CommentIssue 199 | March 2012

For staff, students & friends

FOCUS

New home for School of Law

10PROFILE

Professor Helen McCutcheon

8STUDENT NEWS

Rejuvenating indigenous craft

6NEWS

Olympic anti-doping

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Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh arrive at King’s and are greeted by Chairman of College Council Lord Douro, the Principal Professor Rick Trainor and his wife Professor Marguerite Dupree

On 29 February Her Majesty The Queen officially opened Somerset House East Wing, Strand Campus. 180 years after King’s was built on the Strand, the College has realised its long-held ambition to move into the East Wing of Somerset House. King’s has breathed new life into the building which will be restored to its original status as a landmark London public building, refurbished to the highest standards with its architectural harmony enhanced and public access improved.

The Queen, Patron of the College, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, life governor of the College, was escorted through the Grade I listed building by Chairman of the College Council Lord Douro and the Principal Professor Rick Trainor. The building is the new home for the School of Law and

The Queen watched a student Moot Court in session before meeting staff and students from the School. She also visited the Inigo Rooms, Somerset House East Wing’s dedicated cultural space. At the end of the visit, The Queen unveiled a plaque to formally open the re-furbished building.

The Principal said: ‘This is an historic moment for the College. Somerset House East Wing will be a stimulating centre of teaching and research, especially for our School of Law, a place of debate and public engagement and a focus for new collaborations in culture and art.’

The official launch of Somerset House East Wing comes after 18 months of restoration, which began when King’s secured a 78 year lease for the building in 2009. The interior has been stripped of alterations made

over the years, new lifts have been installed and the basement floor lowered. Original features, such as cornices and fireplaces, have been refurbished. The interior decoration has been carefully conceived to complement the historic setting of the building. Designers have re-introduced colours in keeping with the Georgian style, whilst creating a fresh and modern interior suited to a working building for the 21st century.

Somerset House East Wing will play a key role in King’s continued development as a world-class university, extending the Strand Campus and providing high quality accommodation for teaching and research. In its new home, the School of Law now has premises befitting its standing as one of Europe’s premier law schools and

reflecting its 180 year old tradition of excellence.

The Performance Foundation will also be housed in Somerset House East Wing. The Foundation is dedicated to deepening debate about, and directing action towards, engagement with public audiences who have previously had limited access to the arts and education.

The King’s Executive Education Centre will be based on the first floor of Somerset House East Wing and offers a range of training suites, seminar, meeting and breakout rooms, lounges and a business centre, together with state-of-the-art audio visual technology. The facility is aimed at the executive education market and is also available for external hire, meetings, video conferencing, launches and events.

The King’s Cultural Institute

Events

Dickensfest chaired by Griff Rhys Jones28 April 2012, 9.45 – 17.30, Great Hall, Strand Campus

More informationFor more details on these events, please turn to page 12

6th Annual Excellence in Teaching Conference19 June 2012, 9.00 – 16.00, Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus

Her Majesty The Queen opens Somerset House East Wing

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s 11th Building Bridges Seminar23 April 2012, 09.00 – 17.00, Great Hall, Strand Campus

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facilitating new forms of engagement with artists, writers, historians and other cultural practitioners.

The Principal added: ‘This is the fulfilment of a dream that King’s has nurtured ever since its foundation.

We are very proud to be writing the latest chapter of the distinguished history of this landmark building. Somerset House East Wing will enrich the lives of our current students and those of generations to come.’

Dear colleagues and studentsWe have recently welcomed a number of high profile visitors and witnessed some milestones in the history of the College.

The official opening of Somerset House East Wing by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness  The Duke of Edinburgh at the end of February was a momentous occasion for the College, the School of Law, King’s Cultural Institute, and our Executive Education operation which have taken up residence there, and for all those who participated on the day.

Student Ambassadors helped guide the guests around the building and rows of staff and students waited in the Quad to greet the royal visitors. I am grateful to you all for making it a truly memorable day.

 Only hours later, François Hollande, the French Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, chose to speak at King’s as part of his campaign visit to London, amid great media interest. Hosted by King’s Policy Institute, he addressed a packed Great Hall in the King’s Building, where supporters, staff and students heard his vision for the future of Europe.

In February we celebrated receiving the largest single philanthropic gift to the College, from a Hong Kong based alumnus – £6 million to the China Institute. Already a leading international centre for study of contemporary China, it has been re-named the Lau China Institute in gratitude to the family of Dr Lau Ming-Wai, who have a long association with the College.

 Last summer the King’s Health Partners (KHP) Board commissioned a review to look at how best to achieve our ambitious vision for our Academic Health Sciences Centre. Ian Creagh, Head of Administration and College Secretary, and I, as the College’s representatives on the KHP Board, have been proposing the strengthening of its academic ethos.

The KHP Board undertook to carry out a feasibility study into a number of options, up to and including bringing together the three NHS Trusts alongside closer integration with the College. All four partner organisations have endorsed a recommendation from the Board to prepare a Strategic Outline Case over the next few months to assess the benefits, costs and risks of such a set of changes. This will be led by Professor Robert Lechler, Vice-Principal (Health) and Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, on behalf of the Partners Board, with of course the involvement of colleagues from the Health Schools.Rick Trainor, Principal

A word from the Principal

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Somerset House East Wing royal visit (continued)

will also be housed in Somerset House East Wing. Led by Director Deborah Bull, the Institute is a cross-disciplinary teaching and research initiative with innovative collaboration across the cultural sector

at its heart. The ground floor, open to the public for the first time, will house dedicated space for cultural activities. The Inigo Rooms will be a focal point and a showcase for many of the cultural aspects of the College,

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King’s has received a gift of £6 million from a Hong Kong-based alumnus, the largest donation of its kind in the College’s history, which will be invested in the King’s China Institute. The Institute, already a leading international centre for the study of contemporary China, has been re-named the Lau China Institute, in gratitude to the family of Dr Lau Ming-Wai, who have a long association with the College.

The Lau China Institute is part of a wider initiative at King’s to establish a network of Global Institutes that will

Largest donation in College’s history creates Lau China Institute

contribute to a growing understanding of specific nations and regions that will be 21st century cultural, political and economic powers.

Dr Lau Ming-Wai has an LLB and a PhD in Law from King’s and is a respected and active member of the China and Hong Kong business worlds. Thanks to the Lau family’s generosity and vision, the Lau China Institute is now set to become a world leader on China in the 21st century. Their donation will fund the appointment of senior academic staff, including one new Chair and

two new lecturers.The Principal Professor Rick

Trainor commented: ‘We are extremely grateful to our alumnus Dr Lau Ming-Wai for this very generous donation. We are excited about the future of the new Lau China Institute at King’s and what we can achieve in terms of global understanding of China.’

