New study areas for students

The Library has completed a project to increase the number of available study spaces in the Course Collection and on the fourth floor.

Love Music Week

Lily Chamberlain

Lily, LSESU Amnesty International Society member, fills us in on what events are coming up - "January and February are incredibly busy for us."

Celebrating 120 years of LSE

Adrian Thomas, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, discusses LSE's history and encourages you to join in with the 120th anniversary celebrations.

The very first students arrived at LSE 120 years ago this year, in October 1895. They were greeted in rented rooms in John Street, Adelphi, by the School’s first Director WAS Hewins. Their lecturers during that first academic year included Bertrand Russell on German social democracy and WM Acworth on railway economics - a hugely important topic for the School at the time.

And this Friday, 23 January, marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Sir Arthur Lewis. A pioneer of Development Economics, Nobel Prize winner and the UK’s first black professor, through sheer brilliance, Sir Arthur overcame a colour bar in his native St Lucia to study at LSE and eventually teach here, becoming a member of faculty in 1938.

The LSE experience sowed the seeds for Lewis’s economic world view, in part shaped by the world leading social scientists based at LSE in the 1930s and 1940s. When he became the first - and still the only - black man to win a Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979, Lewis acknowledged their lasting influence.

Over the course of the next 12 months we’ll be celebrating the people, places and sometimes quirky events that make up the story of LSE, from 1895 to 2015. We want it to be something that everyone at LSE can get involved in and share. So please keep your eyes open for events, blog posts, publications and videos telling you more than you ever thought you could possibly want to know about what has made LSE one of the world’s most influential seats of learning. A new history of the School by Professor Michael Cox has been commissioned and we are speaking to BBC Radio 4 about the possibility of a series of radio shorts based on the School’s contribution to the key intellectual ideas of the past century.

You will be able to read more about Arthur Lewis from the Friday on the LSE History blog.

LSE has achieved a ‘First Class’ award in the People and Planet University League (formerly ‘Green League’), which ranks UK universities on their environmental and ethical performance.

It is the sixth year running LSE has retained a spot in the top tier of the League. The School came 26th overall.

The University League is created by People and Planet, a national student campaign group which promotes sustainability in universities, and is published annually in The Guardian.

The Library has completed a project to increase the number of available study spaces in the Course Collection and on the fourth floor.

99 study spaces in the Course Collection will be available exclusively to LSE students, and 20 additional study spaces will be available on the Library’s fourth floor.

The changes came following feedback from LSE students to increase the amount of quiet study space available to them. The Library has listened and as a result there are extra spaces, giving LSE students a substantial new area dedicated to quiet study.

Following a positive response from LSE students, the Library is pleased to announce it has renewed its full-access subscription to FT.com for a further three years.

The FT.com service was launched by the Library in February 2014, with over 6,000 students and staff subsequently signing up. Registration for the subscription is available by using your LSE log-in.

The Library’s subscription allows all LSE students and staff full and unlimited access to the Financial Times’ award-winning news, comment and analysis.

The Library’s Academic Support Librarians are also available to offer training and advice to help students make the most of this excellent resource: lse.ac.uk/LibraryAcademicSupport

New Gearty Grilling online

A new Gearty Grilling video, part of the series of short video debates between Conor Gearty, director of the IPA and professor of human rights law, and leading researchers at LSE, is now online.

This week Richard Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Director of the Wellbeing Programme at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance, discusses what really makes us happy. More
 

A new book gives a fascinating insight into why Germans convert to Islam despite suffering widespread marginilisation and hostility. Its conclusions will resonate with the growing numbers of converts and the role of Islam across Europe and beyond.

Being German, Becoming Muslim: race, religion, and conversion in the New Europe, by Dr Esra Ozyurek of the European Institute at LSE, focuses on contradictions and challenges in the lives of converts to Islam, and aims to understand what it means to embrace Islam in a society that increasingly marginalises and racialises Muslims. The book will be launched at LSE today.

Salary incentives for tax collectors could significantly increase the amount of taxes raised in Pakistan, according to a new film released by the International Growth Centre (IGC), based at LSE.

The IGC’s latest film, Taxing Pakistan: How to motivate civil servants, shows the results of a ‘pay for performance’ scheme that was tested in Punjab, Pakistan. IGC-funded researchers found that incentivising tax collectors increased the amount of tax collected by 30-40 per cent. Public satisfaction in the work of tax collectors wasn’t affected, and the increased revenue more than paid for the reward scheme.

