Now that we are over half way through the Lent term, deadlines again begin to loom and the pressure of multiple assignments due in for the last week of term begins to take hold. With this in mind, most students commence the job of multitasking; keeping up to date with lecture and seminar material is essential so as not to fall behind with course content that is examinable in the Summer term, but assignments must also be completed alongside this.

I thought I would take the opportunity to blog about assignments and exams at Lancaster this week, as it presents itself as a topical theme. In the first year, undergraduates are required to submit a written assignment (usually ranging from 1500 words to 2000 words) for every subject module they undertake. For Philosophy, the compulsory PHIL100 course is split up into many sub modules, such as Berkeley’s idealism, critical thinking, free will, ethics based modules and the philosophy of capitalism (although these modules often vary from year to year). Mostly, students find these assignments doable as they are evenly spaced out throughout the Michaelmas and Lent terms, with deadlines falling in the week when one module finishes and another starts.

The organisational structure of exams at Lancaster University is often praised by PPR students due to its lack of January exams (this is the case in the PPR department, although not necessarily in other departments). This allows students the opportunity to really relax and enjoy the Christmas holidays without the constant niggling worry of revision. Of course, this leeway granted to the students is not without a price- the Summer exams hold a lot more weight as a consequence.

In the first year, there is only one Philosophy Summer exam, wherein students have to answer questions from three different philosophy modules. This has the major advantage of enabling effective selective revision practices: if there is a particular module that you struggled with and found particularly hard to grasp, then exam disaster can be mitigated by instead focussing on your areas of strength. Thoroughly revising 4 out of 6 modules should set you up to receive a high mark.

In the following year, students have to take a minimum of 8 modules per year. Each module requires a submitted assignment as coursework (usually 2500 words per module) as well as its own Summer exam. In the third year, the same setup applies, but assignments usually have higher word limits of 3000 words and the Summer exams are longer and require greater depth of understanding. In addition to this, a dissertation unit (and half dissertation `special subject` units) can be taken which requires the student to submit a 10000 word dissertation (5000 words for the special subject dissertations) and does not include an exam. Many students opt for this choice as it relieves some of the stress of the final exams, knowing that you have less to be examined on and may already have a 2:1 or 1:1 in a whole unit before you commence exam season.

Hello!

This week we thought we would write about how to get more involved in the department. There are lots of opportunities to participate in your faculty on a non-academic level.

For instance, there always various talks happening around current topics related to trending issues within the academic community. We have both been to a number of talks, some of which have been on topics such as ISIS in the media, Palestine and Nationalism. We find these really helpful and they can enhance your learning experience at uni. Furthermore, lecturers and university staff attend these talks so this offers a different learning space to your usual seminars/lectures. We would recommend keeping an eye out for these talks as the are such a great opportunity.

As we have mentioned before, our role in the department is the UCAS Admissions Mentors for Religious Studies. This means that we have to contact prospective students and welcome them to the department. We also visit schools, help at open days and write this blog! This is an opportunity that could be open to you, most likely in your final year. We’ve really enjoyed this experience as it has allowed to feel integrated in the PPR department.

There are also a number of societies relating to the department’s subject areas that you can get involved in. These offer a further medium in which to learn about the subjects you’re interested in with like-minded people, and a few socials along the way. These include groups such as the Politics society, Philosophy society, and almost every UK major political party has an affiliated society on campus.

As you can see, there are many potential opportunities, and many more on the horizon. We would suggest you get involved with the department as much as you can.

Becky, Katie & Alex

 

Hello!

This week we thought we would write about what we learnt in India. When we were at Visthar we learnt a lot about social issues including the social positioning of women, domestic violence, the economy/poverty and the environment. This was all so informative, especially as it was taught on the basis of a discussion.

For us both however, what we learnt the most came from the things we saw when we were travelling independently. We went to a lot of temples which obviously taught us about Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity in India. One place which will stay with us forever and which we learnt more from than any lecture or book could ever teach us was when we went to a slum in Mumbai called Dharavi. We had been to many slums before we went to this one however, there was something about Dharavi which will always stick with us. It is often called “the biggest slum in Asia” and it really is huge. Huts were built on top of other huts and you could see how crowded everyones living spaces were. When we walked through, we felt humbled by what we saw. There were children as young as 1 playing outside right next to a sewer and it was clear to see that people who lived in Dharavi didn’t have many material possessions. What they did have however, was massive smiles on their faces. Everyone we saw smiled at us and spoke to us, despite the fact that they did not understand English and we did not understand Hindi. Through gestures and facial expressions we managed to connect with the children that we saw which was a very touching experience.

