Dear Everyone,
As we wish you all a wonderful winter break we just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for being such an active part of the new Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and bringing so many different wonderful things to our new collective endeavour! We know that the best is still to come.
We understand that it has not been an easy term due to issues with timetabling, module selection, university re-organisation and delays and problems with the Home Office. We are also aware that the cost-of-living crisis has made everyone’s lives harder this year. However, despite these factors, so many of you have engaged with your subject, joined wonderful discussions and activities, produced great work and have been part of so many extra-curricula activities. We can’t single out all those who have made time spent here special, but we would like to thank our student reps, the HaSS peer mentors and all those who run and are part of societies.
We also want to express our deep gratitude to all our colleagues who work so hard to create engaging teaching and learning and make things possible for you. In particular this term Jim Kelly (DDESE Humanities) Elif Ceylan Özsoy (DDESE – Law ) Catherine Owen (DDESE –Politics) and Camilla Gee (HaSS Employability), the Hub Team Bea Underwood (Humanities and Politics) and Nicky (Languages, Law and Business) and our administration team Amy Tregidgo, Dan Adeyemi, Jake Mackintosh and our Departmental Manager Mark Plummer have made the seemingly impossible happen and worked so long and tirelessly to put things right.
We hope that you have a really good rest and come back refreshed in the new year ready to be part of our first Montol Festival of Joy on Monday 23rd January and St Piran’s Day Events on 5th March.
All good wishes to you and yours for a peaceful and happy new year
Clare and Caroline on behalf of the whole team.
Prof. Clare Saunders (Head of Department) and Prof. Caroline Keenan (Director of Education and Student Experience)
Staying in Cornwall over the Christmas break?
There are a number of activities for those remaining on campus over the festive period. We hope you enjoy a well-deserved rest and take up some of the opportunities to keep yourself busy during the holidays.
A full-list of information and student support for Christmas in Cornwall 2022 can be found here: Christmas in Cornwall | Current students | University of Exeter
Friday 23rd December – 10am to 4pm – Campus Shop
Are you staying on campus over Christmas? Why not make life easy with one of these Christmas Day Hampers ?!
The Campus Shop team have put together everything you’ll need for a great Christmas Day including a Roast Turkey Meal (Vegetarian option available), Mince Pies, Apple Strudel, 3 pieces of Fruit, Orange Juice, Crossiant, Chocolate and a Selection Box.
All of this for just £15! To buy your hamper, visit our online store before Sunday 18th December and order your meat or vegetarian Christmas Day hamper.
Make sure you Reserve a Spot via the button above, so we can have your hamper ready for you to collect from the Shop on 23rd December, for you to enjoy on Christmas Day.
https://store.fxplus.ac.uk/product-catalogue/penryn-shop/christmas-order/christmas-meal
Tuesday 20th December – 3pm to 5pm – Exchange Yellow
The FXP Languages Team will be hosting light-hearted quiz to find out more about festive traditions in the UK, with tea, cakes and Christmas crackers! The Languages Team promote and support all things international. Alongside their teaching, we host events to bring students and staff from around the world together.
Reserve your spot for free by clicking the link here!
Saturday 17 December to Sunday 1 January – NMMC Falmouth
This Christmas holiday enjoy magically lit boats, merry Make & Takes and a Museum Trail – Christmas at NMMC takes on the theme of Lanterns & Lights with a magical nautical twist. Decked in festive lights and sparkly stars, traditional wooden boats carry Christmas cheer. Using the Flying Flotilla, hung high from the Museum’s ceiling, the boats are lit with subtle ocean coloured hues and set amongst glistening star bursts.
The Lanterns & Lights activities are free as part of the admission price. Pay once, get in free for a whole year.
For more information, click the link here.
Wednesday 21st December – 2pm to 9pm – Truro City Centre
The ResLife Team are running a late-night shopping trip to Truro. The City Centre Christmas Lights will be illuminating Truro and the main shopping streets will be traffic free from 2pm to give you space to shop, eat and drink. City-centre shops will be open late into the evening, giving you plenty of time to find the perfect Christmas present.
Let the train take the strain! The train runs from Falmouth/Penryn to Truro every half an hour so is an ideal way to travel to Truro and no need for a designated driver either!
The ResLife Team is here to welcome you to university life in Cornwall, your new home away from home. The team is made up of students studying at Falmouth University and the University of Exeter. Our primary goal is to help you make the most of your university life, and this year we have teamed up with the SU and Events teams to host a social calendar of events and activities for students living in halls of residence, both on and off campus, as well as acting as a friendly and familiar face in halls for signposting you to relevant wellbeing and support services.
