On Tuesday 25 September the streets of Whitechapel resonated with the sound of songs last heard there more than a century ago.
Year 7 students from five east London schools, including Mulberry School for Girls in Shadwell, Central Foundation School for Girls in Bow and Oaklands School in Bethnal Green are exploring how Victorian Londoners protested against their pay and working conditions. They sing Victorian protest songs, make placards expressing demands and write their own political speeches and chants. On Tuesday 25 September they took part in a parade with musicians in the streets where east Londoners protested in the Victorian period.
Watch the video of the protest
Workshop organisers Dr Vivi Lachs and Dr Nadia Valman, from Queen Mary University of London, drew on their research on the wave of strikes that spread across East London in 1889 and the culture of song and oratory that accompanied it. ‘Singing songs helped raise the morale of workers who were enduring terrible conditions in factories and workshops, and brought messages of hope that collective action could bring about change’ said Dr Lachs.
The songs were sung in Yiddish, the language spoken by the Jewish immigrant population, who made up the majority of poorly paid workers in Victorian Whitechapel. ‘We hope that this project will give students a glimpse of east London’s rich local history of protest,’ said Dr Valman.
This episode features Wasafiri magazine editor Susheila Nasta, Medieval broadcaster Hetta Howes, podcaster Raifa Rafiq (listen to her on BBC radio here), researcher Emma Shapiro and puppeteer Edie Edmundson.
After an exciting first outing we’re excited to welcome the following speakers for our next edition:
Tasters include:
Looking at Atrocity in Graphic
Narratives Charlotta Salmi
Devising from Games Mojisola Adebayo
Gothic magic and science in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Markman Ellis
Writing Now: Caryl Churchill Jen Harvie
And don’t miss special performances by our very own theatre company presenting Stage 3 which is an immersive theatre show about the citizenship processes.
The School of English & Drama at QMUL mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” in suitably scary style on Halloween. Join us for a screening of early Frankenstein films and a fancy dress lecture, followed by some scary socialising.
London Modernism Seminar: Insects and Robots Saturday 6 October, 11:00-13:00
Senate House, London
Co-organised by our very own Suzanne Hobson (English) this first outing features: Rachel Murray (Bristol), ‘Shell Sense: Modernism and the Insect Body’ Alex Goody (Oxford Brookes), ‘Modernist Machine Women: Robots, Radio and Typewriters’.
The venue provides students with a 3×2 ticket deal and we are sharing the code with academics who might be interested in promoting the event among their students and we thought of you. (the booking code is: L0VEL3TTERS).
DICE Festival Saturday and Sunday 7 October 2018
Camden People’s Theatre, LondonDaniel Oliver (Drama) will host on the Sunday programme.
The Queen Mary Centre For Religion and Literature in English Seminar Series: “W. H. Auden—Bless what there is for being” Wednesday 10 October 2018, 12:00
ArtsOne Room 1.31, QMUL – Mile End
W. H.Auden who had a natural talent “bordering on wizardry” was the poetic voice of the younger generation in the 1930’s. About 1940 he rediscovered the Christian faith. Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford, will argue that this took the form of giving Auden a relish for every aspect of life in all its details. This paper comes from Harries’ latest book “Haunted by Christ: Modern Writers and the Struggle for Faith”.
This presentation brings together a feminist scholar and an artist who have worked together on two projects, including a participatory art installation on unknowing. They will discuss how unknowability figures in their own work and what it enables.
The work of contemporary artist Anne Bean defies categorisation, encompassing performance art, public interventions, videos, and writings, all pursued as a ‘continuum’. Dominic Johnson explores Bean’s ‘life art’ project in the 1970s and considers her efforts to blur the boundaries between art and life in the context of theoretical writings she was working through at the time.
The Verbatim Formula: Making Listening Visible Wednesday 17 October 2018, 17:00-18:30
Senior Common Room, Queen’s Building, QMUL – Mile EndThe Verbatim Formula (TVF) is an AHRC funded participatory performance-based research project based at QMUL and which partners with other universities in London. In TVF, we ask care-experienced young people and care leaver students to share their experiences of higher education.
You are warmly invited to join us for the launch of the new series of the London-Paris Romanticism Seminar on Friday 19 October 2018. As our guest speaker for this opening event, we are delighted to welcome Marc Porée, Professor of English Literature at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. A renowned scholar, critic and translator, Marc is also Paris Director of the London-Paris Romanticism Seminar. His talk, entitled A Grammar of Surprise, will be followed by a discussion and wine reception, to which all are invited.