One of the hardest things to process, when we went to Dharavi, was the fact that it was a city situated right next to the large economic hub of India which was built up of sky scrapers, fancy cars and posh restaurants. The contrast was really hard to deal with, especially as we knew we were from a society which favoured the big economic hub. However, we were able to use this experience in our dissertations and we could incorporate what we learnt into our work.

Although we travelled all over India over the two month period, Dharavi is a place which we will never forget and is somewhere which greatly impacted upon us both. If you ever go to India definitely steer away from tourist destinations sometimes: you really do learn more seeing how different groups of people live. It is something which we will always remember and will always be relevant to us. We think our perceptions changed around the problems many people face in the world and this experience definitely made us realise that there is a lot more to life than what you see on the surface.

Becky and Katie x

This week I wanted to blog about different food options in and around Lancaster University, covering food shops, fast food outlets and different food discounts available to students.

The largest and most local supermarket is the Sainsbury’s located in the centre of town only a short bus ride away from Lancaster University campus. The University operates a free bus service to Sainsbury’s and back, departing from the University underpass every Wednesday. As long as you show your receipt to the bus driver and show that you have spent £10 minimum you can travel for free. This is a really useful and helpful service for those students who live on campus and haven’t bought a termly bus pass.

In addition to Sainsbury’s, Lancaster has a Booths (a Northern upmarket supermarket chain, for those who haven’t come across one before) which is perfect if you are wanting to put on a nice dinner for friends and if you aren’t so concerned about budgeting. If, however, you are worried about the expense of food bills cutting into your student maintenance loan, there is an Aldi and an Asda located slightly further away (in the direction of Morecambe). These are great if you’re looking to save some cash- particularly as the end of term approaches and you realise your funds are dwindling!

Lancaster also has a market on a Wednesday and a Saturday in the centre of town, which is a good opportunity to bag yourself some food bargains; cheap fruit and veg stalls, a fresh fish stall and an American sweets stall all feature. There are many little bakery shops dotted around town which offer reasonably priced freshly baked bread too. Bowerham butchers is particularly good at offering bulk discounts. If you are willing to splurge £9.99 or £14.99 on a collective deal, it can work out relatively inexpensive per item and is guaranteed to last a long time, especially if you freeze meat once you return home from your shopping trip!

On campus, Spar is indispensable as a place to pick up last minute items. If you don’t fancy journeying into town you can buy most necessities here. Campus also has an ice cream shop, juice bar, Costa, and Greggs as well as a few fast food outlets, such as a kebab shop and Subway. In addition to this, there are cafes and college bars which often serve food, some at discounted prices.

The best advice concerning food is to shop around! I would definitely recommend signing up for a nectar card and using points coupons whenever possible- all the little savings can really add up over the course of a few years.

It’s only halfway through term 2 but it’s beginning to feel close to the Easter holidays already. Deadlines are being brought up and coursework presentations are underway. This week is my final week as an exec member on any society and with that in mind this week’s topic will be a nostalgic cast back on RocSoc, which I hope will give you an idea of what being a part of a society can do for your university experience.

I joined RocSoc in first year, initially just as a member, with the hope of making some new friends with similar interests to me. Not only was I instantly welcomed by the community there but it gave me something consistent to look forward to every Monday night. Towards the end of first year I ran for Treasurer and took my first exec position on a society, got my first exec t-shirt and the RocSoc treasury which felt like a strange personal accessory to go with a toy.

Since then I have dedicated every Monday and Wednesday night, as well as a few Saturdays, to RocSoc and I don’t regret a minute of it. Not only have I met some of the best people I know there, but I have heard some great bands and learned a lot along the way. Together we’ve put on events, trips and given our members and locals a regular spot to listen to music as well as play some of their own. I was also able to develop my own pricing strategy which brought the society back into profit and work on my confidence in various roles that required me to push myself and be more sociable.

There were moments of sadness when all the third years, that had made me so welcome when I came in a trembling fresher, took their leave. It was strange to see many of them leaving to become ‘proper adults’, tying back their long hair and wearing suits, especially having seen them near enough living in band shirts and prancing about on stage. But with the new era came a new wave of fresher’s to change things up again as well as a new exec with different ideas for the society altogether. RocSoc evolved again and started holding more specialised events such as guitar hero socials or jam nights. With new people the music tastes diversified and we started hearing more Japanese metal and pop punk, whilst not always appreciated it was good to have the range.

