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Tension are rising in Eastern Europe as troops, tanks and weapons are piling up on both sides of the border separating Russia and Ukraine. And with each passing day, the invasion of Ukraine and the possibility of outright war seems to be increasing. Is war inevitable? How did this situation escalate so quickly? Is this a power-play but Vladimir Putin? Should other neighboring countries be worried? And what is the strategic and historical significance of Ukraine when it comes to Russia wanting to invade? How could this affect the U.S.? There's a lot of questions to be answered - and if you are a reporter covering this escalating news story, then let our experts help. Jacek Lubecki, Ph.D., is an associate professor of political science and international studies at Georgia Southern University. He is also expert in Polish and European military history. Lubecki is available to speak with media regarding this topic - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Across America it seems deliveries are delayed; shelves are looking increasingly bare and there’s an elevated sense of anxiety when it comes to what lies ahead for America’s economy. All of these important topics are forefront in the minds of many and reporters are covering these stories locally and nationally on a daily basis. It's making news, and that’s why we’ve asked Dr. Richard M. Franza, the Dean of the James M. Hull College of Business at Augusta University, a few quick questions that we’re seeing pop up in media coverage across Georgia. Q 1 - What is causing shortages here at home, especially in grocery stores? “Like most things, it is complicated, not a lot of easy answers, but there are clearly a few things in play here. First, companies have been having a hard time finding workers throughout the supply chain. It starts at the producer level, whether it is meat processing plants or producers of other foods and sundry items, production levels are down due to limitations on workers. Then, there have also been worker issues at the transportation/logistics part of the supply chain. Particularly in the area of trucking. So, even when producers have enough supply, they are having difficulty getting it to the stores. Finally, there are issues at the grocery stores themselves. Both at their distribution locations and the store themselves, they have been short on labor unloading and picking items, again delaying products from getting on the shelves. The problem has gotten worse in the past few weeks due to the COVID spikes due to omicron. While omicron is causing less serious results, it appears to be easier to catch. So, lots of people are getting it, making people have to miss work for five days, putting a further crunch on the labor force.” Q 2 - Is this a problem we are likely to see continue through the first quarter or half of the year? “I am optimistic that we can get past the omicron crunch in the coming weeks (by mid to late February, if not sooner). So, things should get better this quarter. However, this will just put us back to where we were pre-omicron, with still some lingering issues. I am hopeful that as the pandemic evolves into an endemic, things will resemble a more normal environment. While this virus has been unpredictable, I am hopeful that we can return to more normal environment no later than the end of the second quarter.” Q 3 - What we can we expect once the pandemic finally subsides? “I am extremely optimistic concerning our economy post-COVID. We have been pretty resilient to date, so I think if COVID transitions to endemic, I think we will see more spending and more people going to work.” If you’ve got more questions to be answered, or if you’d like to speak with him one on one – then let us help. Dr. Richard M. Franza is available to speak with media about important issues like America’s supply chain and the economy – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Aston University and Alpharmaxim unite to revolutionise healthcare communications campaigns
Aston University has teamed up with Alpharmaxim Healthcare Communications to apply the latest behavioural psychology research to develop a unique prescribing behaviour tool for healthcare professionals. At present there is a growing recognition in the healthcare sector that measuring belief change and/or intent to change behaviour can determine the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. The Healthcare Belief-Barrier Identification Tool (H-BIT)will identify beliefs and barriers in prescribing behaviour of EU healthcare professionals in specific disease areas, enabling targeted communication strategies that maximise the reach of treatments. Alpharmaxim is a long-established specialist marketing communications agency in the healthcare sector that helps pharmaceutical companies create effective communication plans for their products or services. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a three-way collaboration between a business, an academic partner and a highly qualified graduate, known as a KTP associate. The UK-wide programme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Aston University is the leading KTP provider within the Midlands. This KTP will combine Alpharmaxim’s rich history of harnessing behavioural psychology through their Belief Continuum® (BC) model with Aston University’s expertise in Nominal Group Technique (NGT), a structured method for group brainstorming that encourages contributions from everyone and facilitates quick agreement on the relative importance of issues, problems, or solutions. Applying NGT to objectively evaluate beliefs and behaviours that underpin behavioural change in a defined disease area will be unique in this field. The academic team from Aston University will be led by Dr Carl Senior, reader in psychology at Aston University. Dr Senior is a behavioural scientist with 20 years’ experience working at the interface between social psychology and organisational behaviour and was one of the first to develop a framework for applying NGT to understanding effective behaviour change. Commenting on the project, Dr Senior said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Alpharmaxim in this strategic relationship to lead change that is both focused and relevant to modern day health care.” Dr Senior will be joined by Dr Jason Thomas, senior lecturer in psychology at Aston University. Dr Thomas has spent the last ten years investigating novel approaches to encourage behavioural change, working with companies such as Direct Line and Starbucks to encourage their employees and customers to eat more healthily. William Hind, founder, controlling director and agency principal at Alpharmaxim, said: “We are delighted to be involved with this innovative KTP and hope the partnership will change the face of healthcare communications, ultimately improving the lives of patients with hard-to-treat diseases.”