Marx In Bloomsbury Sunday 21 October 2018, 14:00-15:30
Senate House, London
This walking tour, led by author of Bloomsbury: Beyond the Establishment (2017), Matthew Ingleby (English), explores Bloomsbury’s links with Marx himself, in this his 200th anniversary year, but also the neighbourhood’s wider relationship to Marxism and socialism more broadly, exploring Bloomsbury’s significance for figures such as the arts and crafts revolutionary William Morris, the socialist feminist Isabella Ford, and the Trinidadian historian C. L. R. James.
Inspired by African -American author Octavia Butler’s epigraph New Suns: A Feminist Literary Festival is a day of talks, workshops, screenings and feminist discussion at the Barbican features our very own Nisha Ramayya (English).
Writers, artists, academics, poets and publications will explore contemporary feminism through the lens of mythology, discussing topics as varied as the #MeToo movement, occult poetry, bodies and sex work.
Charlotta Salmi (English) has been awarded funding by the British Academy to carry out research on gender-based violence in Nepal. Charlotta uses street art and comics to understand social movements. Read more
Susheila Nasta (English) will annoucnce SI Leeds prize with Bidisha at the Ilkley Festival on the 3rd October and also doing an event there on Writing post-Windrush with Bidisha and Jeremy Poynting.
Wasafiri magazine (based at QMUL) are announcing the winners of the Wasafiri New Writing Prize at Marlborough House on the 25th October. All staff invited and the news is that QM will be funding it from 2019 which is Wasafiri’s 35th Birthday year and the 10th year of the prize. Attend the event
Queen Mary Postcolonial Seminar is starting up again with the following events in September:Work-in-progress Seminar ‘Dinkar’s China Writings: The 1957 Chinese Literary Sphere in Hindi’*
Adhira Mangalagiri, QMUL
4 October, 18:00, ArtsTwo 2.17
*please email a.mangalagiri@qmul.ac.uk for a copy of the paper
Public Lecture
‘Reading for the Planet: Environmental Crisis and World Literature’
Jennifer Wenzel, Columbia University
30 October, 18:00, ArtsOne Lecture Theatre
Our contributions to Being Human Festival including The Last of The London (Nadia Valman – English) are now live for booking. Read our blog post for details
SED exclusive appointments for career discussions with Caroline, are available on Thursday 11th October afternoon.
To book, phone 020 7882 8533 or drop-in to the Careers Centre in Queens Building.
Exploring Careers in Market Research: 15th October – 6pm
A fantastic panel of researchers has been signed up for this event including the Head of Research for BBC Media Action… come and discover a whole world of careers that you did not know existed and learn more about how research shapes so many business decisions. English students have a fantastic skillset, particularly for qualitative market research… come and find out more. Details and booking here: https://qmul.targetconnect.net/leap/event.html?id=4981&service=Careers+Service
QMUL Graduate Scheme:
Attention 3rd years: have you become rather attached to QMUL and wondering what you will do after your degree? Join the leadership graduate scheme at Queen Mary… applications are open now for jobs starting in September 2019. This scheme is a leadership programme for graduates wanting to work in Higher Education. You will receive high-quality training and one year’s membership of the Association of University Administrators, whilst undertaking two 6 month placements at Queen Mary and one 6 month placement at another UK university. The scheme runs from September 2019-February 2021 and you will earn £22-28K. Find out more about this scheme on 18th October at the ‘Careers in the Community – working in the public sector’ event.
For those of you wanting to explore a career in Business… The annual QM Business & Finance Fair is next week on 8th October… Come along and talk to employers about why they are interested in English students/graduates and what kind of jobs exist in their organisations.
Places limited, so reserve here: https://qmul.targetconnect.net/leap/event.html?id=4569&service=Careers+Service
DON’T FORGET TO APPLY FOR QMENTORING – DEADLINE 5PM, OCTOBER 8TH.
Interested in gaining 6 months of one-to-one support from an experienced professional? In receipt of the QMUL Bursary?
Particularly if you are in your 3rd year, this is a not to be missed opportunity to have a professional working in a field that interests you, to guide you through the career decision making and job search process.
To apply for a place, please go to: qmul.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/qmentoring-application.
For general enquiries, please email qmentoring@qmul.ac.uk, or call the team on 020 7882 3690.
We’re looking for 40 student callers to work on our telephone campaign in November. Deadline: Wednesday 10 October.
