Current drafts of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)'s Three-Year Plan 2012-2015 and related Logic Model are now available on COL's website for review by stakeholders. The drafts benefit from wide consultation and results of surveys and evaluations.
Further input from all stakeholders is very welcome. Please see www.col.org/Draft3YP
Other documents that you may wish to consult as you review the drafts are the reports from this year's four regional meetings of COL Focal Points and Dr. Patrick Spaven's mid-term stakeholder survey (2010) - all available at www.col.org/3YP (under "Planning for 2012-2015" in the right-hand column). Dr. Spaven's draft conclusions and recommendations from his full external evaluation for the previous plan period (2009-2012) are included in an appendix to the draft Three-Year Plan.
Please provide your comments, advice and/or questions by Monday, 16 January 2012. You may submit your comments to the public forum on the COL website at www.col.org/Draft3YP or send them directly to COL at info@col.org.
Thursday 22 December 2011
Wednesday 21 December 2011
CARIBBEAN SEMINAR SERIES
CARIBBEAN SEMINAR SERIES
SPRING PROGRAMME: JANUARY-MARCH 2012
The Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies are part of the University of London, located in Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.
Series convenors: Kate Quinn (ISA); Mary Turner (ICwS)
PROGRAMME SUMMARY
“The most completely political Negro": The convergence of George Padmore’s pan-Africanism and Marxism in the West Indian Labour Revolts, 1935-1939
18th January 17:30 Room 349 (Third Floor, Senate House)
Leslie James, LSE
Born in Trinidad in 1903, George Padmore is best known either as one of the 'fathers of Pan-Africanism', or as the Communist International's most important 'Negro communist.' These categories have diminished his interest in, and support for, resistance in the West Indies. The Caribbean labour revolts, which began in British Honduras in early 1935 and culminated in the strikes, marches and demonstrations across Jamaica in 1938, became a major subject of George Padmore’s journalism and a key action point for his London-based International African Service Bureau (IASB). The IASB became heavily involved in West Indian affairs and although many see this period as Padmore’s stronger identification as an ‘African,’ it was also the period in which he was most involved in West Indian politics. This paper will show that Padmore's continued Marxism and his persistent encouragement of pan-African unity came together in his support for Caribbean workers.
Bio: Leslie James is a PhD candidate in the International History Dept, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is working on a biography of George Padmore.
Seminar and Book Launch: George Price, A Life Revealed: The Authorised Biography, Ian Randle Press (2011) by Godfrey Smith
1st February 18:00 The William Beveridge Hall (Ground floor, Senate House)
Speaker: Godfrey P Smith
Commentator: Lord Michael Ashcroft
"An ascetic and failed priest, a stoic, father of the nation, prime minister and first national hero of the Central American nation of Belize, George Price remains one of the most enigmatic leaders of the 20th century. Nothing in the early years of Price’s life gave any indication that he would become the most uncompromising adversary of the British government in the struggle, first for self-government and later for Belizean independence, and in the process dominate Belizean politics for over 40 years. An indifferent scholastic career, failure to complete studies for the priesthood followed by a decade as the right-hand man for one of the colony’s most astute businessmen, were less than impressive a track record for a future national leader and political firebrand. Yet for close to 50 years, the story of George Price was inseparable from the story of the modern political development of Belize, involving the birth of nationalist politics; the formation of political parties; the struggle for independence and the national objective of maintaining the territorial integrity of Belize against claims by Guatemala.
Here is the story of a man who never married or raised a family, who never had a romantic liaison with a woman and who up to the time of his death at the age of 92 had remained celibate all his life. Price’s first and only lifelong love, his sweetheart, wife and family were Belize and its people. In this even-handed and revealing authorized biography, Godfrey Smith does not attempt to canonize Price or denigrate his rivals and detractors. Rather, he exposes the contradictions that were a feature of Price’s life and career. On the one hand the reader is shown Price as the ardent nationalist and a man of uncommon discipline and tenacity who pursued his vision of an independent Belize with clear-minded focus, courage and determination, yet who, by his own admission, had secret relations with Guatemala whom most Belizeans regarded as the enemy.
On a personal level, Smith paints a picture of Price as one who beneath his pious exterior could often be found to be petty, secretive and vindictive, and a man who did not suffer slights lightly. Few political leaders from the region have recorded their memoirs or, like Price, given access by way of interviews or opened their personal papers to researchers or biographers. As one whose political career spanned boththe colonial and the post independence eras, the information, experiences and insights Price has freely given to his biographer will make this work an important contribution to the study of the political personality, the development of political parties and party politics in the Caribbean at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, the book sheds new light on Price’s adversarial relationship with local British governors and officials of the Colonial Office in London, and on the central role that the Guatemalan claim on Belize and Price’s controversial affiliations with Guatemala played in both the negotiation and timing of Belizean independence. The value of Godfrey Smith’s work as the biographer of George Price lies in the fact that it is at once the revealing story of an important and controversial political leader, and at the same time, a history of the anti-colonial struggle and the modern political development of Belize"
East Indian Civil Society in the Pre-Independence Caribbean
15th February 17:00 S264 (Second Floor, Senate House)
Speakers:
Feriel Kissoon, King’s College London: "How East Indians became West Indians": the Indigenization of East Indians in Trinidad and Tobago 1910-1930
Clem Seecharan, London Metropolitan University [title TBC]
Panel: Small Territories, Global Issues: Governance and Corruption in the Caribbean
29th February 17:30 S261 (Second Floor, Senate House)
Peter Clegg, UWE: The Turks and Caicos Islands: Can the cloud be banished?
