Bath Spa Uni hosted over 40 students from 17 countries, including Commonwealth and Chevening Scholars, during the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) week long summer school.
The ACU Summer School supports talented university students from around the world to come together, to tackle a global issue through a mix of interactive and interdisciplinary activities. Students are selected to attend following a competitive application process.
Drawing on the theme of this year’s summer school, ‘Creating greener narratives through the environmental arts and humanities’, students took part in a busy week of interactive workshops, keynote lectures, group project work, and field trips – including visits to Avebury and Avalon Marshes.
The week culminated with a special awards dinner at the Roman Baths in Bath, where the winning group project was announced. ’Wake Up!’ – the winning project – used a mix of visual presentation, spoken word and online content to explore concepts of pollution and biodiversity loss.
The environmental humanities are an innovative area of research that examines the relationship between human culture and the physical environment. The students worked on the creation and depiction of environmental narratives through history, art, music, heritage, literature, and tourism.
One of the students who took part in the summer school was Daniel Ugwu from Nigeria who is undertaking a PhD in Environmental Biochemistry at the University of Nigeria. He said: “This week I’ve gained a new perspective on environmental issues and the challenges and the solutions to them.
“One the things I will take home from this experience is how when I get back to my country I could work more with those in the humanities and arts to see if we can collaborate on investigating environmental issues.”
Dr Joanna Newman, Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, said: “The ACU is delighted that this year’s Summer School has been such a success.
“It’s been fantastic to bring together some of the brightest students from across the Commonwealth to benefit from the innovative work Bath Spa is doing in the environmental arts and humanities.
“The ACU is committed to supporting the mobility of staff and students, and the exchange of knowledge and ideas – ideals that are really brought to life through this fantastic interdisciplinary event.”
Professor Christina Slade, Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University, said: “We were delighted to be chosen to host the annual ACU Summer School in 2017. At Bath Spa University we put students at the heart of everything we do and are proud to offer a liberal arts curriculum offering the best in creativity, culture, and enterprise.
“The relationship between the environment and the arts and humanities is a key theme of our research and teaching, so it is fitting that this was examined by the summer school participants. I’m glad our visitors experienced an engaging week of activities in beautiful surroundings.”
The summer school took place from 6th to 12th August 2017. In 2018 it will be hosted by The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
