Today is Martin Luther King day, an American holiday that is always celebrated on the third Monday in January. It’s almost 54 years since Dr King, a Baptist minister and lifelong campaigner, was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, but the work to which he sacrificed his life continues.
MLK is most famous, for his “I had a dream…” speech, but the reality of civil rights activism is that it’s less about rallies and speeches and more a daily struggle for the most mundane of rights – a struggle that is played out in factories, playgrounds, homes and schools, well away from the cameras and microphones.
Martin Luther King
King was in Memphis in April 1968 to support African American sanitation workers who were deprived of the most basic of rights that their white counterparts enjoyed – the right to shelter from the rain, the right to shower after their shift, the lack of overtime payments. The final straw came when 2 black workers were crushed to death by a malfunctioning garbage truck and their families were barely compensated. The workers went on strike, and MLK went to support them.
In recognition of King’s contribution to the struggle for equality, Illinois was the first US state to acknowledge the holiday, and King was the first African American to have a national holiday in his honour.
March
The international struggle for equality continues. As King himself said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Read Dr King’s most famous speech in full. You’ll find it in LibrarySearch:
We hope all our Edinburgh Napier University students and staff had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s with some time to relax and catch up with friends and family.
With the festivities now over, you might be thinking that it’s time to make some resolutions and get back into that ‘serious study mode’.
It’s also a time to reflect on past events and your studies to see what you might want to freshen up and change for the new year. Just keep in mind that progress is always ongoing, and you should focus on one step at a time!
New Year Resolutions
Here are some suggestions that you might want to consider below:
Change your learning style or study skills
If you want to change your study habits or try a new way of learning, Box of Broadcasts (BOB) and listening to Podcasts are productive ways of gathering information and evidence for your assignments. You can find more information about it on our Libguides.
This could be the year where you decide to prioritise your time wisely and manage your schedule to avoid burnout. You might want to break up the week by scheduling tasks into your calendar or stick colourful post-it notes around your room as visual reminders. Your education should be your priority and then you can consider what to do in your spare time such as music, sports or travelling!
Try new activities
Whatever the weather, if you have a burning desire for adventures in the outdoors, like kayaking, hikes and walks in the hills, then the Hiking and Outdoor Activities society at Edinburgh Napier may be the one for you this year!
You can join more of Napier’s societies in the link below:
Christmas is a period of relaxation and spending time with family and friends. However, some students may be staying on campus over Christmas due to living far away and this can be an opportunity to explore festive activities or take some time to relax.
There are advantages to staying on campus over Christmas like having more space, peace, and quiet! The library even has Ebooks to get you in the mood for Christmas for example the classic, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Activities include the Christmas Market, Edinburgh Napier University’s Carol Service, and Hogmanay 2022. There is even a Christmas Tree Maze you can get lost in and the Santa Fun Run & Walk at Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh is open to registration to help fundraise for Children in Scotland who live with threatening illnesses:
Perhaps you may want to visit and check-in with your friends, which also opens opportunities to explore more of the United Kingdom. Or even hike the wonderful mountains and hills of the Scottish Highlands, where you may even find patches of Snow- the Cairngorm Mountain near Aviemore is best known for Skiing and Snowboarding in Scotland!
Snowy mountain Highlands
The University is here if you need a little extra support over the holidays:
The Christmas holidays have finally arrived, and you might be thinking it is time to get those feet up, relax, enjoy a hot drink and binge-watch all your favourite Christmas movies!
A cosy Christmas
But wait a moment… as there is still studying to be done. Here are some tips on how to motivate yourself whilst studying over the festive season:
Break it up:
Spend a few hours each day or every other day to break up your study period- you can set some time during the morning or evening then you have the rest of the day to enjoy your break and catch up on those movies!
Read and Research:
Set time in your schedule for reading and researching in your comfiest chair, you can do this along with your cup of coffee or tea for extra comfort. You can check out some of our books to help you with your studies via our Library Search
Christmas Treats:
Treat yourself in between breaks (by this we mean opening the celebrations tubs, eating mince pies, gingerbread men, and anything festive to motivate you throughout the Christmas period).
Christmas Star Biscuits
Family and Friends:
Ask a friend or family member to proofread your essay, project, or dissertation. You could engage in a conversation about your current topic and share your opinions which you never know…may end up being the main outcome of your work!