You will: be paid £10.43 per hour (plus holiday pay); gain invaluable careers advice from alumni; be expected to attend 3-4 shifts (one weekend); receive full paid training on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 October
School of Languages & Linguistics have an alumni work experience event to which you are invited… useful if you want to hear about how to get experience in order to build a career in communications, charities or freelance writing. Tuesday 9th October, 5.30pm
Work experience is one of the most efficient ways to test out career ideas.
But how do you get it? What should you look for in a placement?
In this alumni panel you’ll hear the honest stories of three recent alumni (both extroverted and introverted) who did a variety of different things to get work experience.
Charlotte Stockton (French & Eng.Lit) – while at QMUL Charlotte did three different internships in marketing and promotions, including one over 8 months at City Hall for the Mayor of London. She now works in business development for a communications agency in London.
Laura Potter (Comp.Lit & Linguistics) – Laura left QMUL in 2017 and during her degree she got work experience as a News Desk Assistant at the Guardian, worked as features and music editor and a freelance reporter for a variety of on and off-campus publications. She is passionate about mental wellbeing and was the QMSU welfare rep. She now works as Communications Executive at charity Dementia UK.
Aisha Rimi (French & German) – During her time at uni Aisha worked as a fashion production assistant, doing communications for a local charity via QProjects Summer, a telephone fundraiser, a social media intern for a start-up, sub-editor on a student newspaper, shop assistant and more. She’s now works as a freelance writer and as the Volunteer Centre Coordinator at London School of Economics.
Show and Tell is a series of TED-talk style events where speakers from the arts, humanities and creative industries tell their stories at Queen Mary University of London. Find out more: bit.ly/showandtell18
This episode features Wasafiri magazine editor Susheila Nasta, Medieval broadcaster Hetta Howes, podcaster Raifa Rafiq, researcher Emma Shapiro and puppeteer Edie Edmundson. Full biogs below.
The show is introduced by Beverley Stewart and hosted by Charlie Pullen from the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary.
Charlie Pullen
Charlie Pullen is a PhD candidate and Teaching Associate in English at Queen Mary University of London, where he researches education in the work of various early twentieth-century novelists, including H.G. Wells, D.H. Lawrence, and Dorothy Richardson. His background is in widening participation and outreach and he writes for Times Higher Education.
Susheila Nasta
Professor Susheila Nasta, Prof of Modern and Contemporary Literature at QMUL, Emerita at Open University is a renowned critic, broadcaster and literary activist. Editor-in-chief at Wasafiri, the magazine of international contemporary writing, which she founded in 1984, she has published widely on South Asian Britain. www.wasafiri.org
Hetta Howes
Dr Hetta Howes is a lecturer in Medieval Literature at City, University of London. Her research specialises in women’s devotion in the Middle Ages, and as a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker she is committed to sharing that research with a wider audience.
Raifa Rafiq
Raifa Rafiq is a trainee solicitor at one of the leading international law firms in the UK. She is also creator and co-host of the Literature and popular culture podcast Mostly Lit – named by the Guardian and the BBC as one of the top podcasts of 2017. mostly-lit.com
Emma Shapiro
After graduating with a BA in English and French from Queen Mary, Emma Shapiro was awarded a scholarship to complete an MA in London Studies, where she specialised in the Trinidadian writer Sam Selvon’s London fiction. Following her studies, Emma worked as a voluntary researcher for the Migration Museum project and as the graduate trainee at Pembroke College Library, Cambridge, where she curated an exhibition on the poet and co-founder of the Caribbean Artists Movement, Kamau Brathwaite, working in collaboration with the George Padmore Institute.
Edie Edmundson
Edie is a puppeteer and theatre maker who graduated from Drama at QM in 2015 and went on to train at the Curious School of Puppetry. Since then she has worked with Emma Rice at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Puppet Theatre Barge. She also writes and directs her own work, and is co-founder and associate director of Wondering Hands Theatre. She is currently puppeteering in ‘The Butterfly’s Spell’ at the Puppet Theatre Barge and is puppetry director for ‘The Comedy of Errors’ at the RSC.
Gender pay gaps, precarious work, paltry paternity leave – what does it mean to be a mother working in the creative arts?
Explore the role of motherhood in contemporary society and how it informs the work of writers and artists in this workshop at Museum of Childhood #BeingHUman18
Bring your little ones to this one day workshop exploring motherhood & making with workshops with (@LittleArtists_) & child-friendly talks from @CJessCooke
Follow tea’s journey from the docks of the East India Company, via London’s forgotten Chinatown and the warehouses of the East End, to wholesale sites in the City in Tea’s London walking tour
As night descends on the Whitechapel Road, see the derelict Royal London Hospital building come to life one last time as words and photographic projections evoke the ghosts of its past with our very own Nadia Valman
#IWriteMyWorld family workshop led by with our very own Karina Likorish Quinn allows children and their parents to remember, reflect, and discuss place and memory and write about what it means to them to have heritage from around the world.
