Andrea Bagnato, Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual, A Moving Border – Alpine Cartographies of Climate Change, Columbia University Press, forthcoming 2019.

[now updated with the final cover]

This is the book developing from the Italian Limes project. I was pleased to welcome Andrea and Marco to Warwick for one of the ICE-LAW project workshops, and to be asked to write an essay for this book. With their permission, you can access my piece, ‘The Instability of Terrain’, here.

There will be a book launch at the Royal Academy on the evening of 15 April 2019 with some of the contributors. More details when advertised.

Italy’s northern border follows the watershed that separates the drainage basins of Northern and Southern Europe. Running mostly at high altitudes, it crosses snowfields and perennial glaciers—all of which are now melting as a result of anthropogenic climate change. As the watershed…

As I (Rachel Mc Ardle) have recently finished my PhD, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on some tips which helped me survive the last few months and weeks of my PhD:

Mental health/ well-being tips:

1. There is light at the end of the tunnel, even when it often feels like there isn’t.
2. You will have to ask for help and get comfortable leaning on other people, it is an incredibly stressful time and the people closest to you will become your support network.
3. As much as you can, take breaks, walks, journal/ brain dump, and look after yourself in terms of time off. If you don’t take breaks your brain simply will not be as productive the next day.
4. Be kind to yourself, allow yourself to feel free to eat whatever food is handy or you want. Prioritise the PhD over other demands and don’t…

Walter Benjamin and Shakespeare symposium

Saturday April 6, 2019

Garrick’s Temple to Shakespeare, Hampton

David Garrick built his Shakespeare Temple beside the Thames at Hampton in 1755 as a place where ‘the thinkers of the world’ would meet to reflect on the plays. He hoped Voltaire would come. Now the Kingston Shakespeare Seminar is realising the great actor’s vision, with a series of symposia on Shakespeare in Philosophy.

The first of the 2019 symposia focuses on the German philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). Confirmed speakers are Howard Caygill, Hyowon Cho, Julia Ng and Bjorn Quiring.

This event, open to all, will include talks by leading philosophers and Shakespeare scholars, coffee and tea in the riverside garden designed by Capability Brown, and lunch at the historic Bell Inn. Tickets are £20, all profits go to supporting the Temple.

Book your tickets at: benjaminandshakespeare.eventbrite.co.uk