Bath Spa’s Changing Land-scape Research Group (CLRG) reveals long-forgotten histo-ries of natural-societal disas-ters in the Indian Himalayan Mountains. This rich seam of knowledge will help future disaster risk reduction policy and implementation efforts!

The Kullu Valley in India’s Himachal Pradesh State forms a small part of the vast Himalayan Mountain Range. The Kullu Valley is renowned for its natural beauty, com-plex succession of govern-ance, and diverse religious and cultural heritages. It also has the legacy of numerous disaster impacts associated with floods, landslides, earth-

quakes, droughts, plagues, snow avalanches etc. With a recent surge of economic development, in particular from tourism and hydro-electric power construction, Himachal Pradesh is undergo-ing rapid transition. As a con-sequence, questions of haz-ard dynamics, physical expo-sure and societal vulnerability-resilience are again being thrust into the limelight of policy makers, government officials, and local communi-ties.

Since 2013, CLRG has been working with a multi-disciplinary group of re-searchers in both Canada (University of Manitoba, Uni-

versity of Winnipeg) and India (Himachal Pradesh University, GB Pant Institute of Himala-yan Environment and Devel-opment). This international team is advancing under-standing of these complex societal challenges in line with evolving international calls for more effective disas-ter risk reduction (i.e. United Nations Sendai Framework, 2015-2030) and the Future Earth initiative for directed research on questions of global environmental change and global sustainability.

During February 2016, Dr Esther Edwards (Senior Lec-turer in GIS) and Dr Richard Johnson (Reader in Physical

Himalayan disaster histories in India’s Kullu Valley

GEOGRAPHY 2013

GEOGRAPHY 2016

Issue 4, July 2016

StARs 2015-16

Thank you to this year’s Student Academic Representatives (StARs) for all their hard work in helping us to continually im-prove Geography at BSU.

The StARs for 2015-16: Level 6: Annabelle Vaughan Level 5: Ashley Crapp Sarah Jacques Level 4: Max Balbernie Thank you to Scott Thomas, who was the School Representative for 2015-16

Inside this issue:

Himalayan disaster histories in

India’s Kullu Valley

1

Dr Jim Jeffers attends hazards

conference in USA

3

Student Prizes 3

Alumni news: Aletia Shaw in El

Salvador

4

College of Liberal Arts 6

Environmental Humanities at

Bath Spa

7

Graduation 2016 8

Iraq Heritage Management

Training Scheme

9

Alumni Association 9

Get Involved with Geography 10

@BathSpaGeog

Geography) teamed up with Mr Pushpam Kumar (BSU Alumnus, MA Creative Writing, pictured right) to explore historical archives in Chandigarh, spanning the era from British India to the cur-rent day, in both the Punjab State Archive and The Trib-une Newspaper. Provisional findings reveal a rich history of past disasters, many not recorded in disaster manage-ment plans or academic liter-ature. These findings rein-force the need to base socio-economic development in a robust understanding of envi-

ronmental and societal histo-ry. The time to contribute to this debate is now, as India is experiencing a development surge!

CLRG is using these successes as a foundation for new phas-es of inter-/ trans-disciplinary research with international project partners. Big interre-lated questions of environ-mental system dynamics, community engagement in development and the use of modern digital technologies to empower local communi-

ties remain. Bath Spa Univer-sity is well placed to contrib-ute to this international de-bate with its team of research scientists, social scientists, environmental humanities scholars and digital technolo-gy specialists.

Page 2 GEOGRAPHY 2016

Dr. James Jeffers, Senior Lec-turer in Human Geography recently attended the Haz-ards in Context MaGrann Research Symposium at Rut-gers University (New Jersey, USA). The symposium hon-oured the research and schol-arship of Prof. James K. Mitchell (Department of Ge-ography, Rutgers University) and explored future direc-tions for research on the so-cial science of natural haz-ards, disasters, and global environmental change.

Dr. Jeffers was invited to attend the symposium and to serve on its scientific steering committee as an emerging scholar in the fields of natural hazards and climate change adaptation, and as a former PhD student of Prof. Mitch-ell’s. His paper presentation at the symposium focused how environmental hazards are often framed in complex, dynamic and contradictory ways, and the implications of this for social science re-search on environmental challenges.

The symposium attracted researchers from a range of institutions and organisations including: the Global Environ-

ment Facility, Rutgers Univer-sity, University of Southern California, University of South Carolina, City University of New York and Morgan State University, as well as practi-tioners working in emergency planning consultancy and environmental policy in New Jersey and New York. A spe-cial issue of the Journal of Extreme Events will be pro-duced in the months ahead featuring some of the papers presented at the symposium

and Dr. Jeffers has been invit-ed to serve as a guest editor for this issue (with Dr. Mo-nalisa Chatterjee, University of Southern California).

