Library opens Exhibition Space

The new Exhibition Space is a state of the art facility which showcases the best and most interesting items from the Library’s collections.

Five weeks until Houghton Street closes

Students are invited to an information session with Capital Development and Cantillon, the Centre Buildings demolition contractor.

Dr Leticia Sabsay

If Dr Sabsay could choose a personal theme tune, it would be Changes by David Bowie: "It always makes me happy to listening to that track."

LSE 120^th anniversary - Summer term 2015

Adrian Thomas, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, provides an update on the 120th anniversary celebrations taking place this term.

Did you know? LSE’s Bob McKenzie, Professor of Sociology, co-presented BBC election coverage across three decades in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He popularised the use of the swingometer to show the national swing in votes and estimate seats for parties. This amazing example of LSE expertise in action is just one of the many reasons we are celebrating LSE’s history in this, our 120th year.

Lent term saw the launch of our 120th anniversary celebrations at the annual LSE Literary Festival. If you missed it, you can watch Mick Cox’s talk on the School’s history or the Ghosts of the Past online photo gallery online now in LSE history in multimedia.

Summer term will see huge change on campus as the Centre Buildings work begins, so this is a great time to remember our past in our buildings. Keep an eye out for historical campus tours and more on the LSE history blog - including an East Building farewell video blog.

We’ll also be remembering the contribution of our people, with July’s Alumni Reunion weekend having a special 120th anniversary theme. Look out for more information about a new LSE oral history project which will be launched very soon. In June, LSE will mark the centenary year of former academic and Nobel Laureate Arthur Lewis with an event and exhibition. If you need to get up to speed on Arthur Lewis and LSE, a blog and video are online now.

People are just as likely to return a ‘lost’ wallet to an owner who has a different political affiliation to their own suggests new research from LSE.

Paul Dolan, Professor of Behavioural Science, orchestrated a drop of 300 wallets in busy shopping areas in Brighton on Bank Holiday Sunday (2 May). The wallets were identical except for a sticker from one of the five main political parties on the front. Fifty wallets were dropped without stickers for the purpose of comparison.

Each wallet also contained £5, a baby photo, some fake papers and a contact number for its owner, ‘Charlie Smith’.

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 Charlie Bean (pictured), Professor of Economics and former Deputy Governor for Monetary Policy at the Bank of England, discusses the economic crisis. More
 

Library opens Exhibition Space

On Friday 1 May, the Library opened its new Exhibition Space, a state of the art facility which showcases the best and most interesting items from the Library’s collections.

The Exhibition Space includes a video wall which projects images alongside two display cases to show collection items. It marks the final phase of the investment and building work which the School committed to in the transfer of the Women’s Library in 2013.

The Exhibition Space’s inaugural exhibition focuses on the subject of campaigning, and explores connections between The Women’s Library @ LSE collection and the Library’s collections by looking at campaigns for the vote, peace and for gay and women’s equality. Please visit the Library website for the Exhibition Space’s opening hours or find out more information on the Library’s blog.
 

Learning Commons Competition: the results are in

Last month LSE students submitted their entries for the Next Generation Learning Commons design competition.

The panel, made of members from the Library, IMT, Estates and the Student's Union selected their best entries and the results are:

• First Prize: James Dunn

• Highly Commended Entry: Portia Roelofs

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the participants. Find out more on LTI’s blog post.

Centre Buildings Redevelopment - five weeks to go

Meet the Contractor - Tuesday 2 and Thursday 4 June
LSE's Estates Division invites students to an information session with Capital Development and Cantillon, the Centre Buildings demolition contractor.

The session will comprise a presentation about the site logistics followed by a Q&A and will include information on dust, noise, traffic, vibration control, communication, and works sequencing.

The meetings will be held between 1-2pm on Tuesday 2 and Thursday 4 June in the Centre Buildings Exhibition Space, which is located the Old Three Tuns on Houghton Street. If you are able to join us, email Phoebe at p.j.dunster@lse.ac.uk to confirm which date you will be attending.

Please also note that the Centre Buildings Exhibition Space will be closed from Wednesday 10 June, ahead of demolition commencing on 15 June. Please make time to visit - the Space is open on Wednesdays between 2-5pm.

Computer rooms STC S175, STC S177, STC S075, STC S03, STC S018, CLM B04, CLM G03, CLM G04 and CLM G05 are now closed for exams until the end of June.

If you need access to a computer you can do so in the following places:

• The Library - Laptop plug-in points, printers and over 400 computers plus the i-roam laptop loan service available on the first floor
• Old Building - Over 30 PCs in OLD.B25
• New Academic Building - Computer rooms on the first and second floors
• Clare Market- Large computer room with over 100 PCs, five black and white printers, one colour printer and one scanner
• 32 Lincoln’s Inn Fields - Computer rooms on the ground and lower ground floors

IMT is offering Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification at discounted rates for LSE students, with further discounts available for bundle purchases.

For details of pricing, study session times and to find out more of the benefits of MOS certification, visit lse.ac.uk/imt/mos or email IT.Training@lse.ac.uk.

