“Many of Britain’s greatest artists came to these chilly islands from other places. Others are the children of migrants, or identify themselves as part of a post-colonial diaspora. But what do they all have in common? It’s the question this exhibition forgot to ask itself.”

The contemporary post-colonial response is particularly interesting since it address the very question of migratory representation in Britain itself. This section of the exhibition leaves the visitor with questions concerning the lack of contemporary migrant art representation in Britain and the imbalance of this given that in previous periods it hailed some of the most important British art.

The exhibition choosing to map out three separate ‘migrations’ around the gallery space itself, which enables the viewer to journey around the gallery space and see the pieces in a non-chronological format. This is an interesting take on the usual gallery format, allowing visitors to explore the gallery in various orders.

The most common cause of complaint that is levelled at the exhibition is the poor selection of each artist’s work however this collection was completed largely from the Tate’s own collection. The unpredicability of this exhibition makes it exciting and each section of the will perhaps enlighten viewers as to the context behind some of Britain’s most famous artists. As Richard Dorment of the Telegraph says:

“In an odd way, it’s the very unevenness of Migrations – the experimental mixture of the good and bad, the predictable and the unexpected – that’s what is interesting about it. I can’t tell you you’ll be swept away by the quality of the art…But I also promise you’ll be stimulated, irritated and challenged by a show that really does say something new about British art.”

If you are interested in finding out more about this exhibition, take a look at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/migrations/default.shtm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jan/31/migrations-tate-britain-review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jan/26/tate-britain-migrations-art-identity

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/9050351/Migrations-Tate-Britain-review.html

If you are interested in thematic approaches in Art History or post-colonialism, you may be interested in our Art History Summer School on 24^th-26^th August

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1. British Politics
2. Is History Just Storytelling?

As with any subject of debate there are of course points both in favour and against each argument. Michael Gove, the current Secretary of State for Education, has, along with many others, argued that children in this country are owed as their birthright the stories of Britain’s fame and shame; Lord Luke has maintained that chronological teaching of history leads children to better understand the system of cause and effect that governs our lives; and, finally, the Better History Group have argued that children need to spend more time learning historical facts and less time analysing the study and purpose of history itself.

These arguments might seem convincing. After all, it would certainly seem as though the purpose of history is to deal with facts from the past and these facts must happen chronologically and they certainly affect our current understanding of ourselves.

However, what do we mean when we say that something is an historical “fact”? Who determines a particular event or idea as factual? How many people would have to agree upon the particulars in order to render it factual? Furthermore, are politics, international relations, power, and language not able to distort “facts”? Indeed, is there a single fact that is safe from human interpretation?

Furthermore, if we cannot establish fact as an objective entity then the entire study of history becomes reduced to selection of interpreted material.  This is deeply unsettling; the implication is that there is not one historical truth but a multitude of conflicting stories. The danger here is that history not only informs us of the past but also creates our identity in the present. Therefore, which story we choose to tell ourselves might be of essential importance to who we feel ourselves to be.

These questions and ponderings about the nature of the discipline of history belong to the field of historiography and they are an integral part of any study of history.

For more information on this debate please see:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_lords/newsid_9618000/9618524.stm

http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2011/october1/lords-debate-the-teaching-of-history-in-uk-schools/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/aug/17/academics-reject-gove-history-lessons

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/nov/24/michael-gove-british-history-neglected

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/05/history-at-a-crossroads-a_n_889023.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/05/simon-schama-ministers-history-curriculum

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/18/history-national-curriculum

If you are interested in this debate between narrative history and historiography you might be interested in our History Summer School. During this five-day course we will examine a variety of methodologies that can be used within the field of history and we will contemplate the nature of historical study itself.

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1. History Masterclass
2. History Masterclasses
3. History in Birmingham

Both countries indicated a desire to preserve Syria’s national sovereignty – the right of a country to behave as it chooses within its own national borders. The government controlled Chinese press also spoke about the ‘abuse’ of the UN Resolution on Libya last year.

The other permanent members, the UK, US and France all reacted angrily to the vetoes, saying that the lack of UN opposition would give Syrian security forces a free hand to brutally repress the democracy protesters.

China’s use of the veto is very unusual, and may indicate a more assertive Chinese foreign policy approach.

Find out more about the UN, the Arab Spring democracy movement, and China’s growing power at the International Relations Summer School on the 18th-22nd August 2012.

