Connecting Research

MonoGram Conference
2023-04-03 - 2023-04-05 | University of Reading, RG6 6UR
The School of Agriculture at the University of Reading has a varied and exciting programme in development for Monogram 2023, encompassing inspiring keynote speakers, thematic sessions, poster and flash presentations, and early career awards. We want the meeting to appeal to all the sector of the Monogram community, and we therefore welcome contributions from all cereal crops and grass research.
Lectures will be taking place in our 250-seater Madejski Auditorium in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, on Whiteknights campus.
We understand that some people will be unable to attend an in-person event and therefore are offering the opportunity to join the Monogram conference remotely through live-streaming of the talks. However, all presentations need to be in person.
Please submit your abstract for either an oral or poster presentation to monogram2023@reading.ac.uk, specifying under which of these six scientific sessions you would like it to be considered.
Physiology and resource use (response to abiotic stress and nutrient use efficiency)

Bioinformatics and genomics
Interactions with pathogenic and beneficial organisms
Developmental processes
End use quality and nutrition
Sustainable systems

Key dates

Student attendance bursary application deadline
6 January 2023

Registration for in-person attendance closes
8 February 2023

Abstract submission deadline
8 February 2023

MonoGram Early Career Excellence Awards (MECEA) application deadline
31 January 2023

Abstract notification
28 February 2023

Registration for virtual attendance closes
9 March 2023

Conference
3–5 April 2023

Visit the Monogram Conference 2023 website
Register via the University of Reading booking system

2023 Research Awards - Deadline for entries
2023-03-31 12:00 (Europe/London)
New University Research Awards have been launched to celebrate the work of research and associated professional services staff.
Work that showcases research excellence or fosters a positive research culture and environment is eligible in four new categories:

Public Engagement with Research
Openness in Research
External Collaboration and Partnerships
Research Impact

The Awards are open to both researchers and associated professional services staff and entries are actively encouraged from all research themes and associated functions across the University.
Entries can be from individuals or groups and activities of any scale will be welcome but must have taken place in the last three years (i.e. since January 2020). Shortlisted applicants will showcase their projects at an in-person Awards event on Tuesday 13 June from 2pm and winners will receive £1000 towards their next engagement activity.
Further information can be found on the 2023 Awards page and in the guidelines and eligibility criteria. Applications via this online form must be submitted no later than 12 noon on Friday 31 March.

Collections and Digitisation workshop
2023-03-29 14:00 - 16:00 | Learning Studio, MERL, 6 Redlands Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5EX, United Kingdom
Have you ever wondered about including an online exhibition, or other digital resource involving collections, in your research project? Do you want to find out more about what these involve?
We invite you to a Collections and Digitisation workshop on Wednesday 29 March 2023, 2pm-4pm at the MERL Learning Studio, run jointly by UMASCS (University Museums, Archives, and Special Collections Services) and the Digital Humanities Hub.
The workshop will help you gain first-hand understanding of what is involved in the digitisation process directly from the staff that would support collections-based research, to inform the inclusion of digital resources in your project proposals. It will cover:

Introduction to digitisation, sustainability and preservation
Collections research themes
MERL Online Exhibition templates
Case Study – Modernist Archives Publishing Project
Current Digitisation Projects at UMASCS
Tour of the Digitisation Equipment

The aim is to help you consider what you want to or could digitise and why, who your audience is, what level of images you might need and how you might want them to interact with the rest of your resource, including text.
We will also discuss the pre-existing solutions available to you if you want to include an online exhibition mainly for purposes of external engagement. Linking this in with collections research themes, and using templates based on the MERL’s website, will integrate your project with other UoR work and guarantee your resource will remain sustainable, without risk of loss or the need for manual updates.
Unsure whether collections-based research is suited to your work? For more information and ideas, have a look at our Working with Collections guide on the Digital Humanities Portal first.
Workshop details:
Date: Wednesday 29 March 2023
Time: 14:00-16:00
Where: Learning Studio, MERL (Museum of English Rural Life), Redlands Road
Who: Academic, technical and project staff based in all H&C divisions
Capacity: 30
If you would like to attend, RSVP to Olivia Thompson, Digital Humanities Officer o.j.r.thompson@reading.ac.uk by 23 March 2023.
Please also get in touch if you have any questions about the workshop or if you cannot attend but would be interested in training or advice on these subjects.
Please note this workshop is for H&C staff, it is not for PhD students. If you have any interested supervisees, there will be a separate workshop on Digital Scholarship with Collections for graduate students: please get in touch with Dr Rhi Smith, Director of UMASCS Academic Learning and Engagement (r.smith@reading.ac.uk).