Dylan Vernon, ISA: Our Turn to Feed: Big Implications of Rampant Political Clientelism in Small State Belize
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is one of 14 Overseas Territories (OTs) still overseen by the United Kingdom (UK). Underpinned by tourism, property development and financial services, its economy experienced growth amongst the highest in the world during the early to mid-2000s. However, it now appears that this economic success was built on a political, economic and social system that was seriously compromised, and which created ‘a national emergency’ that potentially threatened the very future of the territory. The paper considers the report of the 2009 UK government-appointed Commission of Inquiry into alleged corruption in the TCI, and draws comparisons with a similar Commission of Inquiry undertaken in 1986. Indeed the title of the article derives from a quotation from the first inquiry overseen by Louis Blom-Cooper which said ‘… I am driven to the conclusion that the time has come to disperse the cloud that hangs like a brooding omnipresence in a Grand Turkan Sky’. It is clear that this did not happen, and the paper investigates why. The paper considers the UK government’s system of oversight and the characteristics of the TCI, and whether these help to explain recent events and those in the mid-1980s. A final assessment is then made as to whether the TCI is particularly prone to breakdowns in good governance, what is being done to repair the territory’s reputation, and whether the cloud hanging over the TCI can be banished.
Bio: Dr Peter Clegg is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of the West of England in Bristol, and in 2009/2010 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He has published widely on the Caribbean, and teaches a range of courses on Latin American and Caribbean Politics.
The disproportionate expansion and prevalence of political clientelism in Belize since independence in 1981 have worrying implications for its democratic governance and development. From the ‘cultural normalcy’ of open vote-buying in local constituencies, to blatant patronage in the public service, to the backroom high finance deals for the ‘big boys’, the trading of political favour for political support is no longer just election addenda but a permanent state of affairs in daily political relationships of exchange and influence. Although intense party competition and high rates of poverty have jointly fuelled this political phenomenon, small state scale, highly personalised politics, and demographic shifts have also contributed significantly in the Belize context. The paper focuses on the ‘big’ governance challenges that pervasive political clientelism present for small Commonwealth Caribbean states such as Belize in terms of its relationship to political corruption, the disincentive effect on policy reform, the undermining of welfare delivery, and the creation of a mutually damaging dependency between people and their political leaders. Is this path of entrenched political clientelism inevitable for these small states?
Bio: Dylan Vernon is a United Kingdom Commonwealth Scholarship Fellow currently in his third year of completing a PhD in Caribbean Politics at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the School of Advanced Studies, University of London. The presentation is based on his thesis (in progress) on the nature and implications of rampant political clientelism in Belize. Prior to ISA, his career included directing the Society for the Promotion of Education and Research in Belize (1994-1998), chairing the Belize Political Reform Commission (1999-2000), managing the United Nations Development Programme in Belize (2000-2005), chairing the Advisory Council on the Guatemalan Claim (2005-2009), lecturing at the University of Belize, and private consulting in the development sector.
Recent Elections and Communal Strife: Trinidad and Guyana
14th March 17:30 Room 349 (Third floor, Senate House)
Ralph Premdas, University of the West Indies, St.Augustine
In two Caribbean states that are ethnically plural, this seminar compares the persistence/disappearance of the ethnic factor through the prism of the last two elections in Trinidad and Guyana.
Bio: Ralph R. Premdas is Professor in the Sir Arthur Institute of Social and Economic Research (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He holds PhDs in Political Science (Illinois 1970) and Comparative Religion (McGill1991). His research focuses on issues of democratic governance and public policy in ethnically divided states. His publications include many books among which are Identity, Ethnicity and Culture in the Caribbean (2000); Ethnic Conflict and Development: The Case of Guyana (1997) and Trinidad and Tobago: Identity and Ethnicity in Public Sector Governance (2007).
SPRING PROGRAMME: JANUARY-MARCH 2012
The Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies are part of the University of London, located in Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.
Series convenors: Kate Quinn (ISA); Mary Turner (ICwS)
PROGRAMME SUMMARY
“The most completely political Negro": The convergence of George Padmore’s pan-Africanism and Marxism in the West Indian Labour Revolts, 1935-1939
18th January 17:30 Room 349 (Third Floor, Senate House)
Leslie James, LSE
Born in Trinidad in 1903, George Padmore is best known either as one of the 'fathers of Pan-Africanism', or as the Communist International's most important 'Negro communist.' These categories have diminished his interest in, and support for, resistance in the West Indies. The Caribbean labour revolts, which began in British Honduras in early 1935 and culminated in the strikes, marches and demonstrations across Jamaica in 1938, became a major subject of George Padmore’s journalism and a key action point for his London-based International African Service Bureau (IASB). The IASB became heavily involved in West Indian affairs and although many see this period as Padmore’s stronger identification as an ‘African,’ it was also the period in which he was most involved in West Indian politics. This paper will show that Padmore's continued Marxism and his persistent encouragement of pan-African unity came together in his support for Caribbean workers.
