MSF Students Perform Meaningful Community Service
Panorama
The TESOL Arabia Conference 2016
Mind Over Matter
Engineering Students Showcase Projects
News Update
Positive Impact of
Social Networks
on Students
Department of Public
Relations and Information
Sultan Qaboos University
Issue 341
View Point
Think about it
Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. However, much of our thinking, left
to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or downright prejudiced. Yet
the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends
precisely on the quality of our thought. Excellence in thought must be systematically cultivated. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards
of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native
egocentrism and sociocentrism.
Mohamed Salem Al Ghailani
Editorial Supervision
Santhosh Muthalath
Senior Editor
Sara Al Gheilani
Nasebah Al Muharrami
Translation
Ahlam Al Wahaibi
Design & Layout
Photography Dept., CET
Photography
Salim Al Sudairi
Circulation
SQU-info
The advancement of knowledge largely depends on one’s ability to think critically. Critical thinking skills enable a person to be successful in his profession.
It is very crucial that students learn and acquire critical thinking skills during
their higher education, as it creates a path to their career. Researchers at Nizwa
College of Technology carried out a study to identify the critical level thinking
of students in higher education. The study assessed the level of critical thinking
variables among the students in their own college. The study recommends that
educational institutions in Oman should focus on developing the critical thinking ability of the students.
Educational institutions have the responsibility to emphasize on developing
the critical thinking ability skills early in higher education. Students should be
made aware of the relevance of critical thinking and how these skills can increase the employability when they graduate. Critical thinking should be made
as a part of curriculum in higher education wherein the students are given exercises on making inferences, deductions, interpretations, recognizing assumptions and evaluating arguments. Active reading should be encouraged amongst
students in order to improve their inference skills. To enhance the critical thinking skills, student centred activities should be given like presentation from the
handout, supplementing examples, and class room exercises.
No one always acts purely objectively and rationally. We connive for selfish
interests. We gossip, boast, exaggerate, and equivocate. It is “only human” to
wish to validate our prior knowledge, to vindicate our prior decisions, or to
sustain our earlier beliefs. We may not always want to apply critical thinking
skills, but we should have those skills available to be employed when needed.
@SQU-info
90199997
Horizon invites contributions from SQU members of staff and faculty. Contributions in the form of
articles, news, travelogues, stories of unique and interesting experiences, encounters, etc., are welcome. Contributions may be edited for the sake of clarity and length. Please send your contributions
to [email protected] preferably, as MSWord attachments. Authors will be suitably credited.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles published in this newsletter are those of the authors
and are not to be construed as the official views of the publication. Horizon is published three times a
month by the Department of Public Relations and Information, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 50,
P.C. 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Phone: +968 24141045
E-mail: [email protected]
20 May 2016
P2
Fax: +968 24413 391
Website: www.squ.edu.om
News Update
Engineering Students
Showcase Projects
The final year students from the Department of Electrical & Computer
Engineering of the College of Engineering at SQU displayed their graduation projects 10 May for evaluation by experts from the industry and the
government. Presentation of graduation projects, an annual event, is an
opportunity for evaluation of student projects by external examiners who
grade the projects according to different criteria.
As many as 24 projects have been showcased under four categories namely
Communication & Signal Processing, Computing Systems & Networks,
Power Systems & Energy, and Industrial Electronics & Control. In addition, 6 more projects were showcased by students from the Mechatronics
Engineering, a join program between the department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. Each project is supervised by a member of faculty, and assessed
through written reports, functional prototype, and presentations.
“Students in Electrical & Computer Engineering undertake a major research project as part of the final-year requirements of their bachelor degree programme. Nearly 85 students tackled 24 projects in cutting-edge
area of electrical and computer engineering. They do practical and graphical demonstrations of their work and are available to answer any of your
questions. This event gives students the chance to gain feedback from
faculty, peers and staff in their own and other disciplines. The students
work in teams of 2-4 members, designing and developing a project using
the cumulative knowledge they have gained throughout their degree”, Dr.
Ahmed Al Maashri, Assistant Professor in the Department, said.
The event was marked by innovation and engineering excellence of engineering students at SQU, with projects ranging from robot assisted needle
steering device, brain controlled wheelchair, humanoid robot with locomotion controller, RFID based shipment-tracking system to wireless water
monitoring system and smart dolphin protection system.
SQU, University of South
Carolina Discuss Ties
Officials from Sultan Qaboos University and the University of
South Carolina reviewed the existing ties between the two institutions and discussed the ways to broaden the partnership to
more areas. A meeting in this regard was held on 16 May between top officials from both sides headed by HH Sayyidah Dr.