Early career researchers seeking support for their application to the Leverhulme Trust’s Early Career Fellowship scheme are invited to get in contact with us from now [deadline 12 noon, 18 January 2019].
The School of English and Drama invites early career researchers seeking support for their application to the Leverhulme Trust’s Early Career Fellowship Scheme to submit to us:
An outline research proposal including title, abstract (250 words), statement of past and current research (250 words), a 2-page (A4) project outline, and a one-paragraph statement detailing relevant research being carried out in the School of English and Drama and your reasons for choosing Queen Mary.
An academic CV of not more than 2 pages to demonstrate your research stature.
Please send the above to Dr Huw Marsh, Research Manager, at: sed-research@qmul.ac.uk by no later than 12 pm on Friday 18 January 2019.
All outline proposals will be considered by a School committee and applicants will be notified of the shortlisting outcome in the week of Monday 21 January 2019. Shortlisted candidates will be put forward for approval by the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Executive, who will report their decisions by 11 February, which will then be communicated to candidates. The final deadline for submission of approved applications is 28 February 2019 by 4pm.
The School recommends that applicants make clear the following in applications (CVs and proposals):
the strength of your academic record (e.g. classifications, awards, time taken to complete your PhD, etc.)
the strength of your research record (e.g. publications (including their length; and if forthcoming, where they are at in the process); presentations; research leadership; if you make practice as research, indicate how it is research; etc.)
what research you will publish/disseminate through the fellowship
the importance of doing your fellowship in the School of English and Drama at QMUL (e.g. synergies with staff and research centres)
your proposal’s importance, originality, methods, critical contexts, resources, structure and outputs.
Academics from Queen Mary University of London have led a series of workshops with year seven students from five east London schools exploring how Victorian Londoners protested against their pay and working conditions.
Workshop organisers, Dr Vivi Lachs and Dr Nadia Valman from Queen Mary’s School of English and Drama, drew upon their research on the musical and political culture of nineteenth century Jewish immigrants to the East End. Students learned Victorian protest songs, made placards expressing demands and wrote their own political speeches and chants.
On Tuesday 25 September the students paraded along the streets of Whitechapel with professional musicians from the Great Yiddish Parade marching band. The parade followed the same route where east Londoners protested in the Victorian period, drawing upon the wave of strikes that spread across East London in 1889.
The songs of the parade were sung in Yiddish, the language spoken by the Jewish immigrant population, who made up the majority of poorly paid workers in Victorian east London.
After parading up Whitechapel Road, the students finished with performances in Altab Ali Park. The aim of the workshop and parade was to promote awareness of the local heritage of protest to enable students to articulate their own versions of protest through writing, design and song.
“Singing songs helped raise the morale of Victorian workers who were enduring terrible conditions in factories and workshops, and brought messages of hope that collective action could bring about change,” said Dr Lachs.
“We hope that this project will give students a glimpse into east London’s rich local history of protest,” added Dr Valman.
More information
The workshop, Protest in Victorian Whitechapel, was led by Dr Vivi Lachs and Dr Nadia Valman from Queen Mary’s School of English and Drama. Five schools from London’s East End participated:
Relax and unwind with your fellow students watching a movie voted for by you! There’s free drinks and snacks and you could win some ace prizes in our raffle.
Apart from sitting on a beach or simply melting in the July heatwave here in London, how did you spend your summer? Tell us by email or Tweet / Insta with the hashtag #SEDsummer to enter to win one of two £25 Amazon vouchers.
Whether working 72 hours a week at the Edinburgh Festival, doing admin in PR, starting your own blog, work shadowing at a magazine, shelf-stacking in Sainsbury’s, teaching Theresa May to dance, tour guiding at Buckingham Palace, interning with the Civil Service… whatever you have been up to, we would love to hear from you.
Describe the achievements of your summer in 75 words or less and email it to sed-web@qmul.ac.uk or tag us on Instagram or Twitter @qmulsed and include the hashtag #SEDsummer
2 entries will win a £25 Amazon voucher. Deadline: 5pm on Friday 5 October 2018.
Show and Tell is a series of TED-talk style events where speakers from the arts, humanities and creative industries tell their stories at Queen Mary University of London.
