Connecting Research

All eyes on ‘My Climate Risk’: Q-storming towards collective pathways to adaptation action, from local to global
2023-10-05 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/London) | Hybrid
The Walker Institute will be attending the conference Adaptation Futures taking place from October 2 to 6 this year. More than 1500 members of the climate change adaptation community from around the world gather in Montreal to share their knowledge on the challenges and opportunities of adaptation.
A new approach that synthesises cross-disciplinary insight and information is needed to address the adaptation challenges of the climate emergency. This requires forward-looking analysis based on integrated data and evidence, and a transformation in how natural and social scientists work alongside counterparts in the government, non-government and community sectors.
Watch this space for updates on upcoming events and presentations.
Side event: All eyes on ‘My Climate Risk’: Q-storming towards collective pathways to adaptation action, from local to global
Session 285 – Governance & Finance
5 October, 16:00-17.30 (EDT) / 21:00-22:30 (BST)
A new approach that synthesises cross-disciplinary insight and information is needed to address the adaptation challenges of the climate emergency. This requires forward-looking analysis based on integrated data and evidence, and a transformation in how natural and social scientists work alongside counterparts in the government, non-government and community sectors.
This hybrid ‘Q-storming’ session is designed to bring together representatives from all these communities, to explore how we can bridge science and socio-political action, addressing multiple risks while responding to local adaptation needs. It will draw on the break-through approach of a new World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Lighthouse Activity, entitled ‘My Climate Risk’ (MCR).The title reflects the need to embed climate risk within its unique local and social context. Eight WCRP MCR hubs have been established globally and are going ‘broader and deeper’ in their work with local counterparts to assess risk and implement credible and effective climate actions. Examples will be presented as part of the Q-storming session.
Q-storming is designed to come up with well-stated questions and problem formulations, not easy answers. To reach actionable solutions, we need first to identify obstacles, then map out local pathways to overcome them. Our virtual and in-person colleagues will contribute to this process, following short case-study presentations. The session builds on our AF2018 Q-Storm experience and introduces the use of Facilitated Q-Storming Tables using Mural Boards.
Participants

Prof. Rosalind Cornforth, Walker Institute, University of Reading, UK
Dr. Celia Petty, Walker Institute, University of Reading, UK
Prof. Abdou, AGRHYMET, Niger
Dr. Chi Huyen Truong, Himalayan University Consortium, ICIMOD, Nepal
Prof. Amadou Gaye, University of Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar
Prof. Iain Stewart, Royal Scientific Society, Jordan
Prof. Ted Shepherd, Co-Chair, “My Climate Risk” Lighthouse Activity, World Climate Research Programme/ Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK
Prof. Regina Rodrigues, Co-Chair, “My Climate Risk” Lighthouse Activity, World Climate Research Programme/ Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil
Dr. Narelle Van Der Wel, My climate Risk, World Climate Research Programme, Switzerland

Find out more on the Walker Institute website.

‘Don’t call me resilient again!’: the New Urban Agenda as immunology
2023-10-09 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
Join the Walker Institute for the inaugural session of the My Climate Risk Interdisciplinary Reading Group as part of the WCRP Lighthouse Activity.
Coleen Vogel, University of the Witwatersrand, will present Maria Kaika’s paper: “Do not call me Resilient again”.
Coleen Vogel is a Distinguished Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a climatologist by training but has increasingly worked in the social dimensions of climate change, focusing particularly on climate change adaptation. She obtained her PhD in the field of climate change in 1994. She currently serves on various local and international boards. She has, for example, chaired and been the vice chair of international global environmental change scientific committees (e.g. IHDP and LUCC and involved in the Earth System Science Programme), groups that preceded the current Future Earth developments. She was also one of the lead contributors to the preparation of the Disaster Management Act in South Africa. She has been Chapter Lead Author and co-author of chapters in the IPCC (4th and 5th assessment reports). She is now also involved as a lead author in the IPBES transformative assessment. She has also received the Burtoni Award for international excellence in adaptation research and received the University of the Witwatersrand Vice Chancellor’s award for excellence in teaching.
Find out more on the Walker Institute website, and register to attend by filling out this form.

Making Mutants: How and Why We Break Genes on Purpose
2023-10-10 18:00 - 19:30 | Reading Museum, Blagrave Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1HQ, United Kingdom
Join Dr Louise Johnson from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Reading to explore how mutation in genetic research is helping to identify and understand the building blocks of life.

Emotional Labour: provenance, politics and practice
2023-10-13 10:00 - 13:00 | Henley Business School, Room G03, Henley Business School, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6UD, United Kingdom
Join Professor Jenna Ward (Dean of Coventry Business School) for a workshop seminar on emotional labour as part of Dr Simon Willems (Reading School of Art, Henley Business School) interdepartmental fellowship research project.
With a focus on marginalised voices, Jenna employs innovative arts-based research methods to explore emotionality within organizations and management. Her research spans various sectors and has led to her working with organisations such as the Department of Health, the National Trust, the City of London, NHS, Samaritans and, most recently, England Netball.
Tea & coffee and light refreshments will be available at 9:30 (lunch is included).
View the seminar flyer for more information.
Please contact Simon Willems to RSVP.