The time spent at Rutgers University also provided op-

portunities to meet with col-leagues in the Department of Geography and the Depart-ment of Sociology. In addition to some inspiring conversa-tions discussing shared re-search interests, there were numerous opportunities to share insights and experienc-es on the challenges of teach-ing within a liberal arts based curriculum. Academic staff at Rutgers were intrigued and interested to hear about the development of our College

of Liberal Arts and keen to share insights from working in their School of Arts and Sciences. Despite the differ-ences between universities in the US and UK, there were many common experiences

The Most Promising Geogra-pher Prize (for the student enrolled on a Geography award with the highest mark in GE5030-40) is awarded to Fiona Harvey.

The Geography Project of the Year Prize (for the student with the highest mark in GE6001-40) is awarded to Annabelle Vaughan.

Congratulations to the win-ners of this year’s prizes awarded for excellence in Geography modules.

The Best New Geographer Prize (for the student en-rolled on a Geography award with the highest mark in GE4020-40) is awarded to David Hunn.

The Excellence in Global De-velopment and Sustainability Prize (for the GDS student with the highest combined aggregate in GE6001/6020-40 and GE6015-20) is awarded to Annabelle Vaughan.

Dr Jim Jeffers attends Hazards in Context Symposium in the USA

Student Prizes 2015-16

Page 3 GEOGRAPHY 2016

of challenges such as: student attendance and engagement, teaching students from outside your discipline, and imple-menting a system of graduate attributes across the curricu-lum. One particularly inter-esting conversation allowed a Rutgers colleague to enthusias-tically share his experiences of using games to engage students in large classes with the com-plex social, cultural political dimensions of contemporary environmental issues.

ness of the rights and capabil-ities of young people within the community, with the long-term aspiration of realising equal rights and increased respect and opportunities for young Salvadoreños/as.

Working side by side over a period of 3 months, we:

built a children’s play area using sustainable construction methods (pictured)

delivered school talks and workshops on the environment, sexual and reproductive health, and violence

organised sporting, so-cial, and cultural ex-change events for the local community

formed a theatre group and performed a play raising awareness about youth rights

supported local youth in developing a new policy to propose to local gov-ernment

The placement was a rare opportunity to work closely with local people on Interna-tional Development issues, while not having to fork out money for expenses or come from a specific academic/work background (the pro-gramme is funded by DFID

and is open to all young peo-ple from the UK aged 18-25 - see http:www.volunteerics.org/ ). It was a chance to exchange cultures, to share skills and knowledge, and to gain a greater understanding of lo-cal and global processes linked to poverty and ine-quality.

Although the 3 months were challenging, and there were

Page 4 GEOGRAPHY 2016

Alumni news—Aletia Shaw in El Salvador

Earlier this year, Oxfam pro-duced a report stating that the richest 1% of the world owns as much as the rest of the world, combined. The 62 richest people in the world own as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population. This extreme wealth is unsustainable, putting immense pressure on the world’s natural resources. All the while, the poorest half of the global population struggle to meet their basic needs, such as the need for clean drinking water, nutri-tious food and a decent edu-cation.

When I chose to volunteer in El Salvador last year, I was motivated to act upon this growing inequality. Increasing gang violence in the country makes it dangerous for young people to travel outside of their home communities. With only one public Univer-sity and low government so-cial investment, opportunities are extremely limited. Envi-ronmental issues, exacerbat-ed by extraction industries, are also increasingly im-pacting upon all aspects of people’s lives. 90% of the country’s water supply is pol-luted, leading to health and sanitation issues, and stretch-ing the resource that so many livelihoods depend upon ever thinner.

For the three months I was in-country, I lived and worked as part of a group of 25 young volunteers from the UK and El Salvador. The projects we planned and delivered were designed to address the is-sues affecting young people in the town of Santa Catarina Masahuat. Our short-term aim was to increase aware-

Page 5 GEOGRAPHY 2016

times when I wondered why I was there, having had time to reflect upon my experiences I would recommend a place-ment like this to anyone. There is so much to gain from working alongside people with different perspectives and life experiences to your own. I also felt I learned a lot about the realities and chal-lenges of ‘implementing De-velopment’ and monitoring & evaluation. Nothing was as you’d expect. This taught me patience, adaptability, under-standing and humbleness. I witnessed my own confi-dence and motivation grow, too, as I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. Since re-turning I have been to volun-teer twice in Calais to help with the ongoing refugee/migrant crisis, something I may not have done before-hand. My experiences in El Salvador have affirmed my desire to continue doing what I feel passionately about. I am lucky enough to have found a job working for an organisa-tion that supports the re-settlement of refugees (Ashley Community Housing), and I am also volunteering for a charity (FRANK Water) that helps hard-to-reach commu-nities in India establish water and sanitation projects.

