Together: An anthology from the COVID-19 pandemic is the fundraiser book compiled by authors Dev Aditya and Dr Pauldy Otermans, two former Brunel students. The publication collects the global human experiences, emotions and stories from the time of the pandemic. The 100 contributors, from 5 continents, 50% BAME authors, express themselves through poems, prose, letters and art.
The project was created to support and fund movements, frontline services and initiatives, while fighting the COVID-19 virus. The main beneficiary in the UK is the National Health Service (NHS) with 90% allocation of funds raised and 10% is donated monthly to selected non-UK organisations in need of resources to perform their duties. Visit the website for more information and here to donate.
When the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) challenged students to present their best dissertation work, Noah Ergen, an Politics and International Relations student, raised to the occasion. Under the current circumstances the student produced a pre-recorded video of his dissertation on the topic Hypersonic Missiles and the Revolution in Military Affairs. The video is available on OUR YouTube page, where you can also view other student projects. Noah is the recipient of a prize awarded by Dr Louise Owusu-Kwarteng, the project lead.
In addition to his academic achievements, Noah is also a virtual student federal service (VSFS) Intern with USAID producing research and analysis documents for distribution to multiple organisations throughout the U.S. Government.
Congratulations to Noah on the successful achievement!
Greenwich scholars Dr Giulia Zampini and Dr Camille Stengel (School of Law and Criminology) were involved in a research study evaluating student experiences of undergraduate modules taught inside prisons. Both academics evaluated a prison-university partnership with HMP Swaleside (a men’s prison) and the University of Kent, who run a final year undergraduate criminology module in Swaleside for both University of Kent students and men inside the prison.
The sign at the entrance to HMP Downview
This partnership is based on the global educational initiative known as the Inside Out Prison Exchange Programme. The Inside Out module involves an equal mix of ‘inside’ students (people in prison) and ‘outside’ students (people at university) studying alongside each other in the prison environment for one academic term. The second part of the research study involved colleagues from the University of Kent, evaluating the optional level five Inside Out module run in partnership with the University of Greenwich and HMP Downview (a women’ prison). Inside and outside students were interviewed twice: once before the modules started in order to gauge their expectations of the class, and a second time after the module ended.
Inside and outside students in the prison-university partnerships highlighted several key benefits they experienced during the Inside Out classes, including a feeling of connectedness across and among difference via their exposure to different view and opinions, increased confidence in their academic skills, and a more enhanced understanding of the criminal justice system. One University of Greenwich student said that Inside Out: “creates the kind of learning that couldn’t happen anywhere else”. A summary of the research findings can be found in the research briefing that was presented during a School of Law and Criminology Research Lunch in November 2019. The research evaluation was funded by the Peter Harris Trust and the University of Kent Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty Research Fund.
Congratulations to Dr Giulia Zampini and Dr Camille Stengel for the outcome of your collaboration and for stealing the spotlight!