Ask an Expert - Are American Fan-Based Businesses at Risk for Decreased Revenue?
Modern fandom, according to Mike Lewis, is about having a passion for something—a sports team, entertainer, politician, fashion brand, a university—something. Lewis, professor of marketing and faculty director, Emory Marketing and Analytics Center (EmoryMAC) and host of the podcast, Fanalytics, considers fandom important because what people are fans of defines a modern culture. We can laugh at the sports fan with the painted face and the open shirt and the spikes on the sleeves, but the reality is, the traits that drive that level of enthusiasm and commitment are the traits that change the world outside of the arena. Mike Lewis, professor of marketing and director of EmoryMAC To better understand modern fandom and its effect on culture, Lewis, along with Yanwen Wang, Associate Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Science, and Canada Research Chair in Marketing Analytics, University of British Columbia, created EmoryMAC’s “Fandom Analytics Initiative.” The Fandom Analytics Initiative’s first report, Next Generation Fandom Survey, Generation Z: The Lost Generation of Male Sports Fans, published in September 2021, examines the results of a national survey the initiative commissioned. Nearly 1,400 people across four demographic groups—Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers—participated in the survey. Is Gen Z the Lost Generation of Male Sports Fans? The results reveal a somewhat troubling trend: Generation Z males (those born between 1990 and 2010) “seem to be increasingly indifferent and negative to traditional sports,” Lewis and Wang write in their report. “Generation Z’s relative lack of passion for sports and other categories is troubling for fandom-based businesses and a curiosity for those interested in the state of American society.” While only 23 percent of Generation Z defined themselves as “avid sports fans,” 42 percent of Millennials did, along with 33 percent of Gen Xers and 31 percent of Baby Boomers. Perhaps even more revealing is the percentage of respondents who considered themselves “anti-sports fans”—a startling 27 percent of Generation Z tagged themselves as “anti-sports” compared to 7 percent of Millennials, 5 percent of Gen X, and 6 percent of Baby Boomers. “That was unexpected,” says Lewis, who thought Generation Z would line up similar to Millennials, given that both groups are digital natives. “I’m still more and more surprised at how different Generation Z is than Millennials and, frankly, everyone else.” When Lewis and Wang took a look at the differences between male and female Generation Zers, things got even more interesting. In traditional sports categories (football, basketball, hockey, baseball, soccer), more Generation Z females defined themselves as “avid sports fans” than did their male counterparts. When it came to football, 20 percent of both Generation Z males and females described themselves as avid fans (the lowest percentage of all the demographic groups). But in every other traditional sport, Generation Z “avid sports fan” females outnumbered males by a discernable margin. Only when it came to eSports did Generation Z males outnumber Generation Z females. “I think there’s a very deep issue going on,” says Lewis. “Something fundamental has shifted.” The survey included questions about fandom-related psychological traits, specifically, community belonging and self-identity. On both, Generation Z males scored lower than Millennials. “The findings related to sports are particularly germane from a cultural perspective,” states the report. “Part of the lack of Generation Z fandom is due to younger individuals having less intense feelings of group belonging in general.” Beyond the Playing Field, How Does Loyalty Shine? While the report doesn’t take a deep dive into the psychology behind Generation Z’s fandom differences, it does note that Generation Z came of age during a time of “ubiquitous social media, dramatic demographic changes, and a hyper-partisan political environment,” they write. “These dramatic changes may fundamentally alter how members of Generation Z engage with cultural industries.” Overall, Millennials were shown to have the “highest preference across all sports,” according to the report. Millennials are not only willing to watch games, but they also enthusiastically wear team gear. Baby Boomers are up for watching games but are less interested in following teams on social media. As it turns out, note the authors, Generation Z isn’t totally disconnected. Across the entertainment categories, Generation Z is similar to other generations. “Sports fandom is the outlier,” they state. In addition to sports, Lewis and Wang looked at six other fandom segments: new and now celebrities, social justice culture, athletic excellence, old school personalities, brand fanatics, and Trump Fans. Lewis points to the fact that whatever one thinks of Donald Trump, he does generate fandom. “That passion for whatever it is—sports, politics, movies, music—that’s really what drives the world,” says Lewis. Because of its importance, fandom is, notes the study, “increasingly actively managed,” whether to garner viewers, money, or votes. Recent trends such as streaming across devices, the ubiquity of social media, an increase in demographic diversity (not to mention a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic), have affected mainstream