Annual Report (College Record) 2006 - St Mary's University College
Annual Report (College Record) 2006 - St Mary's University College
Annual Report (College Record) 2006 - St Mary's University College
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<strong>St</strong> Mary’s <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Twickenham London<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>Record</strong> <strong>2006</strong><br />
www.smuc.ac.uk 8<br />
<strong>St</strong> Mary’s <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />
Twickenham London<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>Record</strong> <strong>2006</strong><br />
www.smuc.ac.uk 9<br />
The School of Theology,<br />
Philosophy, and History<br />
Dr Michael Hayes, Head of School,<br />
summarises a notable year<br />
School of Communication,<br />
Culture and Creative Arts<br />
Professor Brian Robinson, Head of School,<br />
celebrates a successful year<br />
It has been a very busy year for the School of Theology<br />
with both students and staff participating in a host of<br />
different events and contributing to a range of<br />
publications. There have also been a number<br />
of academic appointments and achievements.<br />
Head of School Dr Michael Hayes was awarded a<br />
Fellowship by the Leadership Foundation in Higher<br />
Education. In addition, the School also welcomed<br />
two new research fellows; Professor Mary Grey<br />
and the Reverend Dr Frank McHugh.<br />
Peter Tyler, Programme Director of the MA in Pastoral<br />
Theology, Chaplaincy <strong>St</strong>udies and Catechesis, was<br />
the keynote speaker at the Catholic Association for<br />
Retreats and Spirituality <strong>Annual</strong> Conference in January.<br />
The <strong>St</strong> Mary’s Holy Land Research Project attracted<br />
funding from the British Academy, for co-organising<br />
two workshops in 2007, one in London and the other<br />
at Birzeit <strong>University</strong>, Palestine, on ‘The Politics of<br />
Elections and the <strong>St</strong>ruggle for Democracy in the<br />
Middle East: Perspectives from Within and Below’.<br />
In April <strong>2006</strong> Dr Claire Norton, Lecturer for the History<br />
Programme, was one of several organisers of a major<br />
international conference, ‘The Renaissance and the<br />
Ottoman World’ jointly sponsored by <strong>St</strong> Mary’s<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong>, the Warburg Institute and the School<br />
of Oriental and African <strong>St</strong>udies at London <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Dr Glenn Richardson, Programme Director for<br />
History and Deputy Head of the School, was elected<br />
to the <strong>St</strong>eering Committee of History UK.<br />
Dr Anthony Towey, Programme Director, Theology and<br />
Religious <strong>St</strong>udies, was invited to participate in the ‘New<br />
Humanism in Europe’ conference in Rome, in June.<br />
Dr David Jones, Academic Director and Programme<br />
Director for MA in Bioethics and the Foundation Degree<br />
in Healthcare Chaplaincy, made various appearances<br />
on national television and radio in Spring <strong>2006</strong> as an<br />
expert commentator on media stories covering<br />
embryos and euthanasia.<br />
Dr Marije Altorf, Programme Director, Philosophy, gave<br />
a paper at the International Association for Women in<br />
Philosophy in August and a paper at the Iris Murdoch<br />
conference at Kingston <strong>University</strong> in September. She<br />
also contributed to a new book entitled, Iris Murdoch:<br />
A Reassessment (Palgrave MacMillan).<br />
Dr Nur Masalha, Programme Director, MA in Religion<br />
and Conflict and Director of the Holy Land <strong>St</strong>udies<br />
Centre, edited a book of essays in honour of the late,<br />
Palestinian-American literary theorist, Edward Said,<br />
entitled Catastrophe Remembered: Palestine, Israel<br />
and the International Refugees (Zed Books).<br />
Dr Masalha was elected onto the Postgraduate Panel<br />
for Philosophy, Law and Religious <strong>St</strong>udies of the Arts<br />
and Humanities Research Council.<br />
In May, around 100 students from Esher <strong>College</strong>,<br />
<strong>St</strong> Francis Xavier <strong>College</strong> and the London Nautical<br />
School took an active part in the Sixth Form<br />
Conference, offered by the Philosophy Programme.<br />
The School of Communication, Culture and Creative Arts<br />
has had a very successful academic year. <strong>St</strong>udents in<br />
all programmes confirmed the quality of their curricula<br />
and the high levels of support they received from staff in<br />
the results of the National <strong>St</strong>udent Satisfaction Survey.<br />
Recruitment of high quality undergraduate applicants<br />
to the School is also buoyant.<br />
The Masters programmes continue to expand with a<br />
collaboration with the <strong>University</strong> of Maastricht, which<br />
enables us to provide the MA in Applied Linguistics to<br />
students in Holland and Germany. In addition, a new<br />
MA in Creative Writing has been designed and is now<br />
in the process of being marketed. This programme will<br />
complement the work done at the undergraduate level<br />
by the Professional and Creative Writing programme.<br />
The MA in Directing recruited its first cohort and has<br />
already had a significant impact in the field of<br />
postgraduate studies in Performing Arts in London.<br />
<strong>St</strong>udent degree results on all programmes remain<br />
above the national average, while the School record in<br />
peer-reviewed publications was very impressive. <strong>St</strong>aff<br />
participated in a variety of national and international<br />
conferences and were also involved as writers,<br />
performers and designers in several productions<br />
on the London stage.<br />
The School continued to refine its research strategy for<br />
its entry in the 2008 RAE (Research and Assessment<br />
Exercise). The focus of the submission will relate to all<br />
aspects of the School’s creative work: the study of<br />
literature and drama; creative writing; the performing<br />
arts; language in education and society; and the role<br />
of the media in contemporary society. The School is<br />
confident of success in this prestigious exercise of<br />
national research recognition.