Subversion and survival: navigations through performance and media cultures
2023-03-28 16:00 - 17:30 | Online event
Research Seminar Speakers: Swati Arora (Queen Mary, University of London) and Rohit K Dasgupta (University of Glasgow)
Under Cover: Insurgent Methods of Border Crossing
I draw on my forthcoming co-edited book on pluriversal conversations on transnational feminisms to assemble a few thoughts on border-crossing – disciplinary, epistemic, and linguistic. What does border-crossing in performance studies look like? The presentation offers a few insurgent methods of subterfuge and survival as we secure justice for our communities while acknowledging the colonial histories of our institutions.
Swati Arora is Lecturer in Performance and Global South Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. Her work exists at the convergence of performance and visual culture, feminist theory, Black Studies, and dramaturgies of urban space in the global South. Most recently, she published ‘Performing Refusal’ (Injury and Intimacy, MUP) and ‘A manifesto to decentre theatre and performance studies’ (STP).
Viral Assemblages & Patchworks: Cultures of Queer (Un)Belongings
This paper is based on ethnographic field work conducted in Kolkata during 2019–2021 with queer and trans people during the COVID pandemic. This paper develops a new framework of queer patchworks and discusses the various ways through which queer and trans communities are navigating survival during these non-normative times. This paper brings together patchworks of whatsapp texts, broken zoom conversations, cooking gossip and addas on the banks of river Hooghly as a nod to these new realities which are reshaping queer identities; thus, offering new ways to also acknowledge, accommodate and ‘queer’ what counts as knowledge.
Rohit K Dasgupta is Senior Lecturer in Cultural Industries at the University of Glasgow. His most recent books are COVID-19 Assemblages (Routledge, 2022) & South and East Asian Cinemas across Borders (Routledge, 2020). He is currently co-authoring a book on India’s creative industries. He is also an elected Labour & Cooperative councillor in the London Borough of Newham since 2018.
About this event.
The FTT Research Seminar Series is hosted by the University of Reading and puts research from scholars in Film, Theatre and Television into dialogue. This celebrates the exciting intersection of these fields within our department and seeks to support collaboration and conversation across Film, Theatre, and Television.
Each invited paper is 25-30 minutes long and is followed by a participatory Q&A discussion. This seminar will be held online.
Reserve your space to attend.

Edith Morley Annual Lecture: Coping with Cancer: Support, Research, Empowerment
2023-03-23 18:30 - 20:00 | Edith Morley Building, Van Emden Lecture Theatre, Edith Morley Building, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
On average, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes in the UK.
The 2023 Edith Morley event will be led by Professor Nazanin Derakhshan, who brings progressive and step-change research to the forefront of support systems for those with breast cancer.
Students, colleagues, alumni, community groups and members of the public are invited to join us for an in-depth discussion on Coping with Cancer. With lived experience as our cornerstone, we’ll explore support structures, cognitive research, and personal empowerment.Nazanin is the founder and chair of BRiC (Building Resilience in Breast Cancer Centre) which is positioned and energised to help those in need. As globally-leading experts and a collective of women with either a primary or secondary breast cancer diagnosis, they seek to discover new and improved ways to practice resilience. BRiC has an impressive track-record creating accessible resources and tools to help people manage anxiety and depression after a cancer diagnosis. As a welcoming collective, the centre provides a safe haven for all and seeks to improve quality-of-life, using cutting-edge neuroscience research.
Free to attend. Book via the University of Reading Events page.