Bio: Leslie James is a PhD candidate in the International History Dept, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is working on a biography of George Padmore.
Seminar and Book Launch: George Price, A Life Revealed: The Authorised Biography, Ian Randle Press (2011) by Godfrey Smith
1st February 18:00 The William Beveridge Hall (Ground floor, Senate House)
Speaker: Godfrey P Smith
Commentator: Lord Michael Ashcroft
"An ascetic and failed priest, a stoic, father of the nation, prime minister and first national hero of the Central American nation of Belize, George Price remains one of the most enigmatic leaders of the 20th century. Nothing in the early years of Price’s life gave any indication that he would become the most uncompromising adversary of the British government in the struggle, first for self-government and later for Belizean independence, and in the process dominate Belizean politics for over 40 years. An indifferent scholastic career, failure to complete studies for the priesthood followed by a decade as the right-hand man for one of the colony’s most astute businessmen, were less than impressive a track record for a future national leader and political firebrand. Yet for close to 50 years, the story of George Price was inseparable from the story of the modern political development of Belize, involving the birth of nationalist politics; the formation of political parties; the struggle for independence and the national objective of maintaining the territorial integrity of Belize against claims by Guatemala.
Here is the story of a man who never married or raised a family, who never had a romantic liaison with a woman and who up to the time of his death at the age of 92 had remained celibate all his life. Price’s first and only lifelong love, his sweetheart, wife and family were Belize and its people. In this even-handed and revealing authorized biography, Godfrey Smith does not attempt to canonize Price or denigrate his rivals and detractors. Rather, he exposes the contradictions that were a feature of Price’s life and career. On the one hand the reader is shown Price as the ardent nationalist and a man of uncommon discipline and tenacity who pursued his vision of an independent Belize with clear-minded focus, courage and determination, yet who, by his own admission, had secret relations with Guatemala whom most Belizeans regarded as the enemy.
On a personal level, Smith paints a picture of Price as one who beneath his pious exterior could often be found to be petty, secretive and vindictive, and a man who did not suffer slights lightly. Few political leaders from the region have recorded their memoirs or, like Price, given access by way of interviews or opened their personal papers to researchers or biographers. As one whose political career spanned boththe colonial and the post independence eras, the information, experiences and insights Price has freely given to his biographer will make this work an important contribution to the study of the political personality, the development of political parties and party politics in the Caribbean at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, the book sheds new light on Price’s adversarial relationship with local British governors and officials of the Colonial Office in London, and on the central role that the Guatemalan claim on Belize and Price’s controversial affiliations with Guatemala played in both the negotiation and timing of Belizean independence. The value of Godfrey Smith’s work as the biographer of George Price lies in the fact that it is at once the revealing story of an important and controversial political leader, and at the same time, a history of the anti-colonial struggle and the modern political development of Belize"
East Indian Civil Society in the Pre-Independence Caribbean
15th February 17:00 S264 (Second Floor, Senate House)
Speakers:
Feriel Kissoon, King’s College London: "How East Indians became West Indians": the Indigenization of East Indians in Trinidad and Tobago 1910-1930
Clem Seecharan, London Metropolitan University [title TBC]
Panel: Small Territories, Global Issues: Governance and Corruption in the Caribbean
29th February 17:30 S261 (Second Floor, Senate House)
Peter Clegg, UWE: The Turks and Caicos Islands: Can the cloud be banished?
Dylan Vernon, ISA: Our Turn to Feed: Big Implications of Rampant Political Clientelism in Small State Belize
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is one of 14 Overseas Territories (OTs) still overseen by the United Kingdom (UK). Underpinned by tourism, property development and financial services, its economy experienced growth amongst the highest in the world during the early to mid-2000s. However, it now appears that this economic success was built on a political, economic and social system that was seriously compromised, and which created ‘a national emergency’ that potentially threatened the very future of the territory. The paper considers the report of the 2009 UK government-appointed Commission of Inquiry into alleged corruption in the TCI, and draws comparisons with a similar Commission of Inquiry undertaken in 1986. Indeed the title of the article derives from a quotation from the first inquiry overseen by Louis Blom-Cooper which said ‘… I am driven to the conclusion that the time has come to disperse the cloud that hangs like a brooding omnipresence in a Grand Turkan Sky’. It is clear that this did not happen, and the paper investigates why. The paper considers the UK government’s system of oversight and the characteristics of the TCI, and whether these help to explain recent events and those in the mid-1980s. A final assessment is then made as to whether the TCI is particularly prone to breakdowns in good governance, what is being done to repair the territory’s reputation, and whether the cloud hanging over the TCI can be banished.
Bio: Dr Peter Clegg is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of the West of England in Bristol, and in 2009/2010 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He has published widely on the Caribbean, and teaches a range of courses on Latin American and Caribbean Politics.
The disproportionate expansion and prevalence of political clientelism in Belize since independence in 1981 have worrying implications for its democratic governance and development. From the ‘cultural normalcy’ of open vote-buying in local constituencies, to blatant patronage in the public service, to the backroom high finance deals for the ‘big boys’, the trading of political favour for political support is no longer just election addenda but a permanent state of affairs in daily political relationships of exchange and influence. Although intense party competition and high rates of poverty have jointly fuelled this political phenomenon, small state scale, highly personalised politics, and demographic shifts have also contributed significantly in the Belize context. The paper focuses on the ‘big’ governance challenges that pervasive political clientelism present for small Commonwealth Caribbean states such as Belize in terms of its relationship to political corruption, the disincentive effect on policy reform, the undermining of welfare delivery, and the creation of a mutually damaging dependency between people and their political leaders. Is this path of entrenched political clientelism inevitable for these small states?