UKRI Open Access policy for journal articles
2023-10-24 13:00 - 13:45 | Online
If you are a UKRI funded author your journal articles must be Open Access with a CCBY licence immediately on publication and without embargo, via CentAUR (green Open Access) or published gold Open Access on the publisher’s website. This policy applies to all peer reviewed articles submitted for publication since April 2022. In this short briefing we will help you to:

Check whether a journal is compliant before you submit to it
Use look-up tools, including the journal checker and SciFree
Add a CCBY licence statement to your article when you submit it
Apply to the UKRI block grant to cover Open Access article publishing charges

Register to attend on UoRLearn.

UKRI Open Access policy for books, chapters and edited collections
2023-10-25 13:00 - 13:45 | Online
All UKRI funded authors are required to make books, chapters and edited collections, published on or after 1st January 2024, Open Access with a Creative Commons licence. The final Version of Record or the Author’s Accepted Manuscript must be free to download via an online publication platform, publishers’ website, or repository within 12 months of publication. In this short briefing we explain:

Routes to Open Access
UKRI policy scope and exemptions
How to apply to the central UKRI fund to cover Open Access publishing charges
Finding Open Access publishers for books

Book via UoRLearn

Paying to Publish Gold Open Access journal articles
2023-10-26 13:00 - 13:45 | Online
Publishing your article as Open Access on the publisher’s website usually incurs a fee. This applies for many fully Open Access journals and to hybrid journals unless covered by a Library read and publish agreement with the publisher. We will help you to navigate this complex landscape, to access funds to cover charges and to avoid receiving an unexpected bill. This short briefing will:

Explain which journals are covered by the Library’s read and publish deals
Check whether a journal meets the criteria for the University’s Gold Open Access fund and the UKRI block grant
Show when and how to apply to these funds to cover the cost of an article APC

Register your place on UoRLearn.

Open Access at Reading: All you need to know
2023-10-27 10:15 - 11:00 | Online
This session is intended for new research staff, including early career researchers, and managers and professional services staff needing a general overview of Open Access at the University of Reading. We provide practical information about maximizing the visibility of your research publications for the benefit of both you and the University. Following the session you will be able to:

Recognise the different types and benefits of Open Access
Comply with the key Open Access policies affecting you
Know what to deposit in CentAUR
Apply to the University’s fund to cover Open Access publishing costs
Make informed choices about where to publish
Make informed decisions about sharing networks
Access key bibliometric tools and Altmetric
Register for and populate an ORCiD identifier

Creative Collections Networking Event
2023-11-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Palmer Building, Room 105, Whiteknights Campus, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
Creative practice within museums and collections interrogates and animates collections with different stakeholders. For academic researchers it can also bring together different disciplines to collaboratively explore complex problems. Some familiar examples are visual art installations, live and digital performances, and creative writing residencies. However, this list is only skimming the surface and it’s important to note that the process behind these creative interventions is as important as the final outputs. There is excellent work going on across the University of Reading but it can be hard to find time to share and connect with colleagues.
This workshop will be a chance to share current projects involving UoR collections, and best practice regarding wider creative practice with museums, archives, and collections.
This will be of interest to colleagues engaged in creative practice, creative research, curation and facilitation of creative projects based in collections. It will also be of interest to colleagues from the sciences and social sciences who are seeking to build cross-disciplinary research collaborations to explore complex ideas in creative ways.
The aim of this event is to:

identify potential participants who wish to be part of a community of colleagues sharing practice and developing ideas and connections
begin to highlight some thematic connections and areas of interest or emerging practice
discuss future networking and sharing opportunities.

The workshop will consist of:

quick fire presentations from participants on current projects and interests
a networking session using items from the University collections as a way to spark conversations
a facilitated discussion of ways to collaborate moving forward, including the option of an Away Day

Book your place by completing this form: https://forms.office.com/e/C0fLLpshV3

AI and the Arts – can we automate creativity?
2023-11-01 17:00 - 19:00 | Bulmershe Theatre, Minghella Studios, Bulmershe Theatre, Minghella Studios, University of Reading, Shinfield Road, Reading, RG6 6BT, United Kingdom
The exhibition ‘AI: More than Human’ at the Barbican Centre in London – co-curated by Suzanne Livingston – was the first over-arching look at the past, present and future of AI in a museum environment. It includes contributions from DeepMind, IBM, Google, TeamLab, Massive Attack, Es Devlin, Neri Oxman, Joy Buolamwini, Amnesty International, Jigsaw and Affectiva. Since its London run in 2019, it has toured regionally in the UK and globally, with periods of time in the Netherlands and China. As of October 2023, it is showing in Spain at CCCB Barcelona.
In this talk, Suzanne will expand on the themes of the exhibition, as well as her ongoing research and consultancy on the relationships between advanced technologies and people, society and commerce. She will reflect on how the current explosion in AI tools, and corresponding public interest and concerns, sits within this – and shares her thoughts on where this will eventually settle within the arts.
This is a hybrid event taking place in-person at Bulmershe Theatre, Minghella Studios and online on Teams. In-person attendance is encouraged as the talk will be followed by a wine reception and discussion over drinks.
Please RSVP to shweta.ghosh@reading.ac.uk by Tuesday 24th October, indicating if you would like to attend in-person or online. A joining link for online attendees will be circulated nearer the time.
About the speaker
Dr Suzanne Livingston is a strategy consultant, curator and coach working with advanced technologies across sectors – but often with creative arts and culture organisations. Until 2019 she was Head of Strategy and then Global Principal at Wolff Olins and has a PhD in Philosophy, focussing on cybernetic systems. This led her to co-curate the blockbuster exhibition ‘AI: More than Human’ which opened at the Barbican in 2019 and is currently in the midst of an ongoing world tour.
Her research area is advanced technologies and their effects on people, society and commerce – and the need for genuinely new models and concepts to see ourselves and the world we exist in. She continues to write about technologies and changing ideas of human, self, agency and control, and often draws on non-western ideas to do so.

