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For staff, students & friends Issue 206 | June 2014 Comment Farewell to the Principal After 10 years of leading King’s College London, Professor Sir Rick Trainor will leave the College at the end of this academic year. He takes up a new appointment in autumn 2014 as the next Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, succeeding Frances Cairncross CBE FRSE. Professor Trainor joined King’s in 2004 as Principal and acquired the additional title of President in 2009. He is Professor of Social History; his research has focused on 19th and 20th century British elites, especially in industrialised urban areas. He has also been heavily involved in computer- based teaching in subjects related to history, as well as in national initiatives to improve teaching more generally. Born and initially educated in the USA, Professor Trainor was an undergraduate at Brown University. He went on to become a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford where he obtained his doctorate. He also has a Master’s degree in history from Princeton. In 1979 he joined Glasgow University as a lecturer, rising to become Dean of Social Sciences and Vice-Principal. Before coming to King’s he served as Vice-Chancellor of Greenwich University for four years. Among the many posts he has held during his time at King’s, Professor Trainor was President of Universities UK (UUK) from 2007 to 2009, and has played a major role in promoting British higher education overseas. He has been a member of the US/UK Fulbright Commission and of the Arts & Humanities Research Council. In 2010 he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his services to higher education. During his time as Principal, King’s has advanced from 96th to 19th in the QS world rankings. In extending his gratitude to Professor Trainor for his skill and commitment in progressing the College’s interests since 2004, the Chairman of the Council of King’s, the Marquess of Douro, has described him as ‘a highly distinguished leader of the College, under whose guidance the College’s academic strengths have improved substantially.’ World questions | King’s answers: Four years on 4 King’s scientists win Wellcome Image Award 9 Re-imagining Rwanda 3 WWI at King’s 11 Professor Sir Rick Trainor, Principal, King’s College London 2004–14

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For staff, students & friends Issue 206 | June 2014

Comment

Farewell to the PrincipalAfter 10 years of leading King’s College London, Professor Sir Rick Trainor will leave the College at the end of this academic year. He takes up a new appointment in autumn 2014 as the next Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, succeeding Frances Cairncross CBE FRSE.

Professor Trainor joined King’s in 2004 as Principal and acquired the additional title of President in 2009. He is Professor of Social History; his research has focused on 19th and 20th century British elites, especially in

industrialised urban areas. He has also been heavily involved in computer-based teaching in subjects related to history, as well as in national initiatives to improve teaching more generally.

Born and initially educated in the USA, Professor Trainor was an undergraduate at Brown University.He went on to become a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford where he obtained his doctorate. He also has a Master’s degree in history from Princeton.

In 1979 he joined Glasgow University as a lecturer, rising to become Dean of

Social Sciences and Vice-Principal. Before coming to King’s he served as Vice-Chancellor of Greenwich University for four years.

Among the many posts he has held during his time at King’s, Professor Trainor was President of Universities UK (UUK) from 2007 to 2009, and has played a major role in promoting British higher education overseas. He has been a member of the US/UK Fulbright Commission and of the Arts & Humanities Research Council. In 2010 he was awarded a knighthood

in recognition of his services to higher education.

During his time as Principal, King’s has advanced from 96th to 19th in the QS world rankings. In extending his gratitude to Professor Trainor for his skill and commitment in progressing the College’s interests since 2004, the Chairman of the Council of King’s, the Marquess of Douro, has described him as ‘a highly distinguished leader of the College, under whose guidance the College’s academic strengths have improved substantially.’

World questions | King’s answers: Four years on 4

King’s scientists win Wellcome Image Award 9

Re-imagining Rwanda 3

WWI at King’s 11

Professor Sir Rick Trainor, Principal, King’s College London 2004–14

2 | Issue 206 | June 2014

News

This is my final column for Comment as Principal and President of King’s College London.

Looking back over the last decade, I am delighted that King’s has secured its place as one of the top universities in the world and has consolidated its reputation for excellence. But we are not complacent and are determined to continue to improve research quality and offer world-class teaching. In particular, improving the quality of the student experience is one of my top priorities. That passion is shared by the senior leadership team and will continue after my departure.

Another continuing challenge is securing the resources required to realise the College’s objectives in ever more volatile domestic and international markets.

In the last few months we have greeted some distinguished new senior colleagues, including Dr Joanna Newman, our Vice-Principal (International); Professor Russell Goulbourne, Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, and Rachel Parr, Chief Operating Officer for the Health Schools. They will work alongside other senior colleagues to ensure the continued success of King’s.

My personal highlights this year include conferring a College fellowship on King’s alumnus, Khushwant Singh, one of India’s best-selling authors. Sadly Khushwant died two months later at the age of 99. It was a privilege to have met him and heard his memories of King’s in the 1930s, including his captaincy of the College hockey team, which vanquished LSE!

Also, I greatly enjoyed two of our alumni being awarded 2013 Nobel Prizes – Professor Peter Ware Higgs FKC in Physics and Professor Michael Levitt in Chemistry.

It is a time of mixed emotions for me. After 10 sometimes challenging, but always rewarding, years I am about to move on to a new chapter in my life. But King’s will always be in my thoughts. I will watch intently as the College continues to blossom and will cheer on your successes, which will take King’s to new heights over the next several years.

I would say to my distinguished successor, Professor Ed Byrne AC, that he is inheriting a dynamic institution that is recognised both in the UK and abroad as a world-class university. He is also taking over the reins of our beloved College, of which I am immensely proud.

I would like to thank you all for 10 exciting years and for playing your part in making King’s College London the excellent place that it is.

I would also like to wish you the very best for the future.

Rick Trainor, Principal

A word from the Principal

King’s has launched a new online learning initiative called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), in partnership with FutureLearn.

MOOCs are entirely free and open to anyone. Using a specially-created platform, as well as social media, tutors develop videos, online resources and quizzes to lead discussions and guide students’ learning.

Dr Kyle Dyer, Senior Lecturer in Addiction Science, who led the first MOOC, Understanding Drugs and Addictions, said: ‘We had overwhelmingly positive feedback

from those who took part – emails from people in Nepal thanking us for the opportunity, others who shared their personal experiences with addiction and their reactions to seeing our researchers in action.’

Two further MOOCs were launched in March and April this year.

Dr David Easter, Academic Director of War Studies Online, said: ‘More than 14,000 people signed up for our [War Studies] MOOC  and we had some lively discussions. Recent events in the Ukraine have made the course acutely topical.’ 

