Act of Remembrance

The School will be holding a Remembrance Day vigil on Monday 11 November to remember all those who have lost their lives in any conflict, anywhere in the world.

The Future of London within the UK

This event with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, which was previously postponed, has now been rearranged for Monday 9 December.

Dr Ayça Çubukçu

When not at LSE or looking after her son, Dr Çubukçu, Assistant Professor in Human Rights, likes to mix music, play street chess, and practice yoga.

 News

 LSE in pictures

 Research

 Training and jobs

Message from Professor Paul Kelly (pictured), Pro-Director Teaching and Learning

Staff are encouraged to take part in a School wide consultation process on how the academic year is organised. Should the School continue with three 10 week terms: should it semesterise with two 15 week semesters; or should it consider a variation of the three terms - with something like two 12 week teaching terms and a shorter six week summer examination period?

I am keen to hear the views of all staff - whether academic or non-academic, and whether based in service divisions or departments.

Why are we doing this? As part of a review of teaching and learning I want to know whether some flexibility in the structure of term dates would allow for developments that enhance students’ learning experience and improve the opportunities for department faculty to develop their teaching. The basic module structure of 10 and 20 week courses would be unchanged but changing the term structure could allow for reading and assessment weeks, mid-term assessment, improvements in feedback, end of session exams and better targeted support such as essay or dissertation writing sessions and much else. The important thing is that the School hears from all stakeholders with their varied experience about what could be done differently as this will impact on everyone.

The Academic Board launched a consultation process at its meeting of 16 October. The Consultation should run during the Michaelmas and Lent terms of 2013-14 with a final proposal going to an Academic Board meeting in Summer 2014.

The consultation involves students, academic-staff and non-academic staff. Departments will be discussing the matter at Department Teaching Committees but there are other opportunities for colleagues to share ideas and submit proposals.

Nick Byrne appointed to Advisory Board for British Academy project

Nick Byrne (pictured), Director of the LSE Language Centre, has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the British Academy project 'Born Global - Rethinking Language Policy for 21st Century Britain'.

This new policy research project will look into the extent and nature of language needs in the labour market and the implications for language education from school to higher education.

Bernadette Holmes, Principal Researcher of the project, said: "We are delighted that Nick can play such a key role in this policy research initiative, which is seeking to influence and develop fresh approaches to the ways in which languages can be provided in higher education to enhance employability".

'Born Global' aims to provide fresh analysis to inform the curriculum and assessment debate in modern languages, and seek evidence to prove that language capability really does improve employment prospects.

Nick commented: "I’ve already been involved in one joint BIS/DfE funded policy project, and three others funded by the European Commission - ENLU, LETPP and now LUCIDE. All projects look at aspects of multilingualism and particularly its relevance to the economy."

Kai Möller (pictured), Senior Lecturer in Law, is one of six academics to be shortlisted for the Law Teacher of the Year 2014 award.

The award, which is sponsored by Oxford University Press, provides a national platform to showcase the excellent teaching on show at law schools around the UK and formally recognise the vital role played by law teachers.

Alison Bone, a member of this year’s judging panel, explains: "Students rarely remember the research their lecturer has done - they remember the support they received, the passion and the enthusiasm the lecturer demonstrated for their subject, the way they engaged them in the learning process by doing something a little bit different. All of these fundamental aspects of what makes an outstanding lecturer are acknowledged and rewarded in the Law Teacher of the Year award."

Kai said: "I am honoured to have been shortlisted for this award and I'm extremely grateful to the Department of Law for having been incredibly supportive throughout the entire process."

The future of the Census

Professor Chris Skinner (pictured), Head of LSE’s Department of Statistics, has led an independent review of the methodology underlying the options for the future of the Census, on behalf of the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A Census has taken place in Great Britain since 1801. Options set out in a recent public consultation by the ONS could lead to a radical departure in England and Wales from the traditional approach that has obtained information on all individuals every 10 years until 2011.

In a report published on Friday 1 November, Professor Skinner and his team, which included Michael Murphy, Professor of Demography at LSE, and demographic consultant John Hollis, explain that although results of ONS research to date are promising, the case for replacement of the traditional census model by the more radical option - combining administrative data with compulsory annual surveys - had not yet been established.

