inspire - canterbury christ church university · pdf file · 2017-12-07for music...

St Gregory’s Music Centre underway

Broadstairs Campus Celebrates its 10th anniversary

International author Kazuo Ishigurospeaks at spring public lecture series

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inspireCanterbury Christ Church Magazine

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Canterbury Christ Church Magazine

Welcome to our first edition of Inspire, the new Canterbury Christ Church University magazine

02 inspire / Canterbury Christ Church Magazine

Inspire aims to keep staff, partners and friends in touch with what is happening here at Christ Church throughout our University network. We felt it was important to introduce a new and improved publication which reflects the breadth and quality of the work of our staff and students and their involvement with the wider community. This full-colour magazine will be published three times a year, informing, challenging and hopefully entertaining readers along the way.

Features in this edition include a conversation with internationally-

renowned author Kazuo Ishiguro, who recently visited Christ Church as part of our popular public lecture series. You can also read more about the impact of our Broadstairs Campus as it celebrates 10 years in the Isle of Thanet, how plans for our St Gregory’s Centre for Music are taking off and hear why newscaster John Suchet will be visiting us next month.

Whatever your interest or connection with Christ Church University, we hope you enjoy what you read.

Professor Michael Wright CBE DLVice Chancellor

Inspire magazine has been designed and produced by the Department of Marketing, Canterbury Christ Church University

Spring / 2010 03

Q&AMeet the team

CONTENTS04

12 16 07

In conversation with Kazuo Ishiguro ..........................................04One of the most celebrated authors of our time returns to Canterbury to speak with Andrew McGuinness from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Bringing music to our ears ...........07When the idea for a new University Centre for Music was conceived, the vision went far beyond the bricks and mortar.

Broadstairs Campus celebrates its 10th anniversary ............................12Having first opened its doors to 60 students in 2000, the Broadstairs Campus has grown in both reputation and facilities.

Perfecting performance .................... 10Interview with the team in the Sports and Exercise Science Laboratories.

John Suchet ...............................................20Renowned newscaster John Suchet launches his campaign at our Canterbury Campus for more Admiral Nurses to be made available nationwide.

Funding the future .................................15

Augustine House and Christ Church Sports Centre ............16

The doors to both Augustine House Library and the Sports Centre have now been open for more than six months.

Business Focus ...........................................18

Bringing you the latest news from our business teams.

Book Reviews ..............................................19Events ............................................................. 22

10 20


In conversation with

KazuoIshiguro

azuo Ishiguro, one of the most celebrated authors of our time, returned to Canterbury to speak with Andrew McGuinness, Lecturer in Creative Writing here at Canterbury Christ Church University.

His talk at Augustine House was part of our spring public lecture series, in partnership with Faber and Faber, to mark the publication of his most recent work, Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall.

Four of his six novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize award, including his third novel The Remains of the Day, which was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1989 and was made into a successful film in 1993, with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. He has also worked as a writer of screenplays, the latest of which was Merchant Ivory’s The White Countess. The film is based on his Booker-shortlisted novel Never Let Me Go, starring Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan, and is due for release in October 2010.

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Spring / 2010 05

He was awarded the OBE in 1995 for services to literature and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Before Andrew McGuinness talked to him about his works, we asked him how it felt to come back to Canterbury, if he had been back since graduating, his memories of the city and what he thought of the changes he found.

“I haven’t been back here since 1990, when I came to receive an Honorary Doctorate at the Cathedral. I could see then that a lot had changed since my time here in the mid 70s. I’m very interested to see all the ways in which Canterbury has changed further today. I have very fond memories of my time in this area.

“ I have very fond memories of my time in this area.”

“I lived in Whitstable for most of my time. It was a great place for a student to live. It had a thriving music culture and some eccentric thespians, which made for a very lively environment. I was very much into the folk music scene, writing and performing at the various folk clubs and imagined I would be the next Bob Dylan. However, this was not to be! I am quite glad of this now, as I realise that a musician’s life is quite hard.”

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In conversation withAndrew McGuinness

Andrew: I was going to ask you about music and songwriting. People might think that you had your first inklings of being a writer when you studied English at University, but actually it was writing music and performing songs.

Kazuo: Yes very much so. I arrived at the University of Kent in 1974 and left in 1978 and back in those days writing didn’t seem a particularly exciting or sexy career at all in the same way that it seems to be to young people today. All the action seemed to be happening in the fringe theatre in London or television drama with people like Dennis Potter and the more literary end of music was the singer/songwriter scene. A lot of us were trying to write songs in those days, including me. It really was my first experience of trying to create anything. I had no real ambitions at all to be a writer, so songwriting served as my apprenticeship for becoming a fiction writer later on. I wrote over 100 songs in that time.

Andrew: After a short spell working with the homeless in London you went to UEA and took a MA in Creative Writing. Did A Pale View of Hills grow out of that time?

Kazuo: In a way, yes. I had written a couple of short stories when I first got to UEA, but suddenly one day I decided to write a story set in Japan. It was very different to anything I had thought to do before and this one decision alone seemed to completely open a door for me and everything suddenly came together. I began a novel and before my year at UEA was finished, Faber and Faber gave me a contract and advance to finish the novel when I left UEA. So, I kind of slid very nicely into my writing career.

Andrew: It’s interesting that the setting and the history is one of the features of your writing.