New online learning initiatives launch to more than 10,000 students

Doctoral nursing student advises on EastEnders storyline

King’s annual Report published

The Armies in 1914

The new King’s College London Report features a sample of the immense range of research, teaching and innovation undertaken at King’s in 2012-13.

Highlights include King’s unique collaboration between the arts and academia, and an ambitious project to map how the human brain assembles itself in the womb and just after birth.

The publication features College news as well as facts, figures and finances. It is widely distributed to staff, fellows, friends, visitors and VIPs, and copies are available from campus reception desks.

In March this year, the Department of War Studies and the History of War Research Group hosted a public conference entitled The Armies in 1914. The event, which was organised in partnership with the National Army Museum and the British Commission for Military History, saw prominent historians outline why the lessons of World War I are valuable to us today.

The conference marked the launch of King’s First World War Centenary Programme, and discussions focused on the implications of the War for current military affairs.

Major General Mungo Melvin CB, OBE, President of the British Commission for Military History and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King’s, said: ‘Much of this is relevant today, particularly the political/military relations. The First World War shaped much of the world and society we know today, and that is why it’s important.’ The Armies in 1914 conference marked the launch of King’s First World War Centenary Programme

Victoria Harmer, a student on the Doctorate in Healthcare Programme at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, is assisting BBC producers in developing story lines and writing scripts for the TV soap opera, EastEnders.

Vickki, who is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in breast care at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, was approached by the BBC in September 2013 when they were planning a new storyline involving the character Carol Jackson, who would find a lump in her breast.

Vickki has been advising script writers about the breast screening process and suggesting who from Carol’s on-screen family would need to be tested following her diagnosis. She used the opportunity to encourage the writers to portray the breast screening process as an empowering experience that allows any future treatment to be more personalised.

Speaking of her experience working with the BBC team, Vickki said: ‘It is vital that the information presented on screen is accurate, so that the programme doesn’t scaremonger unnecessarily and it is a fair and true representation for those going through the treatment. The key is to get a balance between portraying a realistic pathway and patient experience, and maintaining entertainment levels for the viewers.’

As a tribute to Vickki, EastEnders scriptwriters have named the character of Carol’s breast nurse specialist ‘Vicky’. EastEnders character Carol Jackson was diagnosed with breast cancer

June 2014 | Issue 206 | 3

Profile: Professor Sir Rick Trainor PAGE 5

Re-imagining Rwanda

Professor Welch’s inaugural lecture

Oxytocin could provide new treatment for anorexia

The recent highly-acclaimed exhibition, Rwanda in Photographs: Death Then, Life Now, held in the Inigo Rooms in Somerset House East Wing, was the first international exhibition to show Rwanda through the eyes of Rwandan photographers, 20 years after the genocide.

Rwanda in Photographs was the culmination of a project for professional Rwandan photographers organised by Dr Zoe Norridge, Lecturer in English & Comparative Literature. The exhibition, supported by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Cultural Institute at King’s, was co-curated by Dr Norridge and Mark Sealy, Director of Autograph ABP.

Describing her experiences, Dr Norridge said: ‘When I was researching Rwandan photography I could only find images of the genocide and the devastation that it caused. I visited Rwanda and found that the place did not match the pictures.’

Revealed in the exhibition was a changing country. With photographs of rural poverty that still exists, juxtaposed against scenes of urban development, the images challenged global assumptions of the country.

Dr Norridge continued: ‘Rwanda today is full of talent. It is important to remember the past, but we can’t freeze Rwanda in that moment. It is a country full of hope and creative energy.’

Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies and Vice-Principal (Arts & Sciences) gave her Inaugural Lecture, Thinking through things: Fashionable goods in Early Modern Europe, 1550-1700, in March.

Drawing on research undertaken as part of a major collaborative research project, Fashioning the Early Modern: Creativity and Innovation in Europe, 1500-1800, her lecture examined a range of fashionable items – goods that took on iconic status in England, France, Holland, Italy, Spain

Oxytocin, also known as the ‘love hormone’, could provide a new treatment for anorexia nervosa, according to new research from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP). The study found that oxytocin alters anorexic patients’ tendencies to fixate on images of high calorie foods and larger body shapes.

Anorexia nervosa affects approximately one in 150 teenage girls in the UK and is one of the leading causes of mental health related deaths, both through physical complications and suicide. Patients

with anorexia often have social difficulties, including anxiety and hypersensitivity to negative emotions.

Professor Janet Treasure from the Eating Disorders Section in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the IoP and senior author of the study, said: ‘Patients with anorexia have a range of social difficulties which often start in their early teenage years, before the onset of the illness. By using oxytocin as a potential treatment, we are focusing on some of these underlying problems.’

The exhibition received excellent reviews in Metro, Times Higher Education and Londonist, among others

and Scandinavia – and looked at what can be learnt by studying the objects themselves.

Professor Welch discussed ruffs, tippets, muffs, masks and other fashions which spread, disappeared and re-emerged in different guises between 1550 and 1700. She concluded that it is only by bringing together the

surviving objects and their representations that we

can begin to explore how fashion worked

in Early Modern Europe.

Professor Evelyn Welch, Thinking through things: Fashionable goods in Early Modern Europe, 1550-1700

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, launched a major new initiative, ‘MedCity’, in April that will transform the London-Oxford-Cambridge life sciences sector into a world beating power-cluster.

Through MedCity, a new body modelled on the successful Tech City Investment Organisation, the life sciences sector in the South East will aim to match the position of financial services in the national economy.

The new organisation is tasked with attracting life sciences corporations to the ‘golden triangle’ formed by the three UK cities, facilitating collaboration between them and

the UK academic research base.It is hoped that MedCity will

attract billions of pounds of investment to help spur on the discovery of new treatments, propelling the sector to become a key contributor to the capital’s health.

Professor Sir Robert Lechler, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, said: ‘MedCity represents a fantastic opportunity to boost London’s stature as a world class hub for innovation and enterprise in life sciences. We are delighted that the Mayor of London backs our ambition for London to be the world destination for investment in life sciences.’

New London Arts & Humanities PartnershipKing’s, in partnership with the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and UCL, has been awarded more than £18 million by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to form the London Arts & Humanities Partnership (LAHP).

The partnership will form one of the most significant postgraduate training schemes in arts and humanities in the UK.