Typodiversity 01: exploring the Arabic script world
2023-11-03 - 2023-11-04 | Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, TOB 2, Earley Gate, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 7BE, United Kingdom
CBCP is collaborating with Typodiversity, an open, participatory event series combining talks and workshops on the intersection of research and practice in typography and type design. Our agenda raises issues of agency, resource, representation, and inclusion in the development of environments for authoring, design, and distribution. We aim to place informed, representative narratives at the heart of discourse.
We intend that each event adapts to the environment in which it is held, shaped by the team and hosting location. There are two conditions for Typodiversity events: 1) that they are run with as little expenditure as possible, taking advantage of institutional resources; and 2) that the recorded content of the talks and workshops will be openly and freely accessible.
We prioritise a hybrid online format to minimise the impact of travel and attendance costs, visa hurdles, legal limitations, and time zone differences. While we recognise that English functions as a shared language for global scholarship and exchange, we aim to actively support other languages as an alternative. To achieve this, we ask presenters to provide a video of their presentation in advance, so that subtitles can be added: English presentations will have subtitles in the relevant second language of the event, and vice versa. We are starting this initiative with only one pair of languages to gain experience of time and effort required, and aim to extend to more languages as we grow. To facilitate real-time Q&A sessions and open conversation rooms, we aim to provide interpreters for real-time translation.
The first event will take place at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading (UK), on the 3rd & 4th November 2023, on the theme of “exploring the Arabic script world.” Talks, speakers and workshops will be announced shortly. Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates and to stay connected.
https://twitter.com/typodiversity
https://www.instagram.com/typodiversity/

Sensation or Science? Monsters Ancient and Modern
2023-11-07 18:00 - 19:30 | Reading Museum, Blagrave Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1HQ, United Kingdom
Join Professors Emma Aston and Andrew Mangham from the University of Reading to explore how Classical myths worked their way into the monster science and monster stories of the modern period.

UKRI Open Access for longform publications
2023-11-08 10:30 - 15:00 | Online
UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) new open access policy for monographs, book chapters, and edited collections that need to acknowledge UKRI funding starts on 1 January 2024.
This event will share the latest information about the policy and its implementation. It will also provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions and share experiences about supporting open access to longform publications.
The event is for UKRI-funded researchers and staff that manage open access at UKRI-funded research organisations.
The event will include a webinar and question and answer session, which will be recorded and made available online. There will also be an opportunity to join smaller breakout discussions to share experiences. UKRI may manage attendance of these discussion sessions depending on demand.
Register to attend on the UKRI website.

Armistice Lecture: Medical care and medical pacifism
2023-11-09 18:30 - 20:00 | Edith Morley, Room G27
Join Dr Fiona Reid for this year’s annual Armistice lecture to unveil the history of medical pacifism during and after the Great War.
The First World War was a machine war which lasted for over four years. Approximately 8 million soldiers died while about 20 million were wounded, and many millions were either disabled or debilitated for the rest of their lives. During the war, men and women responded to these casualty rates by working with military-medical services or with voluntary organisations such as the Red Cross or the Friends Ambulance Unit. They were motivated by the firm belief that ‘Our duty is to save’ and that ‘binding the wounds of war’ was a humanitarian act. Yet others interpreted military-medical service differently, and saw wartime medical work as somehow complicit with militarism.
After the war, a small but vocal medical pacifist movement emerged to argue that all medics should refuse completely to co-operate with military-medical services on any level. Interwar medical pacifism did not succeed in preventing future wars and few now support the idea of a ‘medical strike’ but their debates raised questions which remain pertinent now: What should medics do during wartime? To what extent does their work alleviate the pain of war and to what extent does it prolong war?
About the speaker
Dr Fiona Reid is an historian of the social and cultural history of war and has written widely about the First World War in Europe and about refugees and displaced people in the Second World War. She is particularly interested in the consequences of war trauma and in the coping mechanisms of combat troops, medical personnel and civilians both during war and afterwards.

PhD to Head of Department: Deepa Senapathi | Career Champions Event
2023-11-15 13:00 - 14:00 | Edith Morley, Room G27
Join Reading’s BAME+ allies network and Women@Reading+ allies network for an inspiring event with expert and guest speaker, Dr Deepa Senapathi.
Dr Senapathi’s journey in academia is testament to her commitment, expertise and excellence. Primarily Deepa’s research centres on environmental change/impact on biodiversity and ecosystems, in particular climate change and land-use change on avian populations and insect pollinator communities.
The talk will take place on Wednesday 15 November from 1300-1400 at room G27, Edith Morley building. All welcome. Accessible online. Booking essential. Light lunch provided.
For more information, contact bame.network@reading.ac.uk and womensnetwork@reading.ac.ukLearn about Staģ Networks at www.reading.ac.uk/diversity/getting -involved/networks.