Kazuo: I start with an almost abstract story that could be set almost anywhere. I start off by saying something like ‘I want to write a story about a guy whose loyalties are completely misplaced’, now where should I put this story? I do go location-hunting through history to find a time and place that best serves my purposes. An obvious danger is that you don’t just use history, you abuse it. When I started to write in the 1980s, my generation of writers felt almost disadvantaged because we lived in a comfortable, politically stable country that hadn’t really had a major war for a long time. We felt compelled to travel in our imaginations, either geographically or else to a time when things in Britain were up for grabs much more, for instance during the world wars.

Andrew: A lot of that was re-imagined from memory too, was it not? You used a lot from memory as you left Nagasaki when you were five and a half.

Kazuo: A lot of the motivation to write in the first place was something to do with exploring memory. I was always told I was going to return to Japan in a year or two and so I didn’t actually adopt the attitude of an immigrant kid. I wanted to get my personal Japan down on paper so that it would always be safe and always exist.

Andrew: An interesting theme associated with your writing is that you are very much an international writer – your work is published in at least 40 other languages. But it was your third book set in England, The Remains of the Day, which truly put you on an international stage not just in terms of fiction but in terms of film. How do you account for your huge international success?

Kazuo: I can’t, I have no way of accounting for my success. I mean, success is often down to luck and being in the right place at the right time and having good movies made of your book. So leaving the success thing to one side – when I decided to write a book set in England, with no Japanese characters whatsoever, I feel what I was doing was taking a kind of international myth of Englishness. I wasn’t actually writing about the England I had grown up in. I was writing about what I thought people abroad who had never been to England thought England might be like. They still imagined it, in the late 1980s, as grand country houses and a green and pleasant land.

Andrew: You have said before in interviews that the use of language is really important when appealing to a wider, international audience. Are there any dangers in authors trying to write for international audiences?

Kazuo: Yes I think there are great dangers. However, I have found that in the last 20 years, for writers like me and younger generations, if you are published in any significant way, you will be asked to talk about your book to audiences who have read it not only in translation but from their own cultural perspective. They will not understand English in-jokes for instance.

Andrew: I would like to discuss the humour which comes across in your writing. You are known as a serious writer of literary fiction, but in your most recent book Nocturnes there is a great deal of humour to counter-balance the tragedy with the human experience. Is this a conscious decision to do something new with comedy?

Kazuo: Well it’s not a general trend, but I did want to write short stories in between the novels. I have always enjoyed the type of humour that is almost impossible to separate from sadness and pathos, which people like Woody Allen at his best always gets right.

Andrew: If there was another Kazuo Ishiguro and he didn’t grow up to be a famous writer, what would he like to have been? Based on some of the characters in your book, would he have been an artist, a classical pianist, a private detective, a jazz musician or a film director?

Kazuo: All these characters have something unresolved which they try and resolve through their vocation. I’m particularly interested when they try very hard but, through no fault of their own, all their efforts are wasted, or even worse they have contributed to something bad that they disapprove of and it’s too late at the end of their lives to have another go.

Kazuo Ishiguro

Spring / 2010 07

For many, including the man in charge of the project, the Centre has been ambitiously viewed as a catalyst for social change.

Now, others beyond Canterbury Christ Church University are starting to share this vision, including Classic FM, the first major partner to champion the mantra “more than a concert hall”.

When the idea for a new University Centre for Music was conceived, the vision went far beyond the bricks and mortar.

musicBringing

to our ears


The building, sensitively designed around the trees on the old St Gregory's Church site, promises to open up world class classical music to people across the South East, from nervous discoverers to connoisseurs. As well as a city-based and regional venue for performance, the new Centre will also be a new home for aspiring musicians looking to study in Kent and offer unique facilities for music therapists. For a small plot of land, measuring just under four acres, it has big plans.

Grenville Hancox MBE, (pictured) the St Gregory's Project Director, is the driving force behind the project. He sees the project’s true value in making music accessible to communities.

This is like throwing a pebble in the pond and the rings are extensive. In fact they become waves, and that’s what we’re hoping to achieve with St Gregory’s.

“There are so many opportunities beyond making this Centre a destination for national and international performance. With partners like Classic FM, we want to encourage regular participation in music by working with schools, community groups and local residents.

“My experience, and those of colleagues particularly in the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health, is that music can bring enormous benefits. We want as many people as possible to enjoy music by bringing it directly to people’s doorsteps.

“And whilst we do organise community singing groups and stage student and staff performances throughout the year, there will be something incredibly exciting about

having a purpose-built venue for music here in Canterbury city centre, which provides a well deserved home for acoustic music.”

Canterbury Christ Church University has had a head start in achieving all these ambitions in one venue. It has a music department with a reputation for national and internationally-renowned research; a passionate, respected and well known project director; is a significant investor in arts and health research and practice; and has Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Master of the Queen’s Music, as patron of the St Gregory’s project.

Sir Peter said of the project: “About six years ago I was asked to compose ten pieces for the Maggini String Quartet – they became known as the ‘Naxos Quartets’. For each piece I composed we would come to St Gregory’s Church for public rehearsals and to host open workshops. During this time, I made a very strong connection with St Gregory’s Church, Grenville Hancox and Canterbury Christ Church University.

“When Grenville told me about this project I couldn’t have been happier to offer my full

support. There isn’t a purpose built concert hall in the whole of Kent, which I find very strange, but St Gregory’s will fill that gap.

“It will be a place where you can hear chamber music in a lovely environment, which has just not happened before in the region. I’ve been quite involved with the two new concert halls as part of the Kings Place project in London and St Gregory’s is going to be of the same standard. I love the designs and I know this is going to be something very special among concert venues.”

Even before building work begins later this year, Grenville is busy negotiating new and interesting partnerships with St Gregory’s – many of which will support the University’s widening participation agenda. These include the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Classical Opera Company and the Southbank Sinfonia, which are all ready to team up with St Gregory’s for residency at the city centre venue, or project-based activities with young people.