Mona bint Fahd Al Said, SQU Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation, and Dr. Allen Miller, Vice-Provost and
Director of global Carolina.
The meeting comes was a follow up of the visit of the President
of the University of South Carolina to SQU in November 2015
to establish cooperation between the two universities. Following
this visit, the universities signed a letter of understanding to promote joint activities such as collaborative research, lectures, symposia, faculty and scholar exchanges, and undergraduate and
graduate student exchanges. The letter of understanding seeks
encouragement of units to explore initiatives such as student,
faculty and research scholar exchanges to promote cross-cultural
learning and research, and exploration of topics for joint research
proposals for international funding.
The meeting between SQU and the University of South Carolina was attended by Dr. Shahid Al Balushi, Expert, International
Cooperation Office, SQU, Dr. Fahad Al Zadjali, Assistant Dean,
College of medicine & Health Sciences, SQU, Dr. Yassine Charabi, Director, Centre for Environmental Studies & Research, SQU,
and Dr. Helen Doerpinghaus, Deputy Vice Provost, University of
South Carolina. A full day study tour by students from the University of South Carolina was conducted on 17 May at SQU. The
activities included lectures on Oman’s history, Tourism in Oman,
Mass Communication and Media in Oman, in addition to students’ tour to different departments and centres at the university.
Mayor of Palermo Visits SQU
orated on Italy’s efforts to promote theatre and art in the country and
lauded Oman’s efforts in promoting performing arts.
The two sides discussed about theatre and music education offered by
SQU through the Departments of Music & Musicology, and, Theatre,
and ways to enhance academic ties between Italian organizations and
SQU in Music and Performing art education. Dr. Fatma Al Shukaili,
Head of the Department of Theatre, College of Arts & Social Sciences, and Dr. Adil Mohamed Al-Al Ajimi, Senior Consultant, College of
Medicine & Health Sciences, and other officials attended the meeting.
H.H. Sayyidah Dr. Mona bint Fahd Al Said, Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation, Sultan Qaboos University,
received in her office, Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo, Italy.
During his visit to Sultan Qaboos University, Leoluca Orlando elab-
Leoluca Orlando serves as the President of the Theatre Massimo Foundation in Palermo, which performed the opera “La fille du regiment”
at the Royal Opera House in Muscat from 11 to 14 May 2016. Theatre
Massimo tour to Oman involved 162 artists including orchestra musicians, artists of the choir and technicians.
P3
20 May 2016
Insight
Positive Impact of Social
Networks on Students
Study Says Use of Social Networks Positively Affects Students in Oman
through providing free courses on their websites and, furthermore,
they allow students to interact with instructors and other students to
gain and share their knowledge. Social networking systems are becoming very popular nowadays and many people are attracted to
them. They are used for all sorts of purposes by different people, and it
has been said by social networking advocates “if you are not on social
networking, you are not alive. “Many educational institutions are putting great effort into adopting such technologies to communicate with
their faculty members and students, as well as parents, to provide better
services.
In this research, the researchers attempted to discover the reasons why
students in Oman use social networking tools; recognize the impact of
social networking tools on the methods of learning and education;
analyse the main problems that students face when using these networks; and, determine whether or not the traditional learning methods
should be changed in this era of Web 2.0 technologies.
A study about adoption of social networking in education, carried out by
Elham M. Al-Mukhaini, Oman Wafa S. Al-Qayoudhi, and Dr. Ali Al Badi
from the Information Department of the College of Economics & Political
Science at SQU, indicates that the use of social networks positively affect
students in the Sultanate. The findings of this study that investigated the
use of social networks by higher education students in Oman have been
published in the Journal of International Education Research (Second Quarter
2014 Volume 10, Number 2).
The use of social networks is a growing phenomenon in both private
and academic life. Social Networks refer to the tools used to enable users for social interaction. The use of social networks complements and
enhances teaching in traditional classrooms. For example, YouTube,
Facebook, wikis, and blogs provide a huge amount of material on a
wide range of subjects. Students can therefore turn to any of these
tools for further explanations or clarifications. Virtual tools, such as
Moodle and Sloodle, help students to keep in touch with their classmates and teachers in a participatory environment in which these
tools help the material taught to become easily accessible to all users
at anytime and anywhere. In this environment, users, and especially students, can ask or post questions and queries and they will be answered by
their fellow classmates or teachers.
