from resolution to the courtroom.

Richard Waller (School of Physical & Geographical Sciences) will be taking part in the Snowdon marathon on Saturday 27 October. 

This is reputedly the hardest marathon in the U.K., involving a circumnavigation of the terrain around the highest mountain in England and Wales.

Richard will be raising money for Rethink, a mental health charity that is particularly active within Stoke-on-Trent. If you would like to sponsor him click here.

NEW ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Miss Marie Doherty, has been appointed a Lecturer (Health Visitor) and was previously a Health Visitor/Community Practice Teacher at Haywood Community Hospital.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Thirty-five years ago -

To mark the start of the seventh Keele concert season, distinguished composer Elliott Carter gave a talk in front of an audience in the Walter Moberly Hall, preceded by a concert of his music linked to the works of Schubert and Beethoven. 17 October 1977.