Natural History Museum Collections & Culture workshop
2023-11-20 11:00 - 16:00 | Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL), Redlands Road, Reading, RG1 5EX, United Kingdom
As part of the University’s developing partnership with the Natural History Museum (NHM), and as a return visit by NHM curators and researchers to the trip a number of us made to South Kensington in early May, we will be holding a joint workshop day at The MERL on 20th November 11-4pm.
Organised in collaboration with colleagues in UMASCS and the Collections and Culture Theme at NHM, the day will be a chance to develop individual relationships, share research enthusiasms and to advance more concrete plans to develop joint activities, including joint grant applications and doctoral training collaborations.
Agenda

11:00
Welcome and coffee

11:15
1-minute introductions.
Slides are encouraged from all participants in advance (please submit to Beth Steiner: e.steiner@reading.ac.uk by 14th November).

12:15
Object-based discussion

13:15
Lunch

14:00
Strategic breakout groups I
Proposed themes include:

Maritime Exploration and Monitoring [voyages of discovery; collectors at sea and maritime impact of collections; aligning specimens and documentation with ships’ logs and written histories]
India and Hidden Collectors [botanical hidden histories; decolonisation of collections; exploring the histories of the people who collected the specimens but whose names don’t feature in the record]
One Health [the integrated health of people, animals, plants, and environment; zoonotic research; the human-nature relationship from the past to the future and the public dialogue around it]
Creative Approaches to the Natural History Museum’s Collections, especially visual and material culture, including data and digitisation

15:00
Refreshments

15:10
Strategic breakout groups II – feedback and future planning.

16:00
End

These breakout group themes are not exhaustive and we would welcome further suggestions for breakout groups, which we can facilitate according to demand. Please respond to the question in the form when you register so we can try to accommodate as many areas of interest as possible.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Please register here by Friday 3rd November.

Algorithmic Contracts and Consumer Law – thoughts from ELI’s Guiding Principles and Model Rules for Algorithmic Contracts project
2023-11-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Palmer Building, Room 103
Exciting technological developments offer increased potential for contract automation. After much excitement about “smart contracts”, the focus has now shifted to contract automation through algorithmic decision making (ADM) based on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, especially deep-learning algorithms.
Imagine a new form of “digital assistant” which would not only assist a consumer in identifying possible purchase options (as is already the case with digital voice assistants and some chatbots) but take over the conclusion of routine contracts for a consumer. Would taking a consumer out of the decision-making loop altogether pose new challenges for (consumer) contract law? The European Law Institute (ELI) is part-way through a project exploring the many legal implications of utilising AI-driven ADM in contracting. Its first, interim, output focuses on testing the ADMreadiness of the current EU consumer law acquis. This paper will sketch the main elements of this interim report and suggest pointers for the continuing debate around algorithmic contracting.
About the speaker
Professor Christian Twigg-Flesner LL.B. PCHE Ph.D. (Sheffield) is professor of Contract and Consumer Law at the University of Warwick. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of Contract, Consumer and Commercial Law, with a particular focus on the implications of digitalisation. His research covers English, European and International dimensions.
Book your free place on the University Store.

IFNH: Funding outcomes showcase
2023-11-24 13:00 - 14:20
Join us at the IFNH dissemination event showcasing the funding outcomes from the awarded 2022 projects. The event will take place online on Friday 24th November at 13:00 – 14:30 via Teams. Click here to join the meeting and please share the invitation within your school/group.

13:00 – 13:10 Welcome – Professor Ian Givens, Director IFNH
13:10 – 13:20 Presentation: SEE & EAT: Development of promotional materials to enhance user engagement by Natalie Ellison, Research Assistant, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences
13:20 – 13:30 Presentation: Qualitatively exploring the enablers and barriers for healthy eating and attitudes towards a personalised nutrition app in UK University students by Michelle Weech, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Food & Nutritional Sciences
13:30 – 13:40 Presentation: Agrinatura General Assembly in Prague presented by Jurgen Peci, Graduate Teaching Assistant in Agricultural Economics, Agri-Food Economics & Marketing
13:40 – 13:50 Presentation: International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics Conference by Patricia Sanz Morales, Research Student, Food & Nutritional Sciences
13:50 – 14:00 Presentation: ASN’s Nutrition 2023 by Kim Vogtschmidt, Research Student, Food & Nutritional Sciences
14:00 – 14:10 Presentation: Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) by Daniel James, Research Student, Food & Nutritional Sciences
14:10 – 14:20 Presentation: 15th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium by Dimitra Zannidi, Research Student, Food & Nutritional Sciences
14:20 – 14:30 Q & A

Player vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Video Game Monstrosity
2023-11-25 15:00 - 16:30 | Reading Museum, Blagrave Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1HQ, United Kingdom
Video games seem to teach us that monsters must be fought and can be defeated. Join Dr Jarosłav Švelch from Charles University in Prague to explore how this came to be. Do games offer potential for more nuanced representations of monstrosity?

