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Celebrating our 2023/24 achievements – UCL Arts & Humanities
6 September 2024
As we look towards the start of the new academic year, 2023/24 saw a plethora of celebratory news and achievements from our departments.
“The 2023-24 academic year turned out to be a bit of an annus mirabilis, full of impact, creativity and recognition for our departments. Packed with highlights in research, successful student events, conferences and celebrations, we should all be rightly proud of the work we continue to do, building on our faculty’s substantial legacy. In this round-up, we will highlight a few of the many momentous celebrations from our departments across the past academic year, exemplifying the dedication of our academics and the enthusiasm of our students. Together, we showcase the enduring value of the arts and humanities.”
- Professor Stella Bruzzi, Dean of UCL Arts & Humanities
The Creative Arts and Humanities BA launched at UCL East with 37 students who have thrived on the degree. Hear from current students Eve, Dora, Mulan and Jade, who are about to enter Year 2, talk about their experience of studying this groundbreaking degree. Watch these student videos.
In August, Dr Ranjita Dhital’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funded project, Alcohol Co-design and Community Engagement (ACE) study delivered a successful Community Festival at Yasodhar Mahavihar, Bubahal, Patan, Nepal. Almost 200 diverse individuals from the local community, practitioners from arts and health organisations and government joined to engage in creative activities and interdisciplinary discussions on reducing alcohol-related harm in Nepal. Find out more about this project.
The annual Northcliffe Lecture was held on 1 March 2024 and delivered by novelist Rachel Cusk. The lecture was well attended with notable UCL English alumni joining, find out more.
Accolades for UCL English academics - Alison Shell elected Fellow of the British Academy and Bas Aarts elected to the Academia Europaea.
Survey of English Usage Events: across the 23-24 academic year the Survey held a wide range of events for students and teachers including, a student visit from Trinidad and Tobago, Japanese students attended the Meiji Summer School and teachers and students joined for English Grammar Day.
UCL European and International Social and Political Studies (EISPS)
Books from our academics released this year: Fluke by Brian Klaas and Les Tontons flingueurs de la gauche by Philippe Corcuff and EISPS's Philippe Marlière.
Emma Sihn (ESPS, 4th year) was named Academic Rep of the Year for Arts and Humanities. Congratulations, Emma! Find out more.
Dr Ala’a Shehabi, Associate Professor at EISPS is co-leading a project with the Urban Lab, Innovative Research on Energy Justice and Citizen Assemblies. Find out more.
Congratulations to Carlo De Cristofaro, BA Classics, on being awarded the UCL Arts & Humanities Faculty Medal. Find out more.
Professor Phiroze Vasunia was elected Fellow of the British Academy - congratulations! Professor Vasunia also takes up the gauntlet as Head of Department from 1 September 2024.
The 2024 Classical Play, Euripides' Bacchae, was performed from 7-9 February at Bloomsbury Theatre, 2100 tickets were sold and attendance at the pre-show talks and workshops was notably strong among both school students and theatre enthusiasts. Find out more.
Professor Sacha Stern is among nine UCL academics to have secured European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants. This year’s funding will support his research on astronomy, calendar and related sciences in Near Eastern cultures between the third and eighth centuries.
The Tytus Cytowski Rzeczpospolita Prize is a new postgraduate award from the department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, History and SSEES. Find out more.
Dr Charles Inskip was appointed Head of Department from September 2023.
Dr Kaitlyn Regehr’s research with the University of Kent and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) on social media algorithms amplifying misogynistic content to teens was released with extensive media coverage, and continues to influence policy on Online Safety.
The Library and Information Studies MA has received accreditation by the American Library Association (ALA). The programme is the first outside North America to be granted this status. Find out more.
UCL staff and students have collaborated to create and launch a website for First-Generation Philosophers.
Professor Lucy O'Brien received the academic accolade of being elected as a Fellow of the British Academy - congratulations Lucy!
UCL School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS)
Dr Kirsty Sinclair Dootson has been announced as BBC New Generation Thinker. Dr Dootson pitched a show on ‘The Dark Side of the Rainbow’ for which she was selected for the New Generation Thinker scheme, exploring the raw ingredients, labour and technologies that go into making colourful images.
Professor Claire Lindsay has been awarded a Research Project Grant from the Leverhulme Trust for her project Women Walkers in Latin America. This grant will fund a 3-year project (2025-2028) to produce the first cultural history of walking women in modern Latin America.
UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)
September 2023 saw the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) join the faculty fold and welcomed in new Director, Professor Richard Mole. During the year that followed, SSEES hosted/co-hosted ~90 public events and conferences attended by ~2,400 people, highlights including: Decolonising Language Studies Symposium II, Book launch: Visions of Inequality by Branko Milanovic and Does the Past have an Expiry Date? A conversation with Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel.
SSEES students saw some incredible successes this year: Freya Proudman won the National Student Pride Award, Andrea Tortella took centre stage on CNBC during World Economic Forum 2024 and Nikita Ristovski won prestigious Young Researchers Award from Central Bank of Macedonia.
Mary Evans was appointed Head of Department from October 2023.
UCL Slade School of Fine Art alumnus Jesse Darling won this year’s Turner Prize for his evocative exploration of societal breakdown in modern Britain. Find out more.
Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the Slade, was awarded the Provost Education Award for Enhancing Belonging.
This reflection on the past academic year allows us to anticipate the year to come with even more excitement. We look forward to welcoming new and returning students, to continuing our transformative research and to encouraging creative and critical thinkers to inspire others with their work.
Join us on our journey.
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