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Provost’s Public Engagement Awards 2020
2nd November 2020
UCL Engagement
Our annual UCL awards celebrate the achievements of the projects and people whose collaborations have made a positive impact in and with communities locally, nationally and around the globe. From over 40 nominations, we are delighted to announce this year’s six winners, along with three highly commended individuals.
From a community garden and open space promoting local wellbeing, to the world's only charity specialised in speech training with music after laryngectomy. Read the stories of our winners and watch their films on YouTube.
Organised by the Engagement Team at UCL Culture, the Awards are sponsored by UCL’s President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur.
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Recruitment: Public Engagement Coordinator (Temporary)
17th Sep 2021
The Engagement team is looking to increase capacity in the short term to help deliver some of its core public engagement activity including our funding programmes Beacon Bursary, Train & Engage and deliver informal networking opportunities for the UCL Public Engagement Network. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone looking to get some initial experience in a busy & varied university Public Engagement team. Previous experience of working with UCL structures is desirable but not essential. The role holder will be closely supported by the Public Engagement team and encouraged to attend online fortnightly Public Engagement team meetings, monthly Engagement team meetings, Keep Learning sessions and additional informal team catch-ups. The role can be work from home, in office at Bidborough House or a blend of the two.Full details can be found in the Job Description.Main purpose of the roleSupport the delivery of our core Public Engagement programme alongside the Public Engagement team and wider Engagement and UCL Culture colleagues.Diversity statementWe encourage applications from those who are underrepresented in the sector and at UCL including but, not exclusive, to non-graduates, disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse people, LGBTQ+ people, people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, especially women. We also welcome applicants from a range of educational backgrounds and therefore do not require a minimum formal qualification for this role.Length of timeThe role is for 28 days between Monday 25th October and Friday 10th December. Deadline for submission is 09:00 on Tuesday 5th October – submissions after this time cannot be accepted.Please upload your CV to our Recruitment and Sourcing Centre Team at Advantage xPO who are our partners and running this recruitment round. Please do state at the top of the CV that you are interested in this role. Interviews will take place online between Mon 11th to Thurs 14th October. This role is being paid at a Grade 6 equivalent.
An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies
31st Aug 2017
This week UCL Culture News features a takeover by Oliver Patel, Manager of the UCL European Institute and Research Assistant for UCL Grand Challenges. Oliver holds an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy from LSE and a BA in Politics and East European Studies from UCL.Over the next three articles, Oliver will be reflecting on on our Transformative Technologies festival which happened back in June. The programme of events was fuelled by UCL research exploring the power of technology, and its potential to radically reshape the world we live in. So let's dive in and see what he found![[{"fid":"5391","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close Protection","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EClose%20Protection%20by%20Graham%20Gussin%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close Protection","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EClose%20Protection%20by%20Graham%20Gussin%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"675","width":"1200","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]The device you are reading this on knows everything about you: everywhere you go, everyone you’ve loved and everything you want to do. By extension, a whole host of organisations and individuals also have access to this information. In the digital age, privacy is ostensibly non-existent; a relic of the past. The question is, do you care? If you did, then you probably wouldn’t be using this device. Or maybe you do care, and you’ve changed your behaviour accordingly. These days, everyone seems to know how little privacy they have. But does it change the way they act? Does it change how they view themselves and those around them? Does it change who they are? These are the questions which UCL Slade artist Graham Gussin explores in his piece: Close Protection. This piece was the focal point of one of the most thought-provoking events in the Transformative Technologies Festival - An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies. [[{"fid":"4759","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"An extension of the eye projected image","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"An extension of the eye projected image","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"2520","width":"3780","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]This intriguing event, which took place in the grand surroundings of UCL’s Art Museum, displayed Gussin’s piece throughout the day, enabling students, staff and other passers-by to engage with this excellent piece of work as they pleased. Close Protection is a three-screen video work which shows dancers elegantly gliding across a somewhat surreal and eerie external environment - a ‘false village’ in a UK army base deep in the South of England. (The village was built for training purposes, to replicate combat environments in Afghanistan.) The entire piece was filmed at night, in pitch black darkness, using sophisticated military grade night vision cameras. Gussin said that he was interested in seeing whether the fact that it was filmed in the darkness, with night vision cameras, impacted on the way in which the dancers performed. The result was a visually stunning and fascinating work of art, replete with absorbing and thoughtful contrast, from the graininess of the video and the rugged army village, to the precision of the dancers and the elegance of their movement. For those of us lucky enough to attend the evening event, we were treated to an intimate discussion with the artist himself. Gussin first spoke about the work; his ideas behind it, how it was made and what it means to him. All the while, the work was playing in the background. To be precise, we sat with the artist around a large table, with the three screens surrounding us. It is not often that one is able to observe a work of art and ask the artist questions about it simultaneously. This was a real treat, seized upon by the eager and engaged audience.[[{"fid":"5395","view_mode":"large","fields":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close Protection","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EClose%20Protection%20by%20Graham%20Gussin%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close Protection","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EClose%20Protection%20by%20Graham%20Gussin%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"679","width":"1200","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Gussin explained that he wanted to explore whether the dancers behaved as if they were being watched, and whether they danced differently because it was filmed in darkness. He also wanted to demonstrate that such surveillance technologies represent an extension of the human body, as they enable us to see in the dark. Although Gussin wasn’t making any explicit arguments about the merits or dangers associated with surveillance technologies, he wanted the piece to stimulate discussion on the issue, which it certainly did. The participants discussed a range of privacy-related issues with the artist, such as how surveillance technologies are changing the way the way we act and think, and whether we are increasingly willing to sacrifice privacy for convenience and other benefits. An Extension of the Eye: The Impact of Surveillance Technologies was an extremely successful event. As well as taking in a fascinating work of art and engaging with the artist, participants left with a clearer sense of the ways in which surveillance technologies are encroaching upon our privacy and changing the world.All image credits: The artist and Art South Collaborations
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