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23 June 2011 |
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 News
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• LSE
academic appointed to new Greek cabinet
Professor Elias Mossialos (pictured), Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health
Policy and director of LSE Health, has been appointed state minister and
government spokesman in the new Greek cabinet.
He is currently leading a task force to reform the Greek health system.
It is a joint initiative between the Greek government, the European
Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank,
and will report to the Greek government and the European Commission in June
2011.
Professor Mossialos was recently awarded the 2010 Andrija Stampar Medal
for distinguished services to public health.
His research interests concentrate on health policy relating to health
care systems. His particular focus is European and comparative health
systems and policy, addressing questions related to funding health care,
pharmaceutical policies, access to medicines in developing countries,
private health insurance and the impact of EU law on health care systems. He
is internationally recognised for his comparative work on health care
financing and his research on EU law and governance.
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• Latest
university league table ranks LSE as third in the UK and as the top
London university
The Times Good Universities Guide published today ranks LSE as the
third best university in the UK, only behind Oxford and Cambridge, and as
the top university in London.
LSE has therefore climbed up two places, from being ranked the fifth best
university in the same league table in 2010, to third place this year.
The School has improved in a number of the categories that are included
in the ranking, including student satisfaction, research quality, and its
student-staff ratio.
The guide also shows that LSE is the university with the most
undergraduate applications by place, with more than 14 applications for
every place.
Professor Stuart Corbridge, pro-director for research and external
relations, said: 'League tables like this can offer only a partial snapshot
of universities' performance and they must be treated with some caution.
Nevertheless, we are very pleased to see LSE rise to third place in the
university rankings overall, and to first place in London. It is
particularly pleasing to see the School’s high ranking in terms of research
quality, which partly echoes the findings from the Research Assessment
Exercise of 2008, which found LSE to have the highest percentage of
world-leading research of all universities in the country.'
The Times Good University Guide 2012 league table is available to
view at
www.thetimes.co.uk/gug.
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• LSE Volunteer Pledge
On Thursday 16 June, the new
LSE Volunteer Pledge was launched.
Jenny Owen, LSE Careers director, and Professor Janet Hartley,
pro-director for teaching and learning, launched the pledge with LSE student
Pamela Runnacles and LSE Students' Union community and welfare officer Hero
Austin, who both gave speeches.
Charities that work with the Volunteer Centre, such as Barnardos and The
Stroke Association, were in attendance to find out how they can get more
involved with LSE and recruit student volunteers. Their feedback was very
positive, and both charities were pleased to see the university taking
volunteering so seriously.
Professor Hartley said: 'Volunteering is a fantastic way for students to
get involved in their local community and it also helps them to develop
skills which employers value. I am really pleased to see such enthusiasm for
volunteering at LSE and I hope the departments across the School take this
opportunity to support this initiative.'
Every department at LSE is encouraged to sign up to the pledge to
encourage volunteering amongst their students. If you would like your
department to endorse the pledge and want to find out more about how your
students can get involved, contact David Coles in the Volunteer Centre at
d.coles@lse.ac.uk.
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• Departmental
manager records song for charity album
David Scott (pictured), department manager in the Department of Mathematics,
has recently been involved in something a little different for a charity which
needs your support.
His band 'The Phonic',
in which he plays bass, has just written and recorded a song for an album
released by the charity Forever Searching. The charity raises awareness about
missing and abducted children - a very worthy cause.
The song is called 'Birthday Girl', and is one of 11 songs on the album, all
of which can be downloaded individually from
iTunes. The album, 'Find Your Way Home', can be bought directly from
Forever
Searching, and all proceeds go to the charity.
The release of the album coincided with International Missing Children's Day
2011 in late May. Dave said: 'We were delighted to be asked to get involved
with such a worthwhile venture. The album itself, perhaps surprisingly given
that it is for charity, is excellent and we're lucky that we've been allowed
to join in with a number of more talented artists. We hope lots of people
download one or more of the songs to help raise funds.'
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• Spotlight on Armenia
On Tuesday 14 June Dr Armine Ishkanian (pictured), programme director
of MSc in NGOs and development in the Department of Social Policy,
spoke on a panel alongside former deputy prime minister
Lord Prescott.
The event, 'Spotlight on Armenia: London', which took place at the Houses of
Parliament, debated the major challenges Armenia faces regarding democratic
development, rule of law, media freedom, corruption and other human rights
issues, while examining the impact of its international relationships on
domestic politics.
Other speakers included Anna Walker, senior analyst - Central Asia and South
Caucasus, Control Risks, and Dr Elisabeth Robson, EastWest Insight and
former head of the BBC Russia and Caucasus and Central Asia services.
