Three projects from the College of Humanities gain support from the Annual Fund

Each year, the Annual Fund supports projects across the University that benefit the wider student experience.

The philanthropic support of alumni and friends specifically aids initiatives across the campuses that would not otherwise receive support. At the end of term, three projects originating from the College of Humanities were awarded funding. The successful projects are a small, not for profit publisher, a postgraduate conference and a student-led Film practical skills workshop.

Dirt Pie Press is a small, not for profit publisher that was set up in 2007 by two creative writing postgraduate students. It started as an outlet for the Riptide journal which publishes anthologies of new short fiction, but it has developed and broadened its scope over the years and recently launched the Canto online poetry journal. Student volunteers are an increasingly vital part of Dirt Pie Press and are involved in all aspects from calling for submissions, reading and helping select items, liaising with book shops, responding to correspondence, proof-reading, type-setting and design, publicity, social media and event management. Support from the Annual Fund will help to develop a more focused training scheme for the student volunteers to enhance the quality of the student work experience.

The Fund will also help to finance a practical skills workshop for undergraduate students interested in film production. 24 students will be set the challenge of scripting, shooting and producing a film in just 48 hours. They will be taught and coached how to use filming equipment and film software by experienced graduate teaching assistants in order to produce a short film that centres on an object from the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum’s film history collection. The project aims to bring undergraduate Film students, Art History and Visual Culture students, members of the Film Society and Film PhD students together to share expertise, network and to work together.

The project is being led by David Holt, a first year Film Studies undergraduate and Student Staff Liaison Committee representative. He comments, “I'm extremely pleased to receive support from the Annual Fund. This support will allow us to acquire a range of resources including high-tech camera equipment, experienced tutors and merchandise so that students can partake in a fun, high-quality workshop."

Support has also been awarded to the Humanities postgraduate student conference which will take place at the University of Exeter on 28 and 29 April. Organised by students for students, the two day event offers a platform for postgraduate scholars to network, exchange ideas and present current work in an academically diverse and rigorous environment. Between 200 and 300 Humanities students and academics are expected to attend the conference as well as 4 visiting students from Peking University and Fudan University in China.

The Annual Fund raises unrestricted funds from alumni, parents, staff and friends of the University. To find out more about the projects it supports, visit the Alumni Giving pages of the website. Applications to the Annual Fund can be made at any point in the year and money is awarded on a termly basis.

Date: 17 April 2014