Meanwhile, archaeology will begin on the heritage site later this year with building work following shortly after.

“ Music is such an important part of our everyday lives and is so essential to our wellbeing.”

...it will be yet another wonderful reason to attract students to this excellent music course as it will offer the musicians of tomorrow the opportunity to learn and grow from the experience and example of other established musicians.

Rebekah Mahon, Year 1, BMus Music

We see classical music as being relevant to 21st century life. St Gregory’s will be able to show all people, of all ages, how classical music can be part of their lives.

Darren Henley, Managing Director of Classic FM

Spring / 2010 09

Essential fundraising continues for St Gregory’s, which is due to open in 2012, the University’s Jubilee year. The University is seeking funding from a range of grant awarding bodies, but the support of individuals is also a crucial part of the project. Please refer to the back cover for more details.

It promises to open up world class classical music to people across the South East.

“It is vital that communities have access to venues which are dedicated to music performance and education and therefore an important part of this project is creating a sense of ownership of the Centre in the local and regional community by giving individuals the opportunity to actually invest in its creation.”

St Gregory’s signals the University’s growing reputation as a major contributor to Kent’s

arts scene, changing the face of music in the county and adding to Canterbury’s rich cultural ambitions.

Sir Peter added:

“The Music Department at the University, with all the work that Grenville has done and is doing in the community, has been wonderful and achieved real outreach. They have brought serious classical music of all kinds to different people. St Gregory’s will undoubtedly help to introduce music to more people.

“There are people out there who are frightened of classical music or feel that it’s just not for them. But these fears should be overcome and they ought to see classical music as something for them too. There is a whole world of glorious experience and their lives can be infinitely enriched by music.”

For more information about becoming a Friend of St Gregory’s and contributing to its exciting future, please telephone 00 44 (0) 1227 782995.

Cross section of the new centre, showing the 350-seat concert auditorium with its gently raked seating and balcony. Architects: Hazle, McCormack, Young LLP

bringing music to our ears

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Matt ColeLaboratory Technician/Instructor

Dan TolhurstLaboratory Technician

Natalie GoldringLaboratory Technician/Instructor

Dr Damian ColemanLaboratory Director


Perfectingperformance

Meet the team

in the Sport and Science Exercise Laboratory

Dan StretchSenior Laboratory Technician

Spring / 2010 11

Perfecting performance through scientifi c analysis, whether

for sports or health reasons, is something

that the team in the Sport and

Exercise Science Laboratories helps

students, researchers and athletes do.

On a daily basis, our technical team in the Sport and Exercise Science Laboratories are helping people – from students to researchers and athletes – perfect their performance.

First and foremost, the team provides top level support and analysis for the teaching and research programmes undertaken in the Department of Sport Science, Tourism and Leisure. However, their work also involves scientific support for athletes helping them to enhance their performance and achieve their goals. This work is all the more significant as the UK prepares for the London 2012 Olympics and its focus on elite sports performance.

This support covers a wide range of sport and exercise science disciplines to give the athlete the edge they need to be the best in their field. The laboratories have developed rapidly over the last few years. From a humble beginning of one small physiology laboratory it now boasts a network of labs with state-of-the-art equipment and computing software to support the many activities undertaken.

We spoke to the team to fi nd out what they do and what their working day is like. Damian: The increased interest in sport and exercise in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics has benefited the sport related programmes at the University. The resulting increase in students over the past three years has led to an expansion of the sport and exercise laboratories for our department. There are primarily three types of activities that take place in these laboratories. Firstly, they are used to deliver the Sport and Exercise Science programmes offered by the department. The work undertaken facilitates the academic lectures and gives the students substantial experience in the practical techniques associated with assessing human responses scientifically. Our second major role is to provide an environment where staff can conduct research. The laboratory-based research has secured significant funding through recent Research Assessment Exercise submissions. We also conduct research for external agencies. Consultancy work is the third aspect, with the equipment available for athletes to use supported by scientific and technical support from us to help them perfect their performance and achieve their goals.Apart from overseeing the running of the laboratories, I also lecture on Physiology.

Dan Stretch: The team is responsible for making sure the equipment is calibrated and measuring accurately so that assessments can be interpreted with confidence by staff, students or external athletes. I also give technical support for analysis.

Matt: Apart from supporting the programmes and research taking place,

I teach a BTec Sport at The Canterbury High School and conduct research for my PhD.

Natalie: Like Matt, I give technical support for the teaching and research which takes place, teach at The Canterbury High School and am also completing my PhD.

Do others have pre-conceptions about what you and your team do?Most people think that sport science is just about playing a sport. It is the application of biology, chemistry and physics, to human movement, exercise and sport. You don’t have to be good at sport at all. The majority of the degree is theory and the practical skills complement this to provide an insight into the way scientific support is integrated into the real world of top-level sport. Our graduates have a number of options open to them. Some go on to teach in schools, others into the area of health, performance analysts, or into the fitness and leisure industry.

What do individuals within the team enjoy most and least about their roles?Damian: Most: it’s a really enjoyable place to work, buzzing with students and athletes and there is a lot very interesting research going on. Least: students who don’t turn up for organised laboratory sessions which help their learning experience.

Dan Stretch: Most: working with external people – conducting school and college visits and inspiring young people in the world of sport and exercise, and helping athletes from all disciplines to improve performance. Least: the admin.

Dan Tolhurst: Most: the variety of work with the challenge of supporting this work. Least: Equipment that breaks down and needs fixing immediately.