Sadly, due to the floods, this final term was not everything we hoped it would be. Our venue was flooded, we had to cancel events and we could not put on our final trip as a goodbye from the current exec. Tonight we host the elections and hope that whoever takes our place hits the ground running to keep RocSoc alive and well. Joining the exec of a society you care about can be the best thing about university, not only in terms of making friends but in experience. It will give you the chance to do things you never thought you would and to be part of something that really feels worthwhile.

Hello!

Last week we told you about our experiences in Visthar, the NGO in India. This week, we thought we’d talk about our 5 weeks of Independent travel after this from South to North.

When we actually arrived in India, we had not booked any transport or accommodation for our 5 weeks of travelling, we simply had a list of places we wanted to see. At Visthar, we told them where we wanted to go and they helped us plan and book our journey.

When we left Visthar, the first stop was Auroville: a sustainable community in a previous French colonial area, located in the state Tamil Nadu. Our first experience of traveling solo was interesting to say the at least! We came out of the train station with an address in our hands trying to communicate with non-English speaking Rickshaw drivers. We ended up getting a rickshaw for forty minutes down a dirt track before arriving at the wrong hostel. We soon sorted the misunderstanding and arrived at a house/hostel. This journey was a bit of a culture shock but definitely prepared us for the next 5 weeks India had in store for us.

From Auroville, we got the train to Kochin in the state Keral which was about a seventeen hour journey. Fortunately we managed to sleep for a large amount of this. We travelled through Keral for a week, and then got the train to Goa for a couple of nights.

After Goa, we went to the nearby area called Ratnagiri- beautiful beach setting where we took a week to relax and read lots of books!

From there, we went to Mumbai for a few days, and then flew to Delhi. These were a massive change from Ratnagiri and they were some of the most chaotic places we’ve ever been.

We of course intended to travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, but on the way there we had a big problem so had to turn around which meant that we never got to see the Taj (although we don’t mind because that is only a tiny tiny fraction of Indian culture and life). When we were back in Delhi we got the train to Jaipur for a few days then went back to Delhi. From Delhi we went to Haridwar (the most holy pilgrimage site for Hindus) and then went to Rishikesh for a few days. Both Haridwar and Rishikesh are situated in the Himalayas and being surrounded by mountains was so beautiful. We stayed in an ashram which added to the ‘chilled vibes’ of the area.

We then returned back to Delhi and flew to London.

Next week we will be writing more about our experiences and what we learnt and saw but we can honestly say that these eight weeks were the most amazing and educationally stimulating weeks of our lives. We miss it so much and could actually talk about it forever.

Becky and Katie x

Hello,

Last week we talked about how we planned our trip to India last summer.

So this week, we’ll tell you about the first part of our time in India: the NGO that we stayed at, Visthar.

Having spoken to a contact in Visthar prior to our arrival, we arranged to be picked up from Bangalore airport at around 3am. This reassured us as we could tell that they were a kind group and would look after us well. Having had no sleep, we were a little disorientated and it felt we had been driving through no man’s land for hours. However, when we got to Visthar, at about 5, we already knew that we would love it there as it was so beautiful and green.

Visthar is a centre for Social Justice and Peace Studies. On the campus (nothing like a uni campus of course), it is surrounded by trees, it’s very lush and green and there are several animals wandering around (dogs, cats, cows, etc.). They provided us with three meals a day, plus snacks, and had really good facilities.

Visthar is a very sustainable campus, with its own vegetable and herb gardens, recycling paper factory , and solar panels.

One thing that we used a lot were the bikes you could take out to the nearby shop. They were also good for exploring the nearby areas and going on adventures when there was nothing else to do.

During our time at Visthar we had classes, usually one a day, in a very small group of just us. These were usually held outside and were very informal, yet informative. We covered topics such as poverty, economics, gender, the environment, etc. These weren’t like uni lectures as they were very discussion-based and we found this to be a really helpful and interesting way of learning. Because these classes were on such an intimate basis, we felt comfortable asking lots of questions which meant we got the most out of each class.

One thing that we will never forget was when we sat down with a panel of people, all from different backgrounds in India, and were able to ask them questions about their lives and stories. This helped us understand so much about India on a very personal level, and was even quite emotional at times. In return, we also answered their questions for us, so the whole experience was mutually beneficial.

Overall, Visthar was such a valuable experience for us, and we learned so much, partly through classes, partly through talking to the staff and hearing their stories. The module that allowed us to go to Visthar was so worthwhile and we couldn’t recommend it to anyone enough. It was truly unforgettable.