In addition, teachers can have a great time grading quizzes and exams.
They can measure class participation in this way and give comments on
any subject for the purpose of teaching and spreading knowledge.
Facebook, Twitter, and other tools can be utilized in a similar way.
Many other social networking tools, such as collaboration, online
surveys, crowdsourcing, bookmarking and citation, document sharing,
and online storage, can be employed to enhance the education process
in a way that was not possible before. Users can have many social media
tools readily available by using their computers and mobile devices, and
these tools have become quite widespread.
Nowadays, the most used interfaces are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook
gives users a chance to create their own profiles and to interact with other
users. In contrast, Twitter is a social media interface which allows users to share a small amount of content in a quick and easy way.
Some higher education institutions, have changed the way of learning
20 May 2016
P4
To achieve the research aims and objectives, the researchers employed
different research methods. In the first phase, they conducted a literature
review to explore the definitions of social networking systems; which
are the most commonly used of the social networking tools; how do Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube affect the way of teaching and learning
online; social media usage and adoption in higher educational students;
and, the drawbacks of using social networks in education. In the second phase, they conducted a questionnaire survey among 106 students
of higher education from private and public universities, colleges and
institutions in Oman to elicit from them their experiences of adopting
social networking in their education. The online questionnaire was sent
by email.
The results suggest that a high percentage of students were affected positively by using social networking tools, which gave them the chance
to control their own learning environment and allowed them to
share their knowledge with other students in different ways such as
texting, voice, and video media. In addition, Web 2.0 tools, such as
blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and online courses, are giving students
better learning opportunities to enhance their educational performance.
Students would prefer to find better ways of learning by changing their
learning styles and connecting with an environment that has more
dynamic social potential and not to study in isolated environments that
provide traditional styles of learning.
This paper also discussed the reasons for students shifting from
the traditional style of learning to online learning in order to create
their own architecture for learning. It would be a good idea if all universities, colleges, and institutions were to implement online teaching, fix
any problems that come up and encourage all students to use this style
to create their own educational environments, and see if they receive
positive or negative feedback from using social networks. Finally, it was
determined that the majority of students surveyed are fully engaged
or immersed in the new technologies of Web 2.0 and they find it very
attractive, enjoyable and useful to help them better understand the
topic at hand. There was almost a consensus among students that
social media improved their educational performance. Hence, it can
be concluded that the traditional learning and teaching styles need to
be changed in the era of Web 2.0 technologies to enable students to
learn more by using the readily-available online tools in an effective
and comfortable way.
Mind Over Matter
The TESOL Arabia Conference 2016
The 22nd TESOL Arabia Conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
in Dubai from March 10-12. This year’s theme was Language, Culture,
Communication: Transformations in Intercultural Contexts; and as delegates to this conference have come to expect, a full programme was on
offer. In total, there was a choice of 10 plenary sessions and 216 presentations. There were also two panel discussions, a “Chat Show”, a Research
Forum and two sessions by the TESOL Arabia Toastmasters. After the
2015 experiment with 30-minute presentations, this conference reverted
to 45 minute slots, which have audiences more time to absorb information, and also gave speakers more time to develop their cases. As usual,
the conference was supported by a publishers’ exhibition, at which companies like Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Garnet
Publishing and Pearson Education featured, along with smaller firms like
Black Cat and Express Publishing.
So how did TACON 2016 compare with previous years? To begin with
the trivia, ease of access is now guaranteed. Ironically, the day before the
conference, weather conditions deteriorated to the point that the 1030
Oman Air departure from Muscat was re-routed through an unscheduled stop at Sharjah Airport and only touched down in Dubai at 1700
hrs. That, however, was an Act of God. Once in Dubai, the Metro system
ensures that experienced delegates are taken to within 500 metres of the
Hyatt Regency’s main door, and a hard standing paved area outside the
metro has finally obliterated the last patch of desert sand in Deira.
As far as the quality of the presentations is concerned, so much depends
on one’s own choices. This year I was a Featured Speaker, and in that
capacity I was also scheduled to present at one session of the TESOL Arabia Teacher training Certificate Course. I was also a member of the panel
that discussed The Current Role of the Hidden Curriculum in ELT, and
so what follows is necessarily a snapshot taken from the sessions that I
attended as a delegate.
Again, starting with the weakest sessions, Ahmed Al-Ajmi’s “EFL Development in Oman; Reappraisal”, was effectively a write-off. Scheduled to
start at 3:15 pm on the final afternoon of the Conference, so few people
attended this session that it deteriorated into a chat, and it was then abandoned. This was unfortunate, because the title promised so much.