The Lau family are well known for their philanthropy – Dr Lau Ming-Wai said their gift to King’s was motivated by a desire to help Hong Kong and China’s future

generations: ‘I spent many enjoyable years at King’s, and now want to offer – as a symbol of my gratitude – financial support to the China Institute, as a way of supporting Hong Kong and China’s next generation of academics, leaders and entrepreneurs. I believe in what the King’s China Institute is trying to achieve; promoting an exchange of ideas between the West and China, as well as supporting research into the economic, political and cultural ideology behind China’s current prominence on the world stage.’

The Lau China Institute is aiming to become a leading international centre for understanding contemporary China

The Lord Lieutenant of Greater London bids farewell to The Queen as she leaves Somerset House East Wing The Duke of Edinburgh meets KCLSU President Hannah Barlow and Vice President Fran Allfrey

March 2012 | Issue 199 | 3

First brain atlas for iPad PAGE 5

News in brief

Annual Report and 2012 Profile

The College’s annual Report and 2012 Profile have been published. Report is a magazine-style publication featuring research, teaching and innovation undertaken across King’s in 2010–11. Profile is an annual pocket-sized booklet, outlining the College’s strengths, structure, history, redevelopment, facts and figures. Copies are available at College reception desks or by emailing pr@kcl.ac.uk.

Discovery of cancer defence switch A multidisciplinary team at King’s has captured the first live images of a key molecular switch in the body’s natural defence system against cancer cells.

Professor Tony Ng, Head of Cell Biology & Imaging, said: ‘This discovery helps us better understand the body’s own natural defences against cancer. It is vital that these findings are taken on board by those carrying out clinical trials.’

New Department of Social Science, Health & MedicineBringing together researchers from across the College, the new Department will inspire creative interactions among individuals and groups, and between the social and life sciences.

Recently appointed Head of Department, Professor Nikolas Rose commented: ‘Our aim is to create within three years an interdisciplinary Department with over 20 faculty, a portfolio of internationally excellent research and teaching at graduate level.’

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Octopus-inspired medical robotic manipulator

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London 2012: in and around King’s Staff, students and alumni will be contributing to London 2012 and becoming a part of Olympic history across science, sport, culture, international relations and in the community. In addition to the anti-doping testing, College highlights for London 2012 include:

• King’s and the Brazil Institute look forward to welcoming Casa Brasil, whose media centre and press conferences will take place in the College’s Great Hall, whilst Rio 2016 will be housed in Somerset House

• King’s Environmental Research

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has unveiled the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory which will operate during the London 2012 Games. On 19 January, LOCOG, laboratory service providers GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and

London 2012 unveils anti-doping laboratory

laboratory operators King’s, welcomed Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, for a tour of the facility in Harlow, Essex.

A team of more than 150 scientists from around the world will carry out the testing, led independently by Professor David Cowan, Director

Over 6,250 samples will be tested by an international team of scientists led by Professor David Cowan from King’s

Annual Report cover

A natural killer cell (green) surveys two potential target cells (red) for signs of disease

Researchers are taking inspiration from the octopus to develop robotic technology that will enable doctors to carry out a far greater range of minimally invasive surgical procedures than previously possible, including heart, brain and cancer operations.

The Centre for Robotics Research in the Department of Informatics, together with clinicians from Guy’s and St Thomas’, will lead a consortium of European scientists and medical doctors to create flexible robotic tools to improve ‘keyhole’ or minimally invasive surgery. The four-year research project has received €7.35 million funding from the European Union.

The research team will create

Octopus-inspired robotic surgery research attracts €7.35m EU funding

Group (ERG) will provide air pollution data to the Health Protection Agency during the Olympics and Paralympics to monitor the potential health risks to athletes

• Student athletes in KCLSU’s Kinetic Elite Athlete programme may qualify to compete in the Olympics and Paralympics, with strong contenders in fencing and rowing

• KCLSU’s ‘Get Active’ boxing and basketball projects were awarded the coveted Inspire mark, part of London 2012’s brand family

• King’s was selected by Samsung

novel manipulation arms that, when entering the body through a tiny incision point, will bend around organs and operate on parts of the body that could not previously be reached. The robot arm will stiffen once its tip has reached the point of intervention, allowing the surgeon to carry out surgical procedures comfortably and accurately.

Kaspar Althoefer, Professor of Robotics & Intelligent Systems, said: ‘There are many operations that cannot be carried out with existing technology. We will be using the octopus as a role model to create novel medical tools. This approach will provide solutions with real benefits for patients and surgical staff.’

of the Drug Control Centre at King’s. Professor Cowan commented: ‘These laboratories are the most high-tech labs in the history of the Games. We have developed, with GSK support, super-fast and super-sensitive technologies to be able to detect use of prohibited substances.’

Paul Deighton, Chief Executive

Officer of LOCOG, said: ‘As we unveil the anti-doping lab we recognise the importance of a robust testing system and continue to show that London is ready to stage a successful Games.’

Over 6,250 samples will be analysed throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, up to 400 each day, which is more than in any previous Games. The 4,400 square metre laboratory (the size of seven tennis courts) will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Hugh Robertson MP said: ‘We are doing all we can to ensure that there is no place to hide for drug cheats at London 2012. Our message to any athlete thinking about doping is simple - we’ll catch you. This lab is at the forefront of the fight against doping.’

The GSK and King’s collaboration in the London 2012 anti-doping process will create a legacy of knowledge and, in the words of Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK, establish ‘a blueprint for doping operations at future Games.’

to participate in their torch bearers competition for the Olympic Torch Relay. Following a nomination process, two students and one member of staff have been awarded places

• King’s has experts in a wide range of relevant fields who will be on hand to provide opinion and comment in the media on topics including ethics, Olympic history, ancient Greece, cyber warfare, social impact and regeneration.

Are you involved in the Games? Let us know by emailing pr@kcl.ac.uk

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India Institute launch

The official inauguration ceremony for the King’s India Institute took place on 26 January. The event, which coincided with India’s Republic Day, was attended by Rt Hon William Hague MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pictured left with Sunil Khilnani, Avantha Professor

and Director of the India Insitute. Pictured above (left to right): The Principal Professor Rick Trainor; Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes; William Hague MP; Chairman of College Council Lord Douro; Professor Sunil Khilnani; Gautam Thapar, Chairman and CEO of the Avantha Group

Researchers from the Dental Institute have uncovered a stalling mechanism that might explain how errors in embryonic development are naturally corrected to prevent birth defects.

The team examined the teeth of developing mice embryos by generating a mutation in a gene called Barx1 that is expressed during the development of molar teeth. The loss of Barx1 function did not result in abnormal molars as expected, but rather molar development was ‘stalled’ by 24 hours.