Organising and Planning:
Use your home space to organise your work, create study note tips, and plan your schedule throughout the week using a calendar, a table, or a ‘to-do list’.
Christmas Planning
Edinburgh Napier Information Services sends their best wishes to everyone studying!
It is Dyslexia awareness week in the UK, and we are here to guide and increase visibility to people all over the world! The theme this year is Breaking Through Barriers.
Dyslexia Awareness Week will take place between 03-09 October 2022.
But what is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a lifelong learning difficulty that can affect communication, learning, reading, and writing.
You may be able to spot signs of this such as inconsistent spelling, sequencing, and order of words. Furthermore, as Dyslexia isn’t visible, individuals with dyslexia can often feel unsupported and may struggle with their mental health.
What support is there?
There are many supportive resources for Dyslexia, here are just some examples below:
Technological aids (assistive technology) can include Text-to-Speech, recorders, software, and audiobooks.
British Dyslexia Association Helpline on 0333 405 4567
The Autumn Equinox has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and although this means damper and colder days in Edinburgh, the trees will exhibit amber glows, burnt oranges, and golden browns- perfect for walks and hikes.
Dean Village in the Autumn, Edinburgh
It also means salvaging your favourite jumper and putting those boots back on! Be sure to also check out events that are happening during autumn such as:
· The Scottish International Storytelling Festival from 15th October-31st October 2021 was originally launched in 1989 to engage people in the magic of storytelling. There are usually live, storytelling performances, songs and tales. This year there will be a series of live and online events! Click here for more information.
· There is also the Samhuinn Fire Festival on October the 31st on the top of Calton Hill, which celebrates the transition of Summer to Winter and a stand-off between the seasonal kings! If you want to see this performance visit Beltain.org
· Bonfire Night 5th November 2021- To get a full view of the display we recommend watching the displays from the top of Calton Hill!
It can be both an exciting and a daunting time in your life… starting university! Perhaps you are moving to a new city or accommodation and feeling a whirlwind of different emotions.
University offers you a specific area of study to help pursue your career goals as well as everyday life independence and networking.
Here are some tips below to plan your next steps:
· Talk to friends, family, and colleagues about any concerns or tips for starting university.
· Pack essentials: kitchen accessories and utensils, food, laundry basket, bedding, stationery, laptop, and any other technological devices.
Utensils and Food
· Start a group on Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to get to know your flat or course mates! There is also a freshers page on Instagram you can join for 2021 you can keep up to date with https://www.instagram.com/napierfreshers/?hl=en
· You may also want to think about joining a society and finding people who have the same interests as you: https://www.napierstudents.com/
· Discount!? UNiDAYS and Student Beans offer discount on food, clothing and more. You can find this via the links: https://www.myunidays.com/GB/en-GB https://www.studentbeans.com/uk
Remember you have got this and you can always contact Napier for support too! https://www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/contact-us
You can find more help on starting at university in the link below: https://www.napier.ac.uk/study-with-us/undergraduate/getting-started-at-uni
Despite Covid, Tokyo hosts the delayed summer Olympics of 2020 this month representing the ultimate challenge to the world’s top athletes. Organisers estimate some 11,000 athletes, from 205 countries will compete in 330 events in 28 sports in front of TV audiences numbering billions. Today’s intense interest, however, contrasts markedly with the more haphazard nature of the very first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896.
Reproduction of the cover of the 1896 Olympics Official Report (Olympic Studies Centre)
Then, 300 competitors, all men and mostly local, took part in 43 events in athletics, cycling, swimming, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, gymnastics, shooting and lawn tennis.
These sports, with the exception of shooting and tennis, would have been broadly familiar to any ancient Greek. However, some of the events, one armed weightlifting for example, appear slightly odd to us today.
The indifference shown by the established sporting authorities to what they all then regarded as a passing fad meant that the non-Greek competitors tended to be sportsmen of the amateur and gentlemanly kind rather than necessarily the world’s best.
Take the tennis, for example, a sport pretty unfamiliar in Greece at the time. The singles was won by an Irish undergraduate, named John Boland. Boland was spending the Easter holidays in Athens with a friend and had no intention of competing. However his friend, one of the local organisers, persuaded him to enter the tournament at the last minute. A recreational player, with little experience of competition, Boland ended up winning all his matches.
