Welcome to Orientation 2013

This is your chance to learn all about LSE and your place in it. Find out what events are on offer next week to give you a flying start in the new academic year.

Enhanced course guides

LSE is keen to give students as much information about their courses as possible and is now producing "Enhanced Course Guides" to replace those currently published.

Jay Stoll

Jay, General Secretary of LSE's Students’ Union, who has recently co-starred in a single shot tour of LSE with his Sabbatical Officers, welcomes students to the School.

Welcome to LSE - Orientation 2013

Welcome to Orientation 2013, the introduction to LSE which aims to provide incoming students with a flying start to the new academic year.

Central School services, academic departments, halls of residence and the Students’ Union offer a variety of events to introduce new students to both academic and social life at LSE. Visit lse.ac.uk/yourFirstWeeks for details of Orientation events, as well as comprehensive 'how-to' guides on setting up your IT account, obtaining a student Oyster card, getting proof that you are a student, opening a bank account, and much more. Orientation information is also available via LSE Mobile or by following the Student Services Centre on Twitter: @lse_ssc.

Don’t forget to attend your compulsory registration session and LSE Welcome Presentation.

Be sure to check out the Student Services Showcase from Monday 30 September to Wednesday 2 October from 11am-2pm. Take a walk down Houghton Street and visit stalls to learn more about the range of services available to students at LSE.

There are still places available at the banking presentations on Monday 30 September. Representatives from Santander will be offering advice on banking in the UK; including how to open accounts and manage them effectively. To book your free place, visit lsestudentbanking.eventbrite.co.uk.

Visit the Freshers’ Fair on Thursday 3 October from 10am-5pm and Friday 4 October from 11am-5pm (access hour for disabled students from 10am-11am) to learn more about the huge number of clubs and societies being run by LSE students. For more Students’ Union events, visit lsesu.com/whatson.

Don’t worry if you are feeling a little lost when you arrive. Stop by a New Arrivals Help Point and chat with current students who can help with questions about where to go and how to get there. Guided campus tours are also available from the New Arrivals Help Point opposite the main entrance to St Clement’s Building from 10am-3.30pm from Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October. No booking required.

Have a great time!
 

Ravindra Ramrattan

It is with great sadness that the School has learnt of the death of alumnus Ravindra Ramrattan (pictured) in the Nairobi shopping mall shootings.

Ravi undertook an MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics in 2009 at LSE.

Ravi was working as a research economist in Kenya when he was killed. Those interested in finding out more about Ravi can read a post from his friend Josh Weinstein on the Africa at LSE blog.
 

A team of students from LSE are among the runners up for the prestigious Hult Prize 2013 for their social enterprise initiative, SokoText. The team, two of whom are recent graduates, conceived of SokoText while studying at LSE.

The LSE team gave its winning pitch to former President Bill Clinton and a panel of judges, including Muhammad Yunus and the head of the World Food Programme, in the framework of the Clinton Global Initiative Summit in New York on Monday (23 September).

The Hult Prize, run in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, is the largest social enterprise competition in the world. This year, President Clinton challenged students to come up with creative social enterprise solutions to help tackle global food insecurity. The LSE idea, SokoText, aims to help people living in the world’s slums gain access to affordable food through the simple medium of text messages.

LSE students Jonathan Colmer (pictured top left) and Michele Piffer (pictured bottom left) have been awarded two of this year’s three FEEM Awards (Best Young Economist Awards).

Since 2009, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) annually confers the FEEM Award, a prize organised jointly with the European Economic Association (EEA), on the authors of the three best papers presented by young economists at the annual congress of the EEA. The award aims to reward new ideas addressing key economic issues at the European and global scale.

Jonathan’s paper examines the impact of climate change on child activities in developing countries; it was felt to be both "original in the literature and particularly interesting for policy makers", and the judges were impressed by Jonathan’s "novel insights on an important topic".

Michele submitted a paper called Monetary Policy, Leverage Premium, and Loan Default Probability, which analyses a micro mechanism for the variation of risk taking over the business cycle (the "risk taking channel of monetary policy"). Described by the judges as "an excellent theoretical work" obtaining results which "represent a significant addition to the literature", the paper was praised for its insight and originality.

LSE has been ranked as the third best university in the UK and the top university in London according to the newly-merged The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014.

Using the old Times Good University Guide as a comparison, this is the third year in a row that LSE has been rated as the top university in the capital.