Natalie: Most: the opportunity I have been given to work as a laboratory technician, teach and do a PhD. Least: at least one student per year doesn’t adhere to the ‘don’t eat before your practical session’ guideline.

Matt: Most: variety – teaching and giving sport science support to athletes. Least: unsociable hours at times.

What big team projects are coming up?Student applications are strong once again, so we are expecting to increase the support we give to the programmes. There is an increase in research projects and we plan to increase our visits to schools and colleges.

How does the team unwind after a busy project?We all unwind by actually taking part in recreational sports, whether it’s cycling, football or hockey. We can take the opportunity to just purely enjoy it! Ph

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Having first opened its doors to 60 students in 2000, the Broadstairs Campus has grown in both reputation and facilities.

round one thousand full-time and part-time students are now studying at the University’s Broadstairs Campus.

The creation of the Campus was an important step for the Isle of Thanet, as an area with less than average participation in higher education and with special economic status. Its development provided an important regenerative injection, welcomed by the local authority, schools and colleges.

Having first established itself in the areas of business and of health, the Campus rapidly expanded and now offers programmes ranging from Commercial Music and Photography to Policing and Early Years Education.

Overseeing the development of the Campus is Dr Andrew Gower, who became Campus Director in June 2007. He came to the position from a background in music, but his vision and ambition for Broadstairs Campus is all encompassing.

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Broadstairs

Spring / 2010 13

We asked him about his plans and aspirations for the Campus.

“The opening of a Campus on the Isle of Thanet 10 years ago is clear evidence of the University’s commitment to widening participation in higher education and its wish to contribute fully to the communities it serves.

“The decision to locate the Campus in Westwood has proved well judged as it’s at the centre of the Isle, with new amenities such as the Westwood Cross shopping and leisure centre nearby. I think we’re also well positioned to contribute to major local projects, such as the regeneration of Margate, which of course includes the opening of the new Turner Contemporary Art Gallery next year.

“These are exciting times for Thanet and our Campus in particular. We have built upon the strong foundations and developed a range of courses which sustain a strong core of public service provision, diversified through specialist study in applied areas of Business Management, Media and Music.”

Broadstairscelebrates its10th

anniversary


The University’s work in Margate has helped us develop our regeneration plans. Both students and staff are involved in some of the flagship projects, such as Dreamland and the Turner Centre. We feel that the University is crucial to the future of Margate and hope to build on our earlier successes.

Derek Harding, Programme Manager, Margate Renewal Partnership.

“I’m delighted, for instance, that the Department of Media has decided to forge new ground with the introduction of courses in Web Design and Graphic Design.

“Our confidence in shaping new academic areas is undoubtedly strengthened by our links to industry. For example, in recent years the Campus gained status as both an Apple and Adobe Accredited Training Centre. This accreditation allows students to take additional professional qualifications that are certified by these companies alongside their studies, which will enhance their employability after graduation.

“Our Policing, Early Years Education, and aspects of Health and Social Care programmes have proved to be really popular as well with local students and clearly meet particular local needs.

“Our Early Years Education programme, with a focus on the Government’s theme of ‘every child matters’, is locally relevant as Thanet has the highest level of ‘looked after’ children in the county. And interestingly, applications for our Policing Studies programmes have grown. I think this signifies the ambition of people to serve their local community.

“We have also built, and are continuing to build, a great reputation in music and now have our own record label, C3U Records. Music by four bands drawn from the Commercial Music course has been released this year, via iTunes and Amazon, and the bands have just completed a six date tour of venues within the University network, as well as three venues in London.

“The University’s reputation in the creative arts is very much down to both the success

of our students as well as the contribution made by staff. In order to produce exceptional creative work there are excellent facilities which include a photographic studio and dark room, specialised computing suites, music rehearsal rooms, and three multi-track recording studios.

“In terms of the future, the imminent opening of the Turner Centre will open up opportunities for our music and media students, as will the redevelopment of Dreamland Heritage Amusement Park, which is planning to include an exhibition of popular culture when it reopens.

“We’re also currently contributing to discussions about the development of training in the area of renewable energy. Thanet is benefiting from substantial investment in wind farms by international energy companies such as Vattenfall and Dong, and it’s therefore important for us to consider, with Thanet College, how we might serve the future training needs of this growing sector of employment.

“Continuing our links, we are actively working with the University Centre Folkestone and growing a complementary range of courses

in the two locations, with Broadstairs focusing on Music and Media, and Folkestone on Performing Arts and Visual Arts, with the Quarterhouse Theatre as a particular focus.

“Whilst celebrating the first 10 years of our Campus at Broadstairs we look forward to an exciting future. We’ll continue to build on our achievements, and develop new postgraduate opportunities. The well-supported, collegiate student experience at Broadstairs is proving to be very popular, and we’ll continue to increase the number of students – international, national and local – who choose to study here.

“It’s also important to continue to enhance the ways in which the Campus serves as a civic centre for the community.”

There will be a service to celebrate the 10th anniversary at Holy Trinity Church, Cliftonville at 5.30pm on Wednesday 2 June, and then a Reception on Campus, with music performances by students and staff.

For details, contact Debbie Byford by email, [email protected].

Hartsdown Technology College is proud of their Partnership Accord which has benefited many students who have gained places on Canterbury Christ Church University courses. We have also been very grateful for the use of the campus for our National Challenge Maths and English days. The students benefited from working in a University environment which raised their aspirations and grades. Thanks as well to Andrew Gower from the Thanet Head teachers for allowing us to use the University’s facilities for the 14-19 Planning Forum meetings and the Thanet Headteacher meetings.