LAHP will fund and train approximately 400 postgraduate

students over five annual cohorts from October 2014 and deliver a training environment open to more than 1,300 postgraduate research students.

Professor Clare Lees, Director of LAHP, commented: ‘This award is testament to our collective strengths in training graduate researchers. We are committed to furthering public engagement, working with the cultural and creative industries and supporting student research initiatives.’

Mayor of London launches MedCity

Anorexia nervosa affects approximately one in 150 teenage girls in the UK

Features

4 | Issue 206 | June 2014

In 2010, King’s publicly launched its World questions|King’s answers campaign with two ambitious goals: to raise £500 million by 2015 and to answer some of the biggest questions facing humanity. By supporting the College’s world-leading academics, pioneering scientists and outstanding clinicians, the campaign was designed to have global impact.

King’s launched this campaign because it believes that, as one of the world’s leading research universities, it has a duty to serve society, using its considerable knowledge to make greater progress towards solving some of the greatest challenges facing modern society.

With the generous support of alumni, staff and friends, King’s has reached its £500 million target 18 months early. The College is now aiming to build on the success of the past four years and raise another £100 million by the end of 2015.

The campaign is already having a significant impact for staff, students and the work of the College. One team of researchers, led by Ghulam Mufti, Professor of Haematological Oncology in the Division of Cancer Studies, is developing a vaccine to prevent a particular form of leukaemia from returning.

Professor Mufti explained: ‘Leukaemia is a broad term covering a range of blood and bone marrow cancers, but one form, acute myeloid leukaemia, is increasingly common as people are living longer. While it is treatable, it frequently returns,

particularly in older populations.‘Nearly 60 per cent of patients

with acute myeloid leukaemia who are 60 and older will relapse, despite a bone marrow transplant.’

Professor Mufti’s team is working on a vaccine which is made of leukaemia cells that have been collected from individual patients and have been engineered specially so that they are recognised as foreign by the body’s immune system. They are currently in phase one of the trial, and early indications are that patients are not having any problems or side-effects.

The team hope the vaccine will eventually be relevant to all types of myeloid leukaemias.

‘Without philanthropic support, this just wouldn’t have happened’, Professor Mufti continued. ‘If you look at any of our research areas, be it the research into leukaemic stem cells, the genetics of leukaemia or the production of cell therapies, there would not have been any advances had it not been for the support of charities and donors.

‘All of our researchers, and our patients, are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed funds.’

The spring issue of In Touch magazine features a special section about World questions|King’s answers, focusing on several of the campaign’s achievements to date. In addition to being distributed in its print version across all campuses, the magazine is available as an iPad app and online on the King’s alumni website.

Focus

World questions|King’s answers: four years on

The first member of his family to attend university, fourth-year medical student Morteza Mirabdulhagh joined King’s through the College’s Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP), which is made possible through the support of alumni and friends. EMDP students, who come from non-selective state schools, have an extra year to complete the first two phases of the medical degree course of study, but must pass all assessments at the same level as other students.

What made you want to study medicine?I began developing a passion for medicine from the age of 14. I saw members of my family diagnosed with different medical conditions, and I began to appreciate how much of a difference a good doctor can make. From then on I became motivated to pursue a career as a doctor. I realised that my actions

and attitude can directly make a difference to a person’s life. It was suddenly all that I wanted to do.

For the next three years I took whatever help was available to me, whether that was in the form of online tutorials or visiting hospitals to find a doctor who would take me on for work experience. I was completely focused on making myself a strong candidate for medical school.

How did you join the Extended Medical Degree Programme at King’s?When I started applying to medical schools I felt confident and thought that with all I had done I would be as strong as the next candidate. However, it wasn’t long before the rejection emails started to arrive. Three universities turned me down and another offered me an ‘alternative programme’. At that point I felt

shattered. After three years of hard work, not one of those medical schools was willing even to interview me. Then suddenly I was invited for an interview at King’s, and I was accepted into the Extended Medical Degree Programme.

How would you describe your experiences of the Extended Medical Degree Programme?The Extended Medical Degree Programme has provided me with an opportunity that no one else was willing to give me: the opportunity to achieve my potential.

I’m working hard and achieving some of the highest grades across my cohort. I am so grateful for the opportunity the EMDP has given me. I will give what I can back to the course and will continue to support the EMDP long after I graduate. 

Spotlight

Morteza Mirabdulhagh

Professor Ghulam Mufti’s research into leukaemia would not have been possible without philanthropic support

King’s has reached its £500 million target 18 months early and is now building on that success.

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June 2014 | Issue 206 | 5

Profile

The Principal in pictures PAGES 6 & 7

New appointmentsProfessor Reza RazaviReza Razavi (below), Professor of Paediatric Cardiovascular Science at King’s College London and Consultant Cardiologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed as the new Director of Research at King’s Health Partners.

Professor Razavi said: ‘I look forward to driving and supporting

research activities. Together we can forge our position as a leading centre of health-related research, not only in the UK but also internationally.’

Professor Sir Robert Lechler, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, said: ‘Reza’s drive and commitment to research make him the ideal person to deliver our research agenda over the next five years.’

New Health Schools’ Chief Operating OfficerKing’s has welcomed Rachel Parr as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Health Schools.

Rachel joined King’s from the charity Save the Children where

most recently she was Chief Financial and Strategic Projects Officer. Prior to that she worked at GlaxoSmithKline for 24 years.

Rachel will play a leading role in supporting the academic leadership of the Health Schools and in furthering King’s reputation as an elite biomedical science and education institution in the UK and beyond.

Professor Paula BoothProfessor Paula Booth has been appointed as inaugural Head of Chemistry, with effect from September 2014.

Professor Booth has worked at the University of Bristol as Professor

of Physical Biochemistry since 2005. Speaking of her appointment,

Professor Booth said: ‘I am delighted to lead King’s Chemistry into a new era. Chemistry has a key role to play in some of the most challenging issues facing modern society. Building on an illustrious history, it is a privilege to be able to shape a vigorous and distinctive new department.’

Dr Mike AitkenDr Mike Aitken (right) has been appointed Director of King’s

new undergraduate Psychology programme.

The focus of the new programme will be interdisciplinary problem-based learning across the range of psychological study, taking

advantage of King’s and the IoP’s expertise in applied psychological research, social sciences and practice in neuroscience, as well as its links with NHS partners.

Dr Aitken joins King’s from Cambridge University and will take up his position

in the Department of Psychology

in July 2014.

