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LSE NEWS

School’s first PhD Poster Exhibition a success Over 200 people attended LSE’s first PhD Poster Exhibition this May, with the Library displaying the winning posters of students who were judged to have most successfully captured the essence of their research projects in poster form. Fifty-eight posters were submitted to the exhibition, entitled Relating Research to Reality. Seven students were awarded prizes for their work, including Vlad Glaveanu, Social Psychology, who won the Barclays Grand Poster Prize for his poster, Creativity and Cultural Context (pictured). Danny Quah, professor of economics and co-director of Global Governance, said: ‘This exhibition leverages all the best that LSE has to offer, breaks down silos of social science research, and challenges every one to the hard task of communicating to audiences not already convinced of just one way of thinking.’ All submissions can be viewed online at eprints.lse.ac.uk/view/sets/PhD.html

George Bernard Shaw’s photographs revealed Sixty years after the death of playwright, critic and polemicist George Bernard Shaw, thousands of photographs from a previously largely unseen collection are shedding new light on his life and times. A keen and respected photographer, Shaw (1856-1950) amassed around 20,000 photographic objects during his long lifetime, including prints, negatives and albums. These images are now being made available online thanks to a partnership project between the National Trust and LSE. Much of the collection is owned by the National Trust, to whom Shaw left his home on his death. It has been housed within the Archives Division at LSE since 1979, with many of the items in

a fragile condition. Conservation work has been undertaken to prevent further deterioration but only recently has funding been available for the project, allowing the public to see Shaw’s photographs at last. LSE’s head of Archives, Sue Donnelly, said: ‘Previously we had to wade through piles of unsorted photographs to view these gems – this project harnesses digital technology to bring an amazing collection of images to a wider audience.’ The first images from the project are now online, with more to be added as work progresses. The project will be complete in summer 2011 when around two thirds of the collection will be available to view. See lse.ac.uk/library/shawphotos

LSE welcomes new honorary fellows Five honorary fellows were elected in 2010. Professor Stanley Cohen was Martin Wright Professor of Sociology at LSE from 1997 to 2006, when he became professor emeritus. His books include States of Denial: knowing about atrocities and suffering, which won the British Academy Book Prize in 2002. He is a fellow of the British Academy. Professor Fred Halliday, who sadly died in April 2010, began teaching at LSE in 1983 and was professor of international relations from 1985 to 2008. He retired in 2008 and became an ICREA research professor at IBEI, the Barcelona Institute for International Studies, in Catalonia. He is author of many books, including The Middle East in International Relations: power, politics and ideology and 100 Myths about the Middle East.

His Excellency Mr Yang Jiechi is minister of foreign affairs for the People’s Republic of China. He has been closely involved in ChinaUS relations and has played an important role in normalising China’s foreign relations, culminating in his appointment as Chinese ambassador to the United States from 2001-05. Sir Geoffrey Owen is a senior fellow in the Department of Management at LSE. He has held several posts at the Financial Times, and was editor from 1981-90. He was knighted in 1989 and joined LSE in 1991. Dr Sigrid Rausing is a Swedish philanthropist, anthropologist and publisher. The founder of the Sigrid Rausing Trust, she is also the publisher of the renowned literary journal Granta Magazine and the chair of Granta books.

Policy briefings for the new Parliament LSE held two policy briefings for the new crop of MPs this July. The first focused on the economy and prospects for the next five years. The second examined issues around international affairs. LSE academics including Tony Travers, Professor Nicholas Barr, Professor Damian Chalmers and Professor Arne Westad were joined by director Howard Davies and outside experts, such as BBC journalist Stephanie Flanders, for the sessions. In all, over 40 MPs attended. LSE is the only university to have offered such briefings to the new Parliament. The original idea came from alumna Jo Swinson MP, following a trip to the induction programme run by Harvard for new congressional members. You can now follow news from LSE’s Press Office on Twitter and Facebook – sign up to LSEnews at twitter.com/LSENews or visit LSE’s Facebook page at facebook.com

Winter 2009

LSE Connect