Stickers as self-authorised ‘publishing’ in urban spaces: The graphic language, themes, and localisations of stickers in the Ruhr area, Germany
2023-11-30 17:00 - 18:00 | Typography, TOB 2, Room T4, Earley Gate, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AU
Speaker: Dr Irmi Wachendorff (University of Reading)

This research seminar is free & open to all.
Join us in person in the University of Reading’s Department of Typography, Room T4.
To join via MS Teams, please register here.

Dr Irmi Wachendorff’s presentation will analyse a dataset of 5500 tagged and geo-referenced stickers in public space from the Signs of the Metropolis research project (Ziegler et al. 2022) which explored visual multilingualism in the Ruhr area in Germany. She will focus on typographic and semiotic visual analysis, discuss stickers in comparison to other signs in urban space, and examine the publicised themes.
Stickers are one of the smallest and yet – on looking closer – one of the most visually expressive and liberated forms of signs in urban space (Wachendorff 2021). Clustered on dedicated canvases such as lampposts, road signs and electricity boxes, they are placed by various stakeholders with different goals: supporters of political parties, protest movements, members of football clubs, music fans, sticker artists, and commercial actors. Stickering is an act of democratisation and place-making in which citizens as authors negotiate their social and cultural positions through visual signs in the urban environment (Vasileva 2021).
Dr Wachendorff is an Associate Professor in the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication at the University of Reading. She is a graphic designer and design historian with specialisations in typography and sociolinguistics. Her PhD focussed on ‘Typographic Landscapes – Letters in Cities as Social Artefacts’ at the University of Duisburg-Essen and was funded by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. Irmi is passionate about design education, the practice, theory and history of graphic communication, typography and visual culture, lettering in urban space, the relationship of typography and language, and the bridge between graphic design and sociolinguistic disciplines.

Under the Bed and Among the Dead: Monsters in Ancient Egypt
2023-12-05 18:00 - 19:30 | Reading Museum, Blagrave Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1HQ, United Kingdom
Learn from Dr Jordan Miller from the University of Cambridge about the fearsome qualities of some famous (and lesser-known) supernatural beings from ancient Egypt, the situations in which ancient Egyptians encountered them, and whether we might call them monsters.

Heinemann and Biafractivist Authors: Politics of Publishing the Rebel
2023-12-07 17:00 - 18:00 | Edith Morley, Room 125, Edith Morley Building, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom
Speaker: Dr Abba Abba (University of Reading)

This research seminar is free & open to all.
Join us in person in the Edith Morley Building, Room 125.
To join via MS Teams, register here.
Dr Abba Abba’s paper interrogates the archival and literary evidence of Heinemann’s minoritization of Biafran voices and politicisation of publishing them during the Nigeria-Biafra war. It argues that some significant publisher-author correspondences and unpublished materials reflecting the perspectives of Biafractivist authors, which are kept at the African Writers Series’ Archive at the University of Reading, can function as research tools for engaging and reclaiming the perceived “rebel” authors’ voices and the publisher’s ambivalent circumstances during the war. Relying on a postcolonial reading of Homi Bhabha’s “Third space” as a theoretical strategy, and deploying archival methodology and its application to literary intersectionality, it teases out how these materials represent Biafrans as “outsiders within” Nigeria., and why Biafran voices fall through the cracks in the war’s historicity through an analysis of their experiences in selected documents and unpublished materials on the war
♣
Dr Abba Abba is currently a British Academy Visiting Research Fellow, Department of English Literature, University of Reading, with some research visits at the Special Collections Archive at MERL. He is a Fellow of the German Academic Exchange Service – DAAD (completed a postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Humboldt University, Berlin, 2018–2019). He is also a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (completed his another Postdoctoral Fellowship in the African Humanities Programme with Residency at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2021–2022). Abba won the Nigeria-LNG Prize for Literary Criticism 2019 as well as the Association of Nigerian Authors Prizes for Literary Criticism for both 2019 and 2022. Author of the novel The Ugly Queen, and the plays Lunatic on the Throne and The Blood Price, Abba’s research interests cut across the conversations of literature with cultural, ecocritical and archival ecologies. A Lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies, Federal University Lokoja, Nigeria, Abba has previously served as the Head, Department of English and Literary Studies, Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo Nigeria. He received his MA and PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

What really happened at COP28?
2023-12-15 11:00 - 12:30 | Sutcliffe Lecture Theatre, Room GU01, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, RG6 6AH
The 28th Conference of Parties, COP28, is currently in full swing in Dubai. With heated debates on the phase out of fossil fuel and climate finance currently happening on the ground, we are yet to see the final outcomes of this year’s climate conference such as the Global Stocktake.

What are the topics we have made progress on this year? How is it like to be at COP on the ground? Why do we need these climate conferences anyway? To explore some of these questions together, we invite you to join our What really happened at COP28?event held on Friday, December 15th at 11am in the Sutcliffe Theatre, Brian Hoskins Building in the Department of Meteorology. Students and staff from the University of Reading who attended COP on the ground in Dubai and in the Newsroom in Reading, will share their perspectives on the conference. We will cover the overall outcomes as well as specific topics that we have engaged with more deeply such as biodiversity, loss and damages and the rights and perspective of indigenous peoples.