This stalling was caused by a reduction in the BMP signalling pathway – known to be responsible for ensuring organs correct themselves when growing abnormally in the womb. The BMP activity then steadily rose to reach levels above the normal threshold and molar development subsequently accelerated to catch up with the rest

Natural mechanism protects against birth defects

of the embryo. Professor Paul Sharpe from

the Department of Craniofacial Development, commented: ‘Developmental stalling may turn out to be a universal mechanism that allows developing tissues and organs to self-correct for any small errors in the complex signalling interactions that drive all developmental processes. We now want to explore if this happens in the development of other organs.’

Expression of the Barx1 gene (red) in early tooth development

€3.4 million EU funding for large networks research project

Three-dimensional representation of the domains and connections of the World Wide Web towards the end of the last decade. Colours distinguish the different domains, such as .com .edu .org .gov .co.uk

Strengthening the academic ethos of King’s Health PartnersKing’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre is developing a business case for the creation of a new, single academic healthcare organisation which would provide both physical and mental healthcare. The move would involve bringing together Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts into one organisation, and strengthen the academic ethos of King’s Health Partners by working more closely with the College as its university partner.

Professor Robert Lechler, Vice-Principal (Health) and Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, said: ‘We will be creating a totally new type of organisation that brings closely together mental and physical healthcare with research, education and training at its highest level. Working as one, alongside our university partner King’s College London, will mean we have the potential to fully transform the delivery of healthcare to our local patients and beyond, creating a system rated amongst the best in the world.’

European Union (EU) funding will support an innovative research project on networks, led by staff from the Disordered Systems research group in the Department of Mathematics.

Many contemporary challenges relate to ‘networks’: communication networks (telephone, internet); transport networks (road, rail); infrastructure networks (electricity grid, gas, water); social networks (face-to-face, email, social media); economic networks linking banks to customers and to each other. In biomedicine, our brains are networks of billions of neurons; susceptibility to cancer is determined by a complicated network of interactions among the proteins and enzymes in our cells.

According to project co-ordinator

Professor Peter Sollich: ‘These differing networks pose common research challenges. Often we need to infer the structure of a network from data, for example in neuroscience, where indirect connectivity information can be found by monitoring neuronal activity. We need to understand how network structure affects processes on networks, such as the occurrence of blackouts in electricity grids. And finally, we need to control and optimise networks, for example, to maximise the spread of a viral marketing message by targeting specific users in a social network.

‘The Disordered Systems group is at the forefront of addressing these challenges, studying a range of network models, including cell

metabolism, protein interactions and risk of contagion in interconnected banks and companies. The mathematical techniques come from statistical physics, and exploit the surprising fact that large systems are easier to understand than small ones: fluctuations average out, making trends easier to pick out.’

The group has successfully secured €3.4 million funding to lead a Marie Curie network project, Statistical Physics Approaches to Networks Across Disciplines (NETADIS), for four years from March. NETADIS will train 12 doctoral researchers at King’s and at eight European partner institutions in advanced methods of analysis, inference, control and optimisation of networks.

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News in brief

New Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) As part of the College’s continued investment to ensure all students and staff benefit from technology enhanced learning (TEL), a new Centre for TEL has been established. Professor Mark Russell, who joined King’s in March, has been appointed to lead the Centre, drawing together a team to support the major developments that are already taking place across the curriculum. Vice Principal (Education) Professor Eeva Leinonen has been leading on the development of the TEL strategy for the College.

An expert in e-assessment, Professor Russell comes from the University of Hertfordshire where he was Deputy Director of the university’s Blended Learning Unit, a £4.5 million Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Professor Russell commented: ‘I’m especially looking forward to unearthing the innovative and excellent educative practice at King’s and working with teams to explore how the innovative activities can be spread across the College. I’m hoping that my role in the Centre for TEL will provide an opportunity to make things happen.’

New MSc in Global Mental Health

The world’s first face-to-face taught MSc in Global Mental Health has been launched by the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Starting in September 2012, the course will provide students with the knowledge and skills to initiate, develop and oversee mental health policies and programmes in low resource settings, and to conduct and critically evaluate research on Global Mental Health.

Centre for e-Research joins Digital Humanities The Centre for e-Research (CeRch) has joined the Department of Digital Humanities to form one of the largest academic units specialising in digital studies in the UK. This merger will enhance the Department’s research profile and extend its teaching activities, which include an innovative master’s programme in Digital Asset Management. 

thestudentjob.com entrepreneur Jack TangPAGE 7

A team of neuroscientists from the Institute of Psychiatry have developed a digital atlas of the human brain. The Brain app for iPad is the first of its kind, based on cutting edge neuro-imaging research from the Neuroanatomy And Tractography Laboratory (NatBrainLab).

Two types of scans were used to develop the app content: results from an MRI scan reveal the structural properties of the brain; and images from a Diffusion Tractography scan identifying connections in the brain.

The Brain app is split into two virtual rooms. In the Dissection Room, users play with a three-dimensional human brain, select individual structures and ‘pull’ them apart to visualise their anatomical features. The Study Room offers in-depth explanations of functional aspects and their relationship to

First brain atlas for iPad neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Dr Marco Catani, Head of the NatBrainLab, said: ‘For ten years our lab has pioneered the use of highly advanced neuro-imaging techniques. This is the first time that imaging methods usually only applied to research have been used in an educational app. It’s very exciting to see our work transformed into such an accessible, fun and beautiful tool.’

The research team are working towards developing the next version of the app. By integrating scans from several different brains into the programme, they hope to offer users the chance to see directly how the brain develops from childhood to old age and the effect of age-related disorders on the brain.

Brain is currently being used by Dr Catani and his colleagues to teach King’s MSc students neuroscience.

Hidden costs of legal aid reformsPolice officers from the Metropolitan

Police Service’s (MPS) Specialist Operations team have successfully completed a bespoke master’s level course: The Issue of ‘Radicalisation’ in Countering Terrorism, facilitated by King’s Professional & Executive Development.

Dr John Gearson, Director of the Centre for Defence Studies in the Department of War Studies, commented: ‘The course truly represented an exchange of insights as much as the imparting of knowledge by one side and this was the basis for its success. The Centre looks forward to extending its support to the training and education needs of the MPS in the future.’

Superintendent Mark Goldby added: ‘I would like to extend my congratulations to my colleagues who have successfully completed this master’s level module. The successful completion of this course has given them a unique combination of practical counter-terrorism experience, together with an academic insight into the research and theory around the psychological aspects of radicalisation.’

Police graduate from radicalisation MA

iPad screen shot of Brain app displaying anterior view of connections in the human brain

François Hollande arrives at King’s Red blood cells

Haemophilia breakthrough

The Government will save less than half of the £270 million it predicts through the proposed reforms to legal aid, and planned cuts will actually result in additional costs for the taxpayer by shifting the burden on to other areas of the public purse, according to a report by Dr Graham Cookson, Lecturer in Economics.

