PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EVENTS

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EVENTS

Research Night at the MuseumExplorathon

Three members of staff from the School of Psychological Sciences and Health represented the faculty at the 2019 Explorathon (European Researchers Night) event on Friday 27th of September, at the Glasgow Riverside Museum. Dr. David Robertson’s ‘Are you a super-face-recogniser?’ workshop returned for its third year, with more than 100 members of the public taking part over the course of the evening, Dr. Lynn William’s stall highlighted the excellent work she is doing on her CSO funded ‘Flu Vaccination Project’, and Dr. Mario Parra Rodriquez displayed his exciting and novel approval to Alzheimer’s treatment, using the very latest in virtual reality technology. From the School of Social Work & Social Policy, Prof Daniela Sime engaged the public with debates around issues of migration, cultural diversity and the implications of Brexit for young people.

Psychology Public Engagement lecture

On the evening of Thursday 17th of October, PSH held their inaugural Strathclyde Psychology Public Engagement Lecture in the TIC Main Auditorium supported by Strategic Themes, and in partnership with Waterstones. The speaker was bestselling popular science author Richard Wiseman, the UK’s only current Professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology. The event was attended by nearly 300 people, the majority of which were members of the general public, the talk received an incredibly positive response from the audience, and nearly 100 of Richard’s books were subsequently purchased and signed by the end of the evening. Based on the positive response to this event, organised Dr. David Robertson is hopeful that this can now become an annual event in our calendar.

40th Anniversary EoRPA Conference

What Role for Regional Policies in an Unequal Europe? The 40th Anniversary EoRPA Conference took place on 9 October 2019 at Scotland House in Brussels. It celebrated four decades of research and knowledge exchange under the European Regional Policy Research Consortium – undertaken by the European Policies Research Centre and funded by national and regional government authorities from 12 countries. The Conference was a retrospective on 40 years of regional policy analysis, the current state of play, and the potential future directions for regional policy in Europe given current events and trends. In front of an audience of c.100 participants from national and regional government authorities, EU institutions, academia, think tanks and NGOs, the Conference involved presentations from government ministers and senior officials from across Europe, as well as contributions from EPRC directors Professor John Bachtler and Professor Fiona Wishlade.

Brain Health Day Showcases Strathclyde Intergenerational School Project

On 28th August, Dr Louise Nicholls, based in the School of Psychological Sciences and Health, contributed to Heriot-Watt University’s Brain Health Day. The event showcased research investigating what might keep us sharp as we age. Louise presented her team’s ongoing research exploring the impacts of primary school-based intergenerational engagement on the health and wellbeing of older adult volunteers. Their 6-month pilot programme has been taking place in primary schools in West Lothian. Volunteers aged 60-85 assist teachers in the classroom by helping young school pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy.

The research team, which includes PhD student Anna Krzeczkowska at its core, is primarily interested in the potential benefits for the volunteers’ intellectual abilities, like memory and attention, and their physical and social wellbeing. However, the programme is also intended to benefit school staff and pupils, and the team is also addressing outcomes for these groups. The programme has been going well, with most volunteers choosing to continue helping Schools beyond the 6-month duration of the project.

Brain Health Day was a great success, attracting over 200 people, most of whom were older adults from the local community, and many expressed great interest in the intergenerational programme. A range of organisations were also in attendance, including Age UK, who published an article about the event. In ‘Six things we learned at Brain Health Day’, Age UK highlighted the promise of intergenerational engagement.

The team’s research project is now entering its final phase, and findings are expected next year.

Estranged Students in Further and Higher Education

Prof Yvette Taylor (School of Education) received a second invitation to speak at the Scottish Parliament on estranged students. The event was attended by MSPs and a wide variety of widening participation practitioners, including Strathclyde’s Dr Stephanie McKendry and Louise Marin.

Yvette is Principal Investigator on projects funded by Carnegie and Society for Research into Higher Education, and works with Dr Cristina Costa (Co-I, Durham University), and HaSS PhD students, Sidonie Ecochard and Claire Goodfellow. Together, they have recently organised an ESRC Festival of Social Science event on this issue, and continue to collaborate with the charity Stand Alone. The charity campaigns for universities and colleges to sign the Stand Alone Pledge supporting estranged students.

The team have produced a user-friendly guide ‘Estrangement: Illustrating the Issues’ available here.

Their article is now available in Cambridge Journal of Education: Costa, C., Taylor, Y., Ecochard, S., & Goodfellow, C. (2019) ‘Estranged students in higher education: navigating social and economic capitals’

Submission to Inquiry into Facial Recognition

Angela Daly, Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Internet Law & Policy in the School of Law, has made a submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee Inquiry on Facial Recognition, with some media coverage in The Herald, Scotsman and STV. See Angela’s and other submissions to this important Inquiry here.

Talk at Dumfries Sheriff Court

Prof Kenneth Norrie has given a recent talk at Dumfries Sheriff Court on the subject of Children’s Hearings and recent case law. Professor Norrie gave a talk to local solicitors about recent case law developments in children’s hearings. This is a highly relevant topic in court because of the number of cases and hearing appeals which are generated throughout this geographically large region. Professor Norrie’s talk was very well attended by members of the local Faculty of Solicitors, one of the sheriff officers, and also by local reporters from the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration. He encouraged questions and interaction and there was much spirited debate about experiences within this court of challenging cases, and the interaction between the case law, procedure at panel hearings and the appeal process. The local faculty and the Reporters were delighted with his contribution.

Strathclyde University Feminist Research Network Seminar series

Wednesday January 22nd 2020 3-5pm Manufacturing the Natural Order Presenter: Dr. Francesca Coin (Lancaster University)

***

Wednesday February 26th 2020 3-5pm Presenter: Dr. Daniel Conway (University of Westminster)

***

Wednesday March 18th 2020 3pm-5pm The autobiographical in auto-photography: exploring a feminist approach to co-creating knowledge of women’s sexuality Presenter: Dr. Evangeline Tsao (University of York)

***

Wednesday May 20th 2020 3pm-5pm Presenter: Dr. Ruth Lewis (University of Glasgow)