Celtic and Scottish Studies – Celtic Section

MINUTES OF THE STAFF STUDENT LIAISON MEETING

held at 4.10pm on Wednesday 24thFebruary 2016

in Room2.03, 50 George Square

Action
1. /
Attendance and Apologies
Academic Staff: Dr Anja Gunderloch (Chair), ProfRob Dunbar, JoanMacdonald, Dr Kate Mathis and Prof Wilson McLeod
Administrative Staff: ChristineLennie (Minutes)
Student Class Reps: Nathalie Bertaud, Noah Brown, Mika Cook, Kayne Coy, Annie Egerton and Orla Macdonald
Apologies received: Eilidh Grant and Lauren Macdougall
Dr Gunderloch welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.
2. /
Minutes of Last Meeting – 28 October 2015
The minutes of the previous semester’s meeting were received and accepted as an accurate record.
3. /
Matters Arising from the Minutes
Prof Dunbar updated the meeting on the situation regarding the School of Scottish Studies Archives(SoSSA) and the Celtic and Scottish Studies Libraries. He advised that building work had now started on 29 George Square (GS), which would become the newly-configured permanent home of the SoSSA. Building work was due to be completed by June 2016 and, following the internal re-fit, the holdings would be transferred to this location, with a view to re-opening in Autumn 2016, although unfortunately not in time for the start of the new academic year.
In the meantime, the Archives were operating from their temporary location in the basement of 16-20 GS (access via no. 19) and, while some holdings were currently held off site, much was available to consult.
Prof McLeod advised that there was a reasonably large collection of books available in the Learning Resource Centre, which was located on the first floor of 50 George Square. He encouraged students to take advantage of this resource.
4. /
Communications - Staff
Various events were organised by the department and the following were highlighted:
The first of the Soillse Seminarson minority language policy and sociolinguistics was to be held that evening and the programme would run through to April.
Departmental Research Seminars were scheduled every Friday lunch-time during teaching and this semester’s focus was on archives.
A Gaelic Broadcasting Conference was to be held on Tuesday 15 March, organised by Research Fellow Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan.
After a gap of several years, anO’Donnell Lecture was to be held at the University of Edinburgh on Monday 16 May. The speaker would be Professor Ruairí Ó hUiginn (NUI Maynooth) and he would be speaking on the rise of the O’Donnell family of Donegal and their use of literary tradition for propaganda purposes - further details would be circulated soon. Prof Dunbar advised that this promised to be a very good talk and it was pointed out that, as this event was scheduled towards the end of the exam period, it would offer a welcome opportunity for the department to come together.
All of these events were open to everyone and students were always welcome to attend.
5. /
Communications - Undergraduate Students
Gaelic 1A / Elementary Gaelic: Kayne Coy
Kayne advised that he had devised a survey for fellow class mates but unfortunately had received no responses. Dr Gunderloch hoped that this indicated that no-one had any serious cause for dissatisfaction. On a personal level, Kayne reported that he was very happy that more of their classes were now located in George Square (although he realised that this was something the department had little control over).
Gaelic 1B: Orla Macdonald and Lauren Macdougall
Orla reported that this was a good course but she had a couple of issues to raise. Firstly, no slides had been uploaded to Learn for the Bardachd component. Prof Dunbar apologised for this oversight and advised that this had recently been brought to his attention: he had contacted Priscilla Scott and hoped to rectify this very shortly.
Orla also said that many of the students felt that they did not get as much opportunity as they would like to practice speaking and writing Gaelic. This was a particular issue for the Education students, who were expected to conduct all business in Gaelic in the school setting. It was noted that, unfortunately, it had not been possible to offer the Còmhradh Coitcheann class at a time which suited this cohort. Prof Dunbar advised that this issue had been raised before and teaching staff had modified their practice somewhat. However, he would see if further opportunities could be found for students to contribute conversationally.
Gaelic 2A: Nathalie Bertaud
Dr Gunderloch apologised for missing that week’s Monday class and hoped that it would be possible to find a time to reschedule. Natalie reported that she had met with Prof Dunbar the previous week to discuss some issues which had come to light relating to1B/2A teaching. A meeting was planned for the coming Friday and it was hoped that all affected students would be able to attend. Prof Dunbar was grateful to Nathalie for coming to see him and stressed the fact that the department was always happy to be contacted at an early stage to try to resolve areas of concern.
Gaelic 2B: Eilidh Grant
Unfortunately the Class Rep was unable to be present.
Introduction to Gaelic Language and Culture: Annie Egerton
Annie advised that no-one hadmade her aware of any concerns. She was an exchange student and her personal view was that the structure of the course was good and she was happy that it was going well.
Celtic Civilisation 1B: Saskia Russell
Unfortunately the Class Rep was not present. However, Annie and Mika were also taking this course and Mika reported that the specified reading for the week 6 tutorial was a bit overwhelming, both in terms of the key sources and the indicated readings. It was confirmed that students were directed to specific sections of the key sources (rather than the texts in their entirety). However Prof Dunbar acknowledged that this tutorial had been reconfigured and, as it combined material previously covered in two tutorials,he agreed that this was perhaps a little imbalanced. With regard to the suggested reading list, a large number of texts were deliberately cited in an effort to ensure that all students were able to access relevant material.
Prof Dunbar advised that, while some changes had been made to the Celtic Civilisation 1A and 1B courses in the current year, both were to be re-designed for the future and feedback such as this was always useful.
Celtic Literature 2B: Mika Cook
Mika advised that no-one had raised any issues with her and she didn’t have any herself, with the exception of the teaching rooms, which were far from ideal (a different location for each class), however, as noted earlier, she realised that this was outwith the department’s control.
Honours: Noah Brown
Noah had no concerns to raise and was content that things were progressing well. / RD
RD
6. /

Communications - Postgraduate Students

MSc: No Class Rep this year
PhD: Roisin McKelvey
Unfortunately the PhD Class Rep was not present. DrGunderloch was happy to advise that the MSc Rep for Scottish Ethnology had provided a very positive report at their Staff Student Liaison Committee the previous day.
7. / Teaching Programme Review
Dr Gunderloch advised that an audit of undergraduate teaching was carried out in each subject area every five years. Documentation and statistics had now been provided for the review team, which included senior representatives of other disciplines from within the university as well as subject experts from other institutions, and the review team would spend two days in March meeting with staff and students. ProfDunbar added that this was an important opportunity for the department to assess and reflect not just on how but on what we teach, as well as on the skills our teaching develops.
The department’s analytical report had been distributed to all Class Reps on C&SS degree programmes and it was very much hoped that students would be able to attend the meeting with the review team.It was agreed that the meeting for Celtic and Gaelic students would be scheduled on Wednesday 16 March and Christine would confirm the arrangements shortly (it was noted that the promise of a free lunch may act as an incentive!). / CL
8. / Student Surveys
Dr Gunderloch reminded students that the following student surveys were currently open:
  • the National StudentSurvey for final-year undergraduates (open until 30 April)
  • the Edinburgh Student Experience Survey for non-final year undergraduates (open until 4 March)
Students were encouraged both to fill in the survey themselves and to urge others to do so.
9. / Any Other Business
Everyone was reminded that the Highland Annual would be held on Saturday 5 March at 8.30pm. This was a traditional ceilidh which took over the whole of Teviot Row House and always boasted top Gaelic performers (and a bargain at £7 for students!) Further details on facebook:

10. / Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting would be scheduled in the first semester of the next academic year.

CL /8.3.16

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