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 Notices
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• Summer
term staff briefings
All support staff are invited to attend one of the termly briefings, chaired
by Adrian Hall (pictured), secretary and director of administration.
The briefings will take place on Tuesday 28 June at 10.30am in the
Shaw Library, Old Building, and Wednesday 29 June at 2pm in the Vera
Anstey Room, Old Building.
At the briefings, Professor Judith Rees, director, will focus on key
concerns facing the School (Professor George Gaskell, pro-director, will
present the session on Wednesday). Gary Barclay and Stephen Emmott will also
present on the forthcoming 'Policies and procedures' section on the ‘Staff
and students’ intranet.
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•
Get
your nominations in….
Nominations are invited for Honorary Fellowships.
The Court of Governors may elect as an Honorary Fellow of LSE any member
of the School whose achievements are of conspicuous merit, or any person,
including members of the School, who has rendered outstanding service to the
School.
The Nominations Committee will consider nominations for Honorary
Fellowships at its meeting at the beginning of Michaelmas Term 2011/12, for
awards to be presented in July 2012.
Nominations to be considered in the current round should be sent in by
Friday 22 July.
For more information, visit
Honorary Fellows Nominations. If you have any queries, contact Joan
Poole at j.a.poole@lse.ac.uk or on
ext 7825.
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• Accessibility:
make your teaching accessible and inclusive
Did you know that:
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Assistive technology benefits everyone?
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You can make your teaching accessible and inclusive to all students who
use assistive technology?
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About 10 per cent of your students may have some degree of dyslexia/neurodiversity?
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You should anticipate the requirements of disabled people?
On Tuesday 5 July from 10.30am to 3pm, the
Centre for Learning Technology, the
Disability and Well-being Service and
IT
Services will be holding an event to inform staff of disability services
and assistive technologies at LSE and help staff reflect on how to embed
inclusive practice.
Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served
basis. Lunch will also be provided.
Register for your place via the
Training and Development system. If you have any queries, contact Athina
Chatzigavriil at a.chatzigavriil@lse.ac.uk.
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• BOS
redesign and downtime
A redesign to Bristol Online Surveys (BOS) will be applied overnight
between Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June.
BOS will be unavailable to all users from 10pm (BST) on the Tuesday, and
the downtime will last no longer than two hours. During this time all surveys
will be offline and the editing interface unavailable. BOS will show a
message providing details of how users can receive notification when the
service is restored.
If you have any questions regarding the redesign, contact the BOS survey
help team at survey-help@bris.ac.uk.
More information and a preview of the new pages can be viewed
here.
If you are a BOS user you can sign up to their
mailing
list to ensure that you receive updates on these changes. LSE staff can
sign up for a BOS account at
http://webdb.lse.ac.uk/surveys/.
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• Free cinema screening of 'The Conspirator'
The LSE Department of Law, Universal Pictures and the Society of English and
American Lawyers invite all staff to a special preview screening of 'The
Conspirator' on Monday 27 June at 6pm in The May Fair Hotel Theatre,
Stratton Street, W1J 8LT.
'The Conspirator', directed by Robert Redford and starring James McAvoy and
Robin Wright, is a riveting thriller telling the powerful story of a woman
who would do anything to protect her family, and the man who risked
everything to save her.
Places are limited so if you would like to attend the screening, contact Bradley Barlow at
b.barlow@lse.ac.uk. For more
information about the film, visit
www.conspiratorthemovie.com.
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• Indulge
your sweet tooth
Calling all cake lovers - LSE Careers and the External Relations Division
are organising an inter-division baking competition on Friday 1 July.
As it is the 'Party on the Plaza' that evening, the teams thought they
would start the fun early. All staff are invited to the Careers office on
the sixth floor of Tower Three at 11am, where a wide range of baked treats
will be available for a small donation - all proceeds will be going to Great
Ormond Street, a great cause that is local to the School.
Special guest judges will be awarding prizes in various categories, so
please come along for an appetiser ahead of all the fun, food and drink on
the Plaza in the evening.
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• 80 per cent off hair and beauty treatments for LSE staff
'I Need Pampering' is giving LSE employees an exclusive 80 per cent
off hair and beauty treatments nationwide.
The current offer is for the
Pamper Pack at Corinne & Co, a boutique hair salon located in the
InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane, London. The offer usually costs
£400 but LSE staff can get all four visits for just £55.
To purchase the pamper pack or for more information, contact Marc or one
of his team on 020 8208 3132 or email
marc@ineedpampering.com,
quoting ‘LSE 2011 Offer’.