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At the time of publication Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollan Khomeini declared a fatwa, a legal pronouncement of Islam, against Rushdie claiming that the book was blasphemous and mocked the Islamic faith. Following this, Rushdie was placed under the protection of the British police for ten years, two of his translators were killed and one seriously injured. Some of the bookshops which stocked the novel were also under attack. The book was banned in Muslim countries and India, Rushdie’s birthplace. Rushdie’s freedom of expression was defended and Penguin refused to withdraw the book from publication.

This January, Rushdie was scheduled to appear at the Jaipur Literary Festival in his native India but this decision was met with a hostile response by the vice-chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary, Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, who stated:

“Rushdie should not be allowed to visit India. If he visits India, it would be adding salt to the injuries of Muslims. He has hurt our religious sentiments.”

The adversity was so widespread that Rushdie opted to address the festival by video-link. Yesterday however, an announcement was made by the organisers of the festival that even this video-link had to be cancelled, following threats of violence. Salman Rushdie commented on Twitter:

“Threat of violence by muslim groups stifled free speech today. In a true democracy we all get to speak, not just the ones making threats”

The hostility to “The Satanic Verses” comes almost 25 years after its original publication and illustrates the impact that literature can have.

For more information about this see:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/24/salman-rushdie-attacks-indian-politicians

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/allanmassie/100059953/salman-rushdie-and-the-jaipur-literary-festival-the-zealots-have-triumphed-again/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16695754

If you are interested in exploring these themes in literature, you may be interested in our English Literature Summer School.

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1. English Masterclass

According to Einstein’s theory of special relativity there is a limit to the speed at which energy and information can travel. This limit is the speed of light, measured by the variable c. It is, for all intents and purposes, the speed limit of the universe.

But in September 2011 the entire notion of c as a maximum speed was undermined. At this time the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which is the world’s largest physics lab, started to analyze information from a recent experiment named OPERA. The result? Neutrinos (a particular kind of subatomic particle) seem to have travelled faster than the speed of light, covering 730 kilometres from CERN to a beam detector set up in Gran Sasso, Italy.

So, it seems these neutrinos can move very vey quickly. But so what? What does all this mean? Well, for one thing, if the results of this experiment hold up against scrutiny, this would entirely undermine Einstein’s theory of special relativity and it would make us re-question how we understand the nature of the universe.

But, more interestingly, it would also make classic time travelling films a scientific reality. It would mean, for instance, that information does not just travel in one direction (the future) but in at least two directions (the future and the past). This would mean that information of our present could be sent to the past; the past from which our present is built. This would entirely blur the concepts of past, present and future and would render the idea of time most confounding.

For more information on this experiment and its possible consequences, please read the following sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/nov/18/neutrinos-still-faster-than-light

http://profmattstrassler.com/2011/09/22/what-have-we-here/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15791236

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/faster-than-light-neutrino-poses-the-ultimate-cosmic-brain-teaser-for-physicists/2011/11/09/gIQAsw9sKN_story.html

If you find this interesting you might enjoy our Physics Summer School where students get the chance to ponder the nature of the entire universe and some of its most puzzling riddles.

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But what does this all mean? And why is it important?

Credit rating agencies are private companies which study the data and give an unbiased opinion on how ‘safe’ a loan to a particular organisation – it could be a country or a business – will be. That is, how likely is it that the lender will be repaid on time and in full. Standard and Poor is one of the largest such agencies, and its opinions are taken very seriously.

The ‘AAA’ rating is the top rating available, and it basically means that the country is certain to be able to repay any loan it takes out. A lower grade , like ‘BB’, which is the mark given on Friday to smaller european countries like Portugal, means that prospective lenders should take into account a real risk that they may not get all of their money back. France’s new grade of ‘AA’ is still very good, as French President Nicholas Sarkozy has been quick to point out.

The grade matters because it is important in determining the interest rate at which governments are able to borrow money. A lower grade means that borrowing becomes more expensive, and could even mean that a country is not able to borrow money on the open market at a rate which it can afford. That is when a country needs to be rescued or ‘bailed out’ by an international lender like the International Monetary Fund.

France and Austria’s grades are particularly important at the moment because they are both guarantors of the European Financial Stability Fund, one of the key policy tools for dealing with the eurozone credit crisis.

Learn more about the international financial system at the Economics Summer School 2012.