What is your strongest memory from your time at King’s? It’s hard to pick just one because these have been 10 very eventful years, but I would single out the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2012 for the opening of Somerset House East Wing – a spectacular event by anyone’s standards and the culmination of 180 years of King’s attempting to secure that major objective.

What have been the other main highlights of your 10 years at King’s?We’ve had a whole series of major visits, including a number from our most celebrated graduate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and other major figures like former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. There’s been much more to these 10 years than high profile visits but the frequency and the importance of these appearances demonstrates the rising prominence of King’s during the last decade as a major academic institution.

What has been your proudest achievement?King’s and the institutions with which it merged in the 80s and 90s have been significant parts of the academic world for a long time. But in the last 10 years we’ve managed to bring things together in a way that shows the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the institution has become launched on what seems a self-sustaining rise to greater prominence and influence.

These general achievements have been the result of huge team efforts. The same is true of a particular achievement, our spectacularly successful fundraising campaign, World questions|King’s answers. It has benefitted from the rising

prominence of the College but has also contributed to it by providing us with resources for activities that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to undertake.

I am also proud of the rise of King’s in international esteem, moving up considerably in the world rankings.

What other achievements would you like to highlight? King’s is now much more of a coherent institution, emphasised by awarding degrees in its own name. The College is increasingly characterised by academic initiatives that link our various campuses and bridge the boundary between the

Arts & Sciences Schools and the Health Schools.

King’s has also become much more international – about 40 per cent of our academics and more than a third of our students are from overseas, compared to just over a fifth in 2004.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced?London is a wonderful location for a university because it’s such an exciting and attractive city, with rising international appeal, but it is also filled with many important institutions; sometimes universities have a hard time being heard and recognised in such a crowded and dynamic place.

But King’s is making an increasing contribution to the world around it, especially to the quality of schools and to the health service.

Is there anything that you would like to have done differently?I think it’s a lot clearer in 2014 than in 2004, how rapidly higher education and its environment is changing, both nationally and internationally. With that in mind, although King’s has changed hugely in the last 10 years, I think that if I was starting again I would emphasise that dynamic external environment even more than I did, while giving even greater emphasis to communication, both internally and externally.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role at Exeter College, Oxford?I’m still very much focused on King’s. Once I arrive at Exeter, which has been welcoming to me and to my wife, Marguerite, since my ‘pre-election’ in 2013, I am sure there will be many aspects of Exeter that will be very enjoyable. But for the moment it’s important that I keep my focus on King’s.

What will you miss most about King’s?King’s is a complex and exciting institution with a vast range of academic activity and external impact. It has been a privilege to be at the centre of all that. In particular, I’ll miss my contact with King’s alumni, in the UK and abroad, and mixing with colleagues and students.

What advice will you give to your successor Professor Ed Byrne?None! We’re having an exceptionally harmonious transition. He’s a person of great experience and huge talents

who doesn’t need any guidance from me.

How important is family life to you? Very important. Spending time with my wife Marguerite, who has played a major role in activities at King’s and abroad on behalf of the College, and with our children, Richard and Meg, who have also been drawn into King’s activities, is a really important part of my life. Being Principal at King’s has been a family adventure as well as a personal one.

How do you relax?Sleep! Visits to museums, tennis, meals out with family and friends. We have many visitors: living in London enhances one’s popularity!

What is your favourite holiday destination?A small island off the coast of Maine called Squirrel Island because of its shape. It’s a great place to play tennis, walk, swim occasionally – although the water is very cold – and generally decompress!

What book is on your bedside table?There are so many books that recently I had to carry out a cull to reduce the chance of a dangerous collapse in an earth tremor! I am a binge reader!

How would you like to be remembered by the King’s community? Most fundamentally, I suppose, as somebody who, with a great deal of support, including from his family, was able to build on the very strong foundations that he inherited and will pass on to his successor a dynamic institution recognised, both in the UK and internationally, as a major university.

Professor Trainor’s wife, Marguerite, has played a major role in activities at King’s

As Principal of King’s College London for the last 10 years, Professor Sir Rick Trainor has entertained monarchy, senior US and UK Government officials, a former UN Secretary General and a host of archbishops. But at heart he’s a family man who’s at his happiest spending time with his wife Marguerite on a tiny island by the name of ‘Squirrel’.

Professor Sir Rick Trainor

6 | Issue 206 | June 2014

The Principal in pictures

Professor Trainor with Nobel Peace Laureate and King’s Alumnus Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened Somerset House East Wing in February 2012

The Principal at the official launch of the King’s China Institute

June 2014 | Issue 206 | 7

Inspiring Change at King’sPAGE 8

Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened Somerset House East Wing in February 2012

The Principal at the official launch of the King’s China Institute Professor Trainor with philanthropist and Fellow of King’s College London, Dr Dickson Poon CBE SBS

Sir John Major KG CH received an Honorary Doctorate in 2013

8 | Issue 206 | June 2014

Celebrating success

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2014, King’s organised a special photo shoot for the College’s 155 female professors. The images were presented at King’s International Women’s Day event,

Inspiring Change, held in March. The event also included a series

of talks from King’s academics and external experts, including Angela O’Connor, Founder and CEO of the HR Lounge, and Averil MacDonald,

Professor of Science Engagement at the University of Reading.

The keynote speaker, Professor Paul Walton, was the previous Head of Chemistry at the University of York, whose department received

the first Athena SWAN Gold Award for improving gender equality for female academics working in the STEM disciplines.

Blogger Gillian King, who attended Inspiring Change, said: ‘It was

an inspiring event that addressed equality issues. It was demonstrated with compelling evidence that change is possible, achievable and desirable, especially if we all participate to inspire such change.’

Inspiring Change at King’s

In February this year, King’s hosted two hackathons; hackKing’s organised by the KCL Tech Society, and the Global Health Hack, organised by the Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine.

Hackathons began in the IT community as computing marathons in which programmers, graphic and interface designers, and project managers would collaborate intensively on software projects to design the next ‘killer app’. They are now being employed widely in educational, creative, corporate, and government sectors.

HackKings was the largest student-run, inter-university hackathon in the UK, with nearly 200 students from across the country joining in to think up, design and code an innovative new app in just 24 hours.

Winning entries included a new live streaming social network called Streamy and an app to help people quit bad habits, such as smoking and swearing.

