Main Menu

Hope Times Online

Darwin's Visit to Plas Cardeon

Yesterday (Thursday 12th February) marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin - a man with a little-known link to Liverpool Hope University.

Charles Darwin visited North Wales in the summer of1869 and spent six weeks at Caerdeon, a Victorian mansion which is now Liverpool Hope’s Outdoor Education Centre. During his stay he worked on revisions to his seminal work On The Origin Of Species and was so taken with the house that he wrote, in a letter dated 22nd June 1869:

'... We have been here for 10 days: how I wish it was possible for you to pay us a visit here: we have a beautiful House, with a terraced garden, & a really magnificent view of Cader, right opposite.'

Investment planned for Caerdeon in 2009 will see development of the former stable block, providing further accommodation, including facilities for users with disabilities and en-suite rooms in the main house.

(The above excerpt relating to Caerdon is published in Francis Darwin, ed. The life and letters of Charles Darwin, vol. III, p. 108. with thanks to the Darwin Correspondence Project University Library, West Road Cambridge.)

Last Updated ( Friday, 13 February 2009 )

Hope Professor Working with National University of Seoul

Hope Professor Bernard Longden has been funded by the National University of Seoul, South Korea, to contribute to their discussions on university world rankings. The invitation arose from a presentation he gave to the American Association for Institutional Research, Kansas in 2007 and subsequent publications following on from the presentation.

While he is at the University, Professor Longden has also been asked to contribute to the University’s masters and doctorial programme by presenting issues that are of increasing concern here in the UK higher education system.

Last Updated ( Friday, 06 February 2009 )

Hope Hosts National Conference on Social Work and Child Protection

A national conference on 'Social Work and Child Protection in the Aftermath of Baby P' will take place today (Wednesday 11th February) at Liverpool Hope University.

The conference aims to open up discussion on the Baby P case and similar cases in detail and will ask questions such as What is to be done?’ What kind of social work do we need? How can we protect children and young people? How do we address the poverty and inequality that blights the lives of so many young people?

Michael Lavalette, Associate Professor in Social Work and Care at Liverpool Hope University and organiser of the Conference said: "We think this conference is necessary to let the voice of hard working and committed frontline social workers be heard. Good social work can help make a positive difference to the lives of poor and marginalised people, many of whom face particular problems in their lives.

But social workers increasingly find themselves subject to pernicious budgetary constraints, to computers systems and form filling that dominates their working lives and to a work regime that leaves little time to build meaningful relationships with clients and service users. This is the context and background within which tragedies like Baby P take place. We hope that this conference will encourage and enthuse all those who are involved in social work and start to create an alternative vision of what ‘good’ social work practice looks like."

The Conference will also open up discussion around the implementation of a new ten point charter for the protection of children with the possibility of implementing for use as a campaigning tool.

Plenary keynote speakers for the Conference include Professor Sue White (University of Lancaster) and Professor Peter Beresford (Brunel University).

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 February 2009 )

Hope Hosts Community Exhibition at Site of New Centre

The hoardings around Hope's new Centre for Music Performance and Innovation are to become a work of art today (Tuesday 10th February), as photographs taken by young people in the area are exhibited.

The exhibition has been developed by young people and staff of Shrewsbury House Youth and Community Centre. Devised and delivered by Liverpool-based photographers Christian Petersen and Mark Louden, The View from the Brow provides young people in the Everton Ward of Liverpool with an opportunity to share their views and experiences of their community.

The exhibition will be open for around one month and it is the first of several exhibitions planned for the hoardings of The Cornerstone Centre during the ten months of the building’s construction.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 February 2009 )

Dr Evelyn Mertin Addresses Sports Department

Deanery Research Seminar: Sport Studies Department

Date: Wednesday 11th February

Time: start at 3pm

Location: AJB 01, Hope Park Campus

The guest lecturer will be Dr. Evelyn Mertin. Recently, she has earned her PhD. thesis from the German Sport University Cologne. The topic of the thesis was: 'Sport within Soviet foreign politics/policies with special consideration to Soviet relations to the two German states'. Dr Mertin's main research areas are: Sport in Eastern Europe, Soviet Sport and International Relations, Soviet Athletes as propaganda figures and role models, Moscow Olympics 1980 and the Olympic Boycotts. Since 2003 she has been academic staff member of the Institute for Sport History at the German Sport University Cologne.

In the research seminar she will talk about the topic: Setting Public Examples of the New Soviet Man: Athletes as Role Models in Soviet Propaganda