Bio: Dylan Vernon is a United Kingdom Commonwealth Scholarship Fellow currently in his third year of completing a PhD in Caribbean Politics at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the School of Advanced Studies, University of London. The presentation is based on his thesis (in progress) on the nature and implications of rampant political clientelism in Belize. Prior to ISA, his career included directing the Society for the Promotion of Education and Research in Belize (1994-1998), chairing the Belize Political Reform Commission (1999-2000), managing the United Nations Development Programme in Belize (2000-2005), chairing the Advisory Council on the Guatemalan Claim (2005-2009), lecturing at the University of Belize, and private consulting in the development sector.
Recent Elections and Communal Strife: Trinidad and Guyana
14th March 17:30 Room 349 (Third floor, Senate House)
Ralph Premdas, University of the West Indies, St.Augustine
In two Caribbean states that are ethnically plural, this seminar compares the persistence/disappearance of the ethnic factor through the prism of the last two elections in Trinidad and Guyana.
Bio: Ralph R. Premdas is Professor in the Sir Arthur Institute of Social and Economic Research (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He holds PhDs in Political Science (Illinois 1970) and Comparative Religion (McGill1991). His research focuses on issues of democratic governance and public policy in ethnically divided states. His publications include many books among which are Identity, Ethnicity and Culture in the Caribbean (2000); Ethnic Conflict and Development: The Case of Guyana (1997) and Trinidad and Tobago: Identity and Ethnicity in Public Sector Governance (2007).
Monday 19 December 2011
New Rhodesia related archives list available on archives catalogue
A PDF version of the handlist of the Anthony McAdam collection is now available on the Archives Catalogue.
This collection includes papers relating to Rhodesian politics collected by Anthony L McAdam, including correspondence and papers relating to the multiracial University College Rhodesia, 1964-1971; correspondence and papers relating to African National Congress (ANC) meetings, particularly relating to the ANC Committee in London, 1971-1972; and miscellaneous material on Rhodesia, 1970-1972, including correspondence on the right of entry to the United Kingdom for Rhodesian Africans.
This collection includes papers relating to Rhodesian politics collected by Anthony L McAdam, including correspondence and papers relating to the multiracial University College Rhodesia, 1964-1971; correspondence and papers relating to African National Congress (ANC) meetings, particularly relating to the ANC Committee in London, 1971-1972; and miscellaneous material on Rhodesia, 1970-1972, including correspondence on the right of entry to the United Kingdom for Rhodesian Africans.
Anthony McAdam was a Lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences, University College, Rhodesia in the 1960s and early 1970s. He later taught at Stirling University.
Friday 16 December 2011
Christmas Opening Hours
Vacation hours will be in operation next week, from Monday the 19th to Friday the 23rd of December 2011.
These are Monday - Friday: 09.00 - 18.00
The Library is closed 24th December 2011 - 2nd January 2012, inclusive
And will reopen on Tuesday the 3rd of January 2012. Vacation hours will continue that week until the 7th of January 2012.
These are Monday - Friday: 09.00 - 18.00
The Library is closed 24th December 2011 - 2nd January 2012, inclusive
And will reopen on Tuesday the 3rd of January 2012. Vacation hours will continue that week until the 7th of January 2012.
Thursday 15 December 2011
Bridget Jones Travel Award: Call For Applications
BRIDGET JONES TRAVEL AWARD: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Arts researchers or practitioners living and working in the Caribbean are eligible to apply for the Bridget Jones Travel Award, the deadline for which is the 13th January 2012. The winner of the award will present their work at the 36th Society for Caribbean Studies Annual Conference, which will be held at Oxford University from the 4th – 6th July 2012.
Eligibility
If you are an arts practitioner living and working in any region of the Anglophone, Hispanic, Francophone or Dutch speaking Caribbean, you may apply for the Award. The successful recipient will receive £650 towards travel expenses and, in addition, a full bursary to cover conference fees and accommodation. Applications are especially welcome from individuals with no institutional affiliations. We encourage applications from across the arts: from visual artists, performers, creative writers, film-makers, folklorists, playwrights etc.
How To Apply
To apply for the Award you must submit the following:
- A covering letter
- Curriculum vitae (no more than 4 sides of A4) Statements from 2 referees who are able to comment on your work
- (a) A proposal for a presentation of your work in the areas of film, literature, visual or performing arts, or
- (b) A proposal for a reading of original creative work.
Presentations normally last for up to one hour, including time for questions from the audience. The most important part of your application will therefore be a full description of the proposed presentation detailing the themes and rationale behind the presentation, as well as how the presentation will be organised and any props required (eg. if intending to screen clips of films; show slides of artwork; incorporate live performance etc).
Applications and enquiries should be sent by e-mail to Kate Quinn, Chair of the Bridget Jones Award Sub-Committee on kate.quinn@sas.ac.uk
Completed applications must be received by 13th January 2012. A decision will be made by the committee in late January.
