Tuesday 12th November – IAS Fellows’ Public Lecture
‘Origin of clay minerals and their perspectives’ by Dr Elshan Abdullayev (French-Azerbaijani)
18.30 – Lecture – Dining Hall, St Cuthbert’s Society, South Bailey.
Clays have been used since prehistoric times, for example for the fabrication of ceramics. Today, clays find numerous technological and industrial applications.
Clay minerals are fine-grained material, which become pliable when they interact with water. The minerals comprise silica, alumina, water and also iron, alkalis and alkaline earth elements. Clay minerals belong to phllosilcates and are divided into several groups based on their properties: the kaolin and serpentine groups, the talc and pyrophyllite groups, the expandable smectite and vermiculite groups, the illite group, the chlorite group, and the sepiolite-palygorskite. The earth mineral evolution is divided into 3 eras and 10 stages. Clay mineral formation began at stage 3, at the earliest part of the Hadean Eon due to alternation of ultramafic and basaltic rocks.
There are several ways of formation of clay minerals: (i) Aqueous alternation, (ii) Authigenesis, (iii) Diagenesis, (iv) Terrestrial weathering, and (v) Biomediated clay mineralization. These processes drive chemical composition and properties of the clay minerals.
Depending upon their chemical and physical properties, clay minerals can be applied to different areas. Investigation of clay mineral-water interaction is important to all aspects of geology, water science, soil science, geotechnical engineering, geomorphology, seismology, astrobiology and atmospheric science. Due to the high surface charges originating from isomorphous substitution in the crystal lattice, and from the presence of pH dependent surface edges or broken bond sites, clay minerals can absorb positively charged ions and organic components on their surface. In addition, some chemical elements in clay minerals can be potential sources of nutrients for bacteria. Clay mineral-bacteria interaction can play a major role in formation of new minerals. Such properties of clay minerals can also be used in some internal and external medical treatment.
Clay minerals are also good indicators for the study of past climatic conditions and sea level changes.
Wednesday 13th November – SCR Buffet Lunch
13.00, Lakeside Room Please book in with reception by 12.00 on Monday 11th November. Please note maximum of 3 student guests per mentor.
Johanna Poutanen
Wednesday 13th November – IAS Fellows’ Public Lecture
‘Peace processes revisited: From negotiating conflict towards democratising peace’ by Johanna Poutanen (Crisis Management Initiative) 17.30 – Lecture – Birley Room, Hatfield College
Today’s peace processes have become ever more complex – involving various stakeholders negotiating multiple issues on multiple levels. Indeed, peace mediation is increasingly moving away from brokering limited deals between small groups of military and political leaders behind closed doors. The calls for inclusivity demand that a broader range of actors have a say in shaping the future of their country.
Has the increased complexity and ambition of mediation fundamentally altered the nature of peace negotiations? Can we talk about ‘negotiations’ when peace processes are increasingly about crafting a new social contract and political system for the country rather than simply negotiating the division of power? And fundamentally, is it possible to design peace processes that go beyond elite power sharing deals between armed groups, and engage a broader range of national stakeholders, such as women and youth?
This public lecture is part of broader research project on Mediation for the 21st Century and combines both theoretical and empirical insights from recent peace processes in contexts such as South Sudan and Yemen to analyse today’s mediation praxis. Whereas much of mediation scholarship has been approached from the perspective of international relations or negotiations theory, this lecture views inclusive peace mediation through the lens of democratic theory. It is suggested that applying ideas of democratic representation and deliberation to the context of peace negotiations may help to shift the focus from normative to substantive matters: what and whose interests should be represented in mediation processes? How and under which conditions?
Thursday 14th November – Oriental Museum Visit and Handling Session
18.00 – Museum Handling Session – Oriental Museum
19.00 – Drinks Reception – SCR Foyer
19.30 – Two Course Buffet Dinner – Lakeside Room
The evening comprises of a visit to the Oriental Museum, in this interactive session participants will take a short guided tour of the Museum galleries and have the opportunity to handle objects from Ancient Egypt, including jewellery, amulets and small sculptures. This will be followed by a drinks reception and buffet dinner in the Lakeside Room back at Van Mildert College.