sports and entertainment. As a result, Lewis believes it’s important to study how fans are changing across generations. Leagues, teams, networks, studios, celebrities, and others need to understand why there is less engagement to formulate strategies for acquiring the next generation of fans. Authors Mike Lewis and Yanwen Wang As sports leagues and teams see more growth opportunities with women and increasingly diverse fan bases, Lewis wonders if some sports teams may alienate their current fan bases by marketing to non-traditional groups. “If you’re a league or a team, you’ve got a real dilemma at this point,” he explains. “If the NFL wants positive press, it has to market to the non-traditional fan segments. If they do that, are the traditional fan segments going to be less interested? Perhaps.” EmoryMAC’s research on fandom in the modern age is ongoing. A study into how eSports’ fandom differs from traditional sports fandom is also in process—as is research on how younger demographic groups see colleges and universities as institutions worthy of fandom. EmoryMAC will continue to make data and insights available on its fandom analytics website. “Looking at the fandom and passion of young groups now will tell you a lot about what the world will look like in 20 years,” says Lewis. I suspect that the era of sports being a mass marketing product and also a cultural unifier is probably going to end. Mike Lewis While that strikes Lewis as sad, he and EmoryMAC are merely following the data. “It may be the reality of where this is going,” he adds. If you're a reporter looking to know more - then let us help. Professor Michael Lewis is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. In addition to exploring trends in the overall marketing landscape, Lewis is an expert in sports analytics and marketing. He is available for interview - simply click on his icon to arrange a discussion today.
Wordle: How to Play (and Win) Like a Linguist
Wordle. If you haven’t heard of it, maybe you're on vacation, on a remote island, with no WiFi. If you have, maybe you've seen friends post their results to Twitter or Facebook and wondered what it was about. Maybe you heard about the game from reading the news. Either way, you're probably in deep. But for those of us who are unfamiliar, what is the game and how does it work? Why is it just so popular? And most importantly, how do you win? To answer these questions and more, we spoke with Villanova University professor and linguist Grant Berry, PhD. "I think word games have to some degree always been popular (think of Scrabble or the New York Times crossword, for example), and a big reason for that is that every human being has a lifetime of experience with language—it's familiar ground for all of us who speak a given language," Dr. Berry says. The appeal of the game, then, makes a lot of sense. It's not a new phenomenon. Rather, it's a reimagining of an established pastime. And Wordle is delightfully simple; each player is tasked with guessing a five-letter word in six tries. The tiles turn gray to show when letters are not in the word, yellow when letters are in the word but in the wrong position and green when letters are in the word and in the correct position. "To start, you need to find a five-letter word that maximizes the likelihood that you'll find at least one of the letters in the target word," Dr. Berry says. "I parsed a word list from powerlanguage’s GitHub page (the person who created Wordle), and the five most frequent letters in that list are A (7,646), E (7,563), S (6,612), O (5,007) and R (4,937). There is one word in English that contains all of these: SOARE (a young hawk). This word is not very common, and it's very unlikely to be the correct word, but it should give you a few pieces of the puzzle. Odds are the target word is fairly common, so it's unlikely to have the least common letters: W, V, Z, X, J or Q." Okay, so you should now have one or two correct letters. If not, Dr. Berry recommends "guessing a word (with the other two vowels) that doesn't contain any letters we've tried yet." (Some options are CUMIN, UNTIL, TULIP and INPUT.) After this, start thinking about common sequences of letters in English using the letters you've uncovered. "The ten most common consonant clusters in the dataset were ST, CH, TS, SH, TH, NG, NT, NS, LL and LY. Alternatively, you could appeal to the tendency in English syllable structure to favor what's called sonority sequencing." For those non-linguists out there, sonority sequencing means, "you're more likely to see harder, obstruent sounds like P, T, C, D, B and G followed by more resonant or continuant sounds like R, L, N, H or S at the beginning of syllables (i.e., before a vowel) and the opposite order at the end of syllables (i.e., after a vowel). For example, DRINK follows this principle." And a helpful tip? "If you have an S in the word and not much other information besides vowels, your best bet is to put it at the beginning of the word or at the very end," Dr. Berry says. "The S sound is the only one in English that can form consonant clusters with more than two distinct sounds (e.g., STRAP); it's also commonly found at the end of words in plurals." Congratulations, you're on a roll! "From this point, move forward without forgetting what you've learned so far, meaning that if a letter is gray from a previous guess, do not use it in another guess. Similarly, if a letter was in yellow