TAEDS Students share their thoughts

t1Handprint Theatre Visit

We were delighted to welcome back Handprint Theatre to deliver a workshop on slavery to TAEDS students. TAEDS alumni formed this accessible and highly successful theatre company which has established a strong reputation over the last few years and always provide inspirational and thought-provoking theatre for children and young people:  A Spotlight on Slavery was no exception.
The workshop began with us being separated from our ‘family’ and given a number to replace our name. W

e were then ‘whipped’ with coloured stickers if we did not behave and crammed into a boat to row across the sea. Once we arrived on land we had to go to market and display our skills in the hope that we might be bought. *It was great to see how the topic had been approached and how slavery had been looked at from all angles: history and present day. The workshop enabled me to see how I might be able to use the skills I have learnt on the course out in the real world. It was fascinating  to hear about how the 10 week project was structured and created, as on the course we usually only visit a school once. The work

shop was attended by TAEDS students from all years and this proved to be not only a valuabale way to learn from a professional company, but also an opportunity to interact with our peers in a deaf aware context.  As well as being highly informative, the workshop was also a lot of fun –  Thank you Handprint theatre!
Emily Moss,

Year 3 student

 

Caroline Parker Workshop

One of the most vital elements of Theatre Arts Education and Deaf Studies (TAEDS) is the use of sign language in theatre and performance. Therefore a visit from Caroline Parker (MBE), a renowned deaf actor who is notable for her performance in the 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony, was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The workshop was focusing on signed singing, so we started by watching Caroline perform two songs. One of the songs

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was WutheringHeights by Kate Bush, a very emotional song which Caroline performed flawlessly whilst integrating humour to create stunning entertainment.

We then looked at characterisation through the seven stages of tension, thus allowing us to create a character and therefore a tone to portray the song. The first song we attempted to portray was a nursery rhyme, which had to be performed voice-off and with no sign. In this situation we had to consider how we would portray the rhythm of the nursery rhyme whilst physically showing the story. We then moved on to an actual song- Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen! In separate groups we took different stanzas of the song before performing them as a big group, which ended in a lot of cheering and laughing.

The experience of working with Caroline Parker was unforgettable. From the personal perspective of a first year, Caroline Parker was the first deaf person apart from our tutors who I had met which was worrying in itself, as we were unsure as to how well we would be able to communicate; however Caroline was exceptionally understanding of our different levels of sign ability and so she accommodated us who weren’t as experienced as our older peers. However, realising that we could communicate well with her was a real confidence booster which, intermingled with all the fun, meant that we had a truly magnificent experience! It was an absolute honour to spend those two hours learning a craft which some of us may want to pursue in the future, and an incredible experience overall.

Alice Taylor,

Year 1 student.

 

Vamos Theatre: The Reviewt3

One grandma, one grandson, his gang, her dementia and their journey to finding Joy-

Finding Joy‘ is about the grandma: Joy and her rebellious young grandson named Danny, who takes it upon himself to become her carer. Though Joy’s daughter neglects her, an unlikely bond transpires between two opposing generations, while they try to overcome the difficult challenges created by her dementia. However this should not be misinterpreted as just another piece of issue prompted theatre. In the humble words of the director, ‘Finding Joy‘: “Seeks to go beyond dementia to rediscover the person.

Newspapers such as: ‘The Stage’ have printed jubilant comments such as: “an immensely affirmative joie de vivre…Catch it while you can

The ever evolving bond of love and trust between Joy and Danny is exquisitely performed through a series of sporadic glimpses into Joy’s past, showing the time line from her war time nostalgic childhood including evacuation, to the eventual birth of her daughter. The trials and tribulations of each brilliantly performed character are never underplayed causing such an effect on the audience, causing them to pass around the tissues frequently. However this is greatly balanced by its light hearted comedic impact.

All this is achieved with the use of full masks, mime and the occasional inclusion of the lovable west island terrier puppet. The adept use of the masks truly show theatre students how it’s really done:  although the masks represent one emotion, the actors performed at such a level that the masks mysteriously displayed various opposing emotions, truly showing how one show can be universal for both hearing and deaf audiences.

Vamos is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most innovative exciting full mask mime companies within contemporary theatre.   ‘Finding Joy‘ is an incredibly moving and enjoyable production. All the people within TAEDS thank you Vamos.    

Blair Dunn

Year 2 student

To find out more visit: @UniRdg_TAEDS 

 

The musician in the classroom

University of Reading BA Ed (Music) singing students

These students are constantly pushing their musical boundaries. Passing their building in the cloisters, you are regaled with exciting sounds of musicians tuning and playing, singing and laughing. An amazing place for budding musicians and teachers.

Musicians and teachers alike sing the praises of a unique course offered by the Institute of Education.