Dr Cookson, from the Department of Management, analysed the intended changes to family, social welfare and clinical negligence law, which together account for 85 per cent of current civil legal aid expenditure, identifying knock-on costs of £139 million per annum, meaning the Government will realise only around 42 per cent of the predicted savings.

François Hollande, the Socialist Party French Presidential candidate, came to King’s on 29 February as part of his one-day UK campaign visit. He addressed a packed Great Hall where supporters, students and a buzzing media pack heard his vision for the future of Europe.

Reiterating one of his key policy themes, Mr Hollande said the future of the EU had to be about more than just a common market and any new European treaty must be focused on growth as well as budgetary discipline.

Dr Cookson commented: ‘This research undermines the Government’s economic rationale for changing the scope of legal aid by casting doubt on its claims of realising savings to the public purse. I echo the Justice Select Committee’s call for the Government to estimate the knock-on costs of these reforms before legislation is passed.’

Desmond Hudson, CEO of the Law Society, which commissioned the report, added: ‘We accept the need to achieve savings, but much of the Ministry of Justice’s claimed savings are being achieved at the expense of other parts of government. This is kamikaze accounting and will do little to tackle the deficit while sacrificing access to justice.’

Severe haemophilia A is a serious bleeding disorder, affecting around 2,000 people in the UK. Current treatment involves frequent injections of Factor VIII, an agent which helps clot the blood to control bleeding.

New research at King’s has shown that by adding another clotting factor called Factor XIII, the need for Factor VIII could be significantly reduced and patients’ quality of life improved. If research progresses smoothly, this new factor could be a stand-alone treatment for mild to moderate forms of haemophilia and be in the clinic within five years.

The breakthrough from the Haemostasis Research Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s, as part of King’s Health Partners, could improve quality of treatment and drastically cut the cost of treating haemophilia A by up to 25 per cent.

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Police officer graduates from the Department of War Studies

François Hollande on UK campaign trail at King’s

6 | Issue 199 | March 2012

Student news

Third year undergraduate LLB students Monik Durmus and Rohana Samtani have ambitious plans to revive tangaliya, an indigenous Indian craft that is on the verge of extinction, with the support of fellow student volunteers from King’s Students In Free Enterprise (KCL SIFE).

The tangaliya shawl is a local Gujarati art form which has been given protective Geographical Indications (GI) recognition by the Indian government, certifying that the product possesses specific qualities related to its geographical origin.

Tangaliya is a weaving technique comprising motifs made up of ‘danas’ or beads ranging from a few dots to

much more elaborate arrangements. The inlay of beads is unique to the craft and is done during the weaving process by hand.

Tangaliya shawls are mainly produced within communities for their own use and a lack of exposure has pushed many artisans into poverty. The weaving skills are not being passed on to the next generation and the craft has become endangered. Monik said: ‘At the moment, women are being exploited for their skills and we actually discovered that they would rather work in the fields than practise this beautiful tradition. Their living conditions are appalling and we want to help them break this cycle of poverty.’

Entrepreneurial boost for Gujarati craft on verge of extinction

Monik and Rohana have been inspired to start up a charitable project, supported by KCL SIFE, to reawaken the tangaliya craft, at the same time enabling communities to improve their living standards. Monik explained: ‘The entrepreneurial idea is to commercialise the product and sell the tangaliya products through an online store, facilitating income generation through a modern business model set up by King’s students and reaching international customers who would love to buy their unique commodities. KCL SIFE would work in conjunction with other charitable corporations to ensure that each stage is conducted in a professional manner and is efficient.’

In January Monik and Rohana visited artisan communities in Gujarat to meet local women who make the tangaliya shawls. Rohana commented: ‘The trip to India was incredible – truly an eye opening experience. Meeting the people was the only way we could really put our hearts and souls into the project. I am extremely excited and optimistic about the project.’

Over summer 2012, a larger group of King’s student volunteers will visit the communities and hold practical workshops. Monik explained: ‘We are going to help local women train others in the craft of tangaliya, thereby doubling the amount of items and hopefully helping them to increase their profits. We will hold

workshops focused on business skills and marketing principles, and show them how to manage their accounts. We will help them save a percentage of the profits so that down the line they can set up their own shop.

‘This is a simple idea – we are using their resources, but not changing their routine. It will be improving on what they already know and we will be there as support.’

Rohana explained that, as well as helping the local community, the project will enhance her career prospects too: ‘This project is a great way for me to get hands-on experience of setting up and running a business; dealing with real world business concepts, financial and accountancy models and legal issues.’

Law students Rohana Samtani (second from left) and Monik Durmus (third from left) pictured above with local Gujarati women in Vadodara, India. The craft of weaving tangaliya shawls pictured below

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March 2012 | Issue 199 | 7

Professor Helen McCutcheon Head of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & MidwiferyPAGE 8

News in brief

Alumna’s novel a box office hitSusan Hill, an alumna of the Department of English, published her best-selling horror novel The Woman in Black in 1983. It has since been adapted for the stage, television and most recently as a film, released in February and starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame. During its opening weekend, the film earned $20 million at the box office, the biggest US opening for Hammer Film Productions.

First Canon Collins scholarship for King’s student

Zimbabwean student Selina Maenzanise (pictured above) has been awarded the College’s first Canon Collins Trust scholarship to study the Disasters, Adaptation & Development master’s programme in the Department of Geography. Selina said: ‘I’m so excited to be at one of the top universities in the world. It’s amazing being taught by lecturers I’ve read about, such as Dr Mark Pelling and Professor Tim Butler.’ The Canon Collins Trust provides support for southern Africa’s future leaders.

PhD student promoted to ColonelLi-Chung Yuan (pictured below right with Professor Christopher Dandeker), a PhD student in the Department of War Studies, has been promoted to Colonel by the Ministry of National Defence in Taiwan. From Commander to Lieutenant Colonel and now Colonel, Li-Chung, who has served 18 years in the Taiwan Air Force, said: ‘I feel honoured for being one of the few who successfully reached a higher level, especially in the midst of a process of military downsizing in Taiwan.’ On his experience at King’s, he added: ‘I have an oriental perspective on strategic planning that is different to a European mindset. I am learning so much from my professors and fellow students that will help my future career.’

Alumni compose for world-class orchestra

Jack Tang, a second year undergraduate Business Management student and budding entrepreneur, is hoping to cause a splash in the recruitment sector with his brainchild website thestudentjob.com, designed to help London-based students find work that fits around their studies.

Jack created thestudentjob.com in October 2011 and the site has generated a lucrative first few months – around 200 companies are signed up and over 13,000 students have registered on the website.

KCL Think Tank, the first student-led policy institute in London, is attracting high-profile guest speakers including His Excellency Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexican Ambassador to the UK, and Dr David Heymann, Chairman of the Health Protection Agency, to speak exclusively at the College.