For more information on the Bridget Jones Travel Award and the Society for Caribbean Studies, visit the Society website on http://www.caribbeanstudies.org.uk/
Foreign and Commonwealth Office - Colonial administration/migrated archives to be made available
The Foreign and COmmonwealth Office will soon be making available to the public a large collection of files from former British territories, sometimes known as the "migrated archives". The files will be made available between April 2012 and November 2013.
The Foreign Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 5 May about the colonial administration files held by the FCO and subsequently informed Parliament on 30 June that he had appointed Professor Badger from Cambridge University as the Independent Reviewer.
Professor Badger has approved a timetable for the transfer of the migrated archive files to The National Archives (TNA). The first batch of files, representing around 16% of the total collection, is expected to be available at TNA in April 2012.
The files are being transferred in alphabetical order of the colonial territory concerned with the exception of prioritised release for Kenya, Cyprus, British India Ocean Territories (BIOT) and Malaya files where there has been particular interest.
Further details are available on the FCO website.
The Foreign Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 5 May about the colonial administration files held by the FCO and subsequently informed Parliament on 30 June that he had appointed Professor Badger from Cambridge University as the Independent Reviewer.
Professor Badger has approved a timetable for the transfer of the migrated archive files to The National Archives (TNA). The first batch of files, representing around 16% of the total collection, is expected to be available at TNA in April 2012.
The files are being transferred in alphabetical order of the colonial territory concerned with the exception of prioritised release for Kenya, Cyprus, British India Ocean Territories (BIOT) and Malaya files where there has been particular interest.
Further details are available on the FCO website.
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Culture and Conflict - call for projects and research proposals
The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are calling for high quality, multi-disciplinary and innovative project proposals from civil society organisations addressing the issue of culture and conflict, within the framework of the Culture and Conflict Programme.
Grants will be awarded to civil society organisations in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Organisations should submit a proposal for the development and delivery of activities that use culture as a way of engaging with local communities. Projects should also include a tangible output that captures the experiences of the participants and highlights the impact of the project.
The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are also calling for high quality and innovative research proposals from individuals exploring the role of culture in conflict and post-conflict situations, within the framework of its Culture and Conflict programme.
Two researchers will be appointed with responsibility for examining arts and culture-led initiatives for conflict resolution, including the work of the Culture and Conflict Programme grant recipients in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. One researcher will be appointed from Africa and another from Asia.
Applicants should have proven professional research experience or practice in the field of culture and conflict and/or development.
All applications and queries should be sent to: h.thomas@commonwealth.int
Deadline: 27 January 2012, 17:00 (GMT)
Grants will be awarded to civil society organisations in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Organisations should submit a proposal for the development and delivery of activities that use culture as a way of engaging with local communities. Projects should also include a tangible output that captures the experiences of the participants and highlights the impact of the project.
The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are also calling for high quality and innovative research proposals from individuals exploring the role of culture in conflict and post-conflict situations, within the framework of its Culture and Conflict programme.
Two researchers will be appointed with responsibility for examining arts and culture-led initiatives for conflict resolution, including the work of the Culture and Conflict Programme grant recipients in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. One researcher will be appointed from Africa and another from Asia.
Applicants should have proven professional research experience or practice in the field of culture and conflict and/or development.
All applications and queries should be sent to: h.thomas@commonwealth.int
Deadline: 27 January 2012, 17:00 (GMT)
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia)
Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia)
The Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia) is an international standard, free-access and non-profit, comprehensive online collection of Indian legal information which has been developed through cooperation between four leading Indian Law Schools (NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad; National Law School of India University, Bangalore; National Law University, Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur) in partnership with AustLII.
The LII of India currently contains 151 databases including:
The Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia) is an international standard, free-access and non-profit, comprehensive online collection of Indian legal information which has been developed through cooperation between four leading Indian Law Schools (NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad; National Law School of India University, Bangalore; National Law University, Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur) in partnership with AustLII.
The LII of India currently contains 151 databases including:
- legislation (the India Code from 1836, some State legislation, and commentary on legislation),
- Indian case law (over 300,000 cases in full text from the Supreme Court, most High Courts, and tribunals),
- treaties (all India treaties to 1975, plus many subsequent bilateral treaties),
- law reform reports (from the Law Commission),
- legal scholarship (six law journals to date, with scholarship repositories, books and judicial scholarship still to be developed),
- cases concerning India in International Courts and Tribunals, and
- cases concerning India from the pre-1873 English Reports.
