Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury's Lent Term Dialogues kick off with expert insights
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The Lent Term Shrewsbury Dialogues programme has started with some interesting talks for our pupils.
Our Dialogues series this term began with Professor Lucy Easthope – a leading UK authority on emergency planning and disaster response.
Lucy has advised governments in the wake of terrible tragedies such as 9/11, the Grenfell tower fire and the Covid pandemic. She has considerable expertise in the recovery of personal effects, which, if not managed effectively, has a profound impact on the family members of victims.
Lucy’s talk was captivating both for her breadth of experience, but also her obvious compassion and care for victims of disaster. She shared some very helpful information for A Level Geographers, including the multiple factors leading to disasters, the phases of post-disaster recovery, and the idea of our cherished personal possessions as the ‘furniture of self.’ Lucy also spoke more personally about how she came to enter the profession, and her perseverance and determination came across strongly.
Lucy also works with The Latimer Community Art Therapy, which was set up as a response to the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. It offers professional mental health support through art psychotherapy as well as creative, educational and sports activities.
We also welcomed Dr Alistair Harden on Thursday, who shared his fascinating doctoral research on Greek pottery, which he connected with meme theory. Dr Harden inspired pupils to deliberately go off on academic tangents - and showed us that we may be surprised by the connections we can learn to make between subjects.
Emma Hellyer
Head of Teaching and Learning