Ben Counsell, KCL Think Tank President and student in the Department of European & International Studies, commented: ‘Students benefit because they get a chance to discuss current affairs issues with some of the world’s leading experts. They also have the opportunity to conduct their own research and submit it to our annual journal The Spectrum. The networking and research writing opportunities we provide are excellent for students looking to boost their employability.’

Speaking about the Think Tank’s events programme, Ben added: ‘We try to ensure a balance in the panels of ideological views and experience, combining journalists, directors and workers in the field in order to get as wide a range of opinions as possible.’

In the February issue of Attitude, Europe’s top selling gay magazine, King’s is featured as the only London university in an article about the best places to study. The College is described as ‘a gold-plated university with a reputation for gay-friendliness, smack bang in the centre of London.’

KCLSU has an active LGBT society which promotes and protects the rights and interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. Society President Michael Fanner said: ‘There are many reasons why King’s stands out, including increased accessibility that we have worked hard to achieve, which has created a very approachable atmosphere.’As part of LGBT History Month, KCLSU hosted a lecture by political campaigner Peter Tatchell.

SHINE, a mentoring charity run by King’s students aiming to raise the academic achievements and aspirations of primary school children in Southwark and Lambeth, has received support from the Big Lottery Fund to develop a new website and electronic volunteer management system. These innovations will

Lottery funding helps mentoring charity shine

LGBT recognised

Just the job!

Jack commented: ‘The idea for the business was sparked by the uproar about rising student fees. I wanted to try to find an achievable solution to help students. As this is a company run by students for students, I feel that we have a better gauge about what students want and need. Some individuals need a support network and hopefully we are the solution for them.’

Jack shared his hopes for the future, saying: ‘Our aim is to run the scheme throughout the UK and potentially

beyond. We have identified which university cities to approach next to implement a franchise model. It’s really exciting and we can’t wait to expand this project elsewhere in the UK.’

When asked about his advice for student entrepreneurs, Jack replied: ‘One of my core beliefs is to start young and be as creative as you can. It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes, just trying some basic business models and gaining work experience is a great way to complement your course.’

thestudentjob.com entrepreneur and Business Management student Jack Tang

King’s student volunteers mentor primary school children in Southwark and Lambeth

Influencing the influential: KCL Think Tank

Two Department of Music alumni, Matt Kaner and Michael Langemann, both had their three-minute compositions performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) as part of the 2012 LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme. They also received a tutorial from the internationally renowned composer Dr Colin Matthews OBE.

Matt commented: ‘I was incredibly pleased to receive such an inspiring opportunity to work with some of the very best professional musicians in the country. The piece I wrote, Chasm, was my very first orchestral piece. It’s a truly unforgettable experience to hear a piece performed for the very first time – before that, you only really get to hear it inside your head!’

Michael added: ‘Conducting teaches you a lot about the emotional quality of music, it stimulates your intellect and it is physically demanding. My piece, Furioso, explores orchestral textures which I conceived with the LSO players in mind. It was wonderful to have a deeper insight into their commitment to music-making.’

The LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme offers six emerging composers each year the opportunity to write for a world-class symphony orchestra, enabling young composers to experiment and develop their orchestral writing skills.

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enable more volunteers to be recruited and trained, and therefore more children to benefit. Sonia Akrimi, SHINE Trustee and King’s alumna, commented: ‘These new developments will support us as we move towards further mentoring programmes extending the reach of the charity.’

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Appointed Head of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery in October 2011Professor Helen McCutcheonProfile

King’s people

Where did you work before this? I worked as the Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of South Australia, Adelaide.

What does your current role involve? Where to start? The big focus is on performance, especially excellence in teaching and research; engagement with King’s Health Partners and other Trusts; making sure students have a great experience at King’s; assisting staff to achieve their goals and aspirations, and ensuring the School’s endeavours contribute to the College performance. Good financial management and meeting the requirements of NHS London and the Nursing and Midwifery Council in terms of quality, providing leadership for the profession and collaborating locally, nationally and internationally. And finally, continuing to recruit first class staff to work in the School.

What do you enjoy most in your work? The challenge, meeting new people, seeing things improve, and watching staff reach and exceed their expectations. And knowing that our graduates can make a real difference to real people every day.

Proudest work achievement? Together with my team, taking my previous School in Adelaide from one of the worst performing to one of the best, both at an internal university level and also as a school of nursing and midwifery competing at a national level.

Favourite holiday destination? Portpatrick on the south west coast of Scotland – it’s a small, unspoilt village with beautiful scenery and a perfect place to relax and read a good book. I also love Kangaroo Island south of Adelaide for the same reasons. The only difference is that on Kangaroo Island the weather is always good!

Book on your bedside table? Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) by Günter Grass. It’s a novel about a German child who decides to stop growing when he is given a tin drum for his third birthday.

• Professor Maria Rosa Antognazza (pictured) has been appointed as Head of the Department of Philosophy. She commented: ‘I am honoured to serve as Head of such an outstanding Department.’

• Professor Adrian Constantin has been appointed as Chair of Analysis in the Department of

Mathematics. He recently published a book on nonlinear water waves and tsunamis.

• Julia Crick has been appointed as Professor of Palaeography

& Manuscript Studies in the Department of History and will work across disciplines in the School of Arts & Humanities. Professor

Keith Hoggart, Vice-Principal (Arts &

Sciences), said: ‘This appointment will allow us to connect our expertise in the Medieval World, and in Digital Humanities, in new ways.’

• Professor Shitij Kapur (pictured) has been appointed as Deputy Vice Principal for Health Sciences, a role in which he will assist Professor Robert Lechler, Vice

New staff appointments around the College

Professor Helen McCutcheon, Head of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery

Principal (Health), in leading and managing the academic strategy and performance of the Health Schools.

• Professor Peter Littlejohns has been appointed as Professor of

Public Health in the Division of Health & Social Care Research. He will establish a new research programme and policy network on the fair prioritisation of healthcare resources.

• Alex Nicholls has been

appointed as Campus Operations Manager at Denmark Hill. His background is in facilities management and he has worked with the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Communities and Local Government.

• Nick Leake has been appointed as the College’s Chief Information Officer. He has a background in IT strategy, projects and operations at large media organisations.

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The true story of the Strand’s ‘Roman bath’ uncovered PAGE 11

On 8 February, the Principal Professor Rick Trainor hosted a reception at Church House in Westminster, during the meeting of the Church of England’s governing body the General Synod, to mark the appointment of three King’s alumni as Bishops of three of the oldest dioceses

Pictured with the Principal (left to right): the Rt Revd Tim Dakin, Bishop of Winchester (MTh 1987); the Rt Revd Christopher Lowson, Bishop of Lincoln (AKC 1975); the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam FKC, Bishop of Salisbury (BD AKC 1978).