in a previous guess, use it in a different position. If the new position is wrong, choose a third position that's different from the previous two. This way you aren't throwing away the useful positional information from your previous failed guesses." And there you go. With some expert tips and a bit of calculated guessing, you've uncovered the word of the day! Now that we know what Wordle is and how to win, we talked with Dr. Berry about the puzzle's virality. "The short duration of the game and its simplicity make it easily shareable, and the fact that there's only one word per day makes it easy for a large group of people to have common ground and a central topic of discussion. Those two things combined are the recipe for a viral phenomenon." Ever finish someone's sentence? Wordle taps into that experience and in a sense replicates it. "There’s strong evidence to suggest that human beings are capable of tracking distributions of words and sounds, using them to help predict what's coming next when reading or listening," Dr. Berry says. "In a sense, then, this game is asking players to do what they've always done: use what you know about the structure of words in English alongside feedback you get to come up with the appropriate target." How many tries did it take you to uncover the word of the day? With Dr. Berry’s help, you probably have a score worth bragging about.
American Rescue Plan Act can do more to address racial wealth inequality
While the American Rescue Plan Act provided a major infusion of economic aid to low-income and middle-class Americans, more should be done to tackle racial wealth inequality and the structural issues in the tax code that allow those at the top of the income distribution to benefit disproportionately from tax subsidies, an Indiana University professor wrote. Goldburn P. Maynard Jr., assistant professor of business law and ethics at the IU Kelley School of Business, analyzed the American Rescue Plan Act's major provisions to determine their potential impact on racial equity, presenting his findings in Yale Law Journal. The article, "Biden's Gambit: Advancing Racial Equity While Relying on a Race-Neutral Tax Code," was published Jan. 9 and is part of a series that examines the novel tax implications of the American Rescue Plan Act through the lens of fiscal impoverishment, race, unemployment insurance, and state and local responses to economic crises. "While analysis reveals that the Biden Administration made some progress on (racial equity) through ARPA, in the months since its passage, federal courts have undermined some of this progress by halting race-conscious equity programs in ARPA," wrote Maynard, who worked as an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service before entering academia. His essay argues that "race consciousness is central to achieving" racial equity and "requires more than traditional policies that target financial need." The bulk of the stimulus measure focused on redistribution through the tax system, which does not incorporate racism and other dimensions of social inequity into its notions of fairness, Maynard wrote. To this day, the IRS does not collect racial data on taxpayers. He also noted that several policies targeted people or groups based on need. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development in November provided $14 million in American Rescue Plan funds to support fair housing organizations. But few new policies under the plan have addressed systemic discrimination, and most were designed to be temporary, such as the child tax credit. "Where these policies fall short is their lack of focus on historic systemic discrimination," Maynard wrote. "ARPA does not tackle the central issues that lead to racial inequity in the first place. Because RE requires the consideration social hierarchy and historical injustices, these provisions of ARPA are not as impactful as others." Several core policies in the American Rescue Plan Act target individuals or groups based on need, particularly racial minorities, he said. But several courts with conservative judges have treated race-based policies designed to counteract racial inequities as discriminatory in their interpretations of the Constitution. "Today, many courts equate efforts to promote RE with efforts to promote racial segregation. The odds of having all three branches in perfect alignment are slim," Maynard wrote. "ARPA also illustrates weaknesses in our current understanding of the Constitution as limiting the government's ability to redress historic wrongs. The status quo limitations are so strong that it is hard to imagine any large pro-equality advancements in the foreseeable future. "At our current pace, achieving RE will be a centuries-long project. This is discouraging, but highlights the importance of continuing the fight for wealth taxation and other levies on capital. It also underscores the smallness of the tax system when tackling a problem as embedded as RE. There are many decisions, regulations and laws that have embedded racism structurally and systematically. The tax system serves as an efficient compensator of harm, but this is not always what the victims of harm want. Instead of after-the-fact compensation for discrimination, victims of inequities often prefer to have the discrimination eliminated. That is the purpose of RE. The tax system can play an important role in promoting RE, even if it is not the leading one."
