University celebrates Universities Week with range of activities

The week kicks off on Saturday 7 June 2:30-4:00 with a free event, ‘Turning Tides’,  which showcases New Leaf Adventures, a new collaborative company of over 50 disabled artists. Turning Tides is a performance that takes the audience on a journey charting change and development – from the physical unfolding of the seasons, phases of the moon to personal aspiration and achievement. The free performance begins at 2:30pm outside on the South Piazza outside the Forum at the University of Exeter and concludes in the auditorium.

This will be followed later in the week by a fascinating talk from the author of Scarlett’s Women:Gone with the Wind and its Female Fans, Professor Helen Taylor. The book explores the iconic film and explains why it appeals to a wide female fan base. The free talk is on Thursday 12 June at 6pm in the University of Exeter’s Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. There will also be a screening of the film on Saturday 14 June.

This public event will offer the opportunity to share diverse memories about Gone with the Wind. According to Professor Taylor’s research, the response of women readers or film goers to Gone with the Wind showed that for many, especially older women who remember the book being published (1936) and the film opening (1939), it was a series of firsts: the longest book they’d ever read, the grandest most lavish Technicolor Hollywood film ever seen. It was also one of the first books and films featuring a multi-dimensional female protagonist rather than a bit of love interest for a complex hero. For that generation, now largely passed away, Scarlett was a wicked and dangerous figure and her unrequited love for wimpish Ashley Wilkes was a grave error after she’d finally conquered the devastating Rhett Butler. Younger women shared that verdict on male characters, but for them Scarlett O’Hara was mesmerising.

Addressing the key Universities Week theme of ‘Health and Wellbeing’, we are launching a further piece of research into the powers of hydrogen sulfide. It may smell like rotten eggs and have a reputation for being highly toxic, but hydrogen sulfide is being associated with health benefits in a range of issues, from diabetes to stroke and heart attack. A new compound (AP39), designed and made at the University of Exeter, could hold the key to future therapies, by generating tiny amounts of the substance.

Other activities include ‘Images of Research’, a free exhibition in the University of Exeter’s Forum from Monday 9^th – Wednesday 11^th June. Including images of a 17^th Century manuscript to modern day games and art models, the exhibition aims to showcase the breadth of research undertaken at the University of Exeter. The exhibition will also be showcased at our Penryn campus in the Compass from Tuesday 17^th – Wednesday 18^th June.

Prof Sir Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor said: “Universities Week 2014 is an excellent opportunity to highlight how the work going on in our universities has an impact on people's everyday lives. It is also a chance for academics to engage with the public, bringing their research to life and hopefully inspire people to go away and find out more about a topic.”

Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said: “The aim of Universities Week is to inspire the public about the world-leading research taking place in our universities.

“We hope that members of the public will be inspired and will have learned something new about how universities are helping to solve some of the UK’s, and world’s biggest challenges.”