Yet another successful

semester has come to an

end. With all the hustle

and bustle of Welcome

Week, followed by few

weeks of getting the hang

of University again and

then the rush of assign-

ments and deadlines, it is

exciting to think that you

can finally have a breather

over Christmas break.

Exciting this prospect may

be but most of you will to

some degree be haunted

by the stresses of upcom-

ing January exams and

deadlines.

Happy Holidays

Your Programme Administrators

As ever, you are more

than welcome to talk to

your programme adminis-

trators about any technical

or practical issues regard-

ing your course. For you,

your main contact should

be Katrina Clark. You

can contact her via email:

Katri-

na.Clark@manchester.ac.

uk or 0161 275 3637. Oth-

er important administra-

tive contacts are

Caroline Turner, Senior

Programme Administrator

(Caroline.Turner@manch

ester.ac.uk, 0161

2756890) and

Emma Moores, PGT

Programme Administrator

(Emma.Moores@manches

ter.ac.uk, 0161 275 6897)

“Hi Everyone, Just a

quick message from me to

let you know that the Un-

dergraduate Office will be

closed from 4pm on Fri-

day 19th December 2014

until 9am Monday 5th

January 2015. I hope that

you will all have a relax-

ing Christmas vacation

and return revived and

refreshed for the January

2015 examinations and

coursework submissions.

Wishing you all a Merry

Christmas and a Happy

New Year”—Caroline

The University of Manchester

Tuesday 23rd December 2014 Volume 1, Issue 2

Geography

Contacts

Martin Evans Head of Geography 0161 275 3640 Martin.g.Evans@manchester.ac.uk James Evans Director of UG Programmes 0161 276 6680 James.z.Evans@manchester.ac.uk Jen O’Brien First Year Advisor 0161 275 6895 Jennifer.O’Brien@manchester,ac.uk Chris Perkins Study Abroad Programmes Director 0161 275 3651 Chris.Perkins@manchester.ac.uk Angela Harris Msc GIS Programme Director 0161 275 0315 Angela.Harris@manchester.ac.uk Maria Kaika Msc EG Programme Director 0161 275 3876 Maria.Kaika@manchester.ac.uk Gareth Clay UG Dissertation Advisor 0161 306 6426 Gareth.Clay@manchester.ac.uk Jason Dortch

Msc EMMR Programme Director 0161 275 3673

Inside this

issue:

University News 2

Staff Spotlight 3

Exams and Wellbeing 4

School of Environment, Education and Development

These things cannot be

avoided, unfortunately but

they can be tackled. Your

School and University are

well

equipped

with various

ways to

make your

workload

manageable.

This short newsletter fea-

tures ways that you can

increase your wellbeing

and reduce stress as well

as what the library

has on offer to help you in

the new year. You can

also read a few stories

happening around the

University, interview

with a much loved Ge-

ographer

For now, we wish you all

a very Merry Christmas

and a fantastic New

Year. Relax and enjoy

your time off and we will

see you all on the other

side.

Ismahan Abdullah

As well as being an excel-

lent environment for teach-

ing and learning, the Uni-

versity is involved in some

heavy research behind

closed doors. All of its suc-

cess is celebrated and right-

ly so as many of the re-

search have practical, real-

world impact.

The Animated Urbanism

competition was a chance

for researchers to dissemi-

nate their work to a wider

audience and portray the

social impact of this re-

search by submitting short

animations. We had 5 win-

ners: Federico Cugurullo,

Deljana Iossifova, Erik

Swyngedouw, Japhy Wilson

and Stephen Hincks.

You can check out the ani-

mations by visiting

www.cities.manchester.ac.u

k/resources/animation

in UK and it is suggested to

rise to 1.7 million by 2050.

Dementia Friends is a Gov-

ernment funded national

initiative and it is run by

the Alzheimer’s Society.

Dementia Friends trains

students and staff at the

University to understand a

little bit more about demen-

tia and what it is like living

with it. Consequently, you

will then turn your under-

standing into practical ac-

Dementia is

one of the

University’s

social respon-

sibility flag-

ship programmes. The Uni-

versity is passionate about

dementia, as shown in how

much the Faculty of Medi-

cal and Human Sciences

prioritizes this area of re-

search.

There are about 800,000

people living with dementia

tion including raising

awareness, fundraising in

your circles, programmes,

school and even faculties

and much more. You will

become the face of demen-

tia awareness at the Univer-

sity.

For more extensive infor-

mation, please visit: http://

bit.ly/1yCkp0T

Animated Urbanism Series

Dementia Friends

Social Responsibility at Manchester Social responsibility in es-

sence describes how we are

making a difference in the

social and economic well-

being of our communities.

As students are the back-

bone of University, it is vital

that the University ensures

you as students and later on

as graduates exercise social

responsibility .

There are a few initiatives

that you can take part that

a) makes a difference in the

community and b) ensures

you graduate with more

than just a degree.

Social responsibility is one

of the three big strategic

goals that the University

has developed alongside

delivering world-class re-

search and outstanding

learning and student expe-

rience.

Page 2

Geography

Brought to you by the Stu-

dents’ Union, Student Ac-

tion is a volunteering or-

ganisation that motivates

students to participate and

manage their own com-

munity projects that will

benefit people from the

community.