BA Education (Music) is a markedly high-achieving programme because unusually, it offers its students both a serious music degree and a professional primary education degree – all in one three year course. Working professional musicians hone the students’ musicality to a profound level, and when they graduate, it is with a teaching degree that is welcome in all Primary settings. This is what makes the course unique. It’s not surprising that graduates come away so satisfied; 93% according to the National Student Survey; and ready for the workplace; 95% employed with six months, according to UNISTATS.

Graduates of the course point to the high levels of individual attention, combined with the rich quality of teaching in small groups as the bedrocks of the course’s success. They also speak with enthusiasm of the abundant pure musical training that contributes to their real personal development as an artist.

Kirsty, a second year student on the course agrees;  “I chose Reading because it looked really interesting to me as a musician,” she says. “It gave me the opportunity to do something I loved in both ways: to build myself as a musician, developing my knowledge and pushing boundaries, as well as becoming a teacher. I didn’t see any other course like this one, with the musical depth. It really extends you.”

www.reading.ac.uk/education/ug/ioe-BAEdMusic

 

Telephone: +44 (0)118 378 8372

Studentships for research in Arts, Humanities and Social Science

A range of studentships are available for well qualified applicants in Arts, Humanities and Social Science. Please see the links below for the different competitions:

University of Reading Research Studentships in Arts and Humanities

University of Reading Research Studentships are available in all arts and humanities disciplines to well qualified applicants. You can find out more about the discipline areas from the postgraduate research pages on the Departmental websites, as set out below:

What is available?

For 2014/15, a minimum of 4 full awards providing fees at the Home/EU rate and a maintenance grant(stipend), the current (2013/14) level of which is £13,726 for full-time study. They also include a sum per annum for research training, which is made available via your School or Department.

Eligibility

These studentships are open to Home/EU candidates only. International candidates are eligible for consideration for the International Research Studentships competition.

Applying for a studentship:

You will need to complete both an online application for admission to a Postgraduate Degree at the University of Reading and a separate application form for a studentship. You will also need to ensure that two referee’s reports (report form below) are returned to the University by the closing date.

Closing date: 14 February 2014 (5 pm)

For further information and advice about studentships, please contact:

Doctoral Research Office (dro@reading.ac.uk)

AHRC studentships

Candidates for the above awards may also be eligible to apply to the separate competition for South, West and Wales (SWW) AHRC DTP Studentships. Details are available on the SWW AHRC DTP Studentships page. Please be aware that the deadlines are not the same as for the University of Reading Research Studentships in Arts and Humanities.

University of Reading Research Studentships in Social Science

Social scientists are concerned with contemporary and historical social issues and human behaviour at local, national and global levels. They bring a variety of theoretical and empirical methodologies to bear on such issues. Increasingly, they work across disciplinary fields, both within social sciences and with natural scientists and others.

This broad range of work is well represented at Reading, both within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science and beyond, including Henley Business School and significant clusters of social science activity within the Faculties of Science and Life Sciences. Much of our research training is centred within the Graduate School’s Researcher Development Programme (RRDP); this training is supplemented by subject specific training in individual academic Schools and Departments.

We invite applications for studentships in any of the following subject areas:

What is available?

For 2014/15, 5 full awards providing fees at the Home/EU rate and a maintenance grant(stipend), the current (2013/14) level of which is £13,726 for full-time study. They also include a sum per annum for research training, which is made available via your School or Department.

Eligibility

These studentships are open to Home/EU candidates only. International candidates are eligible for consideration for the University-wide International Research Studentships competition.

Applying for a studentship:

You will need to complete both an online application for admission to a Postgraduate Degree at the University of Reading and a separate application form for a studentship. You will also need to ensure that two referee’s reports (report form below) are returned to the University by the closing date.

Closing date: 14 February 2014 (5 pm)

For further information and advice about studentships, please contact:

Doctoral Research Office (dro@reading.ac.uk)

South East ESRC DTC Studentships (Social Science disciplines)

As part of the ESRC* accredited South East Doctoral Training Centre (DTC), a number of studentship awards will be funded (starting October 2013) across the 4 Universities that form the DTC partnership; these awards will provide funding to cover both fees and stipend.

The DTC is looking for high quality students across a range of Social Science disciplines and related multidisciplinary areas. Further information can be found about these studentships, and about the DTC itself, on our South East DTC page. Please be aware that the deadlines are not the same as for the University of Reading Research Studentships in Social Sciences.

 

*Economic and Social Research Council

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Source:  http://www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool/prospectivestudents/gs-pgstudahss.aspx?#ahahrc_phd_studentships

Attention all NQTs! Come to the IoE Tuesday 28th Jan 2014

Continuing the journey: A Conference for Primary & Secondary NQTs – Tuesday 28th January 2014

We would like to offer the opportunity for any NQTs in your school to attend a half-day conference to support them within their vital NQT year. This conference will be held at the University of Reading, London Road Campus and is available for any NQT who graduated during 2013.