‘Cold Books in Hot Lands: Winning and Losing Hearts and Minds in the Middle East’
2023-03-23 17:00 - 18:30
This online seminar will be presented by Esmaeil Haddadian-Moghaddam, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research fellow at the Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands.
This event is free and open to all. Register for the event to access the Zoom link.
The various activities of the Franklin Book Programs, an American Cold War cultural diplomacy initiative for the development of indigenous publishing in the developing world and winning hearts and minds have been subject to public and academic query since its foundation in 1952. Reports and surveys of its activities, aims and objectives, and achievements have been featured in both American and non-American press, from The New York Times, Publishers Weekly to The Pakistan Observer and Al-Bilad. To exemplify the discourse, I present the story of how Franklin/New York convinced a young professor to put aside his paper but encouraged and supported the publication of another piece by a graduate student. Almost half a century later, I am asking the-now-retired-but-distinguished professor why did he oblige. This should shed some light on how Franklin/New York acted as a gatekeeper and promotor of a certain take on its operation.
Esmaeil Haddadian-Moghaddam is an independent researcher. He was until recently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research fellow at Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands. His recent research has focused on the cultural Cold War with a focus on the activities of Franklin Book Programs in the Middle East (Coldbihot). He is the author of Literary Translation in Modern Iran: A Sociological Study (2014). He is also a managing editor of the Journal of World Literature.

Hybrid Rurality and migration in China
2023-03-20 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Clark Ke Liu, PhD student at distance (based in New York/working for UN), will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Hybrid Rurality and migration in China .’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Monday 20 March.

Hope into Action: Social Sciences Impact Conference
2023-03-20 09:30 - 2023-03-21 16:00 | St Anne’s College, Oxford
Hope into Action: Social Sciences Impact Conference, 20-21 March 2023 | FREE, Early-bird registration opens to University of Reading delegates.
Researchers, doctoral students and professional services colleagues across the O²RB Partnership (University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, University of Reading, and The Open University) can get early bird access to Hope Into Action: Social Sciences Impact Conference 2023 from Tuesday 24 January ahead of tickets going on general sale. Attendance is FREE to delegates from O²RB Partner universities, but spaces are limited, so book your place today!
This two-day conference – packed with workshops, panel discussions, skills sessions, and special guest speakers – will celebrate engaged and impactful social sciences research, and provide inspiration and support for researchers hoping to create change for the better through their work.
O²RB delegates: Register on the University of Oxford’s Social Science webpage for FREE, early-bird registration (enter ‘ImpactConferenceO2RB’ at checkout for full discount on conference registration fee. Please note this code will only work with your O²RB institutional email address. This discount is not applicable to the optional Monday night dinner).
Not a member of the O²RB Partnership? Tickets go on general sale from 30 January 2023.
Registration closes: 28 February 2023
Queries to impact@socsci.ox.ac.uk

Protection and Removal of Information in Working Memory
2023-03-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Harry Pitt Building, G79
Professor Jarrod A. Lewis-Peacock will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Protection and Removal of Information in Working Memory’.
Abstract: Protecting information in working memory from distraction is essential to goal-directed behavior. Discarding information from working memory may be just as important, as outdated information consumes precious storage capacity and can interfere with current goals. In this talk, I will discuss both of these abilities. First, I will review recent advances in cognitive psychology and neuroscience that have produced new insights into the nature of working memory and its ability to resist distraction. This includes our recent findings which demonstrate that the benefits associated with prioritization in working memory include a “bend but don’t break” policy for enduring distraction. Second, I will describe our recent neuroimaging work focused on intentionally removing information from working memory. We’ve identified distinct strategies for removal that have unique but stable patterns of brain activity with surprising consequences on the encoding of new information.
You can also join the seminar virtually on Microsoft Teams.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: Collaboration and Innovation event
2023-03-13 17:00 - 19:00 | Henley Business School
This event is an information and networking evening with the University of Reading’s KTP Team.
The event is taking place on Monday 13 March 2023 from 5–7pm at Henley Business School, University of Reading Whiteknights Campus, RG6 6UD.
During the event, the University of Reading’s KTP Team will provide:

An in-depth overview of KTPs and how they can help your business.
Help and support on how to make a successful application.
Q&A session, to answer your specific questions.
Networking with the team and academic colleagues.