The Global Health Hack encouraged students to think of simple technological solutions to common global health problems. Undergraduate students collaborated in interdisciplinary teams with postgraduate students from different disciplines and digital experts to either redesign an existing product or invent a new one in order to improve strategies in global health.

Outputs included a new HPV vaccination programme that would reach girls in schools, as well as girls who dropped out early, through free texting services, a buddy programme, and an interactive education website.

Pianist Ji Liu, who is undertaking a practical PhD project in the Department of Music, went straight to number one in the UK Classical chart  in February with his debut album Piano Reflections.

His album of fresh interpretations of well-known classical music replaced popular compilation album Classical Voices, which had held the top spot for more than two months.

Ji said: ‘I wanted to make the music accessible to more people and to reinterpret traditional songs with different emotions. I have big ambitions for my music, but I could never have dreamed that my debut album would go straight to number one.’

King’s hosts hackathons to create new tech innovations Music student hits top spot in Classical chart

The College’s female professors were invited to a special photo shoot to celebrate International Women’s Day

Nearly 200 students from across the country took part in hackKing’s

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June 2014 | Issue 206 | 9

Flashback: WWI at King’s PAGE 11

An image of a breast cancer tumour, captured by scientists from King’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, has been selected as one of the Wellcome Image Awards 2014 winning images.

This year’s awards invited the public to ‘come closer’ with a selection of winning images that celebrate the best in science imaging talent and techniques.

The winning image, produced by Dr Khuloud Al-Jamal, Senior

Lecturer in Nanomedicine, and Izzat Suffian, an MPhil/PhD student in the Department, shows high magnification images of breast cancer cells treated with doxorubicin – an anti-cancer drug used to treat many types of cancer.

Dr Al-Jamal said: ‘I am thrilled that our image has won an award alongside others of such a very high standard. I would like to thank the Wellcome Trust for giving us this marvellous opportunity.

‘My team works on developing nanoscale carriers to deliver anti-cancer drugs to specific targets in the body. Without such carriers, anti-cancer drugs spread throughout the body, which can have adverse side effects.’

For the first time the winning images will be displayed across the UK at four major science centres, as well as in a window display at the Wellcome Trust’s headquarters in London.

King’s scientists win Wellcome Image Award

The Rt Revd Christopher Hill, King’s alumnus and lay member of the College Council, has been awarded the Lambeth Doctor of Divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in recognition of his ‘long and distinguished ministry, focused in serving the ecumenical commitment of the Church of England.’

The honorary degree was conferred upon him by Archbishop Justin Welby in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace, in recognition of his significant contribution to

the life of the Church over many years. The Archbishop praised his contributions and said that Bishop Hill was ‘renowned for the quality of his mind as well as the graciousness of his spirit.’

Bishop Hill was appointed to the College Council in 2009 and currently serves on the Honorary Degrees Committee. His academic contributions include the co-editing of Anglicans and Roman Catholics: the Search for Unity and Anglican Orders: the documents in the case.

College Council member awarded Lambeth Doctor of Divinity

Professor Ken Young, Programme Director for MA Public Policy and Professor of Public Policy, will have a new Policy & Politics prize awarded in his name. The ‘Ken Young Prize’ will be given to the best article published in Policy & Politics journal during the previous calendar year.

Professor Young worked with a colleague to launch Policy & Politics in 1972, a journal which focused initially on local government. The prize was titled the ‘Ken Young Prize’ to reflect Professor Young’s commitment to the field of public policy analysis.

Professor Young said: ‘I am surprised and delighted to have been recognised by Policy & Politics in this way.’

Randall Smith, editorial advisory board member of Policy & Politics said: ‘Thanks to the initiative of Ken in the early 1970s, we celebrated 40 years of the journal in 2012. We are delighted to name this annual prize after him in recognition of his innovative ideas and determination

to put interdisciplinary analysis of, and for, policy firmly on the academic map in the UK and beyond.’

The first winner of the ‘Ken Young Prize’ will be announced and awarded at the Policy & Politics Annual Conference in September 2014.

New Policy & Politics prize named after King’s Professor

The winning image shows high magnification images of breast cancer cells treated with doxorubicin

King’s students reach Jessup Moot World Semi-FinalStudents from The Dickson Poon School of Law reached the semi-finals of the 2014 Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington, DC. The King’s team, including oralists Vinura Ladduwahetty, Mubarak Waseem and Jacopo Giunta and researcher Hermia Wong, were the only team from a UK university to progress to the semi-finals of the competition.

The Jessup Moot is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from more than 550 law schools in more than 80 countries. The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. This year’s problem concerned the conflict between maritime development and conservation, criminal jurisdiction and maritime salvage rights.

The final results put the team in fourth place overall, and fourth place individual best oralist went to LLB

student Mubarak Waseem. The team was coached by Neza

Hren and Ruba Ameen, King’s alumni who competed in the Jessup in 2013. They said: ‘The team has worked incredibly hard since October to

achieve this amazing success. They researched in great depth the issues of public international law and advanced complex arguments in their oral and written pleadings. We are very proud of them.’

Back row (L-R) Neza Hren and Ruba Ameen King’s team coaches. Front row (L-R) The King’s team: Hermia Wong, Jacopo Giunta, Vinura Ladduwahetty and Mubarak Waseem

King’s has risen to 43rd place in the Times Higher Education (THE) world rankings of universities by reputation. This follows last year’s QS University Rankings, which placed King’s in the top 20 universities in the world.

The THE rankings are compiled using the world’s largest invitation-only survey of academic opinion and King’s has improved significantly on last year’s result, moving up the ranks from the 61-70 band to 43rd in the world. The excellent results highlight King’s continued success in building a global profile and reputation through international research, collaboration and partnerships.

Principal, Professor Sir Rick Trainor, said: ‘During the last

decade King’s has capitalised on the mergers which greatly enhanced the institution during the 1980s and 1990s, and has seen a marked rise in international appreciation of the quality of our research and teaching.

‘In addition, our London-based Global Institutes are deepening understanding of fast changing parts of the world and building connections.’

Phil Baty, Editor, Times Higher Education Rankings, said: ‘The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings are unique in global higher education – providing an unparalleled insight into an area of growing importance in higher education – a university’s global academic prestige.’