Aston University MBA students to work with SMEs through new Virgin Money programme
The Levelling Upstarts programme is open to all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) The Virgin Money programme aims to match SMEs with MBA students from leading university business schools, including Aston Business School Applications for the programme are open and will run until the end of February. Virgin Money has launched an innovative new programme which gives SMEs the opportunity to partner directly with MBA students from leading universities, including Aston University, through digital workshops to help them solve specific business challenges. Levelling Upstarts aims to both empower regional SMEs to level up and to foster the next generation of business leaders. The programme will help SMEs overcome challenges such as building brand awareness, honing a competitive advantage or selling into new markets. They will receive tailored guidance and recommendations through access to MBA students at leading universities, including those from Aston Business School. The digital workshops for successful applicants will be held with Aston University in March and June. Around 40 businesses will be selected to take part in the initial round of workshops across the three business schools on the programme. Kirit Vaidya, Fulltime MBA programme director at Aston Business School, said: “We have been working with Virgin Money for over two years. We are excited to participate in the Levelling Upstarts programme. “Our students have experience and expertise in a range of areas including IT, marketing, operations and human relations in addition to what they learn on our MBA programme. “The students gain enormously from the experience of applying their knowledge to add value for businesses. The participating businesses gain from the students’ expertise and fresh perspectives in addressing specific challenges or to transform their business models in a fast-changing world.” Professor George Feiger, executive dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences at Aston University, said: “Both our students and the participating businesses can gain immensely from the Levelling Upstarts programme by sharing ideas, putting thoughts into practice, offering alternative perspectives, challenging the perceived norm, creating bold solutions and ultimately working in partnership to enable the SMEs to move forward. “It is also a unique opportunity for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs to gain direct access to the growing businesses of today, putting their training into practice and gaining new skills along the way, boosting their employability.” Graeme Sands, Interim Head of Business Banking at Virgin Money, said: “Our new Levelling Upstarts programme enables businesses to get focused, comprehensive and free support that otherwise may not be available to them. “By pooling the resources of talented business students and helping them think outside of the box, the programme can help to help solve their business challenges while simultaneously giving MBA students valuable and transferable skills to help their future careers. “It really is a win-win for both students and participating businesses.” Applications for the programme are now open and will run until the end of February. Businesses that wish to express an interest can email levellingupstarts@virginmoney.com for further information on how to apply.
Aston University bioenergy expert appointed to Department for Transport Science Advisory Council
Professor Thornley is director of the Energy and Bioproducts Institute at Aston University and the national Supergen Bioenergy Hub She is an international leader in assessing the sustainability of energy systems The Science Advisory Council provides independent, strategic advice and challenge to the Department for Transport. Bioenergy expert and director of the Energy and Bioproducts Institute at Aston University, Professor Patricia Thornley, has been appointed to the science advisory council of the Department for Transport (DfT). Professor Thornley is an international leader in assessing the sustainability of energy systems. Her work contributes to the understanding of how to best use low-carbon technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. Her work is particularly influential in advising government on energy policy and supporting engineering deployment of low-carbon energy solutions in the UK and worldwide. The Science Advisory Council is a council of external experts who provide independent, strategic advice and challenge to the DfT on science and technology – speaking directly to decision-makers on some of the most important issues of the day that are relevant to the department’s policy and operations. Speaking on her appointment, Professor Thornley said: “I am delighted to take up this role and further develop the links between Aston University and the Department for Transport. "We already engage closely with departments across Whitehall to ensure policy is sustainable and fit for purpose in a net zero world. I’m excited to work with such esteemed colleagues on the DfT Science Advisory Council and to deepen the important relationship between policy and research.” The council examines how science and innovation can support policy in specific areas, working with officials to frame the policy issue and consulting additional subject-specific experts to bring new thinking and evidence into DfT. As a member of the Science Advisory Council Professor Thornley will support the Chief Scientific Adviser in ensuring departmental activity is informed by the best external expertise and evidence, advising and challenging the nature and quality of the DfT’s use of science and technology and identifying relevant emerging issues and trends. Professor Thornley has been recruited alongside four other new members and a new Chair, joining six continuing members. Department for Transport Chief Scientific Adviser, Sarah Sharples, said: “I’m pleased to welcome the new members appointed to the Science Advisory Council. They bring significant additional expertise in key areas that will support DfT’s effective use of science and engineering. "I look forward to working with them.” Professor Thornley’s appointment is for a four-year term ending in 2025.