They conclude that a number of methodological challenges that had been identified would need first to be addressed if this option is to be pursued.

The team’s full report can be found on the ONS website. An associated statement from the Royal Statistical Society can be found here.
 

A new unit has been set up covering the key organisational areas of staff wellbeing, equality and diversity and organisational learning (as well as the LSE Nursery).

For an interim period these areas, previously in HR, will report directly to the School Secretary, Susan Scholefield.

Andy Gray, Director of Wellbeing, Equality and Organisational Learning, says: "This change will encourage a stronger School focus on some key activities coming out of the Strategic Review and the Staff Survey. It is vital for the School that we are a place where staff wellbeing, equality and diversity and talent management are integral to daily business. We are keen to build on the progress achieved to date and to engage in real debate with staff on some of the key people challenges in so far as they relate to diversity and individual wellbeing."

The team can be contacted on:

Director of Wellbeing, Equality and Organisational Learning
Andy Gray - ext 5220

Staff Wellbeing
Chris Watt - c.watt@lse.ac.uk, ext 6205
Carolyn Solomon-Pryce - c.soloman-pryce@lse.ac.uk, ext 6621

Equality and Diversity
Carolyn Solomon-Pryce - c.soloman-pryce@lse.ac.uk, ext 6621
Ferhat Nazir-Bhatti - f.nazir-bhatti@lse.ac.uk, ext 6171
Asiya Islam - a.islam1@lse.ac.uk, ext 7826

Academic abroad

On Friday 1 November Nicholas Barr (pictured), Professor of Public Economics, gave a presentation on "Extending the Coverage of Pension Systems" at a session on "Universal Pension Coverage: utopia or reality?" organised by the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association in Mexico City.

Act of Remembrance – Monday 11 November

The School will be holding a Remembrance Day vigil at 10.45am in the Shaw Library, Old Building, on Monday 11 November.

School Secretary Susan Scholefield, Chaplain Reverend Dr James Walters, and LSESU General Secretary Jay Stoll will all say a few words, after which there will be a two minute silence at 11am, the same time that others will fall silent across the country.

Please come along to remember all those who have died and continue to die in war.
 

On Wednesday 20 November, LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun (pictured) will be holding an open ‘town hall’ meeting for all staff.

At the meeting, Professor Calhoun will introduce a discussion of the next phase of the Strategic Review, and will ask and take questions on matters arising out of the Strategic Review Interim Report.

Changes to the Department Managers’ Forum

As of last month, the Department Managers’ Forum has two new co-chairs: Nicole Boyce (pictured first), Department Manager in the Department of Government, and Joy Whyte (pictured second), Department Manager for Planning and Resources in the Department of Law.

The remit of the forum is to facilitate the sharing of best practice amongst Department Managers, and between academic departments and the School’s central administration. Forum members actively contribute to a range of School committees and ad-hoc working groups.

Staff who wish to contact Department Managers, are asked to use the ‘Academic Managers’ distribution list found in the global address book. Managers across departments and research centres can be contacted via the ‘Unit Managers’ distribution list.
 

The deadline is fast approaching for the Michaelmas term LSE Entrepreneurship funding competition. Whether you want to help change the world or turn a great money making idea into a reality, we want to hear from you.

You may not class yourself as an entrepreneur but if you are out making a difference in your community, or are offering a unique service or product, you could be eligible to receive funding to help scale up your idea.

We are inviting LSE staff and students to submit a business proposal that will be assessed by our specialist judging panel. Successful applicants will then be asked to pitch their idea to the panel to compete for funding for their initiatives.

The AXA Research Fund 2014 campaign supports research on life, socio-economic and environmental risks. Each fellowship comes to a total of €120,000 for two years.

Computer tip of the week

Excel print previewing

There are times when you are creating spread sheets that they can spill onto more than one page, as with Word. Unlike Word, however, this can happen horizontally as well as vertically. This is especially true with large spread sheets.

To see if this happens with you, click View - Workbook Views - Page Break Views. You will see blue dashed lines indicating what will print on each page. You can adjust these pages by dragging the lines till you get the pages you need.

Note: the page numbers indicate if the spread sheet prints from left to right or from top to bottom. To change print direction, click File - Print - Page Setup - Sheet - Page order.