There are many projects

to choose from including

volunteering at a Women’s

shelter, homeless support

and working with children

with disabilities. All these

projects give you the chance

to do something worthwhile

alongside your degree, de-

velop some skills and make

good connections. There are

plenty more and you can

view these at http://

bit.ly/1cpbEvn.

Student Action

Staff Spotlight phology. Still at UCL, I re-

searched for a doctoral the-

sis exploring the idea of soil

-landscape systems – don’t

ask!

How did your interest

in Geography begin and

consequently your par-

ticular field?

That’s easy as well. As a

child I was interested in

animals and plants, rocks

and minerals, and maps. I

spent many hours on wet

Saturday afternoons with

my cousin, now an explora-

tion geologist in Australia,

peering into the cases at the

British Museum (Natural

History), as it was then

called, and the Geological

Museum. I also spent a

deal of time at London Zoo

on regular family outings –

I have fond memories of

eating egg sandwiches in

the Parrot House at

lunchtime (the smell and

the noise linger in my mind

after all these years). At

secondary school, my inter-

est in natural history led to

my taking geography, geol-

ogy, zoology, and art at Ad-

vanced Level.

In your professional

career, what has been

your favourite project?

That’s easy(ish). I love writ-

ing. Above all, I love writing

books. I’d say my favourite

project is any project in-

volving book writing. But I

must say, I was delighted

when I was told that the

third edition of Fundamen-

tals of Geomorphology

would be in full colour –

that made the prospect of

seeing the finished project

even more exciting.

Tell us about your most

rewarding or satisfying

experience to date.

That’s not so easy. Let me

think. Winning the Gat-

We met with the bril-

liant Richard Huggett

and discussed his back-

ground, Geography and

Music.

Hi Richard, could you

tell us a little bit about

your academic and re-

search background?

That’s easy. Went to Uni-

versity College London to

read for a BSc in Geogra-

phy. Took the opportunity

to specialize in physical

geography courses in the

second and third years. I

think of myself as a physical

geographer with a special

interest in biogeography,

climatology, and geomor-

“Always

strive to do

your best

and to enjoy

life”

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 2

Alan Gilbert Learning Commons Monday 15/12/14—Wednesday 24/12/14 AGLC will be open from 9am to 9pm except for Saturdays and Sundays when AGLC closes at 5pm. AGLC is closed on 25/12/14 and 26/12/14 Saturday 27/12/14 – Sunday 04/01/15 AGLC will be open from 9am to 9pm except for Saturday and Sunday when AGLC closes at 5pm. Monday 05/01/15 —> 24/7 opening begins. Main Library Monday 15/12/14 – Wednesday 24/12/14 Main Library will be open from 8am to 8pm except for Saturday and Sunday when the opening and closing times change from 9am to 5pm. Main Library is closed from 25/12/14 until 04/01/15 Monday 05/01/15 Main Library is open as usual from 8am to 12am

Tell us something that

we may not know about

you.

Well, where do I start? I

have musical and dramatic

interests. I belong to

Poynton Gilbert & Sullivan

Society and have done since

1975. I’ve directed, acted,

and sung (baritone if you’re

interested) in many shows,

and I plan and conduct the

music for Christmas and

Spring concerts. I also play

the clarinet and recorder (I

was once in a group that

played early English music).

Since retiring, I’ve been

working on a something

that I’ve always wanted to

do but never before had the

time – to write a series of

science fantasy books. So

keep an eye out for The

Multiversal Chronicles.

Have you got any advice

for our students?

As far as possible, find a job

that suits you. Always strive

to do your very best and to

enjoy life.

Exams and Wellbeing The University also offers

ways to help you when it all

seems too much. First and

foremost, it

may be best

to talk to

your Aca-

demic Advi-

sor as a

starting point.

There is a dedicated Coun-

selling Service. They are a

team of professional coun-

sellors and psychothera-

pists who ensure a confi-

dential service. There are

also workshops

available including

ones on exam stress,

managing anxiety

and procrastination.

For more infor-

mation, visit http://

bit.ly/1uY4010

It’s that time of the year

again, exams and course-

work deadlines are ap-

proaching and stress levels

are through the roof.

However important these

things may be, it is vital

that you take care of your-

self during this period. Eat-

ing well, drinking plenty of

water and having a healthy

sleep schedule can go a long

way.

“There is a

dedicated

Counselling

Service. They

are a team of

professional

counsellors and

psychotherapis

ts who ensure

a confidential

service”

Page 4

Geography

Do you need space for group work?

From the 5th January 2015, you can book the Amazon

and Nile meeting rooms on the first floor from 10:00—

16:00. To book, go to the Student Information Desk on

the 2nd floor of Arthur Lewis Building.

Sconul Access Scheme

Whilst it may be lovely to be back home, away from

Manchester for a little while, it can get stressful

when you have deadlines to meet but are miles

away from the Library. Travelling back and forth to

Manchester is definitely not an option for a lot of

you but fear not because Sconul scheme is here.

The Sconul scheme is a reciprocal access scheme

with over 170 different Universities. Once you have

a valid Sconul card, you’ll be able to access these

Universities’ libraries. How handy is this?

For more information, visit www.sconul.ac.uk

Exam Extra

Visit Exam Extra to see the range of revision and

wellbeing workshops covering various topics includ-

ing academic writing and managing exam stress. They

are on offer during January, run by the Library. All

you need to do is book online and turn up on the day!

In addition, there are digital screens in the Main Li-

brary and the Learning Commons displaying space

and PC available in multiple study sites around the

campus.