King’s ranked in Times Higher’s top 50 universities

10 | Issue 206 | June 2014

Celebrating success

Media watchDerek Jarman: PandemoniumFrom the Cultural Institute, this exhibition marked the 20th anniversary of the death of artist and King’s alumni Derek Jarman. Reviews of the exhibition featured in the New Statesman, Metro and Catholic Herald and in other specialist publications. The exhibition was also mentioned in features on Jarman and events listings including those

This was reported by the Nursing Standard, Times and Daily Telegraph. Professor Rafferty was also interviewed by BBC Radio 4.

‘Dimmer switch’ may lead to better painkillerScientists have found that genes linked to pain sensitivity play a role in the way life experiences can alter a person’s pain threshold by becoming more or less active over time. Dr Jordana Bell, Genetics & Molecular Medicine, said the results were, ‘very exciting and could lead to more effective treatment for patients with chronic pain’. This was reported by the Daily Telegraph, The Times,

New Scientist, BBC World News, BBC News and internationally by Xinhua (China), Forbes and O Globo (Brazil).

Commentary: field of tissue engineering is progressing at remarkable paceDr Eileen Gentleman, Dental Institute, wrote about tissue engineering for the Daily Telegraph and said that the field is, ‘progressing at a remarkable pace with tailor-made tissues a real possibility in the near future.’

An education revolution?In a BBC Radio 4 series looking at the phenomenal changes to education being brought about

by technology, the final episode was a debate broadcast from the Great Hall at King’s. Professor Alison Wolf, Management, was in the audience and, at the start of the discussion, said: ‘It’s about motivating people to learn, not through some video app, but by exciting them about what they’re doing.’ The series was also discussed by the Guardian.

Cameron hails new age of technological revolutionThe Prime Minister announced extra funding for development of the new, ultra fast 5G internet system at the CeBIT 2014 trade fair in Hanover. Professor Mischa Dohler,

by the Independent, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Daily Telegraph

and Evening Standard.

Nursing cutbacks linked to higher patient deathsNew research has found evidence that cutbacks in nursing staff are linked to higher patient death

rates in hospitals. Professor Anne Marie Rafferty (left),

Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, said

‘the controversy over nurses being over-educated

in our view is a gross exaggeration.’

A team of six PhD students from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) has won the annual King’s Lion’s Den Challenge. The team won ‘Best Idea’ and a £10,000 prize for ‘CogniTracker’, a health app which monitors users’ cognitive health, with the aim of improving early detection of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The Lion’s Den Challenge is designed to equip students and postdoctoral research staff with the business skills to help them launch their own entrepreneurial ventures.

Professor Susan Lea, Vice-Dean for Education at the IoP, said: ‘I’m delighted that a team from the IoP has won this year’s competition. Their success highlights the creativity that our students have.’

IoP team triumphs in Lion’s Den

Dr Diana Rose will become the new Professor in User Led Research at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), the first role of its kind in the world.

A social scientist and mental health service user, Professor Rose’s research aims to put the voice of the service user into the research agenda in mental health.

Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean and Head of School at the IoP, said: ‘The IoP has a long history of user led research, and Diana has been a true pioneer in this field. I’m extremely proud that the IoP should host the first Professorship in User Led Research, and even more delighted we have such an internationally renowned researcher to take up this role.’

World’s first Professor in User Led Research

Leo Salvia, a current MSc Forensic Science student, has been working with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) on explosive materials research, as part of his programme of study.

Leo’s investigation of mass spectrometry was part of a broader programme of activity to enhance the capabilities of Dstl’s Forensic Explosives Laboratory (FEL). The study focused on the conditions required to identify 19 common organic explosives in a single chemical analysis. Such an outcome would strengthen FEL’s capability to screen forensic samples more efficiently for a wide range of explosives.

Leo said that his work ‘facilitated the stream-lining of detection

methods currently used into one combined solution.’ He continued: ‘Hopefully, this will add to the efficiency of explosives analysis at FEL.’

King’s student contributes to Ministry of Defence explosives work

Emeritus Professor Richard Whish of The Dickson Poon School of Law has been appointed Queen’s Counsel Honoris Causa. The award is made to lawyers who have made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales outside practice in the courts.

Professor Whish is a legal academic and author as well as a qualified solicitor, and was in legal practice for nearly 10 years.

He has been recommended for his contribution to competition law and policy in the UK, the European Union and in many other countries throughout the world. During his career, Professor Whish has advised various governments and competition authorities on competition law and influenced the development of soft law guidance.

His nomination also focused on his contribution to the development of many postgraduate courses on competition law and policy at King’s, having been a Professor of Law here from 1991 to 2013.

Emeritus Professor appointed Honorary QC

Dr Michael Escudier, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Oral Medicine at the Dental Institute, has been elected to the role of Junior Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 

The Faculty of Dental Surgery is a professional body committed to

enabling dental specialists to provide patients with the highest possible standards of practice and care.

Speaking of his new role, Dr Escudier said: ‘I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to further contribute to the Royal College and to dentistry nationally.’

Junior Vice-Dean appointment

(L-R) Miss Kathryn Harley (Dean, Faculty of Dental Surgery), Dr Michael Escudier and Mr Bernard Speculand (Senior Vice-Dean, Faculty of Dental Surgery)

June 2014 | Issue 206 | 11

Tony Thorne explores contemporary slang, from ‘Jafaican’ to ‘teen-speak’ PAGE 12

The First World War had a major impact on the entire King’s community: not only those who went to fight.

In a remarkably prescient sermon in September 1914, the Dean of the College, Revd Alfred Caldecott, described this conflict as ‘the first time in modern English history that the pressure of war has been turned directly on the whole youth of the nation.’ Whereas fighting forces had previously been drawn solely from ‘the upper levels of the nation for officers, and from the labour levels for the rank and file’, the ‘great intermediate levels from which professions, and therefore students, are mainly drawn’ had, he said, ‘been but little touched.’

But now, he foresaw with grim accuracy, ‘it may perhaps be found that the whole youth of the Nation is called. It is indeed “Nation against Nation” now.’ Students would, he said, be called to ‘devote not only physical strength but intellectual capacity’ to national service.

According to FJC Hearnshaw, the College’s 1929 historian, 1,567 King’s students and staff were engaged in military service during the War; with about half the College’s staff away fighting or doing other war work. Two young King’s alumni were awarded the Victoria Cross: Captain Archie White, a recent President of KCLSU, and Revd Noel Mellish, the first chaplain to win this honour in the War. Exceptionally, both of them survived; but 239 other King’s staff and students were killed.