Also in attendance were other alumni associated with the General Synod; staff from the College Chaplaincy, Department of Theology & Religious Studies and Department of Education & Professional Studies; representatives of the KCLA and AKC Alumni Group and current students.

Three alumni appointed as Bishops

Established in 1962, the Department of War Studies has become a world leader in the study of war, peace and security. The landmark was celebrated

at a special event on 27 January, attended by current and former staff, students and heads of Department (pictured). Due to a prior engagement

War Studies celebrates 50th anniversary

John Browne, former composer in residence at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, composed the music for The Itch of the Golden Nit, which was awarded a BAFTA in the ‘Interactive’ category at the 2011 British Academy Children’s Awards. The film, produced by Aardman Animations in collaboration with the Tate Movie Project, featured drawings, sound effects and story ideas by more than 34,000 young people from across the UK and was screened in Trafalgar

Professor Nick Mavromatos, Professor John Ellis FRS and Dr Malcolm Fairbairn from the Department of Physics have joined MoEDAL – the latest Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN – to expand King’s participation at the LHC that began earlier in 2011 when particle theorist Dr Bobby Acharya, a member of ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus), joined the Department.

The MoEDAL (Monopole and Exotics Detector At the LHC) experiment will search for the ‘magnetic monopole’, the hypothetical particle that was proposed by the unified theory of electricity and magnetism developed by Professor James Clerk Maxwell when he was at King’s (1860–5).

Professor James Pinfold,

Visiting Professor and MoEDAL spokesperson, summarised the experiment: ‘A MoEDAL discovery would constitute a revolutionary contribution to our understanding of the universe in one or more of the following fundamentally important arenas: the origin of mass, new symmetries, extra dimensions, theories of everything, the nature of dark matter and the early universe.’

Professor Mavromatos commented: ‘It is only right that King’s should play a leading role in the search for magnetic charge that is motivated by Maxwell’s work on electricity and magnetism.’ John Ellis, James Clerk Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics, added: ‘As Maxwell’s successor at King’s I am really excited to be part of the MoEDAL team.’

BAFTA win for former composer in residence

CERN search for Maxwell’s ‘magnetic monopole’

Pictured (left to right): Dr Malcolm Fairbairn; Dr Bobby Acharya; Professor James Pinfold; Professor Nick Mavromatos; Professor John Ellis FRS

Composer John Browne with his BAFTA award

The Principal pictured with King’s alumni who have been appointed as Bishops

at l’École de Guerre in Paris, Professor Brian Holden-Reid, Head of Department 2001–07, was unable to attend. Pictured (left to right): Professor

Sir Michael Howard; Professor Denise Lievesley, Head of the School of Social Science & Public Policy; Professor Sir Michael Laurence; Professor

Sir Lawrence Freedman; Professor Mervyn Frost, current Head of Department; Professor Christopher Dandeker; Professor Brian Bond

Square at the launch of the cultural Olympiad.

Mr Browne, whose film compositions include songs written for Catherine Tate and Vic Reeves, said: ‘The film is the first of its kind – a crowd-sourced animation, with children aged five to 13 involved throughout the process. My compositions were based on ideas contributed by children, and for the most part were performed by young people, including the National Youth Orchestra and young folk musicians.’

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King’s people

Media watchAdvice for parents In the run-up to Christmas, Dr Jennifer Wild (pictured below), Institute of Psychiatry, discussed how parents can cope with missing their children over the festive period on

BBC Radio 5 Live.

Russia Institute Dr Marat Shterin

(pictured right), Theology &

Religious Studies,

said by focusing

harmful pain medication by revealing how paracetamol

works. The study was reported by the Press Association, BBC News and the

Daily Mirror.

Higgs a step closer Professor John Ellis FRS, Physics, said the search for the Higgs boson matters hugely

to modern science. His comments were reported by Science (USA) and CBS News. Professor Ellis was named one of the top 25 ‘Britons of the Year’ by the Daily Telegraph.

Mindfulness meditation Dr Elena Antonova (pictured below), Institute of Psychiatry, was interviewed by BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC Radio 5 Live on how ‘mindfulness meditation’ can reduce one’s perception of stress and pain.

Penicillin dose review Penicillin doses for children should be reviewed following research by Dr Paul Long, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, which suggests that as children are getting heavier, they need larger doses of the drug. The study was reported by BBC News, ITV’s Daybreak, the Independent and the Guardian.

Global Institutes debate Professor Anthony Pereira (Brazil Institute), Professor Sunil Khilnani (India

Institute) and Dr Suzanne

on contemporary Russia, the planned Russia Institute at King’s would differ from traditional academic approaches to the country that focus on its history or literature. He spoke to the Guardian and the announcement was also reported by Ria Novosti and BBC Russian.

Paracetamol research Research by Dr David Andersson and Professor Stuart Bevan, Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, has paved the way for less

Starting with the move into the Somerset House East Wing and a visit from Her Majesty The Queen, 2012 promises to be an important year for Law at King’s

Focus

School of Law

Law was one of the subjects taught from the College’s opening in 1831, and today the School has 60 academic and 14 professional services staff.

‘We sit on the doorstep of the City and are proud of our strong links with international legal practice,’ says Professor Timothy Macklem, Head of School since 2008. ‘And we back this up with real intellectual fire-power. Our academics look to shape how we consider law. They’re at the cutting edge of research and they reflect this in their teaching. But we’re a warm and engaging community too.’

While the School’s core undergraduate programme is its three-year LLB, most students take four-year Law Plus programmes, many of which are offered in partnership with leading international law schools. These include the LLB in Politics, Philosophy & Law launched last year and the Anglo-French Programme with University of Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne).

King’s highly respected LLM attracts lawyers and graduates looking to succeed in top global law firms and international organisations. Students either pursue a tailored LLM or a specialist LLM in Competition Law; European Law; International Financial Law; International Business Law; Intellectual Property & Information Law, or International Tax. ‘Our LLMs are built around strong, vibrant communities bringing together students and academics, and we’re investing substantially in this programme,’ Professor Macklem says.

The School’s other postgraduate degrees include master’s in Medical Ethics & Law, Global Ethics & Human Values and Construction Law & Dispute Resolution.

King’s Law students have had huge mooting success, beating 35 international teams to win the fourth Annual Foreign Direct Investment Moot Competition in November. Further successes are expected since the move into Somerset House East

Wing provides students with their own beautifully furnished and equipped moot court.