November's LSE Perspectives gallery is now online. You can view the gallery here.

The gallery features 12 striking images submitted by LSE staff and students. Each image reflects a unique perspective on a particular scene.

We are always looking for submissions for future galleries. If you have taken any artistic images on your travels, in your home town or even just here in London, why not submit them for LSE Perspectives so that they can be shared with the LSE community.

Accommodation wanted

Clara Fischer, a Postdoctoral Fellow at LSE's Gender Institute, is moving from Dublin to London in January and is looking for a room in a quiet house/apartment to rent.

Clara would like to be close to LSE or near good transport connection to the School. She is pet-friendly and happy to dog/cat sit whenever there - she will be returning to Ireland at least once a month.

If you have or know of any accommodation that may be of interest to Clara, contact her at fischecc@tcd.ie or on +353 87 7448916. Her budget is around £700.

This week's picture features the high level walkway above Houghton Street which links the Old Building and the East Building.

For more images like this, visit the Photography Unit.

The effect of ethnic diversity on communities has become a hot topic. Many academics and policy makers believe that ethnically diverse communities are characterised by distrust and low levels of social cohesion, while numerous studies show an apparent negative link between the ethnic diversity of local communities and the extent to which residents express trust in, and a sense of cohesion with, one another.

A new article, Ethnic Diversity, Segregation and the Social Cohesion of Neighbourhoods in London, co-authored by LSE's Dr Jonathan Jackson and Dr Jouni Kuha together with Patrick Sturgis, University of Southampton, and Ian Brunton-Smith, University of Surrey, shows a different and more complex picture.

To read the full article, click here.
 

Top downloads on LSE Research Online for October

LSE Research Online is a service provided by LSE Library to increase the visibility of research produced by LSE staff. It contains citations and full text, Open Access versions of research outputs, including journal articles, books chapters, working papers, theses, conference papers and more.

To find out more about Open Access, and how LSERO can help enhance research impact, email lseresearchonline@lse.ac.uk.

The most downloaded Monographs, e.g. reports, working papers and discussion papers, in LSE Research Online in October are:

1. Anheier, Helmut K. (2000) Managing non-profit organisations: towards a new approach. Civil Society Working Paper series, 1. Centre for Civil Society, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. ISBN 0753013436 (1,262 downloads)

2. Marsden, David and Richardson, Ray (1992) Motivation and performance related pay in the public sector: a case study of the Inland Revenue. CEP discussion paper, 75. Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. (572 downloads)

3. Hills, John (1998) Thatcherism, new Labour and the welfare state. 13. Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. (560 downloads)

4. Holloway, Donell, Green, Lelia and Livingstone, Sonia (2013) Zero to eight: young children and their internet use. EU Kids Online, EU Kids Online Network, London, UK. (482 downloads)

5. Lewis, Paul, Newburn, Tim, Taylor, Matthew, Mcgillivray, Catriona, Greenhill, Aster, Frayman, Harold and Proctor, Rob (2011) Reading the riots: investigating England's summer of disorder. Reading the riots, The London School of Economics and Political Science and The Guardian, London, UK. (408 downloads)

Total downloads for October: 100,207

On: Monday 9 December from 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building

The School is delighted to confirm that the event with Boris Johnson (pictured), Mayor of London, which was previously postponed, has now been rearranged for next month.

At the event, Boris Johnson will discuss the role and future of London within the Union.

Competition in the Online World: European and global perspectives
On: Monday 11 November at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Joaquín Almunia (pictured), Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Competition.

Burke, Oakeshott and the Intellectual Roots of Modern Conservatism
On: Tuesday 12 November at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Jesse Norman, Member of Parliament for Hereford and South Herefordshire.

Re-negotiating the Terms of EU-Israel Partnership: normative power and international law

On: Monday 11 November from 4.30-6pm in room 2.06, New Academic Building
Speaker: Charles Shamas (pictured), Senior Partner with the Mattin Group.

In July the European Commission published "guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli entities and their activities in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 for grants, prizes and financial instruments funded by the EU from 2014 onwards." This step has been variously described as a ‘political earthquake’, a sanction targeting Israeli settlements and settlement policies, and a confrontational move to save the two-state solution and the Middle East Peace Process from final collapse.