Andy Somers, Principal Hartsdown Technology College

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Spring / 2010 15

As the UK comes to terms with the implications of the recession, Higher Education, like many other sectors, faces the pressure of funding uncertainty.

We spoke to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Michael Wright, about how Canterbury Christ Church is preparing for the future funding challenges.

Q: What is your response to news that Higher Education funding is reducing?

A: Clearly people are acutely aware of what has been happening around the world and the financial problems being felt in this country in particular. This is bound to have an impact on HE funding. Whichever Government is elected, this position is not going to change. Higher Education institutions will need to look carefully at their balance sheets and undoubtedly look at areas which provide additional income.

Q: Has the University experienced anything like this before?

A: There’s no doubt it is a challenging time and it may continue, but it’s not the first time the University has faced local or national financial pressure. Some time ago my predecessor was told that the then College needed to close, so in that context our challenge is nowhere near as difficult. There were also national reductions in public funding in the early nineties due to recession, and we had to deal with significant cuts. Again, we are in a stronger position this time, but it is up to us to demonstrate our value now and in the future.

Q: How is Canterbury Christ Church positioned?

A: Like most, we have been aware that these reductions were on the horizon. The analogy I use is that we have known there is a cliff face somewhere out there and our strategy has been to arrive at these reductions as well placed as we can be, so the cliff is not as high and not as steep.

The Higher Education Council for England did recently announce an 8.3% increase in our recurrent grant, however this is only a quarter of our overall funding (our other income streams come from the Training and Development Agency – TDA – and the NHS). So we do need to look at the bigger picture when we prepare the budget for 2010/11.

Q: Why did we receive this increase?A: The position almost entirely reflects

additional 600 funded places for 2010/11 which colleagues have worked hard to secure over the last year. These numbers have been allocated for a range a purposes including support for our work at our Medway, Folkestone and Broadstairs Campuses and also supporting a range of subjects including the Health Sciences.

Q: We have invested heavily in new buildings and facilities in the past year. Will this set our budget back for the future?

A: No, these developments are part of a longer term vision of capital investment which is critical to our future success. If we hadn’t invested in our library, sports and student facilities, we would be in a much weaker position in the future in terms of attracting students and staff and providing them with services needed by a modern university.

Funding the future


The doors to both Augustine House Library and the Sports Centre have now been open for more than six months.

Both buildings were part of an exciting programme of investment for the University, as it realised a major phase of its ambition for improved facilities for students and staff.

Augustine House is now used by thousands of students as part of their day to day study, while the Sports Centre is building up a healthy membership list of sporting devotees. All in all, both centres are making a real impression.

But have these new facilities lived up to student and staff expectation? We asked students and staff using Augustine House and Canterbury Christ Church Sports Centre how the new buildings are impacting on their studies and sporting life.

Augustine House and Christ Church Sports Centre six months on...

Photograph: Peter Cook

Spring / 2010 17

Being a third year, I experienced the old library for two years and can really appreciate the new Augustine House building and what we, as students, have been provided with.

Even though it is located off the main campus, it has made a positive impact on my studies. I am never put off going there as I know there will always be a free space to work, plus there are no more queues for a computer thanks to the i-borrow laptops.

The spacious and bright areas allow for a more relaxed and sociable atmosphere which you don’t mind spending all day in... This has been perfect for revision days! Jessica Potter, student Human Resource Management with Marketing

Generally, everyone is impressed by the design of Augustine House and its light and airy feel. Feedback from students has been very positive – they like the space and the variety of places they can work which can be adapted to suit themselves and the mix of facilities such as computers and books located close to each other. They feel that the building is very much a student space.

Library staff like the fact that there is a lot more space, which gives them the chance to interact in new ways with both the students and colleagues in other support departments.

Wendy Sage, Academic Services Librarian

The new Sports Centre has helped me personally helping me with my strict and intense pole vault strength, conditioning and weight lifting training programme. I use the gym’s weights a lot and it is great facility to work out in.

Its vast range of equipment, facilities and weights, along with a friendly, welcoming and supportive staff, who are entirely interested in my progress and well-being, make the Sports Centre one of a kind in the local area and, in my opinion, no other venue comes close within the South East area.

Nick Moore, student Sport and Exercise Science with Geography and Sports Scholar

The new Sports Centre has contributed to raising the bar for sport and physical activity at Christ Church. Recently I watched the highly competitive Varsity fixtures from the gallery. For the first time, Christ Church students had sports centre facilities that they could call their own – this gave them added confidence and there were more opportunities for crowd participation!

Kim Debling, Sports and Recreation Officer

Some anonymous comments were:The place has got a buzz about it – I look forward to coming here but sometimes it ends in disappointment if I can’t find a computer.

Would like more desks available in the library – room to spread out papers and use laptop.

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in disappointment if I can’t find a computer.

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in disappointment if I can’t find a computer. ‘‘

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Consultancy for the Faculty of Business and Management, said:

It’s a wonderful result for the students involved. They have displayed excellent teamwork, drive and commitment throughout the competition, and thoroughly deserve the success they have achieved so far. The students have been excellent ambassadors for both the Faculty and, indeed, our University.

‘‘ It’s a wonderful result for the students ‘‘ It’s a wonderful result for the students

BUSINESS FOCUS

BUSINESS FIRST SUCCESSES

IBM BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Each issue, we’ll be bringing you the latest news from our business teams.