KTPs with the University of Reading are a great way to access our academic expertise and skills to address your business need. They are a unique three-way collaboration, with grant funding, between a business and a university, employing a graduate to work at the company on a specific project.
To register please contact Sarah Glanville (s.j.glanville@reading.ac.uk).

Community Based Marine Conservation in Indonesia
2023-03-13 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Dr Alfian Helmi, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia, will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Community Based Marine Conservation in Indonesia.’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Monday 13 February.

Ghandhi Research Seminar Series: Prof Dapo Akande
2023-03-09 14:00 - 15:00 | Chancellor’s Building, Room G04, Whiteknights Campus, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
Global Law at Reading (GLAR) is one of the leading groups of expert staff researching and teaching global law at any university in the UK. As Reading’s research hub for public international law, EU law and human rights law it has a proud international reputation for research excellence in these areas. The series was launched in 2015. It is named in honour of Professor Sandy Ghandhi, who taught at the School of Law from 1978 to 2013 and remains an emeritus professor at Reading. Thursday 9 January
14.00–15.00
Chancellor’s G04 Prof Dapo Akande (University of Oxford)
Changes in Treaty Interpretation – the ICRC’s revised commentaries to the Geneva Conventions.

The Fairbrother Lecture - Behind Electric Eyes: Facial Recognition Surveillance in Public Spaces
2023-03-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Meadow Suite, Park House, Meadow Suite, Park House, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
Automatic facial recognition technology is increasingly used by both public and private sector organisations to manage and police public spaces. The operation of facial recognition in public spaces – and our access to the right to privacy – shifts depending on whether it is a public or a private sector organisation that is watching us. But does it make a difference who is watching and why? And what does it mean for our right to privacy?
Facial recognition surveillance is used to identify and verify people in real time but without any obligation to gain their consent. While public sector surveillance must be justified by the public interest, the private sector is able to use facial recognition in pursuit of a range of commercial interests. These interests extend beyond criminal acts and could include activities that might result in an individual being banned from private property, such as smoking, walking a dog or taking photos. To complicate matters, we are often unaware of crossing thresholds into spaces where surveillance is privately controlled. Does the introduction of facial recognition provide us with increased protections, or hold hidden pitfalls?
Join socio-legal researcher William Page to be guided through the growing use of this technology, what it means for human rights, the relevance of recent political developments surrounding the potential withdrawal of the Human Rights Act 1998, and the changing nature of contemporary public spaces. This free public lecture will provide an introduction to the issue, look at recent research and consider important future questions. Do we understand our rights when under the gaze of electronic eyes?
The Fairbrother Lecture is a University public lecture named after Jack Fairbrother who in 1929 became one of the first students to be awarded a PhD from the University. The lecture is an annual event at which a Reading doctoral researcher presents their research to a wider audience.
Register to attend.

Farm management and policy approaches to support the journey to net-zero
2023-03-07 18:00 - 19:00 | School of Agriculture, Policy and Development
Minette Batters, NFU’s president, is invited to deliver the 2023 Annual Edit Mary Gayton lecture and present her views on the farm management and policy approaches that are needed to support the journey to net-zero farming without compromising food security and quality.
The NFU has set the ambitious goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the whole of agriculture in England and Wales by 2040. This NFU’s contribution to the UK’s ambition of net zero by 2050. Agriculture is uniquely placed to be part of the solution, as both an emissions source and a sink. The NFU’s assessment is that we can only deliver net zero if we act across a range of internationally recognised inventories.
There is no single answer to this problem. To achieve this goal a range of measures are needed that fall under three broad headings:

Improving farming’s productive efficiency;
Improving land management and changing land use to capture more carbon;
Boosting renewable energy and the wider bioeconomy

This is a hybrid event. The in person session will be held in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading. To book a place for the in-person event please email Teresa Hicks at t.m.hicks@reading.ac.uk.
To book a place on the virtual event, register via Eventbrite.
For joining us online please use the following link:
https://tinyurl.com/2wmnnx5s – The virtual room will be open at 18:55

Farm management and policy approaches to support the journey to net-zero farming without compromising food security and quality
2023-03-07 18:00 - 19:00 | Agriculture Building, Madejski Lecture Theatre, RG6 7BE
The 36th Annual Edith Mary Gayton Memorial Lecture titled “Farm management and policy approaches to support the journey to net-zero farming without compromising food security and quality” will be held on Tuesday 7th March 2023.