MOS certification is recognised internationally as proof that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to productively use Microsoft Office. More than one million MOS exams are taken every year in over 140 countries. An initial evaluation test will help you identify any gaps in your skills, which you can fill through guided online training. Certification will show you are capable of tapping the full features and functionality of the Microsoft Office system, resulting in improved individual performance, confidence, and differentiation.

Free Microsoft Office software

All students are now eligible for free copies of Microsoft Office software on as many as five PCs, five Macs and five Tablets.

Using your LSE email address and password, you can log in to Office 365 and download Office software onto your personal devices. The Office suite includes:

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• OneNote
• Publisher
• Lync
• Access

To get your free copies, please visit https://portal.office.com/Home
For more information, see https://lse.ac.uk/imt/office365pro

LSE 'Summer Schools' in Beijing and Cape Town

LSE will again be collaborating with its institutional partners, Peking University (PKU) and the University of Cape Town (UCT), to deliver innovative two-week 'summer school' style programmes in China and South Africa in July and August.

These will provide students and professionals from across the globe with an exciting opportunity to study important social science issues relevant to China or Africa today, across subject areas as diverse as international relations, economics, finance, management, government, geography, law, media and social policy.

The courses are taught by faculty from LSE and PKU or UCT, and attract a diverse range of participants from over 40 countries. To apply to join us this summer or to find out more about these prestigious and thought-provoking, intensive programmes, please visit LSE-PKU Summer School or LSE-UCT July School.
 

Polis Photography Competition

The 2015 Polis Photography Competition, for interpretations on the theme 'Political News', is closing this Friday 15 May.

We encourage students to interpret the theme in imaginative ways and will be judging on both aesthetic merits and the inventiveness of interpretation. The competition is open to all LSE students, we will accept submissions of a maximum of two photographs per person.

The winner will receive a £50 Waterstones book voucher and two runners up will receive a £25 voucher each. We will feature the winning and commended entries on our website and the poster-board in the Department of Media and Communications.

Click the following links to view previous competition entrants and winners on the themes of 'Texture' and 'Communication'.
 

De-stress at the Wellbeing Stall

The Student Wellbeing Service will be running another Wellbeing Stall outside the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre on Friday 15 May from 11am-2pm, looking at ways to de-stress.

Staff from the Disability and Wellbeing Service, Residential Services and Fitness First will be joined by LSESU officers, peer supporters, and student counsellors to help people think of things that they can do to help them de-stress.

Free 10 minute massages will be available plus staff from Fitness First will be carrying out a fitness demo and providing nutritional advice. Fitness First in High Holborn are also providing LSE students with free gym access until Friday 15 May.

LSE Catering will be holding a pop-up cocktail bar with live jazz on the eighth floor of the New Academic Building on Friday 22 May.

The event was incredibly popular last year, with professionally made cocktails, excellent live Jazz music combined with amazing views over London.

Need a nursery?

Do you have young children (three months to five years) and need a nursery near the School?

If so, please take the very short survey at surveymonkey.com/s/Y9JBLN2. We are particularly keen to hear from staff and students who could use the LSE Nursery but don’t.
 

LSE Perspectives

The latest LSE Perspectives gallery is available online. Each month LSE Arts selects 12 photos to feature in this gallery, which features scenes from across the world.

When importing data into Excel from other programs and applications, dates sometimes seem to become irreversibly formatted as text (it appears right-aligned in the column, and cannot be used in formulas.) If the standard method of changing the format doesn’t work, these steps will.

1. Select the column.
2. On the Data tab in the ribbon, click the Text to Columns icon. The first of a three page wizard appears.
3. On the Step 1 page, click Next.
4. On the Step 2 page, click Next. (Or try selecting the various delimiters one at a time, examining the Data Preview box to choose the most appropriate one.)
5. On the Step 3 page, change the Column data format to Date and select your preferred date format from the drop down list.
6. Click Finish.

The LSE Treatment Clinic, found on the first floor of Tower Two, offers professional treatments (acupuncture, osteopathy and sports massage) at reduced rates for LSE students and staff.

Their combined expertise is effective in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, RSI, tension headaches, posture advice, sports injuries, anxiety, insomnia, migraine, among many other ailments.

Forthcoming LSE events include....

Work Rules! Insights from Inside Google that Will Transform How you Live and Lead
On: Monday 18 May at 4pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Laszlo Bock (pictured)

In Defence of a Liberal Education
On: Monday 18 May at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Fareed Zakaria

Decolonising Gender
On: Monday 18 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Raewyn Connell (pictured)
(LIVE WEBCAST)

The Great Divide
On: Tuesday 19 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Joseph E Stiglitz
(LIVE WEBCAST)

The Government Paternalist: nanny state or helpful friend?
On: Wednesday 20 May at 6.30pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Julian Le Grand

The Happiness of Cities
On: Wednesday 20 May at 6.30pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Professor Ed Glaeser
(LIVE WEBCAST)

Don't miss out - upcoming ticket releases

When to Rob a Bank: a rogue economist's guide to the world
On: Wednesday 27 May
Speaker: Stephen J Dubner (pictured)
Ticket release date: Tuesday 19 May

A lecture by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic of Italy
On: Thursday 28 May
Speaker: Sergio Mattarella
Ticket release date: Wednesday 20 May

A Lecture by Kevin Rudd
On: Monday 1 June
Ticket release date: Thursday 21 May
 

On now until Friday 12 June in the Atrium Gallery, Old Building. Visitors are welcome Monday-Friday between 10am and 8pm (excluding bank holidays, when the school is closed).