Individual subjects have also done particularly well in the new league table. LSE tops the social policy subject table, and comes second in anthropology and economics.

The Times and The Sunday Times have produced separate university guides since 1993 and 1998 respectively. This year, the new, combined Good University Guide is intended to "provide the most comprehensive guide to higher education in Britain."

LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun said: "We are delighted that LSE’s commitment to world-class teaching and research is reflected in this guide as in the full range of university rankings. We continually invest both energy and resources in improving our facilities, our faculty, and the experience of our terrific students."

The School is keen to give students as much information about their courses as possible and is now producing "Enhanced Course Guides". These will replace the course guides currently published in the online Calendar from this term onwards.

The enhanced guides will contain the same information as the current guides, for example, the teacher responsible, availability and content. In addition, they will include course survey results and, for some departments, student performance data. Both of these will be averaged across a three-year period. There is also a slot for comments from the teacher(s) on the course. So far around a quarter of the guides have changed, and it is anticipated that others will follow as the three-year data becomes available.

Professor Paul Kelly (pictured above), Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning, said: "Every year we ask students to fill in teaching surveys and are keen to ensure that the results of those surveys don’t just benefit the School generally, but also individual students as they make their course choices. To date, survey results have been published at the department level. We are now keen to share information at the course level. I hope students find the enhanced guides useful and I am grateful to all those who have worked to provide the additional information and to make it available."

LSE carries out extensive teaching surveys in the Michaelmas and Lent terms each year. Results allow the School to put in place support and training for teachers who need it. They also allow the School to reward excellence. Overall, the surveys have found that over 80 per cent of LSE students are satisfied with the teaching on their courses.

LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun has produced an Interim Report on the Strategic Review. It will be available on the Strategic Review website on Friday.

The report reflects the extensive work that has gone into the Review so far, from the calls for contributions to the focus groups and the work of the advisory groups on operational strategy and academic strategy as well as the steering committee. It summarises broad strategic directions and sets out a variety of concrete proposals.

The new Student Centre is nearing completion, and the School and the Students’ Union plan to start running events in December.

The new building, which has been rated highly for originality of design and sustainability, will provide an exciting new home for the Students’ Union. It will also house a media centre, LSE Careers Service, and a faith centre as well as a gym and dance studio. In addition it will have an internet café, a pub, landscaped roof terrace, a 1,000 person venue and be home to the School’s Accommodation Office (part of Residential Services).

LSE Careers Service will start operating from the building in late November, and the Centre will be fully operational by the start of Lent term, with the Students’ Union and other services moving in over the Christmas break. We will keep you updated as the term progresses.
 

LSE opened the doors to both the Library and 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields on Sunday 22 September as part of the 2013 Open House London Weekend. Each year, Open House London gives hundreds of thousands of people the chance to explore the City's architecture and urban design free of charge.

LSE's Library welcomed 150 members of the public into the Lionel Robbins Building. Peter Carrol, Martin Reid and Nicola Wright talked about the Library and how the building serves the needs of the people who use it. Visitors enjoyed a guided tour of the building, learning about its former life as a WH Smith warehouse and its celebrated 2001 redesign by Fosters and Partners architects.

Nicola Wright, Deputy Director of Library Services, said: "Open House is a great way to showcase the Library’s unique architecture and we were delighted to be able to open one of LSE’s most famous buildings to such a large and appreciative audience."

Volunteers from the Estates Division provided guided tours of 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, showing around almost 200 people. Visitors received a factsheet containing architectural information and were shown points of interest including the new pavilion, the Harvard lecture theatres, the old Land Registrar’s office, and the original entrance hall. Many were also given the opportunity to view London from the rooftop, as well as seeing the hidden solar panels that have been installed there.

Registration for continuing students

Students are required to register for their programme at the start of each academic year, and most continuing students are now able to register online via the 'Registration for continuing students' option on LSE for You.

You should ensure that you register as early as possible, and no later than Friday 11 October, after which the online registration facility will be switched off.

The following groups of students will not be able to register online, and will be emailed information separately regarding their registration arrangements:

• Students transferring from the General Course into the third year of a BSc degree

• Double degree students who are coming to LSE for the second year of their degree

• Students who are returning from interruption or who have been unregistered during the 2012-13 academic year.

For information on registering for courses, visit Course Registration.
 