Older parents are boycotting the development of long-term care funding and insurance, fearing their children would relinquish all responsibility for looking after them in their old age, new research shows.

A study of 15 European countries, including the UK, by Dr Joan Costa-Font from LSE shows that the reliance on family above the State and private sector remains very strong.

Private insurance for long-term care (LTC) is negligible in Europe and only 15 per cent of the US population has private LTC insurance. This is despite a growing strain on people working full time and juggling responsibilities for looking after both children and older parents.

Seoul National University offers an exceptional opportunity for students to follow an intensive six-week summer program led by distinguished scholars. All lectures are conducted in English, and held from Monday to Thursday.

A programme of extracurricular activities is also available, offering opportunities to experience Korean culture and society.

A representative from Seoul University's International Summer Institute will be giving a presentation at LSE on Tuesday 27 January at 11am in room CLM 7.03, Clement House.

For a study on language learning, the Language Centre would like to conduct interviews with UK and international students who have little or no experience learning languages at secondary school or university.

The School currently uses a number of channels to communicate with students, but are they the right ones, with the right messages, and is the information that needs to be communicated getting through?

Now is the chance to have your say.

You will have received a personalised email last week with a link to an LSE student communications survey. This should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and all finished surveys are eligible for entry into a prize draw for £250 in Amazon vouchers or a runners-up prize of £50 of vouchers.

So, check your email, take the survey, and you will be in with a chance to win £250 of vouchers.

If you cannot find the original email, don’t worry. A reminder will be sent out next week, which will include the relevant link.

The Student Funding Panel, established by Universities UK to consider the design of the current student fees and loans system in England, would like to hear about your views and experiences of the current higher education funding system.

If you are a UK undergraduate student who entered a university in England from September 2012 onwards, the panel would like to invite you to complete a short survey on your views and experiences of the current funding system and your time at university.

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and your response will remain anonymous at all times. Your feedback will help to ensure that the views and experiences of students are reflected in the work panel.

Wednesday 28 January, Fourth Floor Restaurant

Our ‘Feel Good Food’ world cuisine menu will offer reduced meat and increased vegetarian alternatives.

As well as raising awareness and promoting the sustainable aspects of the food we serve, we aim to demonstrate that limiting meat in our diet and using healthier ingredients, seasonal vegetables, fish from sustainable stocks and higher animal welfare produce, can benefit your health, the environment and animal welfare.

The Student Wellbeing Team will be running another Wellbeing Stall outside the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre on Thursday 5 February. Colleagues from the Faith Centre, Residences, Disability and Wellbeing Service, the Student Services Centre and Peer Support will be manning the stall from 11am-2pm and will be handing out chocolates, fruit and cups of tea.

To be in for a chance to win a trip for two to The View from the Shard, and to see your photo displayed on campus, submit your photos to the LSE Photo Prize.

Staff and students can enter up to three photos into the competition - submissions close at midnight on Wednesday 28 January. A selection of the photos will be displayed around LSE campus during the Literary Festival from 23-28 February 2015.

Friday 6 - Sunday 8 February

To finish off Global Village Week, LSESU Itchy Feet will be running a trip to Bratislava, open to all LSE students.

To sign up, look at the trip itinerary, or for more information about costs, click here.

Itchy Feet will contact everyone who has signed up with details of how to pay for their place on the trip. Trip payments are non-refundable so please only book flights after your place is confirmed.

Taken some impressive snaps while out and about in London? If so, then send them into LSE Perspectives and they could be featured in the next gallery.

Each month 12 photos taken by the LSE community are chosen to appear in LSE Arts online gallery.

Many Outlook users create email ‘signatures’ to automatically add their name, title, organisation and contact details at the bottom of messages.

Signatures also are the quickest way to send out standard messages or standard responses, such as acknowledgement of job applications received, declining invitations to conferences, etc. They can be as long or as short as you wish, and include web links, photos and formatting if required. Typically, they are a complete message, ending with the name and contact details of the sender. Standard message ‘signatures’ are created and used just like any other signature - the only difference is in the amount of text they contain. You can create as many different signatures as you need. To learn how, see this handy guide.

Did you know there is deep tissue sports massage and injury rehab available at the LSE Treatment Clinic in Tower Two?

Laura Dent is a Sports Therapist with five years of clinical experience specialising in musculo-skeletal problems. This covers ankle sprains to post-surgical rehab to bad backs.

