Museums, A Movie, & A Lecture
It's been a fairly boring week in terms of things I've done for fun. I blame this on the weather because it has been very crappy lately--just rainy all the time. I wouldn't mind the rain so much if I had some form of transportation other than a bicycle. There is no staying dry on a bike in the rain and once you're soaked, you don't feel like doing anything else for the rest of the day. This weekend is calling for some sunshine, so I'm ready for that.
Yesterday I did go to the university's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which I've been meaning to get to for a few weeks now. Ehh... I really am beginning to think that I'm getting tired of museums. It's under reconstruction/renovation, so maybe that's why it was underwhelming to me.
Yesterday I did go to the university's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which I've been meaning to get to for a few weeks now. Ehh... I really am beginning to think that I'm getting tired of museums. It's under reconstruction/renovation, so maybe that's why it was underwhelming to me.
I also went to see the movie Agora yesterday at the Arts Picturehouse. It was really good--it's about Hypatia, the first female scholar of mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy (circa 400 AD). It was told as a love story, but also included a lot of religious struggle and war during the time (Pagans vs Christians, Christians vs Jews). Very interesting. It stars the actress from The Mummy, who is actually really good in it. Upon further investigation, she (Rachel Weisz) went to Cambridge. Neato.
Today I met Nicola Martin, who is a pretty prominent figure here in the UK in regards to disability work in higher education. She's the chair of the National Association for Disability Practitioners and edits the journal Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education. I stayed for the last part of the seminar she was attending on care leavers and the gypsy, roma, and travelers community. I had no idea what any of this meant prior to this talk and I left totally intrigued. Care leavers basically sound like foster kids that, at age 16, are left to fend for themselves and, therefore, rarely make it to university. The gypsy, roma, and travelers community is astounding. There are over 300,000 people in the UK that belong to this community and they don't necessarily value higher education. Their way of life is incredible. It was so interesting to learn about these groups and I want to know more.
Today I met Nicola Martin, who is a pretty prominent figure here in the UK in regards to disability work in higher education. She's the chair of the National Association for Disability Practitioners and edits the journal Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education. I stayed for the last part of the seminar she was attending on care leavers and the gypsy, roma, and travelers community. I had no idea what any of this meant prior to this talk and I left totally intrigued. Care leavers basically sound like foster kids that, at age 16, are left to fend for themselves and, therefore, rarely make it to university. The gypsy, roma, and travelers community is astounding. There are over 300,000 people in the UK that belong to this community and they don't necessarily value higher education. Their way of life is incredible. It was so interesting to learn about these groups and I want to know more.