With fortuitously good timing, the arts and science faculties of King’s College for Women in Kensington were merged with the all-male King’s College at the Strand in 1915, and the

arrival of women staff released many male lecturers for military service, while the absence of men helped to give women a new prominence in the life of the College.

There was a risk that the College buildings would be seized by the War Office, but Principal Ronald Burrows was able to prevent this by demonstrating the extensive war-work being done by staff. This included research enabling English firms to supply specialist glass (previously only available from Germany) for lenses and other purposes; training thousands of munitions workers and aeronautical inspectors; testing field-glasses and telescopes for military operations; investigating the nutritive properties of various kinds of new foods, and providing intensive linguistic courses for interpreters and liaison officers. Professor William Bottomley invented a ‘bacterised peat’ which went into immediate commercial production to help increase the output of land.

PowerhouseUnder Dr Burrows, King’s became what Hearnshaw described as ‘a powerhouse of academic propaganda in favour of national self-determination for the peoples of eastern Europe’. Professor Tomas Masaryk, in exile from Bohemia, became Professor of Slavonic Studies, enabling him to foster the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic, of which he became the first President. Through his contacts with Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece, Dr Burrows helped to bring Greece into the war on the side of the Allies.

King’s also became the pre-eminent London centre for public

lectures, drawing huge audiences among lawyers, bankers and City workers on their way home, with topics including ‘The Spirit of the Allied Nations’; ‘The War and the Problems of Empire’; ‘The University and the Nation’, and ‘The Visions of a World Peace’.

Meanwhile the Department of Household Science, in Kensington, ran courses in ‘trench cookery’, to assist women at the front who might need to find ‘the best way of dealing with a quarter of a bullock or a whole sheep handed over to them by the Army Service Corps,’ as the lecturer put it.

Student numbers fell from around 3,500 in 1913-14 to some 1,850 in 1915-16. ‘There will be no Athletic Sports this year,’ the College Review reported; ‘there have been no debates, no socials, no ping-pong, no Theological tub-thumping in the Common Rooms … no excitement, no nothing.’ Zeppelin raids cut lectures short, or meant they had to be rescheduled.

Even before the Armistice in November 1918, however, numbers were starting to recover, rising to more than 4,000 in 1919-20. The men who came back from the war

WWI at King’sThe impact of the First World War on King’s stretched far beyond the 1,500 staff and students who were engaged in military service.Dr Christine Kenyon Jones

Flashback

Professor Hamid Aghvami and Dr Vasilis Friderikos, Department of Informatics, will work with colleagues at the Universities of Dresden and Surrey to develop the new system. This was also reported by the Sun, Daily Telegraph and Press Association.

Air pollutionExperts from the Environmental Research Group commented widely on heightened levels of air pollution

in April. Professor Frank Kelly (below), Dr Ben Barratt, Dr Gary

Fuller, Dr Martin Williams, Dr Ian Mudway, Andrew

Grieve and Tim Baker were all quoted or interviewed by national media including BBC Newsnight, The One Show, This Morning,

BBC News, BBC Breakfast, CBBC,

Independent, Daily Mail,

Financial Times, NDTV (India)

and Asian Age (India) among many others. Professor Kelly told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Whether home-produced or arriving from the Continent, the tiny particles we take into our bodies cause immediate problems for some individuals.’

‘Love’ hormone could help to beat anorexiaAccording to research from King’s, oxytocin could provide the first pharmaceutical treatment for anorexia. Professor Janet Treasure, Institute of Psychiatry, was interviewed by BBC News, BBC Radio London and BBC World Service. The story was also reported

saved with a view to retirement and what the Chancellor is saying is we should trust them to spend it wisely.’

Youth subcultures: what are they now?Dr Ruth Adams (left), Culture, Media & Creative Industries, commented on changes in youth subcultures

for the Guardian: ‘I think it’s a lot easier to be subculturally

promiscuous. Previously, you had to commit

to fashion, because it took more of a financial investment.’

by The Times, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Metro, TIME Magazine, Times of India, Hindustan Times, Press Association and Reuters.

Budget 2014 Following the announcement of reforms to pensions in George Osborne’s fifth budget, Professor Anne Redston, The Dickson Poon School of Law, was interviewed by BBC Radio 4 World at One and BBC News. She said: ‘These are people who have saved in their pensions for many years, they’ve

were considerably above the normal student age, and they engaged in particularly violent ‘rags’ with UCL students over mascots and trophies.

Effects for King’sKing’s probably owes its continued existence as a separate institution to the War. In 1912 the Royal Commission on the organisation of the University of London recommended that all the University’s teaching resources should be re-grouped by faculty and subject in a new centralised system replacing the various existing colleges, and that King’s activities should be moved from the Strand to a new ‘University quarter’ in Bloomsbury (then regarded as ‘the back of beyond’ in terms of London districts). The Chairman of the Commission was Richard (Viscount) Haldane, Liberal Lord Chancellor 1912-15, a graduate of Göttingen University, who wanted London University to become an English version of the Technische Hochschule at Charlottenburg.

In 1913 the government set up a committee to determine how to enact the Haldane Commission’s proposals, but this ceased because of the outbreak of war. During the War Haldane was forced to resign from government because of his supposed (unproven) German sympathies, and once peace returned his proposals were considered too ‘Germanic’ to be pursued. The success of its public lecture programme, which drew in workers from the new business areas around the Aldwych, helped King’s to make the case that it should stay at the Strand.

The Department of Household Science at King’s offered courses in ‘trench cookery’

KIN

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Books

Comment is the College’s termly publication, edited by the Internal Communications Department, External Relations Directorate, and designed by Esterson Associates. This issue was edited by Kate Vine. Comment is printed on paper that contains materials sourced from responsibly managed forests. Articles for Comment are welcomed from staff, students and friends of the College. The Editor reserves the right to amend submissions. Suggestions and copy for the next issue can be sent to the Internal Communications team by emailing [email protected].

