Most of us will find it hard not to look back on 2020 as a stinker of a year. Yet for a flourishing tribe of olfactory researchers and historians, it came up smelling of roses, among other things.“Day
Refugees from Sudan, Eritrea and Iraq reveal their heartbreaking journeys to the UK and the kindness of people in Kent
|
Updated: 08:27, 31 December 2020
This year thousands of people have crossed the perilous Channel strait to the Kent coast, in an effort to escape war, persecution and brutality.
People landing on the Kinsgdown shore after crossing the Channel. Picture Christian Thrale
People have sought sanctuary in England for decades, and many were lucky enough to survive their arduous journeys to settle and build lives for themselves alongside the people of Kent.
What keeps many of them here is the kindness and acceptance they found - from the Kurdish poet who discovered his voice in Folkestone, to the Eritrean student who found a second chance through the love of her Faversham foster family.
Canterbury Christchurch University journalism student reveals what it is like studying for a socially-distanced degree
With university lectures replaced with classes over Zoom, final-year Christchurch University journalism student Kelly Bellerson, 20, tells of the reality of taking a degree at a distance
September felt like a fresh start. Everyone was out sunning themselves in the gardens of great British pubs and people were allowed to see their family and friends again.
Kelly Bellerson has examined how the student experience will change
With education returning to studentsâ lives, we could only imagine how the new academic year might look socially-distanced. Nine weeks into the first semester and the faults in this learning structure are beginning to surface.
What Does History Smell Like?
Researchers are finding ways to preserve scents that are disappearing. Others are recreating ones from centuries ago.
By Sophie Haigney
Image
The embalming of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, after his assassination in 1584 would have smelled fresh, sweet and slightly medicinal.
Candles created by Janie Korn. Photographs by Erik Tanner for The New York Times.
Anxiety sweat. Horsehair. Wet grass and soil after a rain. Sulfuric compounds from gunpowder. Eau de cologne containing rosemary, bergamot and bitter orange. A touch of leather.
This might have been what Napoleon’s retreat from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 smelled like. At least, these are some of the elements that Caro Verbeek, an art historian and olfactory researcher, tried to incorporate when she was reconstructing the smell, in partnership with the perfumer Birgit Sijbrands, the scent designer Bernardo Fleming of International Flavors & Fragrances and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterda
Biographical Note
Gert Biesta is Professor of Public Education at Maynooth University, Ireland, and Professorial Fellow in Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He writes about educational theory and policy, including
Obstinate Education: Reconnecting School and Society (Brill | Sense, 2019).
Patricia Hannam is County Inspector/Adviser for Religious Education, History and Philosophy in Hampshire, UK. Her research and writing interests include religious education, history education and educational theory, including
Religious Education in the Public Sphere (Routledge, 2018). Review Quotes âFollowing the publication of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) Final report there has been a mood change in the theoretical discussions about the nature and purpose of RE. The true game-changing significance of the Commission s introduction of the language of worldview is beginning to dawn. This fine