Becky & Katie x

This week I thought I would take the opportunity to write a blog post about the Sports Centre and other sporting facilities available to the students of Lancaster University. For most students it is important to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle alongside academic life and at Lancaster the University is well equipped to cater to the needs of all fitness enthusiasts.

Lancaster University boasts a state of the art Sports Centre which opened in 2011 and was the result of twenty million pounds of investment. As would be expected, the centre has very many facilities and houses a swimming pool, squash courts, climbing wall, bouldering cave, sauna, steam room, badminton courts and 100 station gym. The centre also runs a series of classes, including aerobics, fitness classes and personal training sessions which all students are allowed to attend (with an additional fee).

The University offers four membership types which vary according to the requirements of students. The bronze student membership, costing £99 for 12 months allows the membership holder full access to the gym, swimming pool and cardio and weights room during off peak hours (Monday to Friday 7:00am to 12:00pm and 2:00pm until 4:00pm on weekends). The silver student membership, costing £199 per annum, entitles the user unlimited access to the gym, swimming pool and cardio and weights room, during both peak and off peak hours. The gold student membership, at a yearly rate of £242, pays for all the services of a silver membership plus the use of the sauna and steam room, climbing wall, badminton courts, squash, tennis, short tennis, table tennis and racquets. The platinum student membership, for the real keen beans in the exercising world entitles the user to all benefits of the gold membership as well as free classes. All memberships are accompanied with a free, and in fact compulsory, induction of the main gym rooms and equipment.

The use of lockers is also free and the centre is easily accessible to both on campus and off campus students. Whilst the Sports Centre is located a five minute walk from the main Alexandra Square, it is also on the main bus route from the town centre towards the University (approximately twenty minute bus ride away). For a further and visual insight into the centre, the following link will take you to a 360˚ tour of the inner building. (http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/sport/sports-centre/360-tour/).

The Sports Centre is open between the hours of 7:00am and 10:00pm during the week, from 8:30am until 6:00 on Saturdays and 9:30am until 6:00pm on Sundays. However, outside of these hours, other exercising opportunities are available.

In addition to the Sports Centre, Lancaster University is located amidst acres of countryside which is ideal for the more frugal jogger. There are also numerous trails and routes for those wanting to go for lengthy walks in the scenic surrounds of the University.

This week life is pretty much continuing as normal. Essay results are slowly dripping back in and I’m beginning to prepare presentations which make up the coursework for my modules this term. As someone who is absolutely terrified of presenting, this week I will talk a little about confidence and anxiety at university and how I am dealing with it.

It’s easy to fall into the background at university; there are so many talented people with the confidence to show it off it really is a skill worth investing some time in. Think of this as an opportunity of a life time, yes you could cruise through it in your comfort zone and be fine but with confidence it could be so much more. I suffer from quite bad anxiety, I struggle to walk into rooms if I think people will notice, I get anxious at having to make any phone calls and if I’m slightly uncomfortable with something I retreat back into my shell and may point blank refuse to do it. First year I was so over whelmed that I barely did anything aside my work and missed out on a lot of experiences and friends because of it, whilst I watched others setting up businesses and getting out there. If there’s any advice I would give my first year self it would be to just do it.

Not only does confidence affect the social experience you will have but the academic one too. I would never have taken modules that involved presentations as coursework and so would have missed out on the topics I wanted to do. Neither would I have had the confidence in myself to learn the necessary mathematics or asked for feedback to improve my work.

The only way I found to get out of my first year box was to force myself into situations where I was accountable for certain tasks that I knew I would be scared of when they came about, but that gave me time to prepare for them. For example by running for treasurer I could start off lurking in the periphery of a dark room at RocSoc and slowly build up to being on the doors taking money or booking coaches. By taking modules you know there will be presentations for in the future weeks you can start early and practise so that by the time you get to it you do the best job you can. If there is an option not to do it then it won’t happen but forcing yourself through it will eventually build up that confidence until you have a choice and still do it. It may still be terrifying but I no longer feel angry at myself for being the person holding me back.

I realise this doesn’t apply to everyone, possibly no one but me, but I felt that if it encourages anyone to step out of their comfort zone then it is in some way beneficial. Lancaster University offers classes to help you, for example through the Lancaster Award I attended workshops on confidence and interview success which gave me that extra support in doing things which other people see as every day and easy. There are also plenty of people you can talk to such as academic tutors, the nightline or college representatives depending on what you need to help you feel more able, either academically or socially. Being at university is a chance to take all of your best assets and really develop them so don’t miss out, I know it’s easier said than done but it is doable and completely worth it.