So did the title of Natalie Rublik’s “Language Anxiety; Perceptions of
English Language Learners.” The problem here was that the perceptions
turned out to be those of only FOUR English language learners; one male
and one female Japanese; and one male and one female Korean. Apart
from stating the obvious, that language anxiety, at different levels, can
either stimulate or totally frustrate learning; this presentation only really
raised the question of why a Canadian academic, working in Quebec,
believed that a study based on so small, and so foreign, a sample would
By: Neil McBeath
Language Centre, SQU
have any relevance for teachers in the Arab Gulf.
Much more satisfactory were the two plenary sessions that I attended.
Andy Curtis, the past President of TESOL, offered “Language, Culture,
Communication: Individual, Institutional, International.” Curtis presented his audience with the concept of LEEP – a new acronym signifying Learning English for Examination Purposes, before introducing the
3I Model. In this model, the Individual is seen as a cultural artifact, and
language is used to mould the personality. It mediates both learning and
social interaction, identifies concepts and can be a practical tool. At the
second level, Institutional Culture lays down the series of norms, values
and beliefs that apply within the wider social domain, and International
Culture moves into wider realms. At this juncture, Curtis invoked the
culture of the internet, and pointed out how some governments have attempted to restrict access by censoring sites which are inimical to their
perceptions of social values. Ultimately, this may be a wasted effort, for
as Curtis pointed out, in science, 100% pure elements have no adaptability.
By contrast, Averil Coxhead’s “Vocabulary for Specific Purposes: Challenges for language learners and teachers” was characterized by its extreme practicality. Cleverly taking her examples from the lexis particular
to trades like carpentry and plumbing, Coxhead emphasized the importance of planning, primarily to ensure that no one’s time was wasted. The
frequency, range and relationships of discourse-specific lexis should be
the primary concerns, but collocations, phrases and formulaic sequences
were also important. She also suggested that, so far as testing is concerned, low pressure assessment, conducted little and often, was most
likely to ensure the best retention rate.
While on the subject of lexis, moreover, it would be unfair to conclude
this report without paying tribute to Holi Ali’s paper “Problematizing
Legal Translation between English and Arabic”. Currently a Ph.D. candidate, and working at Rustaq College of Applied Science, Ali’s presentation deserved a far larger audience than the one it received. Explaining that “legal translation has its own syntactic, semantic and pragmatic
rules”, he went on to assert that legal translation is “one of the most challenging types of translation due to its highly specialist discourse and culture-bound expressions and terms.” The use of “ritualistic, archaic and
extremely formal features such as frozen expressions uncommon in ordinary texts” makes legal translation a potential minefield for the unwary,
and this was demonstrated in a masterly manner.
TESOL Arabia 2016 would have been worth attending if only for this
paper, but add in the experience of revisiting Dubai, and the wealth of
other scholarship that was on offer and it may be hard for the 23rd International Conference to offer any more.
P5
20 May 2016
News Round Up
Workshop on Internal Audit
of Institutional Quality Held
The Quality Assurance Office at SQU organized a workshop entitled “Policies and procedures of Internal Audit of
Institutional Quality”. H.H Sayyidah Dr. Muna bint Fahd
Al Said, Assistant Vice-Chancellor for International Cooperation, Prof. Amer Ali Al-Rawas, Deputy Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs and Community Service, Prof. Ali
Huwaishal Al-Shuaili, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Administrative and Financial Affairs, members of the Supreme
Committee for Quality Assurance and Audit Committee of
Institutional Quality and stakeholders from different units
at the university, attended the event.
Prof. Ali Awad Yousif, Chairman of the Internal Audit of
Institutional Quality Committee, gave a presentation on
the policy of Internal Audit of Institutional Quality. The
presentation included several topics, such as the importance of conducting quality audits periodically to ensure
and improve the quality of processes and activities, the role
and responsibilities of all stakeholders in the preparation of
audit quality processes, and to follow-up the results of the
internal audits
The internal audit of institutional quality process is expected to contribute in establishing a sustainable system to
ensure and improve the quality at the university. It is worth
mentioning that several teams consisting of the university’s staff who are experienced in this field will conduct the
operations of the internal quality audits at the university
and they will be specially trained for this task.