This event will outline the processes that have driven EU's production of these guidelines. It will examine the role of the EU as a normative power striving to respect international law and comply with its own law while intensifying EU-Israel relations.

This event is free and open to all. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email Sara Masry at s.masry@lse.ac.uk. More
 

On: Monday 11 November from 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Dr Ramachandra Guha, author of Gandhi Before India and a former Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE IDEAS.

The life of Gandhi is one of the most remarkable and potent in the modern era, yet few know what shaped him in his formative years.

Dr Ramachandra Guha paints a vivid portrait of a man whose ideas were fundamentally shaped before his return to India in 1915. Dr Guha explains how Gandhi was the sometimes unwilling leader in the midst of race and class, living in a world where he could develop the techniques that would undermine, and ultimately destroy, the British Empire.

On: Tuesday 12 November from 6-7.30pm in the Cañada Blanch Room, Cowdray House
Speaker: Dr Jasna Dragovic-Soso (pictured), Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Goldsmiths, University of London.

The LSEE Research on SEE Visiting Speaker Programme is a series of seminars aimed at bringing research and scholarship by academics, policy professionals and other South Eastern Europe experts, to a wider audience.

Dr Dragovic-Soso is the author of Saviours of the Nation: Serbia's intellectual opposition and the revival of nationalism and co-editor of State Collapse in South-Eastern Europe: new perspectives on Yugoslavia's disintegration.

On: Tuesday 12 November at 6.30pm in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Dr Carrie Friese, Associate Professor of Sociology at LSE.
Discussant: Charis Thompson, Professor of Sociology at LSE.

The natural world is marked by an ever-increasing loss of varied habitats, species extinctions, and new kinds of dilemmas posed by global warming. At the same time, humans are working to actively shape this natural world through contemporary bioscience and biotechnology, as humans seek scientific solutions to environmental crisis. Cloned endangered animals in zoos sit at the apex of these trends.

In her new book, Cloning Wild Life, Dr Friese argues that cloning technologies significantly affect our conceptualisations of and engagements with wildlife and nature.

LSE's Sustainability Team presents the first Sustainability in Practice lecture of the 2013-14 series:

Mainstreaming Sustainability: the last 20 years and the next 20 years
On: Tuesday 12 November at 6.30pm in room 2.02, Clement House
Speaker: Pooran Desai OBE (pictured), International Director of One Planet Communities.

Pooran Desai will share insight gleaned from a long list of achievements in the sustainability field, which include helping build BedZed, the UK's foremost eco-village zero-energy development, co-founding the International NGO BioRegional, and winning the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community

On: Wednesday 13 November from 6-7.30pm in room U8, Tower One
Speakers: Bernard Yack, Brandeis University, Chandran Kukathas, LSE, and David Miller, University of Oxford University.

This event, organised by the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism and the Nations and Nationalism journal, will be on Bernard Yack's book Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community.

On: Wednesday 13 November from 6.30-7.45pm in room CLM.2.02, Clement House
Speakers: Andrew Blick, Lecturer in Politics and Contemporary History at the Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies, King’s College London, Bernard Donoughue, former Senior Adviser to the Labour governments, and George Jones, Emeritus Professor of Government at LSE.

Discreet, inconspicuous, prudent... the perfect prime ministerial aide should always be in the background, a low-profile figure unknown outside the Westminster bubble.

At Power’s Elbow tells their story for the first time, uncovering the truth behind three centuries’ worth of Prime Ministers and their aides. Its subjects range from the early media-managers and election-fixers of Sir Robert Walpole, to the teams supporting the wartime premierships of David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, to the semi-official ‘Department of the Prime Minister’ established under Tony Blair.

LSE Equality and Diversity has organised a half day Staff Disability Equality Conference on Thursday 28 November.

The purpose of the conference is to increase both staff and managers' awareness around disability, focusing on creating an accessible environment in which disabled staff are able to reach their full potential.

The conference will feature a performance of "I Could Be Anyone" by actors from the University of Malta, who will illustrate the frustrations and realities of the experience of dyslexia. The event will be followed by a discussion, which aims to raise awareness and sensitivity about dyslexia in academia.