The event will showcase videos and other media output produced by students, reflect on the role of the University at these climate conferences and provide a space for you to ask and discuss all the questions you have around COP28.

We hope to see many of you there,
The COP Climate Action Studio Team of 2023

The Reign of the Dinosaurs | Children's Christmas Lecture
2023-12-20 16:30 - 17:30 | Palmer Building, G10
Book your place

Have you ever wondered how the dinosaurs came to rule the world? Join Dr Ciara O’Donovan as we travel back 230 million years to revisit the Mesozoic Earth.
We will meet the ancestor of all dinosaurs (who may surprise you!) and follow the dinosaurs as they spread across the globe. Journeying through time, we’ll watch as one species evolved into hundreds with varying shapes and sizes. Finally, find out what happened when the world was filled with dinosaurs and how a gigantic asteroid colliding with Earth ended their story. Or did it?
Admission is free. Booking essential, reservations on a first-come, first-served basis.
Suitable for children 7-12 years.
The lecture will be interpreted in British Sign Language (BSL) by an interpreter.

Call for papers: Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence
2024-01-20 17:00
The call for papers has now closed. For further details of the conference, please visit the Digital Humanities website.

CFP
DIGITAL HUMANITIES & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
One-Day Conference at the University of Reading
17 June, 2024

Keynote Speaker:
Dr Barbara McGillivray
(King’s College London)

We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to participate in a focused exploration of the intersections between Digital Humanities (DH) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a one-day conference at the University of Reading.
The conference will feature three distinct strands, each proving a unique perspective on the evolving landscape of DH-AI:
Strand 1: Cultural Heritage

Explore the role of artificial intelligence in preserving, interpreting, and making accessible cultural heritage.
Discuss innovative projects and technologies that digitise, catalog, and safeguard cultural artifacts and historical sites.
Examine the impact of AI on the study and dissemination of cultural heritage.

Strand 2: Ethics

Delve into the ethical considerations and challenges posed by the use of AI in Digital Humanities.
Discuss issues of bias, representation, and inclusivity in AI-driven research and projects
Explore strategies and best practices for ensuring ethical AI applications in the digital humanities

Strand 3: Synthetic Media

Investigate the creative potential of AI-generated content, such as art, music, literature and virtual environments.
Showcase projects that leverage synthetic media for storytelling, cultural expression, and education.
Examine the ethical and cultural implications of AI-generated content in the Digital Humanities.

We welcome submissions in the following formats:

Individual research papers
Panel Proposals

Please submit your proposal by 20 January, 2024 following the guidelines below.
The conference will also lay the groundwork for a special edition of Digital Humanities Quarterly. If you are unable to attend the conference, but want to contribute to the DHQ special edition, please send your abstract by 30 July, 2024. See guidelines below for further details.

Guidelines for Submission & Timeline
Please submit your abstract (250 words) including a brief biography (200 words), affiliation and email address to DH-AI-Conference@reading.ac.uk by 20 January, 2024.

CONFERENCE DATE: Monday 17 June, 2024
Abstract Submission Deadline: 20 January, 2024
Notification of Acceptance: 15 February, 2024
Program and Registration opens: 1 March, 2024
Registration closes: 1 May, 2024
Abstract Submission for DHQ Special Issue: 30 July, 2024
Article Submission Deadline: 1 December 2024
Submission to DHQ: 15 January 2025

This is a free event sponsored by the Digital Humanities CoP at the University of Reading. Places are limited and registration is required.
For any inquiries, please contact the organising committee at
DH-AI-Conference@reading.ac.uk

Organising Committee:
Dr Mara Oliva, Associate Professor in History and DH Champion
Dr Dominic Lees, Associate Professor in Film, Theatre and Television and Steering Committee Member of Synthetic Media Research Network
Dr Jumbly Grindrod, Lecturer in Philosophy
Professor James Ferryman, Professor of Computational Vision
Dr Rachel Lewis, Research Development Manager for Heritage & Creativity
Dr Bonhi Bhattacharya, Senior Research Manager for Environment and Agriculture and Food and Health

Human vs machine: what can corpus linguistics contribute to our understanding of large collections of texts?
2024-02-07 14:00 - 15:30 | Palmer 103
Keynote Speaker: Professor Sylvia Jaworska, Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics
A collaboration between Heritage & Creativity and Prosperity & Resilience on Wednesday 7 February 2024 from 14:00-15.30.
Location: Palmer 103 and Online

14.00
Welcome and introduction
Dr Mara Olivia, Digital Humanities Champion
Professor Roberta Gilchrist, Research Dean, Heritage & Creativity
Professor Adrian Bell, Research Dean, Prosperity & Resilience

14.10
Keynote address: Human vs machine: what can corpus linguistics contribute to our understanding of large collections of texts?
Professor Sylvia Jaworska