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 Research
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• Osama
and Obama: between predator drones and the Arab Spring
A guest editorial written by Reza Pankhurst (pictured), a PhD candidate
and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Government, has been
published in the academic journal Political Theology.
The editorial, entitled Osama and Obama: between predator drones and
the Arab Spring, discusses how the war on terror, the killing of Osama
Bin Laden and the Arab Spring fit together, linking the exceptionalism of
the United States in the extra-judicial killing of Bin Laden to the ever
expanding predator drone programme.
While the 'Arab Spring' has been mentioned as the sidelining of al-Qaeda,
the piece argues that al-Qaeda’s methodology has always been a fringe
phenomenon while the grievances articulated by Bin Laden have and continue
to be widely held; and that through its actions the American government continues
to confirm the viewpoint that their interests trump their proclaimed values
and the rule of law, which lies at the crux of America’s relationship with
the Greater Middle East.
To read the full article, visit
Political Theology. A shorter adapted online version (without full
references) can be read at the
journal's blog.
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• Research opportunities
Candidates interested in applying for any research opportunities should
contact Michael Oliver in the
Research Division at
m.oliver@lse.ac.uk or call ext 7962.
The Research Division maintains a regularly updated list of
research funding opportunities for academic colleagues on their website.
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• Research e-Briefing
Click
here to read the
May edition of the Research Division
newsletter.
To sign up for
research news, recent research funding opportunities, research awards that
are about to start, and examples of research outcomes, click
here. The next issue is out
at the end of June 2011.
More
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• Latest opportunities from LSE Enterprise
LSE Enterprise offers you the opportunity to undertake private teaching
and consultancy work under the LSE brand. We help with bidding, contracts
and other project administration, enabling you to focus on the work itself.
To see the latest opportunities click
here or visit
http://twitter.com/lseenterprise.
If you would like us to look out for consulting opportunities in your
field, email your CV and summary of interests to
lseenterprise.consulting@lse.ac.uk.
Email exec.ed@lse.ac.uk to be
added to our Executive Education database. |
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 Events
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• East
beats West? Is the East taking over the world?
The LSE Big Questions lecture
Thursday 30 June, 1-2.15pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic
Building
Staff are invited to bring their children to a highly interactive lecture
by Danny Quah (pictured),
professor of economics at LSE, which is being filmed for broadcast.
Your clothes, trainers, Xboxes, TVs and much, much more are all made in
the East. And by selling us all this stuff, countries such as China and
India are becoming wealthier and more powerful than ever before. But if the
East is becoming stronger - is the West becoming weaker? Should we be scared
by this? What does it mean for you anyway?
Professor Quah will explore how the world is changing, as countries
such as China and India become wealthier and more powerful than ever
before. Using simple ideas from economics, he will explain why this is
happening and what it means for our future. The lecture is most suitable for
students in Year 9, and more motivated students in Years 7 and 8, and has
been designed with elements of the KS3 citizenship curriculum in mind.
The Big Questions Lecture is supported by the LSE HEIF 4 Bid Fund.
If you would like to participate and be part of the live audience, email
bigquestions@lse.ac.uk
indicating how many places you are requesting and the ages of the children
who will attend. Places are available on a first come, first served basis.
More
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• New
events announced....
The Caribbean in a Changing Global Environment
On: Tuesday 5 July at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, internationally reputed
historian.
This event is free and open to all, but a ticket is required. One ticket per
person can be requested on Tuesday 28 June.
ED: the Milibands and the making of a Labour leader
On: Tuesday 12 July at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Mehdi Hasan, senior editor (politics) at the New
Statesman, and James Macintyre, politics editor at Prospect.
An Evening with Michael Atherton
On: Wednesday 27 July at 6.30pm. The venue will be confirmed to
ticketholders.
Speaker: Michael Atherton (pictured), cricketer.
This event is free and open to all, but a ticket is required. One ticket per
person can be requested on Monday 18 July.
• Other
events include....
Adaptation and Regeneration in the EU’s Regions: the case of Wallonia
On: Tuesday 28 June at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Rudy Demotte, minister president of the Belgian region of
Wallonia and president of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Powerful Portraits: what's in a face? A slideshow lecture by Platon
On: Wednesday 6 July at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement
House
Speaker: Platon, portrait photographer.
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• Book
launch - Family Futures: childhood and poverty in urban
neighbourhoods
Tuesday 5 July, 6.30-8pm (followed by an informal reception),
Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Family Futures is about family life in areas of concentrated
poverty and social problems where surrounding conditions make bringing up
children more difficult and family life more fraught and limited. Home and
neighbourhood carry special meaning for families, because where they live,
how they fit in with their neighbours, and how their children grow up all
intertwine, to build a sense of community.