New Undergraduate Students: don’t forget to meet your student mentor

The Student Mentoring Scheme offers all new LSE undergraduate and General Course students the chance to make connections with second or third year undergraduates, sometimes from your own academic department. Mentors are students like you, but with more experience of LSE.

By now, your mentor should have been in touch to introduce him or herself and to set up a time to meet during Orientation Week. This first meeting is your chance to get to know other new students and to ask your mentor any questions you may have to help you settle in.

Your mentor will also set up another group meeting with you in week three and at other times throughout the year. Mentors are also available by email to answer your questions.

Don't feel shy about getting in contact - mentors are disappointed when they don't have a chance to help.
 

The Estates Division produces the Facilities Guide for new students and staff. The guide is full of useful information to help you navigate around the campus. If you would like a hard copy, email Mandy Crane at m.r.crane@lse.ac.uk or visit the LSE Facilities to access the online version.

If you are looking for a study room, see page 27 of the guide, or why not try 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields (PDF).

Campus improvements
It has been a busy summer for the Estates Division. The refurbishment of the ground floor toilets in the Library has been completed. Improvement works continue at most Halls of Residence, including bedroom refurbishments at Grosvenor House, High Holborn and Northumberland; shower refurbishments at Rosebery; boiler replacement works at Butler's Wharf, High Holborn and Passfield; and lift upgrades at Butler’s Wharf and High Holborn.

The Saw Swee Hock Student Centre is progressing well, with completion scheduled for October and occupation in December. See pages 40-41 of the Facilities Guide for more information.

Welcome from the Library

A warm welcome from the Library to all LSE students. Here is some guidance that will help you start your academic career at LSE:

• Your LSE card is also your Library card. You will need a PIN which you can find on the ‘Library’ section of LSE for You.

• Use our website to find all the information you need on getting started in the Library and where to get help.

• You can search across our print and electronic resources in Summon.

• Explore the Library’s user guides to get to know the key information resources that you will need.

• Find out who your department’s Academic Support Librarian is. You can arrange a meeting at any time with our specialist staff to discuss information resources for your studies.

• Book on one of our training workshops this term to help you learn how to find, use and manage academic materials for your studies.

• Make an application for a locker on LSE for You.

• Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for essential updates to services and other items of interest.
   

Welcome from Information Management and Technology

We provide a variety of IT services for students including PC and printing facilities, 24hr support, personal mobile device assistance, free IT training and online learning via Moodle.

Please have a look at our Key Information for New Students to find out more about how to get the most out of your IT facilities when joining LSE.

Stay up to date with the latest IT developments with LSEITNews, either on twitter @lseitnews or by subscribing to our blog.

For help or support regarding LSE hardware and software, network and email account issues and general IT queries, contact our IT Help Desk or visit them on the first floor of the Library.

Our services include:

• Student PCs: Over 1,000 student PCs, including laptops to borrow and use in the Library

• IT Support for Disabled Students: IT support and assistive technologies

• Laptop Surgery: for assistance with personally-owned laptops and mobile devices

• Free IT Training: IT training is delivered in a number of ways, allowing you to enhance and improve your IT skills

• Online IT guides and FAQs: a series of online guides and FAQs offering advice and solutions

• Free Anti-Virus: if your laptop or personal computer is not properly protected it can become infected within a few minutes of connecting it to the network

• LSE Mobile: LSE’s own information app for mobile devices

For more information, visit lse.ac.uk/imt.
 

With a fantastic range of cafés, restaurants and traditional pubs, LSE Catering promises to cater for all tastes and budgets with a diverse range of food and drinks on campus.

From snacks to international cuisine and barista coffees to champagne, we aim to provide value and variety at affordable prices.

LSE Catering opening times - Orientation Week (until Friday 4 October):

• LSE Garrick
  8am - 6pm
• 4th Floor Restaurant
  9am - 3pm
• 4th Floor Café Bar
  9am - 3pm
• Plaza Café
  10am - 6pm
• Café 54
  8.30am - 4.30pm
• The Bean Counter
  10am - 3.30pm
• George IV
  12noon - 11pm

Welcome from the Disability and Well-being Service

Disabled students are invited to attend a welcome event on Tuesday 1 October in room OLD 3.21, Old Building, from 10am-2pm. The day will provide lots of useful information about services at LSE as well as a free lunch.

