Interview with Invited Speaker Michela Massimi, Philosophy as a Way of Life

Perspectives ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34
Author(s):  
Peter West ◽  
Michela Massimi

AbstractMichela Massimi is a Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Edinburgh and was the keynote speaker for Philosophy as a Way of Life. She is currently the PI for an ERC-funded project ʽPerspectival Realism. Science, Knowledge, and Truth from a Human Vantage Point.ʼ Massimi has extensive experience working on interdisciplinary projects and has frequently engaged in public philosophy. In this interview, she discusses the future of research in the UK post-Brexit, the challenges and rewards of interdisciplinary research, shares some thoughts on the history of philosophy and science and our relationship with it, and emphasises the importance of bringing philosophy into the public sphere. She also offers advice for early career researchers and graduate students in philosophy.

1971 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Taylor

Editorial note. March 17th, 1971 was the fiftieth anniversary of the opening by Marie Stopes of her birth control clinic in Holloway, London, the first of its kind in the UK and possibly in the world. In recognition of this notable event, the Board of the Marie Stopes Memorial Foundation, in conjunction with the University of York, has established a Marie Stopes Memorial Lecture to be given annually for a term of years. The first of the series was delivered on 12th March in the Department of Sociology, University of York, by Mr Laurie Taylor of that department. In introducing the speaker, Dr G. C. L. Bertram, the Chairman, emphasized the great contribution made by Marie Stopes to human welfare and gave a brief history of the clinic, which was soon moved to Whitfield Street. On Marie Stopes' death in 1958 the Memorial Foundation was set up to manage the clinic, still in Whitfield Street, and as a working monument to a great women.Mr Taylor's script is printed below as delivered and it will be seen that the lecture was a notable one. Not only that, but it was delivered with the verve of a Shakespearean actor and the members of the large and appreciative audience will not readily forget the occasion.


Author(s):  
Kirsten Forkert ◽  
Ana Lopes

This article examines unwaged posts at UK universities, using recent examples of advertised job posts. While unpaid work is common in the UK higher education system, unwaged posts are not. The posts under scrutiny in this article differ from traditional honorary titles as they target early career academics, who are unlikely to have a paid position elsewhere, rather than established scholars. The article contextualizes the appearance of these posts in a climate of increasing marketization of higher education, entrenching managerialism in higher education institutions, and the casualization of academic work. We also discuss resistance to the posts, arguing that the controversy surrounding unpaid internships in the creative industries created a receptive environment for resisting unwaged posts in academia. We analyze the campaigns that were fought against the advertisement of the posts, mostly through social media and the University and College Union. We explore the tactics used and discuss the advantages and limitations of the use of social media, as well as the role of trade unions in the campaigns against these posts, and we reflect on what future campaigns can learn from these experiences.


Author(s):  
Carlos COELLO MARTÍN ◽  
Fernando GONZÁLEZ BOTIJA

LABURPENA: Gobernu britainiarrak azterketa bat argitaratu du Eskozia burujabe batek ekarriko lituzkeen ondorioei buruz. Dokumentu horri erantsita doa bi irakasleren azterketa (James Crawford eta Alan Boyle, Edinburgoko Unibertsitatekoak), Eskoziaren burujabetza-erreferendumari buruzko alderdi juridikoak jorratuz. Bertan ondorioztatzen denez, Eskozia burujabe egiten bada, estatu berritzat hartuko da nazioarteko Zuzenbidearen ikuspegitik, eta gainerako estatuak oraingo Erresuma Batua ordeztuko luke, bere erakundeei eutsiz, eta bi estatu berri agertzearen ideia baztertuz. Horregatik, gainerako Erresuma Batuak orain kide den nazioarteko erakundeen kide izaten jarraituko luke, eta Eskoziak bere atxikipena eskatu beharko luke estatu berri gisa. Hala gertatuko litzateke, adibidez, Europar Batasunarekin. RESUMEN: El Gobierno britanico ha publicado un documento de analisis sobre las implicaciones que conllevaria una Escocia independiente. Como anexo a dicho documento se encuentra el estudio de dos profesores (James Crawford y Alan Boyle de la Universidad de Edimburgo) que analizan los aspectos juridicos del referendum sobre la independencia de Escocia. En ese estudio se concluye que si Escocia llega a ser independiente, se considerara como un nuevo Estado desde el punto de vista del Derecho internacional y el resto del actual Estado sucedera al actual Reino Unido, conservando sus instituciones, rechazandose la idea de que aparezcan dos nuevos Estados. Por ello el resto del Reino Unido continuaria como miembro de las organizaciones internacionales de las que es actualmente miembro, mientras que Escocia tendria que solicitar su adhesion como un nuevo Estado. Este seria el caso de la Union Europea. ABSTRACT: The British Government has published a major analysis paper on the implications of Scottish independence: ≪Scotland Analysis: Devolution and the Implications of Scottish Independence≫. The paper annexes an Opinion written by Professor James Crawford along with Professor Alan Boyle of the University of Edinburgh, entitled ‘Opinion: Referendum on the Independence of Scotland – International Law Aspects’. The Opinion concludes that if Scotland becomes independent, it will be considered a new state as a matter of international law and the remainder of the UK will continue the legal identity of the UK and retain its existing institutions generally uninterrupted. It rejects the alternative possibility that Scotland and the remainder of the UK will both be considered new states. The Opinion also concludes that one consequence of this is that the remainder of the UK will continue its membership of international organisations, whereas Scotland will have to join many of them as a new state. In particular, Scotland will have to join the EU as a new member state.