You can book online at www.lsetreatmentclinic.co.uk - Laura is available every Monday and all LSE staff and students receive a discount.

LSE Literary Festival Fringe

Look out for exciting events happening in the run up to this year’s LSE Literary Festival and throughout the Festival week around campus as part of the Festival Fringe, including a screening of Bill Callahan’s film ‘Toilet Adventures’; a discussion on the foundations of faith at the LSE Faith Centre; and a performance of Laurence Vardaxoglou’s Buoy.

If your student society would like to be involved in the Festival Fringe, contact Louise Gaskell at l.gaskell@lse.ac.uk with your idea.

The full LSE Literary Festival 2015 programme can be found here.
 

Forthcoming LSE events include....

The Organised Mind: thinking straight in the age of information overload
On: Monday 26 January at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Daniel J Levitin

Sovereigns, Vultures and Ignoble Cowardice
On: Tuesday 27 January at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Felix Salmon

AEC 2015 - A Perspective from Business
On: Wednesday 28 January at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Dato Sri Nazir Razak

Institutionalising Public Deliberation: empowerment or appeasement?
On: Wednesday 28 January at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Professor Laurence Monnoyer-Smith (pictured)

Extradition and the Erosion of Human Rights
On: Wednesday 28 January at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: Gareth Peirce, Professor Saskia Sassen, and Professor Jeanne Theoharis

Atsuko Kawakami (piano)
On: Thursday 29 January at 1pm in the Shaw Library, Old Building

Materiality and Computer Art
On: Thursday 29 January at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Margaret Boden (pictured)

LSE Works 2015

The second LSE Works lecture takes place on Thursday 22 January and will be given by Professor Stephen Gibbons (pictured) of LSE’s Spatial Economics Research Centre on 'Neighbours, Peers and Educational Achievement'.

The respondents will be Dr Tim Leunig, Chief Analyst and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Education and Professor Ruth Lupton, Professor of Education at the University of Manchester. The event will be chaired by Professor Julia Black, Pro-Director for Research at LSE.

A list of all the LSE Works lectures can be viewed here. LSE Works is a series public lectures that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy.
 

On: Friday 23 January from 1-2pm in the Shaw Library, Old Building

The non-auditioned choir of LSE students, staff and alumni will perform a range of unaccompanied choral music from the Renaissance to 20th century, including Bruckner, Lauridsen and Parry.

Tuesday 27 January - Monday 2 February

In celebration of the performing arts and all things musical, the LSESU Music Society is launching Love Music Week. There will be something to suit everyone’s tastes, so make sure you join them on the following evenings:

Tuesday 27 January - Open Mic/Karaoke Night at the Three Tuns
This open mic is different - we want both awesome singers and daring karaoke warriors who can or cannot catch a tune. As an audience, you will be treated to talented singers who bring the house down and crazy people who want to tear the house up with their karaoke skills. If you would like to sing, email livemusic@lsesumusicsociety.com.

Wednesday 28 January - Music Education Day
Calling all those willing to try a new instrument and top quality pianists alike, Music Education Day features music 101 for the beginning musician and a masterclass for the most advanced.
For more information, email m.lavrentyeva@lse.ac.uk for music 101 or/and daniel@lsesumusicsociety.com for the masterclass.

Thursday 29 January - LSE SUperstar
Don't miss the biggest singing competition this year; LSE SUperstar featuring singer-songwriter Marley Blandford. To sign up as a participant, email rachel@lsesumusicsociety.com by Thursday 22 January.

Friday 30 January - Concert Trip
Enjoy Bach's violin concertos by candlelight at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Charing Cross at 7.30pm. Tickets for this concert are partly subsidised by the society - now only £12 for a £22 ticket. Book your place by emailing Barrie at barrie@lsesumusicsociety.com.

On: Tuesday 27 January from 6-7.30pm at LSE

The Careers at the Bar event gives students the chance to meet chambers engaged in commercial, criminal and public law.

Students have the opportunity to network with and chat to representatives and barristers to find out more about available pupillages and mini-pupillages.

For more information, click here.
 

On: Friday 20 March in Brussels

The LSE Careers annual European Internships Fair is for students interested in Brussels-based internships and job opportunities. The fair has previously attracted professional service firms, public affairs consultancies, international organisations, multinationals and think tanks that are looking to recruit graduates.