Alongside opportunities for professional contacts with their peers, the conference will provide subject-specific workshops as well as addressing themes such as behaviour management, transition and transfer or working with parents, and exploring the implications of the 2014 National Curriculum. NQTs can also choose to visit MERL (The Museum of English Rural Life), the National Centre for Language and Literacy or find out about the support offered by pfeg, the Personal Finance Education Group.

Please see the accompanying flier for further details of the conference, including how to register. The cost of the conference is £30, including a light lunch. We hope you will be able to support your NQT in attending this conference.

NQT Flyer 2014

LARSP ACROSS LANGUAGES Workshop

LARSP ACROSS LANGUAGES Workshop

The University of Reading and the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism are pleased to announce the LARSP ACROSS LANGUAGES workshop to be held on 27th and 28th March 2014 . LARSP originated at the University of Reading. It was created by David Crystal, Paul Fletcher and Mike Garman in 1976 and it applied to English. Since then LARSP has been adapted for other languages and most recently, volume has already been published profiling LARSP for a number of different languages (website:  http://clinicallinguistics.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/the-languages-of-larsp/) with two further volumes in preparation.

Due to the number of researchers working on new versions of LARSP for the ‘Languages of LARSP’ series, we are holding a Workshop and Conference on LARSP so that knowledge can be exchanged, shared and discussed. The workshop is open to not only the designers of the different languages of LARSP, but also to speech and language therapists and those involved in the education of speech and language therapy students, speech and language therapy students and researchers in the field of child language acquisition and disorders.

  • Registration for this event will open from 1st December 2013 Registration ends: 7th March 2014
  • Registration fees: £110 for two days (includes lunch and refreshments) Daily delegates: £60
  • Students: £100 for two days (or £50 per day)

Contact:  Vesna Stojanovik v.stojanovik@reading.ac.uk for further details.

For information on accommodation for this event please read this document.

Simon Floodgate – Deaf Theatre History Workshop at Deafinitely Theatre

On Saturday 7th September I led a workshop presentation on (Some) History of Deaf Theatre for the UK’s only professional deaf-led theatre company, Deafinitely Theatre, at the Diorama Arts Studios, London NW1.

Deafinitely have recently established a working group called The Hub composed of professional deaf actors and writers.  The group is formed of both established and up-and-coming artists and they are engaged in a series of workshops and presentations designed to enhance their theatre training and knowledge.  The Hub enables these deaf artists to access training that remains largely inaccessible to them via the majority of available theatre courses and training.

My session was the second in their series and enabled them to reflect upon their own heritage by focusing upon the history of the semi-professional British Theatre of the Deaf (1960-77) and Interim Productions that followed it, (1977-83).

In addition I also took the group through a range of international Deaf Theatre including the first professional deaf theatre company – the Moscow Theatre of Sign and Gesture, and, without doubt, the most renowned Deaf Theatre company in the world, the National Theatre of the Deaf in the USA.

The deaf artists present included Paula Garfield, the Company’s Artistic Director (a Bulmershe College Theatre of the Deaf alumni), and several actors who had appeared in the BSL version of Love’s Labours Lost, presented as part of the Globe to Globe International Shakespeare festival in the Summer of the 2012 Olympic year.  They were able to assess their own practice by analyzing the historical incarnations of Deaf Theatre and theatre incorporating deaf sign language.  Questions of aesthetics and access were vigorously and constructively debated at a time when Deafinitely Theatre is preparing a four year business plan for the Arts Council which will argue for their continued existence and development.  Having recently celebrated their tenth anniversary the Company is, as with most arts organisations funded by the Arts Council, concerned about their future funding.

They have asked me to write an endorsement of their work for this vital document.

Despite the amount of Deaf Theatre and drama there has been within the UK, largely through amateur work in deaf clubs, prior to the end of the twentieth century, the existence of the first and only, deaf-led professional theatre company in the UK is something worth supporting and developing.

I believe the session has also stimulated a range of debate about Deaf Theatre on twitter.

Simon Floodgate

TAEDS’ Vicki Hobbs is off to new pastures

Vicki Hobbs leaves TAEDS after a five year career as academic tutor during which time she used her excellent teaching skills to develop the physical theatre work on the Programme.  Vicki had been a student on the Programme, 2002-05, and used her knowledge of and enthusiasm for the unique Course to support and enhance student work during her time here.  Perhaps her greatest legacy will be the Careers modules and work placement opportunities she has initiated and embedded within the Programme.  This is pioneering in what will be essential provision within the developing landscape of higher education.  On behalf of current students and alumni, colleagues and former colleagues we thank her and wish her well on the next steps of her life’s journey

Simon Floodgate

 

 

Vicki Hobbs (right) giving farewell speech, standing next to an international student
Vicki Hobbs (right) giving farewell speech, standing next to an international student