- cases from the High Court of Calcutta (Appellate Side) 2003- and High Court of Calcutta Port Blair Bench 2008-
- the NALSAR Media Law Review 2010- and NALSAR Environmental Law and Practice Review 2011-
- the Indian Journal of Law and Economics 2010-
- 29 State and Territory Schemes databases and
- West Bengal Acts 1848-
Monday 12 December 2011
Events - Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, Kings College London 2011-2012
Events - Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, Kings College London 2011-2012
Wednesday 14 December 2011
18.15, Room K6.63, King’s Building, Strand Campus
Jeannine Baker (Melbourne)
Australian women war correspondents: Reporting the Second World War 'from a woman's angle'
Tuesday 17 January 2012
Lecture
Alison Bashford (Sydney) ‘Malthus and the New World'
17.00, Lecture Theatre K-1.56, King’s Building, Strand Campus
(A joint meeting with the Centre for the Humanities and Health)
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Seminar
Keir Reeves (Monash University/King’s College London Rydon Fellow)
‘A Centenary History of Anzac Day at Home and Abroad’
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Seminar
James Taylor (Sussex)
‘Painting around Australia 1801-3: Re-discovering the Art of William Westall (1781-1850)’
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Seminar
Jatinder Mann (King’s College London)
'The evolution of Commonwealth citizenship, 1945-48: The Canadian Citizenship Act; the British Nationality Act; and the British Nationality and Australian Citizenship Act'
Thursday 16 February 2012
‘Peter Porter: a memorial celebration’
Among the participants will be poets Martin Bax, Alan Brownjohn, Wendy Cope, Laurie Duggan, Emma Jones, John Kinsella, Tim Liardet, Sean O’Brien, Jaya Savige and Anthony Thwaite; scholars and editors Roger Covell, Warwick Gould (IES), Ian Henderson (KCL) and Don Paterson; and cellist Kwesi Edman.
18.00, Downer Room, Australia House (A joint meeting with the Institute of English Studies)
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Seminar
Simon Sleight (King’s College London),
‘Australian Youthscapes, 1860-1914’
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Seminar
Commodore Peter Lockwood, RAN, Defence Adviser, Australian High Commission, London
‘The Australian Defence Outlook’
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Seminar
Hugh White (Australian National University)
‘Australia and China’
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Seminar
Simon Potter (Bristol)
‘The ABC and the end of the British ‘embrace’, 1945-70’
Wednesday 28 March 2012
Seminar
Helen Idle (King’s College London)
‘Exhibiting Australian Aboriginal Art/Artifacts in European Museums’ (title tbc)
Wednesday 14 December 2011
18.15, Room K6.63, King’s Building, Strand Campus
Jeannine Baker (Melbourne)
Australian women war correspondents: Reporting the Second World War 'from a woman's angle'
Tuesday 17 January 2012
Lecture
Alison Bashford (Sydney) ‘Malthus and the New World'
17.00, Lecture Theatre K-1.56, King’s Building, Strand Campus
(A joint meeting with the Centre for the Humanities and Health)
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Seminar
Keir Reeves (Monash University/King’s College London Rydon Fellow)
‘A Centenary History of Anzac Day at Home and Abroad’
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Seminar
James Taylor (Sussex)
‘Painting around Australia 1801-3: Re-discovering the Art of William Westall (1781-1850)’
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Seminar
Jatinder Mann (King’s College London)
'The evolution of Commonwealth citizenship, 1945-48: The Canadian Citizenship Act; the British Nationality Act; and the British Nationality and Australian Citizenship Act'
Thursday 16 February 2012
‘Peter Porter: a memorial celebration’
Among the participants will be poets Martin Bax, Alan Brownjohn, Wendy Cope, Laurie Duggan, Emma Jones, John Kinsella, Tim Liardet, Sean O’Brien, Jaya Savige and Anthony Thwaite; scholars and editors Roger Covell, Warwick Gould (IES), Ian Henderson (KCL) and Don Paterson; and cellist Kwesi Edman.
18.00, Downer Room, Australia House (A joint meeting with the Institute of English Studies)
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Seminar
Simon Sleight (King’s College London),
‘Australian Youthscapes, 1860-1914’
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Seminar
Commodore Peter Lockwood, RAN, Defence Adviser, Australian High Commission, London
‘The Australian Defence Outlook’
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Seminar
Hugh White (Australian National University)
‘Australia and China’
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Seminar
Simon Potter (Bristol)
‘The ABC and the end of the British ‘embrace’, 1945-70’
Wednesday 28 March 2012
Seminar
Helen Idle (King’s College London)
‘Exhibiting Australian Aboriginal Art/Artifacts in European Museums’ (title tbc)
Thursday 8 December 2011
Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012
Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012
The Department of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies invites submissions for the Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012.
This academic prize was established in 1984 to commemorate Edgar Graham who at the time of his death in 1983 had been Governor of the School for seven years. Edgar Graham's own book, The Modern Plantation in the Third World, was published posthumously by Croom Helm (1984). The prize of £1000 is awarded for a work of original scholarship on development in Asia and Africa.
Authored and co-authored books published between 2010 and 2012 are eligible for the Prize. Please submit 2 copies to the following address:
Brita Pouget, Prize Administrator
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh St. Russell Sq.
London WC1H 0XG
(bp@soas.ac.uk)
You may include reviews with your submission.
The closing date is July 1st, 2012.
The Department of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies invites submissions for the Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012.
This academic prize was established in 1984 to commemorate Edgar Graham who at the time of his death in 1983 had been Governor of the School for seven years. Edgar Graham's own book, The Modern Plantation in the Third World, was published posthumously by Croom Helm (1984). The prize of £1000 is awarded for a work of original scholarship on development in Asia and Africa.
Authored and co-authored books published between 2010 and 2012 are eligible for the Prize. Please submit 2 copies to the following address:
Brita Pouget, Prize Administrator
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh St. Russell Sq.
London WC1H 0XG
(bp@soas.ac.uk)
You may include reviews with your submission.
The closing date is July 1st, 2012.