The School has research strengths across many areas and, with more than 100 research postgraduates, has one the largest doctoral programmes in the UK. The International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) is based in the School, and its Director Professor Penny Green has been awarded £830,000 from the Economic & Social Research Council to research resistance to state violence in developing nations. Distinguished visitors to the ISCI include political theorist Professor Noam Chomsky, who gave a lecture at the launch for

its journal State Crime in October.The School’s pioneering research

Centre of Medical Law & Ethics is the first of its kind, and in February the Wellcome Trust awarded almost £1 million to Professor Rosamund Scott for her work, in collaboration with a colleague from Keele University, on the donation and transfer of human reproductive materials.

The Centre of European Law continues to enjoy a reputation for excellence, and recent staff distinctions include Global Competition Review Award presentations to Professor Richard Whish (Academic Excellence) and Professor Margaret Bloom

(Lifetime Achievement).Elsewhere in the School,

Professor Robert Blackburn has received funding to lead a research project, in collaboration with the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, on the codification of the UK constitution. Professor Jeremy Horder held the prestigious post of Law Commissioner of England and Wales (2005–10), leading reform projects resulting in, amongst other things, the promulgation of the Bribery Act 2010. Perry Keller published a timely book on Liberal Democracy, Trade, and the New Media, and Professor Leif Wenar organised

a series of Clean Trade events in Washington DC and Stanford, which attracted a distinguished audience including Francis Fukuyama, Larry Diamond and US State Department representatives.

Professor Macklem commented on the School’s move to Somerset House East Wing: ‘We’ve long been recognised as a first-rank, premium London law school. To match that reputation, we are now showcased in one of London’s grandest, most iconic buildings, and we’re particularly looking forward to our new home being richly enjoyed by our students and staff, and also by our guests and friends from around the world.’

Her Majesty The Queen and Chairman of College Council Lord Douro watch Law students Barry Griffin (left) and Zeze Ikhinmwin (far right) debating in the new Moot Court at the opening of Somerset House East Wing

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Xiao Yang (China Institute) discussed emerging global superpowers on BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight, to mark the half way point in the World questions | King’s answers campaign.

No change in North KoreaIn an interview with Voice of Russia, Dr Ramon Pacheco Pardo (pictured right), European & International Studies, said it is unlikely the death of Kim Jong Il in North Korea and the succession of his son

would lead to any significant change within the country.

Stephen Lawrence case Following the Stephen

Lawrence verdict, Professor Ben Bowling, Law, discussed how the relationship between black and Asian communities and the

police has changed on the BBC News Channel,

BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC London 94.9 and BBC Radio Wales.

Children reject science careers Fewer than one in five children aged 10–11 aspire to a career in science, according to a study by Professor Louise Archer, Education & Professional Studies. The study was reported by the New Scientist and the Scotsman.

Stem cells advancement King’s submitted their first ever clinical grade human embryonic stem cell lines that are free from animal-derived products. This was reported by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Channel 4 News,

and the study was reported by the Guardian, BBC News and the Associated Press. 

Vocational qualifications reviewMany vocational qualifications are to be axed from school league tables as

recommendations made in a review by Professor Alison Wolf (pictured left), Management, were accepted by the Government. Professor Wolf spoke to BBC Radio 4’s

Today programme and the news was reported by the

Guardian, Daily Mail, and Metro.

Parnassus regainedMichael Trapp, Professor of Greek Literature & Thought, Department of Classics, uncovers the true story of the Strand Lane ‘Roman bath’ and a fountain in old Somerset House

Flashback

The  Times, Reuters and South China Morning Post.

Self-harm in adolescents One in 12 adolescents self-harm but most will stop in early adulthood according to research by Dr Paul Moran, Institute of Psychiatry. He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and by Sky News;

Dr Robert A Francis’s A Handbook of Global Freshwater Invasive Species is featured in the Books sectionPAGE 12

Old Somerset House used to run right across what is now the Strand Campus. Traces of it have been uncovered in the course of refurbishing Somerset House East Wing, but significant remains also survive to the east of the Strand Campus as well – and include what is now known as the ‘Roman bath’ in Strand Lane.

In 1609-13, old Somerset House was remodelled and extended for James I’s Queen, Anne of Denmark. This redevelopment brought one wing of the palace as far east as the boundary wall with Strand Lane, roughly where the Old Watch House now stands. Southwards from this range, down to the river wall, ran garden terraces, now partly covered by the King’s Building and partly by the Playground and service areas between it and the Lane.

Anne’s fountain The lowest garden terrace, now somewhere beneath the floor of Level -2 of the King’s Building main corridor, was dominated by a magnificent grotto-fountain. The work of the engineer and garden designer Salomon de Caus, it was some 10.7 metres across, and depicted Mount Parnassus, complete with a gilded Pegasus, the Muses, and the four great rivers of England. Encrusted with shells, vegetation and curious rock-forms, fountain-jets played from it into the surrounding basin. The whole structure celebrated Anne as patroness of the arts and tutelary spirit of the natural and economic wealth of the kingdom.

Professor Trapp commented: ‘As a result of research over the last two years, I have been able to establish that both part of the infrastructure for this fountain, and some of the eastern boundary wall of the royal gardens, enjoyed by Queens Henrietta Maria and Catherine of Braganza in succession

to Anne, are still there for all to see. Anyone entering or leaving the new Strand Campus cycle-parking area passes right past both of them.’

The survivor of the old garden wall is the patch of brickwork that has been exposed by damage to the later rendering just under the southern (overhanging) part of the Old Watch House, next to the smallest of the new bicycle shelters in the Playground.

Visual dating, carried out by a materials expert from Pre-Construct Archaeology, shows this patch to be made up of four different brick types, with date-ranges of 1664–1725 (30 per cent), 1450–1700 (two types, 65 per

cent) and 1400–1660 (five per cent). Further chemical (rehydroxylation) dating of a single sample adds a date of 1593, plus or minus 42 years.

Not Roman after all The surviving part of the fountain’s infrastructure is what we now know as the Strand Lane ‘Roman bath.’ Analysis of the fabric shows it to be a single build of around 1550–1650, with substantial patching at a later date. This neatly disposes of the old, and long doubted, story of Roman origins. But two further pieces of documentary evidence clinch the connection with Anne’s fountain.

An entry from the Pipe Office

Accounts for 1611–2 records payment for a pump in the grounds of Somerset House, intended to force up water ‘to the great Cesterne over the Strand Lane wch serveth the new fountaine.’ Later, Treasury records for 1710 include a petition made by one Thomas Vernon for the grant of ‘a little old shed in Strand Lane … formerly a waterhouse to a grotto in Somerset House but now in a ruinous condition and like to fall into [the] petitioner’s yard.’

Thomas Vernon, better known to history as an MP and Alexander Pope’s Twickenham landlord, was also the owner of the mansion house that then stood where 33–35 Surrey

Street are today, that is to say exactly level at its south end with the ‘bath’ on Strand Lane.