I would like to thank Bath Spa

for providing me with the opportunity of traveling to India in my second year of University and for giving me the basis from which to de-velop my understanding of - and interest in - Global Devel-opment. In particular, the focus of my De-grees on the over-lap between local/global develop-ment and theories surrounding Com-munity and Sus-tainability are highly relevant in my current areas of work.

Some aspects of the placement were similar to what I had been expecting. Howev-er, the vast majori-ty of the place-ment was a com-plete eye opener, and here’s why:

Stereotypes

Before going on an ICS place-ment, you are told time and time again to arrive in your host country with an open mind - to ditch the precon-ceptions and to leave any stereotypes at home. I like to think of myself as non-judgemental, but it’s not until starting to live the day-to-day

realities of someone else’s life that you begin to unpeel the layers of assumption you have viewed people with. What surprised me most is that the stereotypes I held were positive - I was ex-pecting everyone I met to be

happy, and assumed I was going to be living with a big, welcoming, vibrant family. The reality I experienced was quite different at first. I real-ised it was strange of me to have assumed this. And it was a reminder that the same social issues exist everywhere - alcoholism, crime, unem-ployment.

Strength

Despite what we may view as shyness or reservedness, many people I met I know had immense inner strength. Strength is not always shown from the outside.

Patience

Empowerment is a buzzword in International Develop-ment. It can be communicat-ed in such a simplified way on charity websites and TV ad-verts. However, on my place-ment I realised how unrealis-tic it is to think that one workshop can empower a woman for life. Empower-

ment is about ongoing and long-lasting change, which takes time, patience, and commitment.

Safety & Security

The impact that lack of safe-ty/security has on people’s freedom, lives and way of thinking is phenomenal. High levels of gang violence force many young Salvadorans to stay within the region they are born, limited by the op-portunities within their local communities. With low gov-ernment investment in edu-cation and training for young people, this leaves many people with little to no pro-spects. I was given guidance to never walk on my own. The freedom I felt on my first day back as I left the house on my own was something I will never forget.

(Aletia graduated with a Ge-ography degree in 2015.)

February 1st 2016 saw the restructuring of the university into three different entities. Where previously there had been five schools of study, the new structure saw a re-shaping into three: The Bath School of Art and Design, the Institute for Education, and the College of Liberal Arts. All three are entities within the overarching framework of Bath Spa University. The rationale for the restruc-ture is rooted in the aims of the University’s Strategy 2020, in particular the adop-tion of a set of ambitious Graduate Attributes. These attributes are best achieved by a broad-based and flexible curriculum, encouraging inter and multi-disciplinary study with creative and imaginative links between the disciplines. The formation of the College of Liberal Arts is an important element of this new strategy. A Liberal Arts approach has been defined as: “an institu-tional clustering of subjects from the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences that respects intellectual and disciplinary diversity and that fosters creative and critical dialogues and collabora-tions”. The College of Liberal Arts aims to foster more inter-disciplinary and innovative working that enables stu-dents to build skills, knowledge and experiences

that will be fundamental to their future lives. Within the new College, stu-dents will be able to make connections between differ-ent subjects and disciplines, and to take modules in the arts, humanities, business and sciences, and choose ‘open’ modules or electives. These new opportunities will be offered by four fields of study within the College of Liberal Arts:

Bath Business School

Culture and Environment

Writing and Performance

Digital Academy Bath Business School Bath Business School offers courses underpinned by prac-tice-based interdisciplinary research. Enterprise and en-trepreneurial education is embedded within the curricu-lum. Staff and students are socially engaged and globally connected through business links, research, and profes-sional and creative industry networks. The establishment of Bath Business School offers an opportunity to refresh and expand the portfolio to in-clude a wider range of awards. The School will work across the College and the wider University to provide opportunities for students to undertake enterprise and entrepreneurship education, as well as develop transna-tional business and profes-sional skills. The Business

