March 2007 - University of the West of England

N E W SUWE staff presentwork at ‘BristolVision Day’Lyndon Smith (below) of the MachineVision Laboratory, (part of UWE’s Centrefor Innovative Manufacturing andMachine Vision Systems) gave an invitedpresentation to the annual ‘BristolVision Day’ in November at Bristol EyeHospital.The event, on 3 November, was hostedby the recently formed Bristol VisionInstitute. The purpose of the Vision Daywas to allow groups working withinthe Bristol vision community to presenttheir work, connect with colleaguesin other disciplines and to encourageopportunities for new collaborations.Presentations covered different aspectsof ‘vision’, ranging from biological visionto computer/artificial vision systems.The UWE presentation covered pastand present research work in machinevision underway in the Machine Visionlaboratory at UWE. This included workon vision based industrial inspectionand quality control systems in the tile,polished stone and aggregates industryas well as more recent work usinginnovative photometric technology tohelp in the automated diagnosis ofmelanomas, or skin cancers, and newthree-dimensional face recognitiontechnology intended for use in varioussecurity applications.Lyndon Smith said, “This event offeredan excellent opportunity to learn ofthe latest advances in vision research.There is clearly a significant and thrivingvision community within the Bristolregion. We hope that new collaborativeopportunities may follow from ourinvolvement in the event”.Presentation abstracts and PowerPointslides from the day can be found at:www.bristol.ac.uk/vision-instituteUWE celebrates diversity in‘Destination World’ eventDestination: World, UWE’s first annual diversity week, ran from12 to 16 March 2007The event aimed to celebrate the University’s diversity, bringing the differentcultures at UWE closer together, and stimulating interest and appreciation in thecultures and diversity of the world.The days of the week were themed: - Monday – Europe; Tuesday- Africa;Wednesday - Americas; Thursday - Australasia and Friday focused on the wholeWorld. Each day featured talks, presentations, taster sessions, workshops, events,music, dance and art from different cultures.Events included: information forstudents on studying abroad,European short films and music, signlanguage demonstrations, Europeanwine tasting, African drum music,a talk on AIDS in Africa, a MiddleEastern Dance Workshop, Salsaclasses, Bollywood and Russian films,an international market and aninternational pub quiz. The eventwas co-organised by the Centrefor Student Affairs, the Students’Union, Chaplaincy, Marketingand Communications and theInternational Student Committee.See the website for details: www.uwe.ac.uk/destinationworld or e-mailuwe.international@uwe.ac.uk.Chinese Lion Dance Troup at last year’sExplosion of CultureGroundbreaking book seriesThe Centre for Psycho-Social Studies (HLSS) has obtained a contract for anew series of volumes called Exploring Psycho-Social Studies with KarnacBooks of London who specialise in psychoanalytic and psychotherapeuticliterature. Professor Paul Hoggett and Dr Simon Clarke will be the consultingeditors and the publishing project will initially last for three years.The first book in the series is Object Relations and Social Relations: TheImplications for the Relational Turn in Psychoanalysis and is already in theprocess of compilation.The editors welcome proposals for publication, whether these bemonographs, edited volumes on key psycho-social ideas or dual authoredprojects. Volumes in the series will focus upon three areas:■ Key issues (e.g. identity and social change; contemporary organisations);■ Psycho-social research methodologies;■ Theories and concepts.The series is aimed at third year, graduate and postgraduate students,social researchers (including evaluation and action researchers), humanservice practitioners whose work is informed by psychodynamic principles,practitioners in the Group Relations and Group Analytic fields and thepsychotherapeutic/psychoanalytic community.Representing Slaveryand Abolition in BristolTuesday 20 March 2007Watershed Media Centre, Bristol 18.00For further information or to book a place, please contact Rose West,Tel: 0117 32 84372, or e-mail: Rose.West@uwe.ac.ukwww.uwe.ac.uk/hlssAbolition 200 SeriesClarkson – Thomas Clarkson, 1760-1846,abolitionist, was one of the founding membersof the 1787 committee and dedicated almostall his adult life to campaigning against slaveryand the slave trade.(Credit: Anti-Slavery International)www.bristol.ac.ukNiger Slave girl at well.The anklet denotes her status asslave caste.(Credit: Romana Cacchioli/Anti-Slavery International)Slavery: The Slave Trade and its AftermathWednesday 21 March 2007Pugsley Lecture Theatre, Queen’s Building, University Walk,University of Bristol, 17.30For further information or to book a place, please contact Paula Anstey,University of Bristol, Tel: 0117 928 8895, or e-mail: Paula.Anstey@bristol.ac.ukCombating Contemporary SlaveryFriday 15 June 2007Arnolfini, Bristol, 10.00 – 15.30For further information or to book a place, please contact Rose West,Tel: 0117 32 84372, or e-mail: Rose.West@uwe.ac.uk16These events are FREE but it will benecessary to reserve a placeMAIN PICTURE: Cane cutters - Nearly two thirds of all slaves taken to the Caribbean ended up cutting cane on sugarplantations. During harvests this typically meant 14 hours of back breaking labour six days a week in extreme heat for women,men and children. The combination of hard labour, exposure to new diseases and inadequate food meant that approximatelyone in every three Africans died within three years of arriving in the Caribbean. (Credit: Anti-Slavery International)