This event is now full.
Lecture poster
Friday 15th November – Van Mildert College Trust Annual Lecture
18.00 – Lecture – Ustinov Room
The Van Mildert College Trust Annual Lecture will be presented by Dr Richard Lane OBE on Friday 15 November in the Ustinov Room at Van Mildert College, with a talk entitled ‘World Health- Their Problem is Our Problem’. Dr Richard Lane OBE, formerly Director of Science at the Natural History Museum, has worked for the Wellcome Trust and London School of Tropical Science, along with several world health focused NGOs.
In his lecture, Dr Richard Lane OBE will explore how the health of the world’s population has changed significantly over the past twenty years, identifying the many existing inequalities. Looking to the future, Dr Lane will identify the dynamic and complex challenges to World Health faced by future generations.
This Lecture is free to attend and open to all! Any questions, please contact [email protected]
Save the Date!
Thursday 21st November – Mentors Information Evening
18.00 – Lakeside Room
Finchale Priory
Sunday 24th November – SCR Walk
Pilgrimage from Finchale Priory to Durham Cathedral: The first stage of the English Camino to Santiago de Compostela in County Durham
9.30 – Van Mildert College Forecourt
Finishing with a Pub Lunch at the Court Inn in Durham
Lead by SCR Member and Mentor Keith Taylor
Before the Reformation in the C16th, Finchale was the starting point for many pilgrims from the North of Europe on their way to Santiago. St Godric of Finchale was one of the first English pilgrims historically documented. According to Reginald of Durham, St Godric undertook two pilgrimages to Jerusalem. On his return from his second one, he passed by Santiago de Compostela to visit the tomb of the apostle (most likely in 1102). Back in England, the bishop of Durham, Ranulf Fambard, let him live as a hermit in the grounds of Finchale. Priory. During the last seventy years of his life, St Godric was visited by pilgrims from Great Britain and the North of Europe, who came to ask for advice about doing the Camino. The Reformation put an end to these religious pilgrimages, carried out by a great amount of people (records show that in the C14th 17,400 pilgrims arrived in Santiago de Compostela from England). Now we have an officially stretch of the Camino Inglés, the route traditionally taken by English pilgrims, in County Durham.
The pilgrimage that is to take place this term is the first part of the Finchale Camino Inglés from Finchale Priory to Durham Cathedral. In the future we hope to organise two further walks that take us on a journey to Auckland Castle, once home of the Prince Bishops. Perhaps next academic year we can even go further along the route to Gainford (currently the endpoint but who knows by then!). We will be able to use pilgrim passports to acknowledge our journey. These will be stamped at various places along the Camino to prove that we have walked the Way correctly. If anyone is inspired by these walks they can use the evidence as part of the route in the Camino Inglés in Galicia from Coruna.
We will be setting off in the College minibus from the College Forecourt at 9.30 in the morning to be dropped off at Finchale Priory and commence our walk into Durham. After we arrive in Durham and visit the Cathedral we will be finishing with a well deserved pub lunch at the Court Inn.
We do have limited spaces for this walk so to book a place on the walk please email [email protected] by Wednesday 13th November confirming the names of those attending, a contact mobile number and any specific dietary requirements for the pub lunch.
Tuesday 26th November – Mentors Formal
19.15 – Ann Dobson Hall
Sunday 8th December – Christmas Carols by Candlelight and College Christmas Panto
18.30 – Drinks Reception, Turner Room.
19.00 – Carols by Candlelight, Ann Dobson Hall
20.30 – Panto, Ann Dobson Hall
Further details to follow.
Tuesday 10th December – Christmas Formal 1
18.45 – Drinks Reception, Lakeside Room
19.15 – Dinner, Ann Dobson Hall
Thursday 12th December – Christmas Formal 2
18.45 – Drinks Reception, Lakeside Room
19.15 – Dinner, Ann Dobson Hall
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen (Cover)
Sunday 15th December – SCR Christmas Walk
Further details to follow.
Monday 16th December – Van Mildert Book Club
20.00 – Prowse Room. Discussing Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Val McDermid alongside celebrating Jane Austen’s Birthday. Any queries please contact Kathryn Armstrong – [email protected]