We are delighted to welcome National Farmers Union (NFU) President Minette Batters, who runs a tenanted family farm in Wiltshire and campaigns on behalf of NFU members about the importance of British food and farming, to give the lecture. Minette Batters, NFU, will present her views on management and policy approaches required to support the journey to net-zero farming.

Venue: Madejski Lecture Theatre, Agriculture Building, University of Reading

Time: 18:00, with nibbles and drinks offered at 17:30

To register for the in-person event please email Teresa Hicks at t.m.hicks@reading.ac.uk.

To attend online please register via Eventbrite.

All are welcome!

Geographies of conscientisation in the post-disaster space: 'they have become more political after the tsunami’
2023-03-06 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Dr Sophie Blackburn, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Reading, will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Geographies of conscientisation in the post-disaster space: ‘they have become more political after the tsunami’.’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Monday 6 March.

The Importance of Comparative Common Law: A View from Singapore
2023-02-28 18:15 - 19:15 | Palmer Building, G10
The Importance of Comparative Common Law: A View from Singapore with Justice Andrew Phang
Tuesday 28 February, 18:15, G10, Palmer Building
In this lecture, Justice Phang will demonstrate the importance of comparative common law, utilising case law illustrations from Singapore in the Law of Contract, the Law of Tort and the Law of Unjust Enrichment.
He will demonstrate the importance of the role of a comparative approach towards common law in the development of one’s own domestic common law.
Justice Phang is a Senior Judge at the Supreme Court of Singapore, and visiting Professor of Law at the University of Reading.
Book your place

Queer Tragic Masks: LGBT History and Ancient Drama
2023-02-27 18:00 - 19:00 | Edith Morley Building, Van Emden Lecture Theatre, Edith Morley Building, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
Join Oliver Baldwin, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Classics, for a public lecture on how performances of ancient tragedies have been used to tell LGBT+ stories.
Since the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York, queerness has often been embodied, assessed, and enacted through performances of ancient tragedy. Tragic plots, characters and conflicts have been used to work through many key issues in LGBTQI+ history, from AIDS and same-sex marriage to homophobia and queer liberation. This LGBTQ History Month lecture explores three key stage versions of Greek tragedy: a lesbian version of The Bacchae against Section 28; a gay retelling of Medea exploring same-sex marriage and parenthood; and a re-interpretation of Trojan Women as a queer family of colour led facing AIDS.
Join us to experience how a lesbian goddess brought queer divine retribution over Thatcherite homophobia, how a gay Medea endures the lack of protection of marriage and how a Black trans woman burns down the hospital where AIDS is crippling her family. These examples demonstrate how the tragic masks of ancient drama have been painted over with queer colours to defend, vindicate and celebrate LGBTQI+ people and their history.
Register to attend.

The New Disability Media Webinar
2023-02-24 18:00 - 19:30 | Online
Film Quarterly explores new directions in disability film and media in a two-part webinar discussing its special dossier “The New Disability Media” (Winter 2022) co-presented with NYU’s Center for Disability Studies and Center for Media, Culture & History.
Dossier co-editors B. Ruby Rich (Film Quarterly), Faye Ginsburg (NYU) and Lawrence Carter-Long (DisArt) will moderate conversations with the dossier’s scholars and filmmakers on exciting developments in disability film and media.
Jenny Chamarette, School of Art, University of Reading, will be discussing the digital activism of filmmaker Stephen Dwoskin, whose archive is based in Special Collections at Reading. She was Co-Investigator on the AHRC funded project that supported the cataloguing of the archive and research into his life and work. Dwoskin was an important figure in the history of experimental film in the UK, and a disability rights activist.
Speakers:

Jenny Chamarette (University of Reading)
Arseli Dokumaci (Concordia University)
Slava Greenberg (University of Southern California)
Salome Chasnoff (filmmaker, Code of the Freaks)
Carrie Sandahl (filmmaker, Code of the Freaks)
Rodney Evans (filmmaker, Vision Portraits)

Register for the Zoom event to attend.