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Illustrated London News Collection. New Zealand collection 1842-1902
Illustrated London News Collection. New Zealand collection 1842-1902
The Illustrated News Collection ia an interesting digitisation project from the University of Waikato Library who have scanned all images and text relating to New Zealand from the Illustrated London News during this period.
The Illustrated London News was a picture newspaper that ran for over 150 years, its first issue appearing on 14 May 1842. The paper was published weekly until 1971 when it became a monthly. It provided a general source of news but its main appeal lay in its use of woodcuts and engravings to enhance the text. Later, photographs were introduced to provide the illustrations. The paper was highly popular and successful and, while it had an emphasis on Britain, world events were covered, especially where Britain was involved or affected. To this end, Britain's imperial interests and the emerging colony of New Zealand received some coverage especially during the period of the New Zealand Wars.
This database produced by the University of Waikato Library includes scanned images of the all the text and illustrations that refer to events in New Zealand during the first sixty years from volume 1 in 1842 to volume 121 in 1902. The entries can be searched by keyword or you can browse in chronological order.
Key topics covered include social, economic and political history. The Senate House Library also has access to the printed copies of the Illustrated London News.
The Illustrated News Collection ia an interesting digitisation project from the University of Waikato Library who have scanned all images and text relating to New Zealand from the Illustrated London News during this period.
The Illustrated London News was a picture newspaper that ran for over 150 years, its first issue appearing on 14 May 1842. The paper was published weekly until 1971 when it became a monthly. It provided a general source of news but its main appeal lay in its use of woodcuts and engravings to enhance the text. Later, photographs were introduced to provide the illustrations. The paper was highly popular and successful and, while it had an emphasis on Britain, world events were covered, especially where Britain was involved or affected. To this end, Britain's imperial interests and the emerging colony of New Zealand received some coverage especially during the period of the New Zealand Wars.
This database produced by the University of Waikato Library includes scanned images of the all the text and illustrations that refer to events in New Zealand during the first sixty years from volume 1 in 1842 to volume 121 in 1902. The entries can be searched by keyword or you can browse in chronological order.
Key topics covered include social, economic and political history. The Senate House Library also has access to the printed copies of the Illustrated London News.
Tuesday 6 December 2011
Open Access and the Pacific
With thanks to the Savage Minds blog:
Open access is a growing trend in scholarly publishing, and a particularly important one enabling better access to scholarly work in the developing world. The Savage Minds blog has recently highlighted that some of the most focused journals on anthropology and the Pacific are available open access.
The blog author states: "These journals are small and specialized — despite the size of the Pacific, the scholarly community is pretty small — but despite this they are all being made more and more available online. Or maybe I should say because of this. I also think that we, like the physicists, are a group of people with a strong sense of community and a commitment to the values of our discipline — and the Pacific is a place where people value share and community."
Highlighted journals include Pacific Studies which has posted over thirty years of back issues available for free on its website; The Contemporary Pacific which has placed over twenty years of its issues online; and
the University of the South Pacific's Journal of Pacific Studies which currently has 8 volumes of its back issues available open access and has abstracts and tables of contents for the remaining issues online, while work is ongoing to provide full text access to these.
At the University of Hawaii the Center for Pacific Island Studies has done a superb job of making its work available open access. It includes a occasional papers series that began with relatively staid titles like Pacific-Related Audiovisual Materials for Secondary Schools to truly new and exciting scholarship by Pacific Islanders such as Indigenous Encounters: Reflections on Relations Between People in the Pacific edited by Katerina Teaiwa and The Space Between: Negotiating Culture, Place, and Identity in the Pacific by Marata Tamaira.
For the full blog post please go here.
Open access is a growing trend in scholarly publishing, and a particularly important one enabling better access to scholarly work in the developing world. The Savage Minds blog has recently highlighted that some of the most focused journals on anthropology and the Pacific are available open access.
The blog author states: "These journals are small and specialized — despite the size of the Pacific, the scholarly community is pretty small — but despite this they are all being made more and more available online. Or maybe I should say because of this. I also think that we, like the physicists, are a group of people with a strong sense of community and a commitment to the values of our discipline — and the Pacific is a place where people value share and community."
Highlighted journals include Pacific Studies which has posted over thirty years of back issues available for free on its website; The Contemporary Pacific which has placed over twenty years of its issues online; and
the University of the South Pacific's Journal of Pacific Studies which currently has 8 volumes of its back issues available open access and has abstracts and tables of contents for the remaining issues online, while work is ongoing to provide full text access to these.
At the University of Hawaii the Center for Pacific Island Studies has done a superb job of making its work available open access. It includes a occasional papers series that began with relatively staid titles like Pacific-Related Audiovisual Materials for Secondary Schools to truly new and exciting scholarship by Pacific Islanders such as Indigenous Encounters: Reflections on Relations Between People in the Pacific edited by Katerina Teaiwa and The Space Between: Negotiating Culture, Place, and Identity in the Pacific by Marata Tamaira.
For the full blog post please go here.
Monday 5 December 2011
Christmas Fare from the Empire
Stir up Sunday has been and gone but it is not too late for Christmas baking. Today we want to highlight a publication produced by the Empire Marketing Board, Christmas Fare from the Empire.
The Empire Marketing Board (EMB)was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote inter-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. Amery was the first Chairman of the EMB, Sir Stephen George Tallents was its Secretary, and Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd was Assistant Secretary. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies holds archive collection from both Sir Stephen Tallents and Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd from or about their time with the Empire Marketing Board.