He then repeated the feat in the doubles forming a scratch partnership with German player, Fritz Traun. Their success no doubt helped assuage Traun’s disappointment at having previously lost both in the singles and also in the 100 metres sprint.
Unlike future winners of Olympic tennis, Boland did not enjoy a stellar career in the game. In fact there is no record of him ever winning anything again. He did, however, go on to serve as an MP for 18years.
Carl Schuhmann was the most successful athlete at the games, winning both the individual vault and contributing to the Germans’ success in both team gymnastic events.
Bizarrely, Schuhmann then fought his way to the final of the wrestling where he faced local man, Georgios Tsitas. The contest turned into a two-day affair. Darkness forced an end to proceedings on the first day with Schuhmann winning his 4th medal on resumption the next morning.
Carl Schuhmann and Georgios Tsitas at the 1896 Wrestling final (ac-wuestenrot.de)
To huge national acclaim the marathon, which actually started in Marathon, was won by an Athenian mineral water salesman Spyridon Louis. Hailed as a national hero, his colourful later life included serving jail time for falsifying papers.
Rather than spending millions on purpose built stadia, as is the norm today, the Greeks used what they had available. The swimming events took place in the sea off Piraeus, 2 out of the 3 open events being won by a Hungarian Alfred Hajos. Entry to a fourth event was peculiarly restricted to members of the Greek Navy. The Panathenaic Stadium hosted 4 sports, and the formal ceremonial. It was a refurbished facility excavated out of solid marble on the site of a stadium that hosted the ancient games dating back to 144CE. The track, a narrow horseshoe shape, caused some runners problems when cornering. It’s still possible to channel one’s inner Olympian today and run round that same track provided you pay the stadium tour entrance fee of 5 euros.
The Panathenaic Stadium Athens (Greeka.com)
Oddly no Gold medals where awarded. Gold, silver and bronze medals didn’t appear until St Louis in 1904. The first winners each received a silver medal and a laurel branch, runners up a copper medal. There was nothing for coming 3rd.
Retrospectively, however, the IOC upgraded gold, silver and bronze to the top 3 in all the Athens events.
From this fairly modest start and despite the initial lack of international enthusiasm the Games developed into the multi-million dollar extravaganza we are now enjoying.
Many of you will have visited the Lions’ Gate garden at Merchiston campus (you get a good view of it from the Library’s Relaxation Space!). Well the good news is that Callum Egan, the garden co-ordinator (working with ENSA, the Business School and the Development Office), has secured funding from the Scottish Government’s Community Climate Asset Fund to develop areas at Craiglockhart and Sighthill campuses.
Raised beds, a water harvesting kit, top soil and compost have already been purchased, along with plants with culinary and medicinal benefits. The fund has also been used to buy apple and plum trees. The team working on this would like to create a micro-forest at Sighthill, and at Craiglockhart there’ll be a small orchard and a thinking walk around the grounds.
Interested? Read more about it in the Lions’ Gate blog
The good news is that the Craiglockhart orchard has now been created. I was lucky enough to be part of a group of 15 helping out with the planting of 2 plum and 10 apple trees. Take a look next time you’re on campus. It’s directly opposite the chapel entrance. Before and after photos below.
Orchard, Chapel Lion’s Gate Garden
Plants Lions’ Gate Garden
On a library-related note! Check out the Garden Collection of books held at Merchiston Library. Merchiston campus too far away? Request items via LibrarySearch.
The Lions’ Gate Garden is a permaculture habitat adjacent to the library at Merchiston campus. The gardens, allotment, pond, and outdoor laboratory provide a space to relax and unwind.
Three years ago, Research Fellow and Interaction Design Lecturer Callum Egan sparked the idea of using digital technology and environmentalism to create “techno gardens to make real spaces for people”.
The digital interactions aim to inspire people on educating and taking action for climate change and ecosystems.
Some of these interactions include:
Augmented realities
QR codes
Building food forests
Wifi and sensor icons
The pandemic has even taught us all to be more resourceful and individuals have shown a growing hobby for urban gardening! As the seasons change at Lions’ Gate, we can be more ‘fruitful’ by generating natural resources, from strawberries to Christmas trees. This creates social spaces and could even make homemade jams and chutneys!
