The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is one of the "ancients" of Scotland. Founded in 1583...think about that for a second. It's really old :-) They are proud to share that Benjamin Franklin was given an honorary degree from Edinburgh. And of course they lay claim to Darwin, Higgs, Dolly the cloned sheep, Gordon Brown (please note these are not in an order intended to be political)... and so forth. 

Our morning consisted of a series of lectures about the institution. One thing that was mentioned, somewhat casually, was that they were celebrating 10 years as Scotland's 1st Fair Trade University. Everywhere we have gone there has been a huge emphasis on fair trade products. In fact, at Sterling they baked us fresh cookies and put out a sign noting that they were "Not Fair Trade Cookies" in case we were conscientious objectors. I do hope this is a peek into the future and that the social responsibility wave makes its way to North America with the same fervor.  I decided to look more into the concept of a Fair Trade University and found this website: www.scottishfairtradeforum.org.uk

After lunch we had the opportunity to tour Holyrood Palace, the Queen's official residence in Scotland (vs. Balmoral Castle, which is a private home~ It's good to be Queen!) This was a nice treat and a first for me. I enjoyed seeing some of the portraits and personal items. 

Afterward we toured Scottish Parliament. You would imagine this to be housed in a fancy old building but it is extremely modern. I didn't even take a picture. (sorry!) At the time of the visit they had a wonderful, but somewhat heart-wrenching, photography exhibit that captured most of my interest. You can see them online, but fair warning. It is a very real depiction of our world, including war and some other emotional triggers www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2013

In just a bit we are headed out for dinner. They are giving us some time to explore the city and the Festival from 8pm onward. I thought I'd blog a bit earlier today to make sure I have time to pack up my ever-growing suitcase after dinner. Tomorrow I'll be leaving Edinburgh to fly down to London with a few other of the Fulbrighters. We opted to buy our own flights for 100 GBP rather than take the 8+ hour bus ride tomorrow night with everyone else. Instead of getting into London at 2 am, we fly out around 8:30 and arrive at our Heathrow hotel around 10 pm for a good last night of sleep. I hope this leaves me in better shape to arrive back to Indy in a reasonable condition. The constant moving, packing and lugging bags has me ready for a massage and a sleep in my own bed.

 

Last Stop Edinburgh

Today I will keep it short and sweet. We are coming to the end and losing a bit of steam, but still very excited to arrive in Edinburgh. We left Aberdeen around 9 am and made our way South. School #11 is the University of Edinburgh. I visited here in 2001 when I was a study abroad student but also have great memories of sending students there through the Study Abroad Foundation. It was a bit surreal to pull up to "Pollock Halls" where I'd previously arranged to house my SAF students.

After lunch time we checked in to our rooms (which were thankfully well-appointed) and had a bit of a rest before cleaning up for dinner. Some of the group took the down time as the chance to get out into the city. We are here during a really exciting time. Edinburgh hosts an international fringe festival every August. http://www.edfringe.com

Dinner was at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, hosted by both the Royal Society and the University of Edinburgh. Peter would be jealous to know we had lamb. I did not take any photos of anything today, for which I apologize. I think it is a sign of just how tired I am.  Everything has been spectacular but I just did not keep up with my photojournalism :-)

Tomorrow starts our sessions with Edinburgh. I have a feeling they are going to do a really wonderful job and live up to their reputation.  I'll try to get some shots for tomorrow's post. 

Dancing in Aberdeen

Today we got back into the swing of our sessions with Aberdeen. The topic was really unique -- international leadership development through training and professional development. They shared how the university has set in place a series of accredited training programs to help their faculty and staff learn how to improve their management style and move up within the ranks. The institution seems to have a real emphasis on promoting from within and retaining employees. They do a lot here at the institution, such as leadership training, coaching, mentoring, etc. But they also host an international leadership program, similar to our Fulbright experience. For example, soon they will send a team to the east coast of the US to visit Harvard and other universities so they can learn more about student development and improving the student experience. In the past they have had European trips to schools like Utrecht. 

We also had a nice campus tour with a great (and funny) tour guide. I still can't believe the university was founded in 1495!

I need to hang this up in my office :-)

We had a dinner in the Great Hall here on campus. Afterward they invited in the student dance group and a Ceilidh band called Danse Macabre http://www.danse-mccabre.co.uk/index.html 

It was a load of fun but LOTS of work. We were so sweaty afterwards. And we had a great laugh at ourselves. 

On a non-Fulbright note, one of my colleagues here helped me explore a potential dissertation topic over lunch. I am pretty excited about it. Since today is actually the first day of classes back at Ball State, this was perfectly timed. This semester I will be crafting my research proposal and writing for my comprehensive exams. Most of the folks on this program have already completed a Ph.D. or Ed.D. so I try to collect words of wisdom whenever I can. Even during my university visits I try to keep an eye out for inspiration. 

One of the key things I took away was from Imperial College (our shortest stop). There I learned it is critical you have the ability to describe your research area to a non-academic in a simple "elevator speech". That seems fairly straightforward, but it was really groundbreaking. The topics I'd considered before were interesting to me and helpful to the field, but every time I tried to explain it to someone...the lady next to me on the airplane, a colleague on this program... I found myself tongue-tied and incomprehensible. But with the new topic I find it simple and expansive at the same time. AND people respond to it. I hope it passes muster with my committee when I return :-)