14.40
Roundtable
Dr Jonathan Golub (Politics & International Relations): “Treating the text of EU legislative proposals as data”
Dr Rachel Foxley (History): “A beginner’s project in textual analysis: political polarisation in the English Civil War”
Professor Mike Goodman (Geography & Environmental Science): “Analysing the texts of #CovidTwitter and getting students to de-normalise the world through frame analysis”

15.10
Q&A

15.30
What’s next for the Digital Humanities Community of Practice and Hub? and close.
Dr Mara Olivia

Abstracts
In this talk, I will first outline key principles underlying the linguistically informed approach of corpus linguistics which has been adopted to study discourse in large collections of texts (corpora). I will focus in particular on the analytical tools of frequency, concordance, collocation and keyword and the software programme Sketch Engine to show the benefits of this approach to identify and examine discourse patterns and topics in large text corpora. Examples will include collaborative work conducted with researchers from HBS, SAGES and Pharmacy. The second part will compare the corpus approach with another popular method widely used in social sciences, that of topic modelling, which was developed in computer science. It will report on insights from a small quasi-experiment in which the two approaches were used to identify topics in a corpus of sustainability reports. The talk explores how the identified topics were similar and different and what this means for the analytical power of the two methods. I will conclude with a series of tentative observations regarding the benefits and limitations of each method and recommendations for researchers in choosing analytical technique to study large collections of texts available digitally.
Speakers
Professor Sylvia Jaworska explores professional communication in (new) media, business and health settings focusing predominantly (but not exclusively) on the ways in which language and other semiotic choices are used to construct identities and perpetuate social stereotyping, biases and stigma. She examines discourse and communication using tools and techniques from corpus linguistics and discourse analysis as well as other quantitative and qualitative methods adopted in linguistics and social sciences including interviews, focus groups and surveys. Dr Jonathan Golub is a political scientist using quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse decision making in the European Union. He is particularly interested in modelling the EU policymaking process and issues of institutional performance, such as the role of formal versus informal rules, the potential trade-off between efficiency and democratic legitimacy, and the distribution of power between Member States and supranational actors. His research interests also include modelling UN Security Council decision making, evaluating the effects of economic sanctions, studying the determinants of national and global environmental policy, and understanding judicial politics. Dr Rachel Foxley’s work focuses on the history of political language and political thought, particularly in seventeenth-century England. Her PhD and first book were on the Levellers, and looked at the way in which this remarkably audacious network of activists and pamphleteers adapted and reworked the less radical thought of the parliamentarian cause which they had supported. Her more recent and current work focuses particularly on the writings of the English republican writers of the seventeenth century, including John Milton, James Harrington, Marchamont Nedham, Henry Neville, and Algernon Sidney. She is working on a book on their complex and perhaps conflicted treatments of the idea of democracy, and have published several shorter pieces on them. She has an abiding interest in the reception of classical ideas in early modern Europe, which is highly relevant to this project, and she is co-editing the Brill’s Companion to the Legacy of Greek Political Thought with David Carter and Elizabeth Sawyer. She is also interested in the gendered aspects of political texts and political thought, and hopes to focus on this more in future work. Professor Mike Goodman is an interdisciplinary, critical human geographer focusing on the cultural politics of food, humanitarianism and the environment. Research topics have included fair trade networks, alternative food networks, the rise of celebrity politics in the context of food, climate change and global development and ways society is attempting to make life more just, liveable and care-full in the Anthropocene. He is particularly interested in conceptualising how these issues and connections are framed in the media in order to understand their social and geographical significance to building more sustainable societies, challenging existing structures of power and offering critical spaces for marginalised voices. 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.) or email the DH Champion, Dr Mara Oliva (m.oliva@reading.ac.uk)
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!

My Mother Tongue: A celebration of community languages
2024-02-21 11:00 - 13:00 | Lifespring Church, 143 Oxford Road, RG1 7UY
Join the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) to celebrate International Mother Language Day. The free, family friendly event will showcase and celebrate some of the languages spoken in Reading.
Free to attend. Light refreshments served.
Register using this Microsoft form.

Beyond Scale: GIS and the Humanities
2024-02-28 14:00 - 15:30 | Palmer 105, University of Reading, Whiteknights Campus, Reading, Select a State or Province:, RG6 6EW, United Kingdom
Beyond Scale: GIS and the Humanities
Professor Stuart Dunn
(King’s College London)
Date: Wednesday 28 February 2024
Time: 14:00-15.30
Place: Palmer 105 and Online
Programme
Coffee and Tea available from 13.50
14.00 Welcome and Intro – Dr Mara Oliva (DH Champion)
14.10 Keynote address: Professor Stuart Dunn (King’s College London) – ‘Beyond Scale: GIS and the Humanities’
14.50 Q&A
15.25 What’s next (DH CoP and Hub – future events) & close – Dr Mara Oliva

Future Health: Can nutrition and lifestyle combine to make a global impact? IFNH Annual Forum 2024
2024-02-28 14:00 - 17:00
The 2024 IFNH Forum event will be held on 28 February (14:00-17:00).
This year the theme will look to the future to explore what new developments in nutrition and its interaction with lifestyle can help reduce the massive burden of some key non-communicable diseases including dementia. This will include how effects of food cultures can impact the need to change dietary habits and how the needed dietary changes can be affected by social inequalities and climate change. The Forum will probe key aspects of these substantial challenges.
The event is free to attend, please Click Here to register your attendance and forward this invitation to colleagues you think may be interested.
Programme