The term 'disabled' includes students with long term medical conditions, sensory and physical impairments, neurodiverse profiles such as dyslexia or Asperger syndrome, mental health concerns and so on. You are welcome to dip in and out if you can’t make the whole day.

For more information, email Sue Haines at s.haines@lse.ac.uk.
 

If you're having problems with life at LSE or at home, issues regarding yourself or friends, come and speak to one of the Peer Supporters.

We are a group of second year students who have been specially trained to listen, provide informal and confidential support, and help students find their own solutions.

Join LSE Equality and Diversity for film screenings, workshops and much more

LSE Equality and Diversity has plenty on offer for you to get involved in this academic year.

Don’t miss the lunchtime film screenings and student workshops taking place this term, or the chances to meet people through volunteering opportunities.

LSE Language Centre - here to help

The Language Centre has lots to offer new and continuing students.

Do you think you might need help with your English?
If English is not your first language and/or you have never studied in an English speaking environment before, the Language Centre offers a comprehensive support programme available to all students.

Want to take a language as part of your undergraduate degree?
You can take a French, German, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish course as a fully assessed part of your undergraduate degree. You do not even have to have studied the language before. Four Literature and Society options are also available as well as Linguistics for Social Scientists.

Do you want to take a language course while at LSE?
If you are a postgraduate student or an undergraduate who cannot (or chooses not to) take a language as part of your degree, we have a programme of extra-curricular courses. Our Certificate Course programme offers Arabic, Catalan, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Priority is given to LSE students initially and remember that you may be entitled to a free language course under the LSE Language Policy.

Additional services
If you have an important piece of work to submit, there is a proofreading service available to LSE students at cost.

For more information and to see what else is on offer, visit the Language Centre website or visit the reception on the seventh floor of the Clare Market Building, which is open Monday-Thursday 9.15am-6.30pm and Fridays 9.15am-4.30pm.
 

We have a packed programme of seminars, presentations and fairs coming up during Michaelmas term, so whether you are a new or returning student, and whether you know what you want to do or are still looking for career inspiration, now is a great time to come meet us at LSE Careers.

See our information for new students to find out how to:

• Search LSE CareerHub for part-time, graduate or voluntary positions and internships
• Book one-to-one CV checks and careers appointments
• Develop your interview, presentation and communication skills and present yourself at your best to employers
• Research a huge range of careers online
• Find and book key events
• Keep up-to-date with application deadlines.

LSE Volunteer Centre

The Volunteer Centre sits within LSE Careers and is here to help you find a volunteering placement at a charity during your time at LSE. We had many successes last year, shown in our online brochure, and we hope to build on them in the 2013-14 academic year.

The Centre offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities for you to get involved in, whether you have one hour a week or two days a week to spare. It can offer a wealth of advice on volunteering in London and overseas, plus how you can make the best use of your opportunities to make a difference in the world and help gain new skills for your future careers. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and through our blog.

If you have a question about volunteering please arrange a one-on-one appointment with the LSE Volunteer Coordinator:

• Tuesdays at 10-11am

• Fridays at 2-4pm

These take place at LSE Careers, third floor of Tower Three. Please book an appointment on LSE CareerHub.

Volunteering Fair 2013
Wednesday 9 October from 5.30-8.30pm in the Senior Dining Room, Old Building
This is the perfect opportunity to meet the huge variety of charities which work with the Volunteer Centre, including The Hackney Pirates, Read International, Restless Development, Oxfam and Body&Soul. Book your place from Wednesday 2 October at 10am on LSE CareerHub.
 

LSE's Teaching and Learning Centre

We run free year-round events and services that complement your academic learning and help you make the most of your time at LSE.

• Learning and personal development events for taught students, including effective reading strategies, essay writing, exam preparation and much more.
• A Moodle site, Learning World, full of resources to enhance your learning.
• One-to-one guidance from quantitative and qualitative subject advisers and the Royal Literary Fund Fellows.
• An academic and professional development programme for PhD students, with interdisciplinary workshops on writing, building impact, and managing your research.
• Expert well-being services - peer support, counselling, disability, treatments - that provide tailored support when you most need it.

To make sure you don’t miss out, sign up to our Twitter account, @LSETLC, where we’ll be posting regular news about these and more. You can also reach us at 020 7852 3627, email tlc@lse.ac.uk, or visit lse.ac.uk/tlc.
 