This episode features publishing wizz Sarah Garnham, poet Bridget Minamore and dance artistic director Alex Whitley. Full biogs below.
The show is introduced by Patricia Hamilton, Charlie Pullen and features Rupert Dannreuther from School of English and Drama at Queen Mary.
Rupert Dannreuther
Rupert is responsible for marketing within Queen Mary’s School of English and Drama. He has worked for numerous organisations including Cineworld, Hackney Empire, The Yard Theatre and Rose Bruford College. In his spare time he runs To Do List a website about offbeat things to do in London. todolist.org.uk
Sarah Garnham
Sarah graduated from QMUL with an English degree in 2016. She now works as a PR Executive in the busy children’s books department at Egmont Publishing and has worked for other publishers including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Canongate. uk.linkedin.com/in/sarahjanegarnham
Bridget Minamore
Bridget Minamore is a British-Ghanaian writer from south-east London. She is a poet, critic, essayist, and journalist, often writing about pop culture, theatre, race and class. Titanic (Out-Spoken Press), her debut pamphlet of poems on modern love and loss, was published in May 2016. bridgetminamore.com
Alexander Whitley
Alexander Whitley is a London-based choreographer working at the cutting edge of British contemporary dance. As artistic director of Alexander Whitley Dance Company he has developed a reputation for a bold interdisciplinary approach to dance making. He has also created work for several of the UK’s leading companies including the Royal Ballet, Rambert, Balletboyz, Candoco and Birmingham Royal Ballet. www.alexanderwhitley.com
Featuring short and engaging talks from academic researchers, broadcasters, creative writers, and theatre practitioners. Show and Tell is a celebration of arts and humanities education and the creative industries for those interested in studying or working in literature, theatre, art, media, and culture more broadly. The evening promises to be entertaining and relaxed. Speakers will each deliver a TED-style talk, and these will be followed by a chance for guests to ask questions, before the evening ends with socialising and networking over refreshments. Show and Tell runs on the evenings of the 5, 12, 19, and 26 of September 2018, taking place between 18:00 and 20:00 at the Arts One Building on the Mile End Road of Queen Mary’s Mile End campus.
Everyone is welcome from sixth-form students, new QMUL freshers, alumni, school teachers, researchers and anyone who has a general interest in the arts and humanities.
If you have any questions or would like to register a group please email: showandtell@qmul.ac.uk
Sadly you missed…
Wednesday 5 September
Sarah Garnham: Publicity Executive, Egmont Publishing
Alexander Whitley: Artistic Director of Alexander Whitley Dance Company
Bridget Minamore: British-Ghanaian writer from south-east London.
Wednesday 12 September
Edie Edmundson: Puppeteer at Shakespeare’s Globe (Drama graduate)
QMUL has 100 rooms for Clearing and Adjustment students allocated on a random ballot system.
Once your status is confirmed as Unconditional Firm (UF) on UCAS our admissions team will send you log in details to the housing application system.
Your accommodation account will usually become active 24-hours after you receive log-in details from admissions.
To be eligible for the ballot you must submit your online housing application by midnight BST on Wednesday 22nd August.
The ballot will be drawn on Thursday 23rd August and successful applicants will be sent an email confirmation and housing offer on Friday 24th August.
If you want to be entered into the housing ballot it is very important that you accept your offer of a Clearing place at QMUL as soon as possible.
Applicants with a Greater London home address will not be eligible to be entered into the ballot, their application will be held on a waiting list for mid-term vacancies.
If you do not qualify or are unsuccessful in securing accommodation in the ballot, our Housing Services team can provide you with direct support in seeking alternative accommodation.
Housing Services will also be hosting a ‘Find a Flatmate’ event on Tuesday 4 September 2018, where you can meet other late applicants to find a suitable rental property or speak to our team of housing advisors, who will be able to provide you with specific advice geared to your housing needs. You will be able to register for this event once you have a Queen Mary Student ID number – this will be sent to you soon.
Our alternative housing website also provides information on short stay options, hotels, hostels, privately built halls and homestay opportunities. You will receive an email about this event. Please don’t be discouraged, we are here to help ease your transition into university life.
Overall student satisfaction at Queen Mary University of London’s Department of Drama is at 91.9 per cent, according to the results of the 2018 National Student Survey (NSS).
The 2018 National Student Survey questioned UK undergraduates on various aspects of the student experience, including their overall satisfaction. The results mean that Queen Mary is third for Drama in London and seven points ahead of the average subject score. Satisfaction with teaching also scored highly, 94.6 per cent, three points above the national average.