In association with LSE Arts, the LSESU Visual Arts Society annual exhibition showcases artwork produced by students from LSE. The display features artwork produced by members of the society created over this academic year's weekly life drawing sessions, as well as artwork from non-members which range from paintings to calligraphy and photography.

This exhibition provides artistic students at LSE the opportunity to display their abilities to the wider LSE community. It hopes to promote the society to the rest of the student body and encourage them to explore their creativity.

Book launch - The Golden Dawn's 'Nationalist Solution': explaining the rise of the far right in Greece

On: Thursday 14 May from 6.30-8pm in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: Dr Daphne Halikiopoulou, University of Reading, and Dr Sofia Vasilopoulou, University of York.
Discussant: Dr Othon Anastasakis, University of Oxford.

What explains the dramatic rise of the extreme, ultranationalist Golden Dawn in a country that has experienced Nazi invasion and a military dictatorship? Dr Halikiopoulou and Dr Vasilopoulou will present their new book, which places the rise of the Golden Dawn in the context of the Eurozone crisis and argues that its rise is not merely the product of economic malaise.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, click here.
 

On: Friday 15 May from 4-5.30pm in room 3.28, Queens House (next to the New Academic Building, Lincoln’s Inn Fields)
Speaker: Dr Lakshmi Ramarajan (pictured), Assistant Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Harvard Business School.

Dr Ramarajan is one of the foremost scholars on multiple identities. Her research examines the management and consequences of identities in organisations. In this talk, she will use two case studies to illustrate the importance of taking a configurational approach to multiple identities.

On: Monday 18 May from 2-3.30pm in room 9.04, Tower Two
Speaker: Frank Lavin, Former US Under-Secretary of Commerce and Chairman of ExportNow, Inc.

Arguably, the most important political issue of the 21st century is China, both in terms of what role will it play internationally and in terms of how the government defines its relations with its own citizens. How the West works to shape this process is equally central to the outcome, and given the considerable economic weight of China along with growing military capability, the stakes are considerable.

On: Tuesday 19 May from 6.30-8pm in the New Theatre, East Building
Speakers: Professor Simon Hix, Head of the Department of Government and Professor of European and Comparative Politics at LSE, Professor Sara Hobolt (pictured), Sutherland Chair in European Institutions at the European Institute at LSE, and Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in London.

The constellation of parties and EU positions in Britain’s increasingly fragmented political landscape make it hard to discern the prospects and potential strategies of Britain in the run-up to a national referendum on Britain’s continued EU membership.

A panel of LSE and outside experts will try to make sense of a potentially confused picture.

LSE Works

The tenth and final LSE Works lecture for 2015 takes place on Wednesday 20 May and is hosted by the LSE Research Festival and Institute of Public Affairs.

The lecture will be given by Purna Sen (pictured), Deputy Director of the IPA on ‘Above the Parapet - Women in Public Life’. 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, including podcasts, videos and speaker power point presentations.

LSE Works is a series of public lectures that showcases some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy.
 

The Value of Values to Build a World for the Common Good

On: Wednesday 20 May at 7pm in the Alumni Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Professor Kamran Mofid (pictured), Founder of Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative.

What would a world without poverty, hunger or injustice look like, and how could it function? Impossible dream? Professor Mofid will explain why he believes we already have the means to create a society that can support everyone’s needs.

For more information, click here. This event is free and open to all but registration is required. To register, email lecture@worldfaiths.org with your name and a note of how many people will be attending.
 

On: Friday 22 May from 6.30-8pm in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Douglas Kysar, Joseph M Field ’55 Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Shimizu Fellow in LSE's Department of Law.

Frustrated with the pace of ongoing climate change policy negotiations, commentators and activists have increasingly called for resort to the courts to establish baseline principles of responsibility for harms caused or exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change.

In both the domestic and international cases, advocates seek to position climate change as a problem best addressed through principles of law and justice, rather than merely politics and power. This lecture will provide an overview of these efforts and an assessment of whether, and how far, they might succeed.

The Seventh Biennial PhD Symposium on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus Plenary Sessions

On: Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June in the Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building

LSE's Hellenic Observatory are proud to host three lectures at the seventh Biennial Hellenic Observatory PhD Symposium on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus.

The purpose of these lectures is to allow the exchange of ideas between young researchers and scholars on issues related to Greece and Cyprus.

On: Monday 8-Wednesday 10 June from 11am-6pm at William Goodenough House, Mecklenburgh Square, London, WC1N 2AJ

Public Walkabout and Q&A with photographer Yusuf Agherdien:
On: Thursday 11 June from 11am-12.30pm (booking is essential via Eventbrite)