The EMB supported scientific research, promoted economic analysis about trade and produced publicity for Empire trade. While scientific research took up a large proportion of the EMB's work and budget researchers have more often been interested in the publicity and promotion of trade. The EMB organised poster campaigns, exhibitions, 'Empire Shopping Weeks', Empire shops, lectures, radio talks, schools tours, and advertisements in the national and local press and of shop window displays. Publicity work included that of the EMB film unit led by John Grierson, often considered the father of modern documentary film.
Christmas Fare from the Empire is a good example of the work of the Empire Marketing Board, providing consumers with recipes clearly stating ingredients and prefered origins.
The recipe for mince pies includes ingredients from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, South Africa, the British West Indies or British Guiana, India, Zanzibar, Canada, Palestine, Cyprus and Jamaica. This recipe for standard Christmas fare thus shows not only the work of the Empire Marketing Board, but more generally reflects on the interplay between trade, empire and diet.
The Empire Marketing Board (EMB)was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote inter-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. Amery was the first Chairman of the EMB, Sir Stephen George Tallents was its Secretary, and Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd was Assistant Secretary. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies holds archive collection from both Sir Stephen Tallents and Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd from or about their time with the Empire Marketing Board.
The EMB supported scientific research, promoted economic analysis about trade and produced publicity for Empire trade. While scientific research took up a large proportion of the EMB's work and budget researchers have more often been interested in the publicity and promotion of trade. The EMB organised poster campaigns, exhibitions, 'Empire Shopping Weeks', Empire shops, lectures, radio talks, schools tours, and advertisements in the national and local press and of shop window displays. Publicity work included that of the EMB film unit led by John Grierson, often considered the father of modern documentary film.
Christmas Fare from the Empire is a good example of the work of the Empire Marketing Board, providing consumers with recipes clearly stating ingredients and prefered origins.
Friday 2 December 2011
New Zealand Official Yearbook
Statistics New Zealand has decided to stop producing a printed version of the New Zealand Official Yearbook.
A press release from Statistics New Zealand states that "Research shows that the way people search for information has changed dramatically. Increasingly, people expect to find the most up-to-date data online, meaning that providing a book with static data is no longer in tune with their needs. As a result, we have seen a significant reduction in sales of the Yearbook in recent years and consider that the costs now outweigh the benefits of producing a printed version."
Statistics New Zealand will be looking at ways of making the kind of information previously found in the Yearbook available online, but note that an online Yearbook may not be an exact replication of the printed version. They plan to consult widely during our investigations and welcome any suggestions on how to make Yearbook data and information available in a way that best meets its readers' needs. If you have any feedback please email info@stats.govt.nz
The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library holds a full run of the print Official Yearbooks, first published in 1892. These remain an important historical record and a quick reference source for historical statistics throughout New Zealand's history.
A press release from Statistics New Zealand states that "Research shows that the way people search for information has changed dramatically. Increasingly, people expect to find the most up-to-date data online, meaning that providing a book with static data is no longer in tune with their needs. As a result, we have seen a significant reduction in sales of the Yearbook in recent years and consider that the costs now outweigh the benefits of producing a printed version."
Statistics New Zealand will be looking at ways of making the kind of information previously found in the Yearbook available online, but note that an online Yearbook may not be an exact replication of the printed version. They plan to consult widely during our investigations and welcome any suggestions on how to make Yearbook data and information available in a way that best meets its readers' needs. If you have any feedback please email info@stats.govt.nz
The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library holds a full run of the print Official Yearbooks, first published in 1892. These remain an important historical record and a quick reference source for historical statistics throughout New Zealand's history.
Thursday 1 December 2011
Six-Country Africa Public Library Perception Study
Six-Country Africa Public Library Perception Study
"Most people in six African countries believe public libraries have the potential to contribute to community development in important areas such as health, employment and agriculture. However, libraries are small and under-resourced, and most people associate them with traditional book lending and reference services rather than innovation and technology."
These are among key findings of groundbreaking research into perceptions of public libraries in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
EIFL’s Public Library Innovation Programme (PLIP) commissioned the research to deepen understanding of the role of public libraries in Africa and of the vision, aspirations and expectations of the general public, librarians and national and local government. The study was conducted by the social and marketing research company, TNS RMS East Africa Ltd., from December to July 2011. It makes for interesting reading and produces a list of recommendations including advocacy to improve services based on community development needs, increased access to digitial technology, and building librarians' technical skills, as well as increasing outreach to particular user groups, including women.
"Most people in six African countries believe public libraries have the potential to contribute to community development in important areas such as health, employment and agriculture. However, libraries are small and under-resourced, and most people associate them with traditional book lending and reference services rather than innovation and technology."
These are among key findings of groundbreaking research into perceptions of public libraries in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
EIFL’s Public Library Innovation Programme (PLIP) commissioned the research to deepen understanding of the role of public libraries in Africa and of the vision, aspirations and expectations of the general public, librarians and national and local government. The study was conducted by the social and marketing research company, TNS RMS East Africa Ltd., from December to July 2011. It makes for interesting reading and produces a list of recommendations including advocacy to improve services based on community development needs, increased access to digitial technology, and building librarians' technical skills, as well as increasing outreach to particular user groups, including women.
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