16th December to 2nd January – Various Timeslots – Lost Gardens of Heligan, Pentewan, St.Austell
Visit the the Heligan Night Garden and become immersed in an enchanting lantern experience, set amidst the atmospheric Lost Gardens.
Journey through the magical garden trail, exploring woodlands and gardens beautifully lit with installations and lanterns. Discover breath-taking displays of fauna and flora as we celebrate the characters of our community, all illuminated within Heligan’s much-loved and iconic locations.
Tickets cost £13.05 and can be booked here.
Wednesday 21st December – 3pm to 9pm – Penzance
The Montol Festival is a six-day arts and community festival celebrating the mid-winter solstice
The festival is a revival of many of the Cornish mid-winter customs and Christmas traditions formally practiced around the Penzance area.
Fire performers, ‘Obby ‘Osses, guise beats and musicians will be out and about, lantern and mask-making workshops, plays, story-telling and late-night shopping too.
Tickets are £3.83 and can be purchased from: Montol Winter Solstice festival Tickets, Wed 21 Dec 2022 at 15:00 | Eventbrite
To learn more, click the link here.
Penryn Museum, on the ground floor of the town hall, has a collection of toys, household objects, advertisements, historic photography and more covering Penryn’s history. Before reopening in March, the museum would like to recruit more volunteers.
Duty slots are between 10am and 1pm or 1pm and 3.30pm.
Anyone who would like to join the team should telephone Mr Burton on 01326 374789.
For more information, click here.
With all the festivities and assignments happening right now, December is a really busy time in the academic calendar but there are some practical things to do now that will save you time and money in the new year.
For more information or similar advice from the Student’s Union, visit their website here.
On these dates an extremely reduced service will operate on a limited number of routes. Services will start later and finish much earlier than usual, and it is expected that trains that are able to run will be extremely busy. There will not be a rail replacement services instead of the train service.
In addition, services on dates between the strike dates, Thursday 15 December and Thursday 5 January will start later than normal, and on the days after the strikes (Sunday 18 December and Sunday 8 January) trains will start later and there could be short-notice cancellations and alterations.
The RMT have announced that they have lifted their overtime ban from Network Rail staff which was due to start on 18 December, but new strike dates of Saturday 24 December and Tuesday 27 December have been announced for Network Rail. This will mean services on Saturday 24 December will finish much earlier than usual. Services do not operate on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
From Monday 19 December to Friday 23 December, a full timetable will run.
Customers are asked only to travel on affected dates if absolutely necessary. Those trains that do run will be very busy and it is highly recommended that a seat reservation is made. Customers who have already purchased tickets online will be informed about the changes and will be offered full refunds, or opportunities to amend travel dates/times.
Full details, information on refunds, and when journey planners will be updated is available on the dedicated strike page at www.gwr.com/strike.
Out of term we’re still here to help
Between Monday 19 December and Friday 6 January Career Zone will be open online only, 10am to 3pm, on weekdays. We’ll be there to help you via Live Chat on our website, or email careers@exeter.ac.uk or phone us +44 1392724493.
We’ll be fully closed from 3pm Friday 23 December to 10am Tuesday 3 January, but you’ve still got full access to Handshake, My Career Zone Digital and all the info and advice on our website.
Season’s greetings and a Happy New Year from your Career Zone.
Whilst we hope you have a wonderful relaxing time over the holidays, it’s worth keeping one eye on upcoming events, schemes and opportunities which will be happening in the new year.
Monday 23rd January – 5pm to 7pm – The Exchange
The Montol festival is held each year in Penzance. Like all mid-winter festivals, it’s about bringing light and joy into darkness.
Join us: Form a team for our ‘reasons to be cheerful’ quiz, enter a cake in our ‘bake-off’ and try and win something from our joyful raffle.
Register your interest by scanning the QR code or visiting the link in our bio and fill out the form. If you wish to take part in our Bake-Off, fill out the form here and we can arrange supporting the costing of ingredients.
We look forward to seeing you all there!