First class project to beat the recession

Based at Hall Place Enterprise Centre, our Business Services team provides a single point of contact – making it easier for businesses to get in touch with the University. The new Business Services web pages, launched in November 2009 to coincide with the launch of the Faculty of Business and Management, give our business contacts a clear overview of the services we can provide. Our Hall Place team is expertly trained to manage enquiries from businesses looking for student placements, consultancy or knowledge transfer opportunities with our wide range of academics.

For more information email: [email protected] or visit our website: www.canterbury.ac.uk/business-services

A recession-busting scheme, matching skilled graduates with Kent’s small and medium sized businesses, is proving a great success with 46 graduates who have been successfully placed in companies.

More than 110 businesses have submitted bids for graduates through Business First, a project funded through the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Economic Challenge Investment Fund.

The scheme, run by Canterbury Christ Church in partnership with the Universities of Kent, Greenwich and the Creative Arts, involves

intensive two-week training to ensure the graduates are prepared for the project-based placement. So far, four graduates have successfully secured permanent positions within their placement company, and another five have gone on to acquire permanent jobs. With nine graduates due to complete their placement at the end of March, it is anticipated that permanent employment will continue.

The expectation by the end of the project (September 2010), is to have trained 90 unemployed graduates and to have placed 60 of the trained graduates into placements.

A team of business students from Canterbury Christ Church University are celebrating after beating off competition from 270 teams to win fourth place in the 12th Annual IBM University Business Challenge.

The IBM University Business Challenge is one of the biggest undergraduate competitions in the UK with over 1,300 students taking part from 75 university faculties. Dr Wim van Vuuren, Director of Business

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Spring / 2010 19

BOOK REVIEWSA Portrait of the Arsonist as a Young Man by Andrew McGuinness

When a publishing house is razed to the ground and a Ukrainian cleaner dies in the blaze, no one suspects young bookseller, Ben Tippet. Beneath his charming facade there lurks a compulsive liar with a chronic personality disorder. Exposed by his need to be famous, betrayed by his novelist lover and about to stand trial for murder, Ben begins his darkly humorous autobiography: tales of a dysfunctional family, secrets, loves and losses. Scratch the surface of his portrait and a bolder canvas shines through; the landscape of a celebrity-obsessed world.

Is Ben a criminal or the wannabe victim of a society we’ve all created?

Andrew McGuinness is a Lecturer in Creative Writing in the English Department.

A Portrait of the Arsonist as a Young Man is published by Bluechrome, 2009 and costs £10.99.

Spooks: The Unofficial History of MI5 by Tom Hennessey and Claire Thomas

‘PO Box 500, London W2’ – the nondescript address from behind which one of the world’s most famous secret services hid: MI5. Drawing on previously secret sources, this book lifts the lid on Britain’s Security Service in its battle against German and Soviet espionage. It tells the sensational stories of the officers and agents and the enemies they confronted, from MI5’s creation in 1909 under the direction of Vernon Kell, Britain’s first spymaster. The book also reveals MI5’s greatest failure: despite an outstanding record against German espionage, it failed to prevent Soviet agents like Anthony Blunt penetrating the heart of the British establishment, including MI5 itself. Finally the authors look at MI5’s role in the post-Cold War world; in particular, they consider its changing role as it took on the main responsibility in countering terrorist threats to Britain, including the failure to stop the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005.

Tom Hennessey is a Reader in History.

Spooks: The Unofficial History of MI5 is published by Amberley Publishing and costs £30.

Behaviour for Learning by Simon Ellis and Janet Tod

This book supports teachers and other professionals in maintaining an evaluative stance in Simon and Janet’s work in schools.

The Behaviour for Learning approach has been developed from funded research and is grounded in the work of the Faculty of Education. The book offers an alternative to the dominant discourse of behaviour management through the use of the term ‘learning behaviour’. It presents a conceptual framework that focuses attention on the development of three interdependent relationships – with self, with other and with the curriculum – that underpin the development of learning behaviour.

Simon Ellis is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Professional Development and Professor Janet Tod is a Consultant to the Education Research Directorate.

Behaviour for Learning is published by Routledge and costs £21.99.

Understanding Criminal Investigation by Steve Tong, Robin Bryant and Miranda Horvath

Understanding Criminal Investigation presents a critical in-depth analysis of key issues in criminal investigation. The book focuses on key issues and debates surrounding the history of policing, performance management, theories of investigations and reasoning. Contributions from a psychological perspective include eye–witness testimony, interviewing and profiling and the broader impact of the criminal justice system on investigative practice.

Other topics addressed include the investigation of sexual offences, the use of forensic science, and issues relating to police and detective training and professionalism. This book provides the essential insights into the challenging issues faced by contemporary law enforcement professionals.

Steve Tong is a Principal Lecturer and Robin Bryant is Director of Criminal Justice Practice, in the Department of Law and Criminal Justice Studies.

Understanding Criminal Investigation is published by Wiley & Sons and costs £32.99.

Q&A


Renowned newscaster John Suchet launches his campaign at our North Holmes Campus, Canterbury, for more Admiral Nurses to be made available nationwide.

John Suchet is one of the most recognisable newscasters in the country, having graced our screens for over 30 years. He will be speaking at Dementia Care – A Positive Future conference in May at our North Holmes Campus, Canterbury, where he will also launch his campaign for For Dementia and Admiral Nurses.

John started his career as a reporter for Reuters and, after a short time with the BBC, joined ITN, covering major events around the globe. He remained with ITN for more than 30 years before taking a break in 2004 and then returned to newscasting with Channel Five in 2006.

He has been honoured for both roles. He won Television Journalist of the Year in 1986 and Television Newscaster of the Year in 1996. The Royal Television Society (RTS) awarded John its highest honour – a Lifetime Achievement Award. At the RTS’s 2008 annual awards for excellence in television news, the judges praised John’s 35 years as a television journalist, as both reporter and newscaster.