School will strengthen our links with creative and other industries, help raise our pro-file and reputation, and en-rich the curriculum across the College through applied inter-disciplinary research and con-sultancy activity Culture and Environment Culture and Environment brings together traditional subjects from the humanities, social sciences and sciences. As well as being the location for some well-established and popular undergraduate courses in the University, its creation reflects recent suc-cess in developing research activity that transcends disci-plinary boundaries. With a strong research presence and substantial external funding, there is a growing theme of interdisciplinary research that spans the humanities and the environment. Staff and stu-dents are encouraged to identify with a liberal arts curriculum. The more flexible curricula encourages engage-ment with civic society, pre-paring students for a globalis-ing world in which subject content ages rapidly and tra-ditional disciplines may be limited in their ability to ad-dress international issues and problems. Writing and Performance Writing and Performance brings together courses that include live performance as well as creative work by musi-

Formation of the College of Liberal Arts (CoLA)

Page 6 GEOGRAPHY 2015

cians, writers and actors in film and television. Through collaborative practice and a range of modular choices, students are encouraged to engage with the liberal arts agenda. Writing and Perfor-mance enhances employ-ment prospects by engaging students with the demands of a portfolio career and there-fore with BSU graduate attributes. This configuration of subjects, and their public-facing role, establishes BSU’s work as a local, national and international ‘brand’ whilst developing our cultural agen-da. This will be attractive be-cause it is relatively unusual to offer a diverse range of cognate subjects in a collabo-rative arrangement that facili-tates such varieties of crea-tive practice. Digital Academy The Academy brings together programmes that are charac-terised by their potential for creative collaboration and are at the vanguard of innovative approaches to curriculum design, teaching and assess-ment. The Academy is formed because we recognise the huge potential of new tech-nologies to transform, disrupt and reconfigure academic life, in particular the chal-lenge to disciplinary bounda-ries and to traditional modes of teaching and learning. The Academy has a pivotal role in the dissemination of innova-tory ways of designing and delivering academic pro-grammes and working with students in novel ways. (Adapted from CoLA news-letter, February 2016)

Core modules taught by lead-ing specialists will offer inten-sive introductions to new disciplinary perspectives, while maintaining a critical focus on key ideas such as the proposition that Earth has now entered a new geological era, the Anthropocene, in which human activities are altering the planet in ways that will leave their mark for millennia.

Modules include:

Environmental Humani-ties: Issues and Ap-proaches

Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

Environmental Writing and Ecocriticism

Introduction to Travel and Nature Writing

Environment and Society

Ecosystem Management

Managing Sustainability

The programme is designed for flexibility, offering a wide palette of elective modules that will exploration of new approaches as well as consoli-dating expertise in a particu-

lar discipline such as geogra-phy, literary studies, philoso-phy, ethics and religion, envi-ronmental studies, or conser-vation. A significant research project or creative practice component makes this a per-sonally as well as intellectual-ly transformative course which can be moulded to specific needs through mod-ule and dissertation choices.

Multidisciplinary and interdis-ciplinary research methods training will enable continua-tion onto doctoral studies in either the humanities or so-cial sciences; alternatively, it can encourage consolidation of creative practice by under-taking electives in areas such as creative writing or filmmaking, and the major project can take the form of either an academic disserta-tion or a creative work. Given the growing demand for graduates with cross-disciplinary skills and under-standing, it is clear that the MA in Environmental Human-

ities will provide a solid basis from which to contribute to the ‘green’ society and econ-omy of the 21st century.

To help launch this exciting new programme, two fee-waiver scholarships are being offered for September 2016 entry. Please see the website for more details of the course, and information on how to apply.

Page 7 GEOGRAPHY 2015

A new research centre has been established at Bath Spa University focused on the Environmental Humanities. This area of activity offers cutting-edge interdisciplinary responses to today’s com-plex and urgent environmen-tal challenges, bringing knowledge and insights from the arts, humanities and social science into critical conversation with natural science understandings.

The new research centre will be spearheaded by recent professorial appointments, including Professor Kate Rigby, Professor Owain Jones and Professor Sian Sullivan. Together with colleagues from across the university, they will teach on the new Masters in Environmental Humanities, which is offered for the first time in Septem-ber 2016.

Drawing on this world-class expertise, the Masters course will address specific problems such as biodiversi-ty loss and climate change, but also broader ideas about human relationships with place, technology and the more-than-human world.

Environmental Humanities at Bath Spa

Graduation Day

July 20th 2016

Page 8 GEOGRAPHY 2015

Congratulations

to our

Geography and

GDS Graduates!

July 2016 saw a visit from a group of Iraqi archaeologists to Bath Spa University. Andy Skellern and Matt Law from the Geography team helped to train them in practical fieldwork skills as part of a heritage management train-ing scheme.