Revisiting Coercion as an Element of Prohibited Intervention in International Law
2023-02-22 17:00 - 18:00 | Henley Business School, Room G11, Henley Business School, Whiteknights Campus, Reading, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
Professor Marko MilanovicInternational Law: Revisiting Coercion as an Element of Prohibited Intervention in International Law.
Wednesday 22 February, 17:00, G11, Henley Business School
In his inaugural lecture, Professor Milanovic will argue that coercion can be understood in two different ways or models.
First, coercion as extortion, as a threat to engage or continue engaging in some activity (which itself may be lawful or unlawful) in order to extract some kind of concession from the victim state – in other words, an act targeting the victim state’s will or decision-making calculus.
Second, coercion can be understood as the actual deprivation of the victim state’s ability to make its sovereign choices, which may be done even through acts like cyber operations that the victim state may be unaware of. Professor Milanovic will argue that many of the difficulties surrounding the notion of coercion arise as consequence of failing to distinguish between these two different models.
Professor Milanovic is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Reading and Director of Global Law at Reading.
Register to attend

Exploring the Twitterverse of Filipino Men Living with HIV
2023-02-20 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Aldo Gavril Lim (UoR PhD student and Faculty at UPLB Philippines) will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Exploring the Twitterverse of Filipino Men Living with HIV.’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Monday 20 February.

Projected land use change in an oil-rich landscape in Uganda: A participatory modelling approach
2023-02-09 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Dr Ronald Twongyirwe (Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda) will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Projected land use change in an oil-rich landscape in Uganda: A participatory modelling approach.’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Thursday 9 February.

IFNH 5th Annual Forum: Shaping sustainable food systems for future generations
2023-02-08 14:00 - 17:00 | Online
The Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH) is delighted to invite you to our 5th Annual Forum, which will take place online on Wednesday 8th February 2023 from 14.00 – 17.00 (GMT).
This year’s theme is about shaping sustainable food systems for future generations, including the combination of improved knowledge and innovative policies to enhance behaviour change by food producers, food processors, food distributors, and consumers.
The event is free to attend, please register your attendance and share this with your networks.
Download the programme of events (PDF)

Digital Humanities and the Network Turn
2023-02-08 14:00 - 16:00 | Edith Morley Building, G25, University of Reading, Shinfield Rd, Reading, RG6 6EL, United Kingdom
We are pleased to announce the third Digital Humanities discussion event on Wednesday 8 February 2023, focusing on Social Network Analysis.
Please note, this event is open only to University of Reading researchers and certain invited guests. If you are interested in any of the presentations, please contact Mara Oliva (m.oliva@reading.ac.uk).
The event will be taking place on campus, but there is a hybrid option in order to ensure ongoing accessibility for those especially vulnerable to Covid-19 as well as colleagues with caring responsibilities. If you would like to attend virtually, please get in touch to request the link for access.
If you are not already a member, you are welcome to join the Digital Humanities Community of Practice via our MS Teams channel. (This link will take you to the Teams channel. If you are not already a member, you will be presented with a dialogue box that says ‘Join’. Click this to send a request, which will be approved if you are a member of the University of Reading. If you are already a member of the Team, this link just takes you directly to the ‘General’ channel.)
Within the COP, you will be able to introduce yourself, share your research, and access information about funding opportunities, support, and events. Read more here.
Our events are open to all researchers, staff, and PGRs from any subject – we welcome interdisciplinary collaboration!
To attend the event (in person or via Teams), or if you have any other questions, please contact the DH Academic Champion, Mara Oliva (m.oliva@reading.ac.uk).
Programme
14.00 Welcome and Intro – Roberta Gilchrist and Mara Oliva
14.10 Keynote address: Professor Ruth Ahnert (QMUL and Turing Institute) – ‘The Network Turn: Changing Perspectives in the Humanities’
14.50 Break
15.00 Roundtable:

