Britain’s “Tippex” Spies
07/12/2016
Britain’s intelligence services have a diversity problem. That was the stark message delivered in a recent interview by Robert Hannigan, the Director of GCHQ, the UK intelligence agency responsible for intercepting and analysing electronic communications. In GCHQ’s case, less than 3% of its workforce has an ethnic minority background. To make Britain’s intelligence services truly …
Reflections on Fidel Castro’s death
Since January 1959, Cuba has generally been somewhat ill-served by the outside media, being so often the object of preconceptions, half-truths and superficiality. And never more so than in the media’s responses to Fidel Castro’s death (25 November 2016), responses which – ironically – were often stuck in the very ‘time-warp’ which, they repeatedly told …
Decolonization, Then and Now: Contextualising a Research Agenda in the Philippines
29/11/2016
“You’ve come at the right time.” These were the words of Dr. Ernesto Gonzalez (professor of economics at the University of the Philippines – Manila) upon meeting me at his office in the heart of Ermita. I’d heard this a lot since arriving in Manila, but it wasn’t until I’d chatted with a number of …
The End of the World as We Know it? US Foreign Policy under President Trump
16/11/2016
Donald Trump’s successful bid for the White House was marked out by a call to put ‘America First.’ In many quarters, Trump’s sound bite was interpreted as harking back to an isolationist mantra that had gained popular currency within the United States in the years leading up to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December …
Sail On, L. Cohen
15/11/2016
I was thinking of Leonard Cohen on the night of November 8th, aka Election Day in the US. His song “Democracy,” from his 1992 album The Future, was playing on a loop in my head. I had just finished high school in the summer of 1993 when I saw Cohen in concert, the very last …
The 2016 Election: A Seismic Shift to the Right
09/11/2016
The stunning upset victory of Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election signifies a seismic shift to the right in American politics. After January, when the family of Barack Obama cedes the White House to the Republican billionaire, Republicans will also control both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court. It …
Can we make Nottingham a slavery-free city?
02/11/2016
Abolishing modern slavery is at the centre of Theresa May’s personal policy agenda. National Government has mainly focussed on the implications for foreign policy, trade and development, and police enforcement, as well as responding to reports from the UK’s first independent anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland. However slavery in the UK is principally encountered and addressed …
A perfect ending: 2016 Nottingham International Microfilm Festival
27/10/2016
The 2016 Nottingham International Microfilm Festival (NIM) has finished, but its influence is wide-ranging and continues to be felt. This was the second annual edition of the festival, developed through the Nottingham Screen Partnership consortium, of which the University of Nottingham is a member. The festival took place at venues throughout Nottingham on 20-22 October …
Alexandra Depledge, MBE, reflects on how an American and Canadian Studies degree shaped her future success
14/09/2016
Alexandra Depledge graduated with a degree in American Studies and History (with International Study) from Nottingham in 2003. Alex has since gone on to be the founder-CEO of Hassle.com, was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by TechCity Insider for 2014, and has recently been interviewed in a series on “Trailblazing Women” at the Huffington Post. …
Ending Slavery free online course starts 17 October
11/08/2016
The world’s first ever massive open online course (MOOC) about contemporary slavery is open for registration now. Ending Slavery is a free four-week course starting on 17 October 2016. You’ll learn from experts at the cutting edge of human rights research, and you’ll investigate the complex systems that sustain slavery today. Professor Kevin Bales, one of the …
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