These two documents decisively identify the ‘bath’ as the remnants of the fountain cistern. The old enigma that everyone had tried to link to the Rome of the Caesars or to Arundel House turns out to be associated with one of the great instances of classicising propaganda for the Stuart monarchy.

It becomes clear that the eastern side of the Strand Campus can lay claim to at least as much historical depth and complexity, and with precisely the same connections, as the Campus’ new western extension.

Map showing Anne of Denmark’s fountain and its cistern in Old Somerset House. Right: Parnassus grotto-fountain, clearly related to his Somerset House design, from de Caus’ 1524 Les Raisons des forces mouvantes

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Modern Turkey: People, State and Foreign Policy in a Globalised WorldBill Park, Defence Studies Department

Providing a broad and comprehensive overview of contemporary Turkey, this textbook places the country and its people within the context of a rapidly globalising world. It covers a diverse range of themes such as politics, economics, international relations, the Turkic world, religion and recent historical background, and traces the evolution of Turkey’s domestic political and economic systems and its foreign policy, from the inception of the republic to the present day.Routledge

The Idea of India (fifth edition)Professor Sunil Khilnani, India Institute

Originally published to mark the 50th anniversary of India’s independence, this book has established itself as uniquely valuable and authoritative. Key to India’s self-image since independence has been ‘the idea of India’ – modern, technocratic, egalitarian, secular – but the tensions between the idea and the reality have become almost intolerable. With the legacy of Nehru and Gandhi under attack and ferociously religious and militant politicians in power, has ‘the idea of India’ lost all meaning?Penguin

Memory Mechanisms in Health and Disease: Mechanistic Basis of Memory Edited by Professor Karl Peter Giese, Institute of Psychiatry

This edited review volume summarises current knowledge on memory mechanisms at the molecular, cellular and circuit level. Each review is written by leading experts, discussing the concepts, providing critical reflections and suggesting an outlook for future studies. Memory mechanisms are also discussed in the context of diseases. Studies of memory deficits in disease models are introduced as well as approaches to restore memory deficits, and the impact of contemporary memory research for psychiatry is illustrated.World Scientific

The Myth of the Titanic (centenary edition)Dr Richard Howells, Culture, Media & Creative Industries

Revised and expanded, this new edition locates the centenary of the famous ‘Unsinkable Ship’ within its historical, mythical and intellectual context. Richard Howells demonstrates the important difference between the rusting remains of the physical ship and the mythical Titanic that has replaced it in popular culture. By tracing the mythology of the Titanic back to 1912, he shows how late Edwardian society began the process by creating a triumph out of a tragedy. Palgrave Macmillan

Consuming Visions: Cinema, Writing, and Modernity in Rio de JaneiroDr Maite Conde, Brazil Institute

Consuming Visions explores the relationship between cinema and writing in early 20th century Brazil, focusing on how the new and foreign medium of film was consumed by a literary society in the throes of modernisation. Maite Conde places this relationship in the specific context of turn-of-the-century Rio de Janeiro, which underwent a radical transformation to a modern global city and became a symbol of the country’s broader processes of change.University of Virginia Press

The Modernisation of the Public Services and Employee Relations: Targeted ChangeProfessor Stephen Bach, Department of Management, and Ian Kessler, University of Oxford

Stephen Bach and Ian Kessler provide an integrated and up-to-date account of changes in work and employment in the public services. The book examines a range of different sectors focusing on core public services, especially local government, the NHS and the civil service. Topics covered include restructuring; the evolution of the model employer; the new professionalism; pay and performance management; trust and the public service ethos; flexibility and equality, and employee involvement.Palgrave Macmillan

A Handbook of Global Freshwater Invasive SpeciesEdited by Dr Robert A Francis, Department of Geography

Invasive non-native species are a major threat to global biodiversity. Often introduced accidentally through international travel or trade, they invade and colonise new habitats, often with devastating consequences for the local flora and fauna. This book reviews the current state of knowledge of global invasive freshwater species. Examples covered include a range of aquatic and riparian plants, insects, molluscs, crustacea, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, as well as some major pathogens of aquatic organisms.Routledge

12 | Issue 199 | March 2012

Books

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s 11th Building Bridges seminar Death, Resurrection & Human Destiny in Christian & Muslim Perspective 23 April 2012, 09.00 – 17.00, Great Hall, Strand CampusKing’s will host the 11th annual Building Bridges seminar, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, bringing together leading Muslim and Christian scholars from around the world to explore issues at the heart of the two traditions. The 11th Building Bridges seminar will focus on death, resurrection and human destiny from the two faith perspectives. Speakers include Professor Asma Afsaruddin, Indiana University; The Rt Revd Dr Geoffrey Rowell, Diocese in Europe; Professor Mona Siddiqui, University of Edinburgh, and The Rt Revd Professor Tom Wright, University of St Andrews. Contact: tess.young@lambethpalace.org.uk

Dickensfest chaired by Griff Rhys Jones Victorian Lives in Arts & Archives 28 April 2012, 9.45 – 17.30, Great Hall, Strand CampusKing’s is celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Dickens’s birth with a day-long event of readings, film and talks organised by Professor Clare Brant and the Centre for Life-Writing Research, in partnership with Cityread London and Westminster City Archives. The theme is Dickens’s life and times in London, and his connections to the Strand and the surrounding area. Topics will range from archives to apps and workhouses to walking tours. The event will be chaired by Welsh comedian, writer and actor Griff Rhys Jones. www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/ahri/centres/lifewriting

6th Annual Excellence in Teaching Conference The Research Teaching Nexus: Bringing Ecological Balance to the  Work of the University 19 June 2012, 9.00 – 16.00, Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, Strand CampusThis year’s conference, hosted by the King’s Learning Institute, will consider how academics can translate their research into teaching methods, resources and curricula to create a nexus between theory and practice, and improve their students’ learning. Keynote speaker: Professor Steve Jones, Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, UCL. www.kcl.ac.uk/kli

Comment is the College’s quarterly newsletter, edited by the Public Relations Department and designed by Esterson Associates. Comment is printed on paper that contains materials sourced from responsibly managed forests. Articles for Comment are welcomed from staff, students and friends of the College. The Editor reserves the right to amend submissions. Suggestions and copy for the next issue can be sent to the Internal Communications team by emailing internalcommunications@kcl.ac.uk by 8 May 2012.

For more news from around the College, visit OneSpaceONESPACE.KCL.AC.UK

The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589Dr Toby Green, Department of History and Department of Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies

The region between the river Senegal and Sierra Leone saw the first trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century. Toby Green challenges current quantitative approaches to the history of the slave trade by drawing on many new sources and exploring political fragmentation, changes in identity and the re-organisation of ritual and social patterns. The book shows which peoples were enslaved, why they were vulnerable and the consequences in Africa and beyond.Cambridge University Press

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