The Iraq Heritage Manage-ment Training Scheme is a programme organised by the British Museum in collabora-tion with UK partners (universities and museums) and partners in Iraq, with the aim of training local archaeol-ogists from across the whole of Iraq in cultural heritage management and practical fieldwork skills.

Over the course of the 4-year programme the objective is to train 50 Iraqi participants in all aspects of archaeologi-cal fieldwork, with a specific aim of helping to prepare for the day when areas of the country currently occupied by so-called Islamic State are returned to secure govern-mental control. The training will therefore provide partici-pants with an introduction to best practice in all of the fields of expertise they need in order to face the challeng-es of documenting and stabi-

lising severely disrupted and damaged ar-chaeological sites.

Each cycle of training will consist of two parts, three months training in London based at the British Museum fol-lowed by three months field training on site in Iraq.

The UK based part of the training is de-signed to give a very wide intro-duction to all aspects of cul-tural heritage management and fieldwork methodology:

Cultural Heritage Manage-ment: an overview of ap-proaches to cultural heritage management with case stud-ies drawn from the UK, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Fieldwork methods: project and budget management, GIS systems, satellite imagery, geophysical remote sensing, data management, archaeo-

logical excavation, site and object recording, photog-raphy, digitisation, environ-mental sciences, material sciences, conservation, resto-ration, first aid, health and safety, and report writing.

The second part of the pro-gramme consists of on-site training in Iraq. In this part of the programme participants will implement parts of their UK Training, especially with the hands-on skills of archae-ological fieldwork: surveying,

events and reunions. Please make sure you let the Associ-ation know if you change your address, by completing the relevant form.

Do remember that you can also access the BSU careers service for three years after graduation, and specific sup-port and workshops for grad-uating students are run throughout the summer.

If you are applying for jobs/

For those of you graduating in the summer, receiving your certificate and attending the ceremony should not be the end of your relationship with BSU. With Mary Berry as its President, Bath Spa Universi-ty’s Alumni Association is a network of over 40,000 for-mer students and staff. The Association will keep you in touch with the latest news from the University and its alumni, and it organizes

further study and would like an academic reference, please give us as much notice as possible. Sending us details of the job also helps us to write a more relevant refer-ence for you.

Please also keep in touch with the geography team as we always like to hear from former students. Perhaps you will be the alumnus profiled in next year’s newsletter!

Iraq Heritage Management Training Scheme

Alumni Association And Careers Guidance

Page 9 GEOGRAPHY 2015

surface collection, excavation, drawing of plans and sections (by both traditional and elec-tronic means), finds pro-cessing, use of databases and report writing.

during recruitment events. Get paid to improve your communication skills, impart your knowledge of, and en-thusiasm for geography at BSU, and add value to your CV at the same time.

Attend public lectures and seminars: learn more about current research and contem-porary issues by attending lectures and seminars beyond your modules. These are or-ganized by subjects across the university, are held regu-larly, and are advertised on the BSU website.

Be an RGS Ambassador: train as an ambassador for the Royal Geographical Society, and promote the benefits of studying geography to school pupils. Training is held every year at BSU and you will have an opportunity to design and deliver a session to a school

There are plenty of ways to get involved with geography activities at BSU, beyond attending timetabled ses-sions. Here are some exam-ples:

Become a StAR: represent your peers and help to im-prove your course and uni-versity. You will receive train-ing from the Students’ Union and you will be required to act as a liaison between stu-dents on your course and the geography lecturers. Your role involves gathering feed-back, attending meetings each term and discussing new ideas. Find out more by vis-iting the Students’ Union website and stand for elec-tion as a Student Academic Representative in the autumn term.

Be an Ambassador: work as a BSU geography ambassador

group. The experience will help you to gain valuable transferable skills.

Join the GeogSoc: become a member of the student-run Geography Society and get involved with geography-related activities. These can include participating in, or

Get Involved With Geography At BSU

even organising, social events, walks and other field excursions, and fundraising activities.

Watch out for emails and notices about these and oth-er events and opportunities throughout the academic year.

Where next for the class of 2016? Good luck to the class of 2016 on their next steps, including: Jamie Notton, Kirsty Fudge, Scott Thomas, Francesca Spencer: PGCE Geography Morgan Roberts: MA International Heritage Management Polly Thompson: MSc Social and Cultural Theory Robert Carter: Assistant Geomatic Analyst, Environment Agency Heather Johnson, Lawrence Evry, Kirstie Thistlethwaite: applying for Masters courses