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Mr. Munawar’s application to remain was originally refused on the grounds that he did not have enough funds in his bank account to reach the requirements of the points-based system used to determine visa applications. At first instance, the case was rejected and went on appeal to the Upper Tier of the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal where, upon finding the Home Office decision unlawful, Judge Pitt stated:

“In addition to his studies, the appellant has formed friendships with fellow students and work colleagues.  He has been living with student friends. He plays cricket at the weekends and trains in the week. He attends his mosque regularly and follows a personal development course there. His mother and siblings remain in Bangladesh and his father is working in Iraq.  He has a paternal aunt and cousins in the UK. He sees them most weekends. His grandmother also lived in the UK but, sadly, she died last year”

Although this is an upper tribunal decision, which still could be overturned on subsequent appeal, concerns have been raised that this case could result in thousands of applications being lodged from other students who have made friends and settled in their community over the three years of their study. This decision is not binding on future cases but it is felt that this may be referred to in subsequent judgments concerning similar matters and that the principles found in this case will be applied.

This comes at a time where the Government has been scrutinised for failing to meet their pledge to reduce net immigration to tens of thousands per year. The Minister for immigration, Damien Green said that:

“We are disappointed with this ruling. It shows how Article 8 is being used to place the private life of those without a right to remain in the UK above the rights of the British public, who want to see our immigration rules enforced.”

The Human Rights Act 1998 gives further effect to the ECHR and enables domestic courts to grant a remedy for the breach of a convention right without the need for the applicant to be heard at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

For more information about this case please see:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/8986046/New-human-rights-row-over-cricket-case.html

http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/01/09/are-some-rights-to-private-life-just-not-cricket/

If you are interested in issues like these then you may be interested in our Law Summer School 

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But what effect will this new office have on international relations? Afghan president Karzai is in favour of this new development but will the new office help to stabilize volatile Afghanistan? Or will this new consulate simply undermine the authority of the Afghan government?

Furthermore, does the Taliban, a disperate group with various factions, have the political authority to establish themselves as a legitimate voice of power or are they simply a terrorist organisation?

The United States government is hopeful that the establishment of an official Taliban office will facilitate new peace negotiations which could lead to a dignified withdrawl of American troops from Afghanistan in 2014. However, the Taliban is requesting, as a gesture of good will, the release of Taliban members currently being held in the US deterntion facility in Guantanamo Bay. But will the Americans agree to hand over their prisoners? And what is to be made of President Karzai’s plea that Taliban prisoners be first sent to the Afghan government?

Finally, what roles do Iran and China play in this new development? Will Iran, which has notoriously backed the Taliban in Afghanistan, be so pleased to see peaceful negotiations between the Taliban and the United States? Or are they, as the Washington Post claims, trying to encourage anti-American sentiment within Afghanistan? Finally, if this new office leads to a new peace negotiation and the full withdrawl of US troops, what will happen to the devastated infrastructure within Afghanistan? Surely Afghanistan will look to China as well as to Iran for development aid. China has already been granted access to 87 million barrels of Afghan oil. Will China now also be offered major development contracts within Afghanistan? If so, how will this affect the economies of these two countries?

If you find this story interesting you may also be interested in our International Relations Summer School.

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2. Young Diplomats Conference

The Commission on Assisted Dying has recommended that laws be established to allow people to assist suicide in a limited range of cases.

Anyone seeking assisted suicide would need to be over the age of 18, terminally ill with less than 12 months to live, and not subject to any sort of mental impairment. The person would need to be assessed by two doctors before the decision would be allowed, and the patient would need to be able to administer the euthanising drugs themselves.

This would impact a relatively limited number of people – excluding those with dementia, and those with long term chronic conditions, but would still be a huge change for British law.

At the moment it is illegal under the 1961 Suicide Act to help anyone to commit suicide, but the Director of Public Prosecutions has indicated that it may not always be appropriate to prosecute someone who has given such help, depending on the circumstances. This situation is considered unsatisfactory by groups on both sides of the debate as it leaves a great deal of uncertainty, both in principle and in practice.

The Commission has heard evidence from 1300 sources during its year long enquiry, but some groups refused to take part because they objected to the fact that the panel was set up and funded by campaigners who would like to see a change in the law.

The government has indicated that it has no plans to change the law in this area, but that any vote in parliament on the issue would be a ‘matter of conscience’ for individual MPs and not subject to government policy.

You can read more about this story here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2012/jan/05/assisted-suicide-autonomous-choice

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/01/mary-warnock-assisted-suicide?newsfeed=true

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8987017/Lord-Falconer-assisted-suicide-law-fails-to-protect-or-punish.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16210769

Get stuck into lots more Medical Ethics debates at the Debate Chamber Medicine events – click here for more information.

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If this sounds interesting –  have a look at our next English Masterclass taking place on the 26^th of November 2011.

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