May 2022 open access books
From conversations about the things that really matter in life and London's mega-events to how we can rebuild public confidence in educational assessment and tales of a glorious career in academia, we published an exciting tranche of publications in May!
First up on May 3, is was Alan Wilson's Being Interdisciplinary. Drawing on experiences from a five decade (!) long career as researcher in urban science, university professor and vice-chancellor, civil servant and institute director, it's an wonderfully readable book. While his experience in urban science provides the illustrations, the principles apply across many research fields, and there's something for all of use to learn. Well worth adding to your Summer reading list!
The Things the Really Matter followed on 10 May. Featuring series of conversations about the things in our life that we all, in one way or another, wrestle with if we are at all concerned about what kind of world we live in and what our role in it is: things like birth, age, and death, good and evil, the meaning of life, the nature of the self and the role the body plays for our identity, our gendered existence, love and faith, free will, beauty, and our experience of the sacred. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in...well...the things that matter.
Jonathan Gardner's fascinating A Contemporary Archaeology of London’s Mega Events explores the traces of London’s most significant modern ‘mega events’. Though only open for a few weeks or months, mega events permanently and disruptively reshape their host cities and societies: they demolish and rebuild whole districts, they draw in materials and participants from around the globe and their organisers self-consciously seek to leave a ‘legacy’ that will endure for decades or more.
Next up was Mary Richardson's important book on Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment. Questioning the status quo needs buy-in from policymakers, teachers, parents and students, and from the broader public: from journalists, you, me, our friends and our children. Using examples from international settings to explore the nature of trust in assessment discourses, Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment shows how these discourses can be reframed so that all aspects of the assessment system - policymaking, school planning, home practice with students - can be undertaken with confidence. If you’ve wondered just how we can rebuild confidence in our assessment system post-COVID, this is a great place to start.
Finally, our last book of the month: Co-Curating the City, which explores the role of universities in the construction and mobilisation of heritage discourses in urban development and regeneration processes, with a focus on six case study sites: University of Gothenburg (Sweden), UCL East (London), University of Lund (Sweden). Roma Tre university (Rome), American University of Beirut, and Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.
As always, stay safe. We'll be back in June with three new open access books, including an exciting new volume on Millicent Garrett Fawcett!