This timely book, by acclaimed author Anne Power (professor of social
policy and head of LSE Housing at LSE) and her team, is based on a unique
longitudinal study of over 200 families interviewed annually over the last
decade. It answers three important questions in the words of families
themselves:
- What challenges face families in poor areas?
- How are the challenges being met?
- Have government efforts helped or hindered progress over the past
decade?
This event is free and open to all. Seats will be allocated on a first
come, first served basis. Copies of the book can be purchased from
Policy
Press.
For more information, contact Nicola Serle at
n.serle@lse.ac.uk or on ext 6330, or
visit LSE
Housing.
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• Podcasts of public lectures and events
Delivering Meaningful Results in Global Development: a lecture by Dr Raj
Shah, administrator of USAID
Speaker: Dr Rajiv Shah
Recorded: Tuesday 14 June, approx 51 minutes
Click here to listen
The Big Society and the Good Society: rethinking the place of the state in
British society
Speakers: Lord Glasman and Jesse Norman MP
Recorded: Tuesday 14 June, approx 93 minutes
Click here to listen
The Fork in the Road - Time for the Alternative
Speaker: Ed Balls, shadow chancellor
Recorded: Thursday 16 June, approx 84 minutes
Click here to listen |
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 60
Second Interview
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• with..... Lee Jackson
I have worked at LSE for the last
eight years - first in the Library
and then as the Department of Law's
web editor. I work part-time and I'm
also an historical novelist and
amateur historian, a little obsessed
with Victorian London.
My seventh novel, The Diary of
a Murder, is out now, as well as
a bestselling Kindle anthology
Daily Life in Victorian London.
My website
www.victorianlondon.org
- a massive encyclopaedia of
primary sources from the nineteenth
century - is widely used by the
general public, genealogists,
novelists, historians and students.
I live in Stoke Newington with my
wife and daughter, and spend way too
much time with computers.
What do you regard as the
greatest improvement which has taken
place in London since Victorian
times?
Medicine is the obvious area.
Even by 1900, infant mortality was
still one in five in the worst parts
of London (not only the East End,
but poor central districts like
Soho), and there was little that
could be done for any contagious
diseases. I am wary, however, of
portraying the Victorian era as
backward in any way. The Victorians
invented much of the modern world:
public transport, world-wide
communications technology
(telegraphy), the advertising
industry, social housing.... well,
it's a long list.
What is your favourite part of
modern day London?
I'm quite fond of the river walk
from Canary Wharf to Wapping, and
the South Bank; in fact, the river
generally is pretty special. Also I
really like the Barbican - one of
the great successes of modern
architecture.
If you weren't at LSE, at what
other institution would you like to
work?
The Museum of London.
If you were stuck in a lift
with someone, who would you want it
to be?
Joanna Lumley. She'd be fabulous.
What do you do to make LSE fun
and interesting?
Now that is challenging. Hmm. My
weekly presence in the Department of
Law reminds my colleagues that
it's a Tuesday. They're suitably
grateful.
Can you sing? What is your
favourite song?
Loudly and badly. I would go with
'Lipstick Vogue' by Elvis Costello,
or 'A Proper Sort of Gardener', as
sung by June Tabor.
Marmite - love it or hate it?
I wouldn't even dare attempt it.
Far too scary. |
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 Training
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• Training
for staff at LSE
Courses scheduled for next week include:
- Word 2010: format an academic paper
- One-to-one IT training
- Moodle next steps training
- Writing effective letters and emails
For a full listing of what is available and further details, including
booking information, please see
www.lse.ac.uk/training. |
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 Media
bites
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• Bloomberg (17 June 2011)
Venizelos named Greek
finance head to avert default
Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis, senior lecturer in the political economy of
South Eastern Europe at LSE, was interviewed about Greek prime minister
George Papandreou naming Evangelos Venizelos as the country's new
finance minister.
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• BBC
News (17 June 2011)
Viewpoint: The
politics of Greece's financial crisis
'In the last 72 hours the full force of Greece's political problems have
hit home. Financial bankruptcy has been superseded by political
bankruptcy'.
Article by Dr Spyros Economides, senior lecturer in international
relations and European politics at LSE.
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• Guardian
(16 June 2011)
The Daily Mail owners buy climate change, so why doesn't the paper?
'The Daily Mail and General Trust is reducing emissions while the paper
continues to publish the views of climate sceptics'.
Article by Bob Ward, policy and communications director of the Grantham
Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE.
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