Graduate Open Evening

LSE is holding a Graduate Open Evening on Wednesday 6 November.

Students who successfully complete an undergraduate degree programme at LSE are entitled to a 10 per cent alumnus discount on a graduate taught programme at LSE starting in 2014.

The Graduate Open Evening will give you the opportunity to:

• obtain more information about LSE’s graduate taught and research programmes
• discuss your study options with LSE academic staff and postgraduate students
• find out about the application process, financial support available and career destinations of LSE graduates.

Carr-Saunders, Passfield and Rosebery Hall are all open to the public during the Christmas and Easter student vacation periods.

All offer bed and breakfast accommodation at affordable rates and all are located in zone one of London. They are ideal if you have friends or family coming to visit you who need a place to stay in the city - a great alternative to London hotels.

Bookings made by LSE students are also entitled to a 10 per cent discount, please make your booking by phone to obtain your discount.

Do you love writing and blogging? LSE’s Student Recruitment Office is looking for students for the LSE Student Blog - so whether you’re new and just arriving in London or a seasoned third year who knows all the best things to do and places to visit, the team needs you.

Bloggers are free to write about their social and academic life while at LSE and in London. In the past this has ranged from choosing courses and making the most of career opportunities, to going to musicals and finding the best pubs.

Bloggers will be given training in guidelines and content as well as training in how to use Wordpress. Every month the team awards a prize for the best blogger as well as a prize at the end of the year.

LSE Chill is an open performance night, organised by LSE Arts and sponsored by LSE Peer Support, which takes place on the last Friday of every month during term time.

LSE Perspectives: call for submissions

LSE Perspectives is a monthly online gallery that features photographs taken by LSE students and staff, and LSE Arts is looking for submissions for upcoming galleries.

So 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.

Students and staff can now get a 10 per cent discount with Proviz, a specialist brand for hi-vis sportswear and accessories.

Proviz offers a distinctive and bold range of light-emitting cycling products specifically designed to increase the visibility and therefore safety of cyclists. Whether you are looking for a helmet, rucksack, bike lights, jackets or gloves, Proviz has all your hi-visibility cycling needs covered.

National Book Tokens are giving away £150 of tokens to one lucky winner via their Twitter competition.

National book tokens are an ideal way to help with the costs of course texts. To get involved, simply follow them on Twitter @inspiringchoice and tweet them with the hashtag #NBTStudents.

Details of this term's LSE events programme are now online.

The programme includes an exciting mixture of debates, lectures, exhibitions, concerts and film screenings. Highlights include lectures by Nobel Laureates Edmund Phelps and Christopher Pissarides, president and CEO of CARE USA Helene D Gayle, Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, President Museveni of Uganda, author Fatima Bhutto, and founder and group CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandes.

Information about all of these events can be found on LSE events website and you can also follow us on Twitter - twitter.com/LSEpublicevents.

Tickets for LSE students and staff

A reminder that for the majority of ticketed LSE events, an allocation of tickets for LSE students and staff is set aside, available for collection from the NAB SU Shop on a first come, first served basis.

Rather than enter the public ballot online, you will usually have a much higher chance of getting a ticket this way. See individual web listings for full details.
 

Transforming the Economic Lives of the Ultrapoor

On: Wednesday 25 September from 6.30-8pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building.

Tonight sees the final public lecture as part of the International Growth Centre's Growth Week.

Professors Robin Burgess, professor of economics at LSE, and Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation international professor of economics at MIT, will be speaking on the topic of 'Transforming the Economic Lives of the Ultrapoor'.

Professor Banerjee founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and remains one of its directors. In 2011, he was named one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers and has authored Poor Economics, which won the Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year.

Professor Burgess is director of the International Growth Centre and director of the Economic Organisation and Public Policy Programme at LSE. Before joining academia he served as a consultant economist with the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Government of India.

This event is free and open to all on a first come, first served basis.
 

• Wednesday 2 October - Tracking the gender politics of the Millennium Development Goals: from the millennium declaration to the post-MDG consultations
  Naila Kabeer (pictured) speaks on the gendered impacts of the millennium development goals.
• Thursday 3 October - New Pathways in Gender Research
  The Gender Institute showcases its doctoral student research.
• Friday 4 October - The Anti-Rape Movement and Women's Freedom in India
  Kavita Krishnan speaks on the anti-rape movement and women’s freedom in India.
• Monday 4 November - Only White Men: serial killing in European cinema
  Richard Dyer speaks on the prevalence of the white male serial killer in European cinema.
• Tuesday 10 December - Feminism in the Media
  A panel of experts discusses feminism in the media.