Another of his passions is music and, in particular, Beethoven. He has written and lectured on this subject and now gives talks, with piano accompanist, in theatres and concert halls around the country.

More recently, John has immersed himself in supporting the charity For Dementia and Admiral Nurses, who are specialist nurses working with families living with dementia. John’s wife, Bonnie, was diagnosed with the disease four years ago and he has spoken out about the frustration and despair it can cause to families.

We spoke to him about his career, his passions and his involvement with dementia.

What inspired you to go into journalism?

My grandfather was a press photographer for more than 50 years. When I was a child he used to fill my head with stories of far-off places he had been to and events he had covered.

Which role did you enjoy most – reporter or newscaster and why?

It was never my ambition to be a newscaster. All I ever wanted to be was a reporter, and when the Editor of ITN told me he wanted me to stop reporting to become a newscaster, I resisted. In the event, it was a perfect transition. Newscasting gives you just as much of an adrenalin rush as reporting, but with no bullets flying over your head.

Is there any event you covered which particularly stands out in your memory?

Two events above all others. The Iran revolution of 1979. I flew back with Ayatollah Khomeini from exile in Paris to Tehran, and witnessed the first modern Islamic fundamentalist revolution. The following year I was in Afghanistan covering the Soviet invasion. On one occasion my crew and I were captured by Soviet soldiers and put up against a wall. We thought we were in front of a firing squad. I must also mention the Philippines revolution, the last major story I covered before becoming a newscaster, for which I won the Royal Television Society Journalist of the Year award.

Have you had any embarrassing moments?

As a reporter, a well known supermodel threatened to “smash my bleedin’ face in”, when I suggested her newborn baby daughter didn’t have her looks. As a newscaster, there are embarrassing moments every day. The sound breaks down, or the picture freezes, or you turn to the wrong camera, or your earpiece falls out, or autocue breaks down, or you cough, or sneeze, or (worst of all) laugh…

What is the best part of your job?

Knowing you are going into millions of living rooms, and the people watching you trust you (hopefully).

What is the worst?

Knowing you are going into millions of living rooms, and you say something you didn’t mean to say.

Which media do you prefer first thing in the morning – newspaper, radio or television, and why?

It used to be the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 every morning. Now it is Sky News. We live in a visual age. Radio cannot compete with television when it comes to events like the Iraq war, the tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake, 9/11, 7/7…

When did you become interested in music?

I am a failed musician. At school I was a good trombonist, played the hymns on the piano at evening service, and made up my mind to become a professional musician. Fortunately for the world of music

John Suchet

Spring / 2010 21

Photograph: Rhonda Smith

I changed my mind. Whether the world of journalism has reason to be grateful is for others to judge.

Why Beethoven particularly?

At first I only knew the angry stuff, then I discovered the most gentle lyrical music I had ever heard. Whatever my mood, there is always something of Beethoven’s to satisfy it.

Once, I was steaming towards Beirut during the Lebanese civil war on an overnight ferry from Cyprus, when most people would have been going in the opposite direction. I had never felt so lonely in my life. A blast of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony into my head on my battered old Walkman did the trick.

Do you enjoy performing live?

All the television I have ever done has been live. It means you have to get it right first time. No second chances, no safety net underneath that high wire. Live television, or live performing on stage, is the biggest rush in the world.

Which do you prefer, giving lectures, writing or performing?

Impossible to answer. Take any element of my life away from me – giving live talks, doing live television, writing – and I will be bereft.

You have recently become involved with dementia charities, why is this?

My wife Bonnie was diagnosed with dementia in February 2006. It changed our lives. I was fortunate to have access to an Admiral Nurse. When I found out that

there are only around 70 Admiral Nurses in England and Wales, none in Scotland or Northern Ireland, and that I only had access to one because I happened to live in an area where the local NHS Trust provides them, I decided to do something about it.

What effect does the disease have on you and your family?

Not much. It just changes your life for ever.

You have also written a book on this – can you tell us more about it?

It was the publisher’s idea, not mine. After she saw my interviews following my ‘going public’ about Bonnie in February 2009, a senior editor from HarperCollins (HC) asked me to write ‘the love story’. She also said HC would donate a percentage of their royalties to Dementia UK. I said yes. I finished the book last March. It is published on May 27, immediately following this conference, and is called My Bonnie. Every copy sold will bring a donation to Dementia UK.

What path do you now see your future taking you – have you any unfulfilled ambitions?

I have given up predicting and planning. Who would have thought my relationship with Bonnie would fall victim to dementia? I believe that whether you develop dementia, or cancer, or any other illness, or whether you get run over by a bus tomorrow, is a total lottery. For the rest of my life I shall take each day as it comes.

Looking back on your life, what is your proudest achievement?

To have persuaded Bonnie to share my life. No question.

Is there anything you would change?

Yes. I would like to have met Bonnie 20 years earlier. Oh yes, and if I could have been a brilliant virtuoso pianist too, that would have been nice.

John Suchet will be a guest speaker at a two day conference, Dementia Care - A Positive Future Conference which is being held on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 May 2010 at North Holmes Campus, Canterbury.

The conference is hosted by the Dementia Services Development Centre South East, with partners Dementia UK and Avante Partnership.

The international conference will explore a progressive and person-centred approach to caring for people with dementia.

Key speakers include: Barbara Pointon MBE, Dr William H Thomas, Dr Trevor Adams and Dr David Wilkie.