Dr Amy Richardson (University of Reading) – Social Network Analysis and the archaeology of Iraq: networks of materials and practice in pre- and proto-history
Dr Fiona Coward (Bournemouth University) – The Connected Past
Dr Valentina Vavassori (National Archives) – tbc

15.30 Q&A
15.55 What’s next (DH CoP and Hub – future events) & close
~~~
Abstract: Keynote Address – Professor Ruth Ahnert
The Network Turn: Changing Perspectives in the Humanities
We live in a networked world. Online social networking platforms and the World Wide Web have changed how society thinks about connectivity. Because of the technological nature of such networks, their study has predominantly taken place within the domains of computer science and related scientific fields. But arts and humanities scholars are increasingly using the same kinds of visual and quantitative analysis to shed light on aspects of culture and society hitherto concealed. This paper will argue that networks are a category of study that cuts across traditional academic barriers, uniting diverse disciplines through a shared understanding of complexity in our world. Moreover, we are at a moment in time when it is crucial that arts and humanities scholars join the critique of how large-scale network data and advanced network analysis are being harnessed for the purposes of power, surveillance, and commercial gain. To illustrate the potential of the frameworks and methods of network analysis, this paper will draw from the findings of two recent projects that I led, Tudor Networks of Power, and Networking Archives.
~~~
Speaker information
Professor Ruth Ahnert is Professor of Literary History and Digital Humanities at Queen Mary University of London. Her research background is in early modern history, with a particular interest in book history and epistolary culture. More recently she has explored the application of quantitative network analysis to the study of early modern letters, and is currently Principal Investigator on the large interdisciplinary project Living with Machines based at the British Library and Alan Turing Institute.
Dr Amy Richardson is a Senior Research Fellow in Archaeology at the University of Reading. Her research focuses on the analysis of new and archival archaeological datasets to examine networks of people and materials in the Middle East, applying materials and network analysis to assemblages of clay and stone artefacts. She is also a University of Reading Open Research Champion.
Dr Fiona Coward is Associate Professor in Archaeological Sciences at Bournemouth University. Her work focuses on the evolution of human social life and cognition throughout the Palaeolithic but also throughout the shift from mobile foraging to more settled and agricultural lifeways in the early Holocene. She employs a multidisciplinary approach, emphasising the interrelations between humanity’s physical and social environments, as well as a variety of techniques including network analysis, GIS and agent-based modelling.
Dr Valentina Vavassori is a Digital Scholarship Researcher at the National Archives. She is interested in the development of User Interfaces for Linked Open Data, ontologies and data modelling. She completed her PhD, on ‘Digital Narratives in Physical Museums. Narrative Construction with Contextual Technologies’, at King’s College London, where she also worked on the project ‘Reframing Art: Opening up Art Dealers’ Archives to Multi-Disciplinary Research’ in collaboration with the National Gallery.

Linking social protection and climate change adaptation for rural livelihoods in Senegal
2023-02-06 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Al Hassan Cisse, PhD student at distance, based in Nigeria/Senegal, will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Linking social protection and climate change adaptation for rural livelihoods in Senegal.’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Monday 6 February.

The dark side of prediction: Pervasive false memories for nouns predicted but not seen
2023-02-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
Dr Katja Haeuser from Saarland University is delivering a seminar entitled: ‘The dark side of prediction: Pervasive false memories for nouns predicted but not seen.’
Abstract: An accumulating body of research has shown that predictability modulates online language processing, in that language users anticipate semantic features, and sometimes word forms, of upcoming linguistic material. In contrast, there is a shortage of studies addressing the longer-term memory consequences of having predictions confirmed or disconfirmed. In this talk, I will show how my work has helped inform research on the conditions that enable word form prediction during reading, and that promote learning following prediction error. In particular, I will highlight how psycholinguistic concepts can inform theories on memory consolidation and error-driven language learning. I will conclude with an outlook on my current research agenda that investigates memory illusions rooted in predictive processing from a lifespan perspective.
Join the online seminar on Microsoft Teams.