14:00
Welcome
Prof. Carol Wagstaff, Research Dean for Agriculture, Food and Health, University of Reading

14:05
IFNH – activities and achievements of 2023
Prof. Ian Givens, IFNH Director, University of Reading

14:15
Cognition and Dementia: Milk fat globule membrane, supplementation for promotion of neurodevelopment in infants and prevention of neurodegeneration in ageing adults
Dr Javier Fontecha, Head, Food Lipid Biomarkers and Health, Institute of Food Science Research (CIAL,CSIC) in the Autónoma University of Madrid

14:45
Dietary fibre: How can we increase intake of this important dietary
component?
Prof. Julie Lovegrove, Director Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, University of Reading

15:05
Cognitive function and mood: The effects of flavonoid-rich blueberries
in healthy children and adults
Prof. Claire Williams, Chair of Neuroscience, School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading

15:30
Obesity: Diet, lifestyle and genes in an obesogenic environment
Prof. John Mathers, Professor of Human Nutrition, Human Nutrition & Exercise
Research Centre, Newcastle University

16:00
Food culture: Dietary diversity and farm decision making for
resilient agrifood systems in the Global South
Prof. Henny Osbahr, Co-Head, Department of International Development, School of
Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading

16:20
Diet, health, and social inequalities: Adaptation and mitigation strategies with indigenous cooperatives in Latin America
Dr Claudia Murray, Research Fellow, Department of Real Estate and Planning,
Henley Business School, University of Reading

16:40
Q&A
Chaired by Prof. Ian Givens and Prof. Vimal Karani

17:00
Formal close

Download the programme
Download the speakers’ biographies

Scouting, Translating, and Publishing Young Adult Literature from Latin America
2024-02-28 17:00 - 18:30 | Palmer 104, University of Reading, Whiteknights Campus, Reading, RG6 6EW, United Kingdom
The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing in partnership with Outside in World, the organisation dedicated to promoting and exploring world literature and children’s books in translation, are delighted to announce the latest event in their seminar series on translation for children:
Speakers: Claire Storey (Translator/ World Kid Lit) and Rosemarie Hudson (HopeRoad Publishing)

This seminar is a hybrid event (in-person & on Zoom) and is free & open to all.

To register for the Zoom link, please click here.
To join us in person, come to Room 104, Palmer Building, University of Reading (Whiteknights campus), RG6 6EW

In 2021, Claire Storey (Translator/ World Kid Lit) applied for funding from Arts Council England for a project focusing on translating and pitching Young Adult literature from Latin America to UK publishers. In this webinar, she will discuss her project, how she identified Latin America as her focus area, how she pitched the project to UK publishers and what she has learned about scouting and pitching along the way.
Claire will be joined by Rosemarie Hudson (HopeRoad Publishing) who will talk about why she set up HopeRoad Publishing in 2010 and how three of the titles from Claire’s project fitted with her publishing objectives: Never Tell Anyone Your Name by Federico Ivanier (Uruguay), The Darkness of Colours by Martín Blasco (Argentina) and The Wild Ones by Antonio Ramos Revillas (Mexico). Rosemarie and Claire will also discuss how their relationship as publisher and translator has grown and been mutually beneficial.
♣
Claire Storey – translates from German and Spanish into English, specialising in middle grade and young adult literature. In 2021/22, she was awarded funding from Arts Council England for a translation project focusing on Young Adult Literature from Latin America. From 2019-2023, Claire was co-editor of the blog at World Kid Lit and remains involved in the project highlighting translated books for you people. Claire also acts as an international book scout, seeking out and presenting suitable Spanish and German-language books to English-speaking publishers. Claire regularly volunteers in schools talking about careers with languages and was named Outreach Champion 2021 by the UK Institute of Translation and Interpreting.
Jamaican/British Rosemarie Hudson grew up in London and it’s where she founded her first independent publishing company BlackAmber in 1998. Its ethos was to publish unheard voices in English and international languages, and in particular the best writers and writings from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Its aim she’s pursued ever since. She published many authors to critical acclaim during this period including Patricia Cumper; Alex Wheatle; Cauvery Madhavan; Rachel Manley; Yvonne Brewster and Gaston-Paul Effa, before her company was bought out. Often called a ‘trailblazer’,
Rosemarie is a keen and experienced mentor, serving on the board of the Book Trade Charity (BTBS) for six years and mentoring on the Arts Council project, Decibel.
About HopeRoad
In 2010 Rosemarie Hudson founded HopeRoad, the indie publisher which loves to share untold stories around identity, cultural stereotyping and injustice, and specialises in encouraging new talent and promoting the best literary voices from and about Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. HopeRoad’s authors include: Tahar Ben Jelloun; Kamala Markandaya: Cauvery Madhavan; Pete Kalu; Ferdinand Dennis; Yan Ge, Max Lobe; Véronique Tadjo, Igiaba Scego, John Agard and Tony Fairweather to name a few. Rosemarie is also a board member of Inpress Books. She is excited about the future for HopeRoad and very much looking forward to celebrating its forthcoming 15th anniversary.