On: Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December in 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
Speakers include Peter Bearman (Columbia), Vikki Bell (Goldsmiths), Claudio Benzecry (Connecticut), Georgina Born (Oxford), James Brassett (Warwick), Roberto Franzosi (Emory), Laurie Hanquinet (York), Sarah Nettleton (York), Cristiana Olcese (LSE), Marco Santoro (Bologna), and Mike Savage (LSE), with others presenting papers.

Bourdieu’s seminal work has influenced the agenda of sociology of culture like no other. As a result, art - as symbolic representations of culture - is still mainly perceived as a means of distinction. Attention has been given to dynamics of art production and art consumption actively contributing to the reproduction of existing power relations. This focus has been at the expense of other relevant cross-class dynamics: mainly the role of aesthetics in meaning development, and its impact on social relations.

This conference aims to put aesthetics at the centre of the sociology of culture’s emerging research agenda and to lay the basis for an understanding of culture and the arts beyond entertainment and the consolidation of existing social boundaries.

Podcasts of public lectures and events

The Metropolitan Revolution: perspectives from US cities
Speakers: Bruce Katz and Anne Power
Recorded: Tuesday 29 October, approx. 90 minutes

Is Rape Different?
Speakers: Nazir Afzal, Barbara Hewson, Helen Reece, and Jennifer Temkin
Recorded: Wednesday 30 October, approx. 85 minutes

Turbulent and Mighty Continent: what future for Europe?
Speaker: Professor Lord Giddens
Recorded: Thursday 31 October, approx. 80 minutes

Courses scheduled for next week include:

• Introduction to Management
• Going Beyond Google: advanced use of the internet
• Getting the Most From Your Meetings

Training and development opportunities for staff

For all staff:

• Equality and Inclusion for Non-Managers
  Tuesday 19 November, 9.45am-1pm

• Planning a Positive Retirement
  Thursday 28 November, 9.30am-4.30pm

For managers:

• Strategic Thinking
  Tuesday 12 November, 9.30am-4.30pm

• Managing Performance Positively
  Thursday 5 December, 9.30am-4.30pm

• Career Development Review for Managers
  Thursday 12 December, 9.30am-1pm

• Developing Yourself as a Manager
  Tuesday 17 December, 10am-4.30pm

Visit Core Learning and Development Programme to find a comprehensive list of other courses available this academic year.

If you have any queries or require additional information, email hr.learning@lse.ac.uk.
 

Below are some of the vacancies currently being advertised to internal candidates only, as well as those being advertised externally.

• Application Analyst, Information Management and Technology
• Assistant Professor in Accounting, Accounting
• Assistant Professor in EU Law, Law
• Assistant Professor in Economic Geography/Regional or Urban Economics, Geography and Environment
• Assistant Professor in Finance, Finance
• Assistant Professor in Law and Anthropology, Law
• Assistant Professor in Management, Management
• Assistant Professorship in Economics, Economics
• Assistant/Associate Professor in Intellectual Property and Trade Mark Law, Law
• Assistant/Associate Professor in Private Law, Law
• Assistant/Associate Professor in Urban Geography, Geography and Environment
• Ethnography Research Project Officer, Library: academic services
• Facilities Assistant, Estates Division
• Head of Development Communications (Maternity Cover), ODAR: major gift fundraising
• Head of Health and Safety, Governance, Legal and Planning Division
• Head of Infrastructure, Information Management and Technology
• LSE Fellow, Media and Communications
• LSE100 Class Teacher (GTA), LSE100 The LSE Course
• Library Assistant, Library: academic services
• Library Assistant (Maternity Cover), Library: academic services
• MSc Management and Exchanges Programme Administrator, Management
• Office Coordinator, Management
• Quality Assurance Administrator/Research Degrees Officer, ARD: teaching quality and review
• Research Assistant (Family Life Courses and Later Life in Europe), Social Policy
• Research Economist (What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth), Centre for Economic Performance
• Research Information Analyst and Open Access Officer, Library: academic services
• Research Officer (Family Life Courses and Later Life Health in Europe), Social Policy
• Senior Project Manager, Information Management and Technology
• Student Recruitment Administrator, ARD: student recruitment