We have big plans for the scheme entering Term 2 and are looking for suitable candidates to take on the role.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: We are looking to appoint up to 8 Peer Mentors, from existing 2nd and 3rd Year students. These Peer Mentors would use their knowledge, skills, and experience, as students, to guide and support first years in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (students studying on Flexible Combined Honours, Humanities, Law and Politics Degree Programmes). Are you capable of planning, co-leading and engaging in group sessions, demonstrating empathy and a genuine interest in an improvement of the student experience and well-being? Successful candidates will be able to work flexibly and creatively as part of a team, with a welcoming and approachable nature. You will be asked to undertake the compulsory Peer Mentor training which is accessible through Study Zone, whilst also completing an induction session led by Karen Kenny [insert role] which will cover the necessary skills needed to lead sessions comfortably and confidently.
Benefits include:
• Invaluable experience that can be used for future job applications
• A paid role to support you alongside your studies
• Useful preparation and information to help with your own degree
If you are in 2nd or 3rd Year and want to apply for this role, click the link here to apply via Handshake.
If you’re an existing Peer Mentor and want to continue your involvement or if you’d like any more information, contact Dan Adeyemi (d.adeyemi@exeter.ac.uk) for more details and to register your interest.
Submit to University of Exeter’s annual Undergraduate Research Showcase (UGRS) now!
The UGRS is taking place between 23 and 27 January 2023 and the deadline to submit is midnight 8 January.
You can submit research in the form of an abstract, poster or a video. All research submitted is showcased and displayed all week at an online and in-person exhibition across University of Exeter campuses. You can find all the information about this year’s Showcase on our website.
Why enter the UGRS?
More information to follow in the coming weeks. If you do have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact UGresearch@exeter.ac.uk.
Are you someone who enjoys getting involved, or who wants to help other students feel part of their university? Maybe you really love your subject and want to work with other Reps and staff to explore how to engage students more. You don’t have to be the most confident or outgoing person to be a Rep; you just need to have an interest in creating a really great student experience.
Course Reps are vital in making sure the student voice is heard at every level of the University decision making process! Every course year group has a Course Rep, elected by their peers, who will gather your feedback and work with course leaders to ensure your voice is listened to, valued and acted upon. Reps work in partnership with the Students’ Union, the University and the students to make sure the University environment is constantly evolving and shaping in response to your feedback.
We have a number of roles for all years across the HaSS Department. If you want to make a change and represent your peers, contact Charlie (Charlie.Atkinson@thesu.org.uk) to find out more!
Applications close midday 22nd December 2022
Unleash your future leadership potential. Join the Fast Stream and you’ll be encouraged, enabled and empowered to shape your way forward and tackle the issues that matter to you and UK life.
Supporting the government of the day to implement its policies effectively on behalf of every community across the UK, the Civil Service touches every aspect of life. Our award-winning Fast Stream programme develops talented, high-potential people to become future Civil Service leaders.
Offering access to roles in just about every government department, the Fast Stream opens up a huge range of opportunities for you to explore. And because we look at your talent, not your background, age or degree subject, there’s nothing to stand in your way.
All you need is an open mind and the determination to succeed, and we’ll invest in you.
For more information and to apply, click here.
Training Contracts 2024/2025
Our Bristol or Exeter based 2 year training contracts will give you the opportunity to have responsibility from day one, exposure to senior partners and learn from the best, the opportunity to make a difference, a chance to grow your career with an ambitious and ever growing law firm. You’ll also have the opportunity to complete a 6 month secondment in our London office if you are interested.
We are looking for people who are going to bring their diversity of thought, challenge our thinking and help us as we continue to have more success.
Summer Vacation Scheme 2023
Our 1 week vacation scheme takes place in either our Bristol or Exeter office and is an opportunity for us to find out more about you, you to find out more about us and to see what life as a Trainee at Michelmores is like. You will spend time in one team for the week which will give you a real hands-on insight into an area of law and life as a trainee. You will attend client meetings and be given ‘real work’.
You will learn about our different departments and areas of work through meeting trainees, partners and lawyers. We run informal lunches which will give you a true insight into working here.
During the week you will take part in a series of assessment exercises, including a group exercise and an article discussion with a partner. You will also have a formal interview with a partner and a member of the graduate recruitment team.
Although we can’t guarantee you a training contract at the end of it, we can guarantee that you will be challenged, have fun and will want to come back as a trainee!
Last year we offered Training Contracts to over 80% of our Vacation Schemers. Our Vacation Scheme is open to 2nd year law students and onwards to apply or 3rd year non law degree students.
All applications for these opportunities will be found here https://isw.changeworknow.co.uk/michelmores/vms/e/michelmores/search/edit