Time flies…

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, News & Updates, Outreach

There’s a well-used trope in sitcoms, in which the protagonist manages to arrange an evening where they go on two dates at the same time! Hilarity and humiliation always ensue. Well, that was basically me last Friday. I had been asked by two sets of conference organisers if I’d give a Keynote talk. It’s always very flattering to be asked, and I am very supportive of the academics who were working on both events, so I agreed. Besides, I thought, there’s six-day window for these…Continue Reading “Time flies…” →

#DigiDeath: Should we be Socially Distancing from the Dead?

Categories Outreach, Publication, Research

Last week I was invited to give one of the keynotes at the DigiDeath: Public archaeologies of digital mortality conference hosted by the students of the Archaeology department of the University of Chester. And as an aside for learning & teaching folks, the student-run conference forms part of their module assessment. Anyway, I was delighted to have been asked to contribute alongside a host of leading experts. I’d recently written a chapter with Dr Dave Errickson on the depiction of the dead in social media…Continue Reading “#DigiDeath: Should we be Socially Distancing from the Dead?” →

A meme-orial to my career…

Categories Outreach, Research

As you know, I am not one for willingly turning down an opportunity to talk in front of an audience, so I was delighted to be asked to give a talk as part of the series of guest lectures run by the Sherlock Institute of Forensic Science India. I was following some great talks over the past few months, including Jason Payne James talking about the role of the forensic physician and Patrick Randolph-Quinney discussing issues in taphonomy. My presentation focused on the effect of…Continue Reading “A meme-orial to my career…” →

MOOC the week…

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, Outreach

Am I the greatest forensic anthropology lecturer in the world? No. But do I get up every day, go to work and strive to be the best lecturer that I can? Also no. But I do make a token effort to get people to learn. This can take different forms, depending on the context and the learners we are working with. And now that I think about it, I’d say that most of my teaching time over the past couple of years has actually been…Continue Reading “MOOC the week…” →

I choo-choo choose you!

Categories Field Work, Outreach, PGR, Research

Sometimes, just sometimes, I agree to do something before I’ve fully thought through how I can actually do it. And sometimes, just sometimes, innocent people get caught up in all of this. Now, I either do this because I have a pathological fear of saying ‘No’, or because I have unfaltering confidence in the abilities of my colleagues. Someone once said (Google tells me it was David Ogilvy, whoever he was…) that you should “Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them…Continue Reading “I choo-choo choose you!” →

Back of the net!

Categories Learning & Teaching, Outreach

This weekend I was able to head over to the Riverside to watch Boro play QPR. It’s the first time I’ve seen them play as well as they did – looking (mostly) in control and putting together some really nice passing – Barca on the Tees… It’s not the first time I’ve been to the Riverside though, but this time it did jog my memory of something that we tried many years ago which I hadn’t thought about in ages – our attempt to get kids…Continue Reading “Back of the net!” →

veni vidi vici

Categories Outreach, Research

The problem with having friends is that they invariably ask you to do things for them, and you can’t say no. This is one of the reasons why I generally try to avoid social connections – although I undermine my own principle here by being an absolute delight to be around… It was just such a request that took me to the docks in London… I’ve said before how much I enjoy visiting the Museum of London, and more so because I am good friends…Continue Reading “veni vidi vici” →

Barclaycard

Categories Outreach

Sometimes you agree to do things without properly thinking them through… And so it was that I ended up at the huge Barclaycard HQ over in Stockton talking about forensic stuff and then superheroes! It was all part of Working at Work Week, and I was delighted to have been asked to give a couple of talks. We had a great turn-out and the event went really well. Everyone at Barclaycard was super-lovely too. Of course, the live-streaming of my talk around the country was…Continue Reading “Barclaycard” →

Pint of Science

Categories News & Updates, Outreach

There’s much excitement here at the moment because of our involvement with the Pint of Science festival. Those of you familiar with me and my team will know how much we value outreach and wider access projects. We do all sorts! Pint of Science is an international event which aims to get experts talking about their work with whoever is interested in the local pub! Teesside is the only post-92 university in the country to take part, and our organising team (largely students) is doing…Continue Reading “Pint of Science” →