Peking University Keen to
Boost Ties with SQU
An official delegation from Peking University, China, headed by Yansong Li, Vice-President of the University, visited Sultan Qaboos University on 9 May, and held discussions with key officials at SQU on
promoting academic cooperation between the two universities through
exchange of students and researchers and collaborative research initiatives. The Peking University delegation was received by H.E. Dr. Ali
bin Saud Al Bemani, the Vice Chancellor of SQU and other top officials.
The two sides reviewed the possibility of strengthening the ties initially
by promoting visits of Peking University students to the College of Arts
& Social Sciences at SQU under student exchange program to learn Arabic language for a semester or two. The Chinese delegation submitted a
list of new students who would like to study Arabic language at SQU.
The School of Foreign Languages at Peking University runs the department of Arabic Language and Culture as China has rapidly developed
close relations and friendships with the Arab World with respect to politics, economy, commerce and cultural communication. The department
provides a four-year education for undergraduates.
H.E. Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bemani and Dr. Saeed Mubarak Al Muharrami,
the Dean of the College of Economics & Political Science at SQU, discussed about the possibility of sending business students from SQU for
summer programs and internship opportunities in Chinese institutions
with the support of Peking University. The two sides also discussed on
the possibility of undertaking joint research between the two universities. The Chinese university delegation gifted a number of books on
Chinese and Arabic languages to SQU Library. The delegation earlier
visited the College of Arts & Social Sciences, the Main Library and the
Omani Studies Centre at SQU.
SQU, Qatar University Mull Joint Research Fund
Dr. Rahma Al Mahrooqi, SQU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Postgraduate
Studies & Research visited Qatar University on 3 May 2016 and signed a
Letter of Understanding in this regard. Dr. Al Mahrooqi attended the Annual Research Forum 2016 organized by the Qatar University to showcase
their ongoing research projects, demonstrate new tools, and report on the
implementation of new programs and collaborative activities in research.
The Letter of Understanding to promote research and academic ties between SQU and Qatar University was signed by Dr. Rahma Al Mahrooqi
and Prof. Mariam Ali Al-Maadeed, Vice President for Research & Graduate Studies at Qatar University. During her visit to Qatar University, Dr. Al
Mahrooqi participated in discussions with various groups of researchers
at Qatar University and invited them to collaborate with SQU researchers.
Sultan Qaboos University and Qatar University are discussing the establishment of a joint research fund to carry out research projects of mutual interest. In order to strengthen the research and academic ties between SQU and Qatar University,
20 May 2016
P6
SQU is keen to promote research ties with regional and international research institutions. Currently 43 active agreements are in place between
SQU and other institutions within Oman and around the world. With the
signing of the new Letter of Understanding with Qatar University, there
are now 44 agreements in place between SQU and other institutions inside
and outside Oman.
Panorama
MSF Students Perform
Meaningful Community Service
Over 20 students and staff members from the Department of Marine Science and Fisheries, Sultan Qaboos
University, recently took part in a community service activity during which they served many places
including tilapia aquaculture farms at Barka and the
Central Fish Market. During this spring semester in
2016, students learned ‘Aquaculture Engineering and
systems’ and ‘Fish Pathology’. Course instructor Dr.
Gilha Yoon, assistant professor at the department
said. “After completion of their relevant courses, our
students are able to work in different organizations.
Before they start their real jobs, students need to understand real work situations; at the same time, they
must appreciate the community for providing the
great opportunity for studying”. That was the reason
why students need this kind of service opportunity
and they can serve better when they have real chances
to work for community”. The students had a great
time encouraging one another to make a difference
in the community. Students measured and evaluated
the current problems of the fish farms such as feeding, water quality and disease status. Throughout
fish farm adventure event at tilapia aquaculture farm,
students participated in “manager of the day” to give
useful advice to the employees at the farms regarding
daily routine management and managing unexpected
occasions.
Students who moved to the Central Fish Market at
Barka, focused on examination of seafood quality
and safety of Omani fish products. Students checked
fishes for selling from all over the Omani coast with
sensory evaluation and microscopes. One of students
Najla Al Mandhari said that the central market was
an amazing place where they could see most of fish
species caught around Oman. “I like to visit traditional fish market in the souk but I am very proud
of this facility we have in Oman. After we checked
fish samples, we realized that Omani fish products
are still very healthy from both wild and farm, we
should monitor them and keep them healthy”. Mr.
Sami Al-Sulaimi, Manager of the Central Fish Market
said that he was very pleased that the young scientists
of Oman visited the facility to check the quality and
safety of our products. “It was our pleasure to provide them such a good chance, they will be the leaders of Omani Fisheries sector in the future and I hope
this experience will be huge benefits for them to serve
our country”. Once students finished service events,
they had an open discussion to debate how they can
improve this field and what they learned.