Ghandhi Research Seminar Series: Prof Aoife Nolan
2023-02-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Palmer Building, Room 108
Global Law at Reading (GLAR) is one of the leading groups of expert staff researching and teaching global law at any university in the UK. As Reading’s research hub for public international law, EU law and human rights law it has a proud international reputation for research excellence in these areas. The series was launched in 2015. It is named in honour of Professor Sandy Ghandhi, who taught at the School of Law from 1978 to 2013 and remains an emeritus professor at Reading. Wednesday 1 February
13.00–14.00
Palmer 108 Prof Aoife Nolan (University of Nottingham)
Giving meaning to social rights in Europe at a time of pressure – the European Social Charter System in Action

Using evidence in policy and practice
2023-01-30 13:00 - 13:50 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Prof Ian Goldman from the University of Witwatersand, South Africa will be delivering a seminar entitled: ‘Using evidence in policy and practice.’
Join us in the Frank Parkinson room (Agriculture building) or via Microsoft Teams from 1–1.50pm on Monday 30 January.

IFNH F2F Dissemination event
2023-01-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Frank Parkinson room, Agriculture, Whiteknights, RG6 7BE
Join the Institute for Food Nutrition and Health at the IDRF dissemination event showcasing the funding outcomes from the four awarded projects from the 2021 call. The event will take place on Friday 27th January at 13:00 – 14:00 in the Frank Parkinson Room, School of Agriculture Policy and Development.

13:00 – 13:15 Presentation: Effects of Lacto-vegetarian and Vegan Diet on the Glycaemic and Metabolite Profiles in Healthy Asian Indians by Professor Vimal Karani, Deputy Director IFNH
13:15 – 13:20 Presentation: The impact of counter layout and labelling on consumer preference for plant-based alternatives in University catering facilities by Dr Stephanie Bull, Lecturer, Food & Nutritional Sciences
13:20 – 13:35 Presentation: Putting comfort into healthy and sustainable food: Co-creating appealing presentations of healthy and sustainable food to promote its consumption by Dr Julia Vogt, Lecturer in Sensory Science, School of Chemistry, Food & Pharmacy
13:35 – 13:50 Presentation: See & Eat 2022: exploring printed books and expanding online content by Professor Carmel Houston-Price, Head of School, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences
13:50 – 14:00 Q & A

Valeria Illuminati, Roberta Pederzoli, and Beatrice Spallaccia, ‘The G-Book Project. Literature for children and YAs from a gender perspective: literary and translation issues’
2023-01-25 17:00 - 18:00
This talk is part of the CBCP and Outside in World Webinar series on Children’s Literature and Translation and is open to all. To register to join us via Zoom click here.
Speakers: Valeria Illuminati, Roberta Pederzoli, and Beatrice Spallaccia (University of Bologna, MeTRa Centre – Research Centre on Mediation and Translation by and for Children and Young Adults)
The CBCP x OIW webinar series is delighted to welcome a team of speakers from the European G-Book projects. The projects G-BOOK 1 and 2 (Gender Identity: Child Readers and Library Collections and European teens as readers and creators in gender-positive narratives) aim to promote gender positive children’s and young adult literature in terms of roles and models, a literature that is open-minded, plural, varied, free from stereotypes, and that encourages respect and diversity. The first part of the webinar will develop a critical-theoretical reflection on literature for children and young adults from a gender perspective and on its translation. In particular, we will discuss:

gender representations and stereotypes
families
male and female characters
LGBTQ+ issues
and the G-BOOK European projects.

The second part will explore case studies of LGBTQ+ themed illustrated books in English and French translated into Italian. We will analyze both the paratext and the text itself, showing how in the transfer from one language and culture to another there are some shifts and changes, which are not necessarily questionable, but however present the source text in a new light and produce a different effect on the target reader.