For more news from around the College, visit the King’s websiteWWW.KCL.AC.UK

12 | Issue 206 | June 2014

EU Security and Justice LawEdited by Cian C Murphy,  The Dickson Poon School of Law, and Diego Acosta Arcarazo

‘This volume brings together a range of leading scholars, as well as some of the most interesting new voices in the debate, to examine the state of EU security and justice law after the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme. It provides a critical examination of EU law in the fields of immigration, asylum, counter-terrorism, citizenship, fundamental rights and external relations. The book also examines the evolving roles of the EU institutions and criminal justice agencies.’Hart

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Lives:  A World Without World War I Richard Ned Lebow, Department of War Studies

‘The Great War claimed nearly 40 million lives and set the stage for World War II, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. One hundred years later, historians are beginning to recognise how unnecessary it was. This volume examines the chain of events that led to war and what could have been done differently to avoid it. I also explore plausible worlds that might have developed and illustrate them with “what-if” scenarios.’Palgrave Macmillan

The Biopic in Contemporary Film CultureEdited by Tom Brown and Belén Vidal, Department of Film Studies

‘The biographical film or “biopic” is a staple of film production in all major film industries and yet, within film studies, its generic, aesthetic, and cultural significance has remained underexplored.

From Marie Antoinette to The Social Network, the pieces in this volume critically examine the place of the biopic within ongoing debates about how cinema can, and should, represent history and “real” lives.’Routledge

Navigating Straits: Challenges for International LawEdited by David D Caron,  The Dickson Poon School of Law, and Nilufer Oral

‘This volume brings together internationally recognised law scholars to provide analysis of the legal challenges in straits concerning security, piracy, safety and environmental protection. Although more than 30 years have passed since the adoption of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, the vital role played by straits in the global communications network continues to be surrounded by conflicts between the interests of coastal states and shipping.’Martinus Nijhoff

Digital Literary Studies: Corpus Approaches to Poetry, Prose, and DramaKieran O’Halloran, Centre for Language, Discourse & Communication, David L Hoover and Jonathan Culpeper

‘Digital Literary Studies presents a broad picture of the methods and approaches that are dependent upon the digital nature of the literary texts it studies and the texts and collections of digital texts (“corpora”) with which they are compared. The book addresses important issues in each of the three major literary genres, showing the value of software analysis for illuminating literary craft as well as for assisting with literary interpretation.’Routledge

Perinatal Psychiatry: The legacy of Channi KumarCarmine Pariante, Sue Conroy, Paola Dazzan, Louise Howard, Susan Pawlby, and Trudi Seneviratne, Institute of Psychiatry

‘Mental health problems during and immediately after pregnancy not only affect the health of the mother, but can have significant effects on the infant if not dealt with effectively. Perinatal Psychiatry honours the work of Channi Kumar. It covers the causes of perinatal mental health problems, the biology of perinatal depression and its more extreme form, puerperal psychosis, as well as psychosocial and psychological interventions, risk factors and epidemiology.’Oxford University Press

Genetics as Social Practice - Transdisciplinary Views of Science and CultureBarbara Prainsack, Social Science, Health & Medicine, Silke Schicktanz and Gabriele Werner-Felmayer

‘If the last one was the century of the gene, then ours is the century of something more complex; very few still believe that genetic knowledge alone will revolutionise medicine. Genetics has entered our lives in other ways and become part of our metaphors, art, and understandings of risk and inheritance.  This book, edited in collaboration with a microbiologist and a philosopher, is a great resource for anybody interested in the broader cultural meanings of genetics.’Ashgate

On the Corner: African American Intellectuals and the Urban CrisisDaniel Matlin, Department of History

‘This book offers a new interpretation of the last half-century of African American intellectual life, revealing how the wave of urban riots that began in Harlem in 1964 recast black writers and artists in the role of indigenous interpreters of black urban life to white America. Focusing on the careers of the psychologist Kenneth B Clark, the poet, playwright and black power activist Amiri Baraka and the painter and collagist Romare Bearden, I explore both the opportunities and constraints that this role has entailed.’Harvard University Press

Tony Thorne, Language and Innovation Consultant in the English Language and Modern Language Centres, supports King’s language-oriented programmes and oversees the College’s Slang and New Language Archive. In his latest work he explores the slang that people of all generations are using in contemporary culture, from secret languages used by street gangs, to ‘Granny Slang.’ ‘A lot of the language that I have recorded is what one would call “youth slang”. It seems now that young people between the ages of about 12 and 25 are the most prolific coiners of language; whether it be in street gangs or schools, the young feel especially free to experiment.

‘Recent technical innovations and social media carry with them a new language of abbreviations and we also see the influence of teen-speak, usually from the USA. However, the harder-edged multi-ethnic street language, sometimes derided as “Jafaican”, has a huge influence on contemporary usage and has spread from London across the country.

‘Many people are disturbed by slang, but from a linguistic point of view it is in no way deficient. In fact quite the reverse; slangs use rhetoric – metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche and irony – and word-forming techniques that even literature and poetry do not. Slang can be a creative, dynamic and rich variety of language.

‘It is very difficult to predict what slang terms I will be recording in five or six years, although technology will certainly have an influence. However, whatever terms become fashionable, I don’t believe slang is subverting literacy, as long as it is used in the right social setting, which linguists describe as “appropriacy”.’

Comment is the College’s termly publication, edited by the Internal Communications Team, External Relations Directorate, and designed by Esterson Associates. Comment is printed on paper that contains materials sourced from responsibly managed forests. Articles for Comment are welcomed from staff, students and friends of the College. The Editor reserves the right to amend submissions. Suggestions and copy for the next issue can be sent to the Internal Communications Team by emailing [email protected].

Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th Edition

www.routledge.com

Edited by Tony McEnery, Lancaster University, UKMichael Hoey, Liverpool University, UK

Corpus Assisted Discourse Studies on the Iraq Conflict

Wording the WarEdited by John Morley and Paul Bayley

Corpus-Based Contrastive Studies of English and Chinese

Richard Xiao and Tony McEnery

The Discourse of Teaching Practice FeedbackA Corpus-Based Investigation of Spoken

and Written ModesFiona Farr

Corpus Approaches to EvaluationSusan Hunston

Corpus Stylistics and Dickens’s FictionMichaela Mahlberg

Spoken Corpus Linguistics From Monomodal to Multimodal

Svenja Adolphs and Ronald Carter

Digital Literary StudiesCorpus Approaches to Poetry, Prose, and Drama

David L. Hoover, Jonathan Culpeper, and Kieran O’Halloran

ROUTLEDGE ADVANCES IN CORPUS LINGUISTICS

David L. Hoover, Jonathan Culpeper, and Kieran O’Halloran

ROUTLEDGE ADVANCES IN CORPUS LINGUISTICS

Digital Literary StudiesCorpus Approaches to Poetry, Prose, and Drama

Digital Literary Studies

David L. H

oover, Jonathan Culpeper, and Kieran O

’Halloran