On: Wednesday 2 October from 6-7.30pm in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Chris Schroeder (pictured), internet entrepreneur and venture investor.

Chris Schroeder will discuss the new start-up culture that is burgeoning in the Middle East, and describe the broader ecosystem challenges and opportunities changing in the region.

He will show that as we move to a world, within a decade, of five billion people accessing broadband, the Middle East is a lens into a massive shift we should all be engaging in now.

On: Wednesday 2 October from 6.30-8pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speakers: Doru Frantescu (pictured), policy director at VoteWatch, Professor Simon Hix, professor of European and comparative politics at LSE, Mats Persson, director of Open Europe.

This event is organised by LSE's European Institute and VoteWatch Europe, in partnership with the European Parliament information office in the UK. The event will start with a welcome by Dr Sara Hagemann, lecturer in EU politics at LSE, before opening up to panel discussion. A reception will follow.

On: Thursday 3 October from 6.30-8pm in room NAB.1.04, New Academic Building
Speaker: Richard Nesbitt (pictured)

Richard Nesbitt is chief operating officer at CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce). In this role, he is responsible for the global operations of wholesale banking, technology and operations, strategy and corporate development, CIBC's international operations, including CIBC first Caribbean International Bank and Treasury.

On: Tuesday 8 October from 6.30-8pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: The Rt Hon David Blunkett MP (pictured), former Home Secretary, Richard Gordon QC, barrister at Brick Court Chambers, Carol Harlow, Emeritus Professor of Law at LSE, plus other speakers to be confirmed.

The UK has no constitution written down in one document. Instead it has laws, conventions, practices, activities scattered all over the place that constitutional lawyers gather together and describe as the UK constitution.

In a unique project, LSE’s Institute of Public Affairs and the Department of Law are coming together with the LSE Public Policy Group and LSE Democratic Audit to pioneer the crowdsourcing of a new UK constitution - asking members of the public to participate in, advise on and eventually to draft a new UK constitution.

Eyes Wide Open: how to make smart decisions in a confusing world

On: Wednesday 9 October from 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Noreena Hertz (pictured), best-selling author and academic.

We face momentous decisions with important consequences throughout our lives. Fortunately, we have never had better access to information and expertise, but the data deluge has become a double-edged sword. So who should we believe? In a world of unprecedented complexity can the past still serve as our guide? What role do emotions play in our decision-making? Which expert advice, if any, should we trust?

Noreena Hertz will address such questions in a provocative and inspiring lecture based on her new book Eyes Wide Open: how to make smart decisions in a confusing world.

• Thursday 10 October
  Global Migration and Urban Renewal
  Philip Kasinitz, professor of sociology at City University, New York, and Michael Keith, director of the Centre of Migration, Policy and Social Change at the University of Oxford, will respectively explore US and British perspectives on global migration.
• Tuesday 29 October
  The Metropolitan Revolution: perspectives from US cities
  Bruce Katz, vice president of the Brookings Institution, will explain how ground-up innovations at a city level are solving the toughest economic problems in the US, while Anne Power, professor of social policy at LSE, reflects on the relevance of these developments on UK cities.
• Monday 4 November
  Going Green: how cities are leading the next economy
  This seminar presents research findings from LSE’s work on the UNEP’s Green Economy Report and the Economics of Green Cities Programme, which aim to understand the opportunities and constraints of transitioning to a green urban economy.
• Thursday 28 November
  Transformative Design for Social Integration
  John McAslan will present an architect’s perspective on how design can play a critical role in integrating displaced communities, drawing from his practice’s experience in Malawi and Haiti, and in areas affected by the riots in London.

Podcasts of public lectures and events

The Last Vote: the threats to Western democracy
Speaker: Philip Coggan
Recorded: Monday 9 September, approx. 82 minutes

State of the World Economy: a view from an emerging market
Speaker: Felipe Larraín Bascuñán
Recorded: Wednesday 11 September, approx. 73 minutes

Adjusting to the Changing Dynamics of the World Economy
Speakers: Richard Kozul-Wright and Professor Robert Wade
Recorded: Thursday 12 September, approx. 88 minutes