2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-245
Author(s):  
Christian M. Billing

In this article, Christian M. Billing considers the relationship between representations of mythic narratives found on ancient pottery (primarily found at sites relating to the Greek colonies of south Italy in the fourth century BC, but also to certain vases found in Attica) and the tragic theatre of the fifth century BC. The author argues against the current resurgence in critical accounts that seek to connect such ceramics directly to performance of tragedies by the major tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Using five significant examples of what he considers to be errors of method in recent philologically inspired accounts of ancient pottery, Billing argues for a more nuanced approach to the interpretation of such artefacts – one that moves beyond an understanding of literary texts and art history towards a more performance-conscious approach, while also acknowledging that a multiplicity of spheres of artistic influence, drawn from a variety of artistic media, operated in the production and reception of such artefacts. Christian M. Billing is an academic and theatre practitioner working in the fields of ancient Athenian and early modern English and European drama. He has extensive experience as a director, designer, and actor, and has taught at a number of universities in the UK and the USA. He is currently Lecturer in Drama at the University of Hull.


1996 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 173-189

William Hayes, physician, microbiologist and geneticist, made his own special contribution to modem genetics and molecular biology in a manner unlike those of any of his contemporaries. Bill, as he was universally known, was an unlikely candidate for such distinction. It is interesting to speculate on the events which transformed someone likely to have had a distinguished but still traditional medical career into a world renowned scientist who influenced a whole generation of microbiologists and geneticists. He did not come from a family with a history of scientific or academic activities. Nor did he study at the centres of biological research. Moreover, at the beginning of his meteoric rise to eminence, he did not have the support of the scientific elite or access to research resources. It is likely that had he been born 20 years later the originality that he brought to microbial genetics would have been lost to us. Perhaps the situation he found in India during the war and the relative freedom of the research system operating in the United Kingdom in the 1950s ideally suited the talents of Bill Hayes. He was a dedicated experimentalist with a talent for improvisation, and his major contributions were experiments that he did himself, rather than through an assistant or graduate student. He would not have described himself as a leader, although his associates willingly gave him their loyalty and support. Nor would he have thought of himself as having charisma; indeed he was unusually self-effacing. When he gave up experimental work to write his outstanding and extraordinarily influential book, The genetics of bacteria and their viruses (13), he typed the first draft himself. Administration and the power it can provoke were anathema to Bill. Nevertheless, he created, first at Hammersmith Hospital in London and then at the University of Edinburgh, research groups that were the envy of his peers in terms of their productivity and innovation.


1866 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 615-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duns

Comparatively little attention has been given to the natural history of Lewis. Stray notices of the geology, botany, and zoology of the Outer Hebrides are to be met with, but, with one or two exceptions, these are not of much value. Martin's “Description of the Western Islands (1703),” is chiefly interesting for its full account of the industrial and moral condition of the people. Little, however, can be made of his incidental references to the natural history of the islands. Two volumes on the “Economical History of the Hebrides,” by Rev. Dr Walker, Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, were published in 1808, after Dr Walker's death. This work contains a good deal of information on indigenous plants, but almost none on zoology. Dr Maculloch's “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (3 vols., 1819)” is in every way an abler and better work than either of the two now named. Its notices of the geology and mineralogy of the Outer Hebrides are even still valuable.


1985 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Villius

The place where the University of Edinburgh now stands was once the site of the church of St Mary in the Fields or, as it is usually called, Kirk o'Field. On a February night in 1567, in the small house close to the church, there occurred what is certainly the most frequently discussed event in the history of Scotland, the murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort to Mary Queen of Scots. Much discussed it has been, but since it is still not properly resolved it merits another look.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Fransiska Louwagie ◽  
Simon Lambert

This thematic issue arises from the symposium ‘Tradition and Innovation in Franco-Belgian Bande dessinée’, held at the University of Leicester on 13 March 2020. Over three panels with a respective focus on ‘Revisiting the Classics’, ‘Contemporary Perspectives’, and ‘Reshaping Franco-Belgian Bande dessinée’, the symposium brought out a variety of perspectives on contemporary bande dessinée and its links to the Franco-Belgian tradition. The symposium saw the participation of a range of international contributors, including early career scholars, faculty, and artist contributors, based in Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, Canada, Panama, Israel, and the UK. We would like to thank our speakers for their contributions as well as for their flexibility in revising travel arrangements and, in some cases, arranging online delivery at short notice, as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding in their respective countries at the time of the event. Our particular thanks go to Laurence Grove from the University of Glasgow for his keynote intervention entitled ‘The Relevance of Tintin’, and to graphic novelist Michel Kichka, who gave a keynote talk about the Franco-Belgian influences in his own work as well as a public seminar on his graphic novel Deuxième Génération. We are grateful to Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI), the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF), the Society for French Studies (SFS), and the School of Arts at the University of Leicester for their sponsorship of the keynote sessions, the conference participation of comics artist Ilan Manouach, and travel and registration bursaries for early career researchers. For this follow-up publication, we express our particular thanks to all contributors and peer-reviewers, to Wallonia-Brussels International for support to the translation, and to the editors of European Comic Art, for their kind and patient assistance.


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