EVENTSArt at the Sidney Cooper Gallery

© Euphemia MacTavish – The Shoe, 2009

Euphemia MacTavish makes drawings and prints from an intense engagement with a specific place. Her observations have become an autonomous signature for everyday occurrences, a personal political stance. Her most recent works the panoramas and ‘Castles in the Air’ come from anger about war, destruction and the build-break-build fashion in town planning.

© George Rowlett – Poppy Field in Wind and Rain, St. Margaret’s, 2007

Immersing himself in the landscape around him, George Rowlett has developed a body of work that captures the essence of light and colour through a direct and inventive application of paint. The richness of the impasto surface that he achieves sets these paintings apart bringing an exciting dialogue between image and surface, light and form.

© Joseph Sevier – A Walled Garden

Leaving behind the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico, 20 years ago, Joseph Sevier set up his studio in a beautiful walled garden in Sandwich, Kent. Nature’s thriving generosity and abundance found its way into his unique vast canvases. Flowers fill the painted surfaces to bursting point. Over the years visitors to the studio have agreed to sit for paintings. This show brings together the people and the imaginative studio world to which they came to be painted.

PGCE Show, In the Making 30 June – 14 July

Creative Campus Initiative, The Improbable Curve 24 July – 31 July

Pure Form, Form and Influence 7 August – 21 August

This exhibition highlights the work of graduating BA Fine & Applied Art students from Canterbury Christ Church University Department of Art.

Works include ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and painting.

Euphemia MacTavish 17 April – 8 May Joseph Sevier 16 – 19 JuneBA Degree Show 29 May – 10 June

George Rowlett 17 April – 8 May

Sidney Cooper GallerySt Peter’s Street, Canterburywww.canterbury.ac.uk/sidney-cooper

Spring / 2010 23

Music programme Public lecturesSounds New week at Canterbury Christ Church UniversityFriday 7 May – Sunday 16 May Symbolism and Numerology in Music – The Number 7 For full details of films, talks, workshops, concerts visit www.soundsnew.org.uk or email [email protected] Music events are held at St Gregory’s Centre for Music, unless stated otherwise.

Dr David Starkey | Historian, broadcaster and writer

Reservation required, please email [email protected]

For further information on these events visit:www.canterbury.ac.uk/events/music

For further information visit:www.canterbury.ac.uk/events

The University also holds a series of Public Lectures during the year. Still to come in the spring series:

Tuesday 11 May | 6pmThe Vice Chancellor’s Lecture: Dr David StarkeyAUGUSTINE HOUSE, CANTERBURY

Saturday 8 May | 1pm TSchoenberg Post-Pierrot

Monday 10 May | 1pm TSequenza No 7 – One man’s love affair with the oboe

Tuesday 11 May | 1pm TXas

Wednesday 12 May | 1pm T7-UP!

Thursday 13 May | 1pm TThe Seventh Position

Thursday 13 May | 6.30pm TKlavierstücke 7

Friday 14 May | 1pm TUK Conservatoires Composers’ Concert

Saturday 15 May | 1pm TSeven Haiku

Saturday 15 May | 7pm TThe Number 7: The Creation and the Apocalypse

Sunday 16 May – CoMA Day | 1pm TSieben Tagen

Monday 10 May | 6 - 8pm Tuesday 11 May | 5.30pmInner Space Memorial (for JG Ballard)SIDNEY COOPER GALLERY

Monday 10 May – Friday 15 May 1pm and 7.30pm UCF Arts Festival UCF AND QUARTERHOUSE, FOLKESTONE

Wednesday 19 May | 1pm Composers’ Concert

Wednesday 26 May | 1pm First Year Showcase Concert

Wednesday 26 May | 7.30pm TChoral Concert CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL CRYPT

Wednesday 2 June | 8pm 10th Anniversary CelebrationHORIzONS, BROADSTAIRS

Tuesday 8 June | 8pm TCommercial Music End of Year ShowQUARTERHOUSE, FOLKESTONE

Friday 11 June | 7.30pm TMaggini Quartet with David Campbell (clarinet)

Saturday 12 June | 7.30pm TProm Concert CHAPEL (NORTH HOLMES ROAD, CANTERBURY)

T For tickets please call our booking line on 00 44 (0) 1227 782244

Saturday 8 May | 7pm TThe Seven SistersAUGUSTINE HALL

A rare performance of Iannis Xenakis’ monumental work for percussion Pleiades played by Britain’s leading percussionists led by Julian Warburton. Also works by Elliott Carter and John Cage and a world première by Basil Athanasiadis.Tickets: £15 (students £7.50).

Wednesday 19 May | 6pm The future of public healthOLD SESSIONS HOUSE, CANTERBURY

Professor Richard Parish | Chief Executive Officer, Royal Society for Public Health

Reservation required, please call 00 44 (0) 1227 782266

Thursday 20 May | 6pm Developing professional practice 0-7OLD SESSIONS HOUSE, CANTERBURY

Professor Sonia Blandford | Director of Research and Development, Teach First

No reservation required.

Help us achieve

our vision

The St Gregory’s Development Project is Canterbury Christ Church University’s initiative to create a purpose-built centre for music in Kent. The centre will include a concert auditorium and a suite of rehearsal facilities where music can be studied, practised and enjoyed by the whole community.

You can help us achieve this goal by becoming a Friend of St Gregory’s.

Membership costs only £25 per person and, by joining, you will become an associate of the most innovative and far reaching development in music within Kent for decades and directly support the project financially.

For more information, or to register telephone 01227 782995 or visit

www.canterbury.ac.uk/morethanaconcerthall

Become a Friend of the St Gregory’s

Development Project

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