Aston University partners with Shoosmiths to open up opportunities to study a law degree
Pathways to Law in partnership with Shoosmiths will launch in September 2022 Up to 30 Year 12 students per 18-month cohort will complete the initiative Aston University will host information, advice and guidance sessions as well as law taster sessions at the University as part of the programme. A programme to support students from under-represented backgrounds towards a career in law has been launched by Aston University in partnership with leading law firm Shoosmiths. The Pathways to Law will launch in September 2022 with up to 30 Year 12 students taking part in an 18-month programme of activities to give academically-able, disadvantaged students the chance to develop important key skills in preparing to study a law degree. The government made an announcement about its plans for improving access, participation and outreach initiatives in November 2021, calling for more work style pathways from universities, schools and companies in the West Midlands. Aston University will host several information, advice and guidance sessions as well as law taster sessions on campus over the 18-month programme. Shoosmiths will host three core events: Routes in to Law (Year 12 Feb 2023), Professional Skills and Employability (Year 12 June 2023) and a networking event hosted by Shoosmiths (Year 13 October 2023). Saskia Loer Hansen, Interim Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for prospective law students from across the West Midlands. “Aston University is proud of its track record on social mobility. Research by the UK government’s Social Mobility Commission shows that even when those from working class backgrounds gain access to professional occupations, they go on to earn an average of £6,000 less per year than colleagues from more advantaged backgrounds – a ‘class pay gap’ that persists even when they have the same education, training and experience. “We hope that initiatives like this will help close the class pay gap further and look forward to opening applications in summer 2022.” Alex Bishop, Partner and Co-head of Shoosmiths’ Birmingham office said: “Initiatives like Pathways to Law are an important part of our firm’s continued commitment to advancing social mobility. “It is wonderful to see Victoria Potts, one of our stellar Birmingham lawyers so passionate about driving forwards social mobility through this new programme to offer more potential opportunities for young people in our city who might otherwise feel a career in law is beyond their reach.” Victoria Potts, Associate at Shoosmiths who is leading on the creation and delivery of the programme said: “I am looking forward to partnering with Aston University to work to open up the legal profession for students who would not normally see their career within it. “All of the students who will be selected for the programme will meet widening participation criteria set by the higher education regulatory body, the Office for Students, and be based in the West Midlands area. “We are keen to develop a pathway which widens the social profile of candidates in the legal profession and is representative of the community it serves. “These activities will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the students and will help level the playing field for their progression into higher education and the legal profession.”
University chaplaincy celebrates 50th anniversary
Aston University chaplaincy marks 50 years of delivering pastoral care 12 months of celebration activities and events to be launched on Martin Luther King Day (MLK Day) MLK Day is a federal holiday in the USA to mark the birthday of Martin Luther King The chaplaincy team at Aston University is celebrating 50 years of delivering pastoral care with a series of celebration events and activities being launched on Monday 17 January to coincide with Martin Luther King (MLK) Day. Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday in the United States to mark the birthday and honour the achievements of Martin Luther King Jr who advocated the use of non-violent means to end racial segregation. The Aston University chaplaincy team, based at the Martin Luther King Multi-Faith Centre on the University campus, offers pastoral and spiritual guidance, prayer, support and friendship to all – regardless of background. Chaplains are also available to any group concerned with issues of a religious, international, social or political dimension which wishes to explore - like Martin Luther King - the great themes of justice, peace, mutual understanding and the search for the meaning of life. The chaplains, drawn from different religions and denominations, work together in an atmosphere of inter-religious understanding and cooperation. Alongside other support services in the University, their purpose is to assist all staff and students whether they profess a religious belief or not. Jan Scott, Christian chaplain and spokesperson for the team, said: “The next few months are intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary, looking back on the history of the chaplaincy and how it has developed over the last 50 years. “We want to use it as an opportunity to connect and reconnect with individuals, groups and organisations who have links to the chaplaincy, as a chance for reflection on how to continue to support staff and students of any and all faiths and no faith, and to look forward and set a vision for the chaplaincy for 2022 and beyond.”