Dr. Sergey Dobretsov, Head of the Department of Marine Sciences and Fisheries said that community service by students would bring many benefits to both
students and community. “Generally this kind of
action enhances the social connections between university and local community, builds the bridges for
governments, enterprises and university, also community service helps build a more cohesive, safer,
stronger community, increase the social network between communities. Especially for our students, their
service promotes themselves to be more active in civic
engagement and concerned of citizenship, therefore I
would like to encourage our students would involve
this kind of activity more and more”, he added.
P7
20 May 2016
Straight Talk
Our Law Graduates
are in High Demand
Prof. Susan
Carolyn Breau
Susan Carolyn Breau is the Head of School and Professor of Law at
the School of Law at the University of Reading, UK. The School of
Law is part of the world-ranked University of Reading, rated among
the UK’s most research intensive institutions and one of the UK’s largest, best-known and most successful campus universities. Prof. Breau
visited the College of Law at Sultan Qaboos University to enhance
partnership between the two institutions through exchange of faculty,
students, collaborative research and joint activities.
leading undergraduate degree and postgraduate master’s courses
are designed to prepare students to work in the legal profession
but with law graduates in high demand, they also provide a route
into many other areas. We also offer a wide range of leading postgraduate research opportunities. It is our honour that many Omani
students are pursuing higher studies in law at our school. This is
one of the reasons for my keenness to visit Sultan Qaboos University and its College of Law. The School’s reputation, our research
and the quality of the experience enjoyed by our students are consistently recognised in the annual UK university league tables.
Horizon: How do you review the career prospects of the law graduates from the Law at Reading?
Prof. Breau: We are ranked among the UK’s top law schools for
career prospects. The School of Law is rated among the UK’s most
research-intensive institutions and one of the UK’s largest, best
known and most successful campus universities. Our students
benefit from a dynamic and international learning environment,
high quality teaching and courses supported by the latest research,
first-rate facilities, and our links with employers and opportunities to gain real-world experience. We provide our students with
an annual subsidised trip to Geneva, facilities for interaction with
a wide range of guest speakers, and opportunities to gain practical real-world experience and involvement in the University’s Law
Society. Law graduates are also in high demand across many other
areas, with potential destinations including European and international governmental and non-governmental organisations, the
media and the public sector.
Horizon: Could you give an outline of international students in
your college?
Prof. Breau: The collective name for our international students is
“Legal Seagulls”. With close to 450 international students currently
enrolled, and positively projected to increase every year, we are an
eclectic mix of students from over 60 countries. The School of Law
takes pride in the immense popularity and demand of our law
course in the international arena. At the same time, we also understand how important it is to cater to the diverse issues of international students. Until date, over 150,000 people have studied at the
University of Reading and our graduates come from 180 countries.
Horizon: What makes the School of Law at the University of Reading different from other reputed law schools in the world?
Prof. Breau: Among the most satisfied law students in the UK, our
students benefit from a dynamic and international learning environment, high quality teaching and courses supported by the latest
research, state-of-the-art facilities, opportunities to gain practical
real-world experience and our links with graduate employers. Our
20 May 2016
Horizon: Could you shed light on the research experience of the
School of Law?
Prof. Breau: We offer an inclusive, dynamic, and thriving research
environment where individual researchers are stimulated to undertake significant and high-quality work, and which has been recognised as one of the UK’s top-ranked law schools for research. We
take a pluralistic approach to legal research, with members of the
School actively engaged in individual and collaborative research
that spans a wide range of methodologies and research traditions.
Across all of these areas, our research challenges preconceptions
and established ideas about the law, subjects the content and process of legal decision-making to stringent analysis, and provides
value to external users and impacts upon the wider world. Our
research showcase provides an insight into some of the work currently being done within the School. Our researchers are continuously engaged in exciting and innovative research projects (many
of which are externally funded), producing high-quality publications, generating impact beyond academia, participating in regular research seminars and events, and supervising postgraduate
research students. In addition, the School actively encourages interdisciplinary research collaboration with other Departments and
Schools across the University. From September 2016, the School
of Law will start offering postgraduate program in Global Crisis,
Conflict and Disaster Management. This is for the first time that a
university is offering program in global crisis and conflict management. This shows our school’s readiness to address the complex
problems of the current era that witnesses increase in different
forms of crises, emergencies, conflicts and disasters, both manmade and natural.