Join a series of letter writing experiments addressing “Other” or “Enemy” to imagine decolonial practice and embrace lessons of collective change, liberatory action, empathy and humanity.  

Participants are invited to write anonymous Love Letters (to be shared with each other) to engage in bridge-building and work toward truth and reconciliation with the Other.

The session is grounded in the spirit of anti-racism, feminism and decolonial strategies centred in Ndiritu’s Book Being Together – A Manual For Living.  

Lorna Burns (Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial Literatures) & Zainab Imran (poet, facilitator and museum community engagement officer and PhD candidate) at the University of St Andrews will guide participants through a series of invitations to prompt the letter writing. This event is programmed in collaboration with the School of English at University of St Andrews and is open to all, including staff, students and the public. 

This event is part of A Season of Peace Building, programmed with Grace Ndiritu for The Ignorant Art School Sit-in Curriculum #5. This series of conversations, workshops and gatherings is designed by Grace Ndiritu, drawing on her book Being Together: A Manual For Living as a template.

Sign-up

Free, open to all. 
To participate please sign-up for a space via Eventbrite.

Participant Info

No prior experience or preparation is required.  
Participants are invited to contribute their physical letters to Ndiritu's archive.
The exhibition will be open to view ahead of the workshop beginning.

Beyond the session, participants are invited to contribute their physical letters to be added to Ndiritu’s archive. 

Equipment

Paper will be provided.
Please bring a pen/pencil for writing with.

In this talk, I will discuss the uniform approximation of hyperbolic partial differential control systems within distributed parameter theory. I will outline the origins of the problem, trace its development, and highlight our recent contributions to this area.

Venue: Fulton G20

Solar flares are explosive, energetic events that produce radiative signatures at all layers of the solar atmosphere. Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) are the most commonly observed phenomena in solar flares, exhibiting periodic fluctuations in the observed radiation. 

Our research aims to carry out a systematic investigation of quasi-periodic pulsations in M7.3 class solar flare ribbons and study their height-wise distribution using various low and high-temperature UV spectral lines observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The time series analysis of GOES soft X-rays and RHESSI hard X-rays revealed multiple conspicuous oscillatory patterns during the impulsive phase of the flare. At the same time, the IRIS UV spectral images showed sawtooth pattern intensity fluctuations in space as the ribbon sweeps the slit with time. Small-scale substructures within the ribbon at various locations are tracked in SJI channels, and the time series analysis showed the oscillatory patterns with characteristic periods. The non-linear and non-stationary properties of QPPs observed along the flare ribbons in various time series were studied thoroughly using the wavelet analysis.  Combining data from various observatories facilitated us to study the role of QPPs in flare energy release at various heights in the solar atmosphere and the results confirmed the existence of multi-periodic regimes.

Venue: Fulton G20

Criminal cases can feature multiple pieces of dependent evidence and multiple possible explanations for this evidence. It can be challenging to disentangle the correlations between pieces of evidence and to understand how to form a logically consistent argument that accounts for this evidence in a way that is probabilistically sound. There have been high profile miscarriages of justice that have resulted from failures in probabilistic reasoning and interpretation.

In this talk I will show how chain event graphs can be used to construct possible storylines for displaying the time evolution of events and evidence in criminal cases. These chain event graphs can both be used to investigate possible arguments when drawing up a case and to make probabilistic assessments of the strength of evidence when prosecuting or defending. I will give two examples – a drugs on banknotes case and the case of the murder of Meredith Kercher. To finish the talk I will discuss the role that statistics and probabilistic reasoning can play in criminal cases and highlight where greater collaboration is needed between statisticians and those in the legal sector.

Venue: Fulton G20

Cointegration remains a cornerstone of time-series econometrics which is what led to Engle and Granger receiving the Nobel Prize in economics in 2003. 

In this talk, I will begin by revisiting the issue of spurious regression in non-stationary series and outline the intuition behind cointegration. I will then explore various modeling strategies, with particular emphasis on ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) models and the bounds testing approach. 

The second part of the presentation will focus on software, where I will introduce the ARDL package in R, compare its functionality with other implementations, including proprietary platforms, and share some thoughts on future enhancements and directions.

Venue: Fulton G20

Planetary magnetic fields are produced by dynamo action through turbulent motions of an electrically conducting fluid within the interior of the planet. Numerical experiments of dynamo action relevant to Earth's magnetic field have produced different regime branches identified within bifurcation diagrams [1,2]. Notable are distinct branches in which the resultant magnetic field is either weak or strong (when compared with the fluid flow).  Weak-field solutions can be identified by the prominent role of viscosity and/or inertia on the motion whereas the magnetic field has a leading order effect on the flow in strong-field solutions. Bistability between branches can be found within a small window of parameter space, as long theorised [3]

One measure of the success of numerical models of the geodynamo is the ability to replicate the expected balance between forces operating within Earth's core; Coriolis (rotational) and Lorentz (magnetic) forces are predicted to be most important. The value of considering lengthscale dependent force balances [4] and ‘gradient-free’ solenoidal forces has been highlighted [5].

I will review the approach in numerically modelling spherical dynamos and the challenges in doing so. I will discuss the branches and bifurcations of dynamo action previously explored in numerical simulations.  Furthermore, in new results, I shall highlight that the expected force balance of Earth's core can be preserved in the strong-field regime as input parameters of numerical simulations are moved towards more realistic values [2].

[1] E. Dormy et al, Fluid Dynamics Res. 50, 011415 (2018) 
[2] R. J. Teed & E. Dormy, Geophys. Res. Lett. (in press) 
[3] P. Roberts, In: Cupal, I. (ed.), Proc. First Int. Workshop on Dynamo Theory and the Generation of the Earth’s Magnetic Field pp. 7–12. Czech. Geophys. Inst. Rep (1979) 
[4] T. Schwaiger et al, Geophys. J. Inter. 219, S101–S114 (2019) 
[5] R. J. Teed & E. Dormy, J. Fluid Mech. 964, A26 (2023)

Venue: Fulton G20

Join us for an evening reception to mark the closing of the Jamaican Journeys exhibition including food, drink, music and a tour of the show.

Venue: Lamb Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee, DD1 4HN

Several students from a range of healthcare disciplines (Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing) will take part in an open conversation exploring how identity confidence and representation shape their journeys in education and training. The participants will blend personal reflection with their vision for what they hope to change in the future of healthcare. The session's tone will be honest but uplifting, celebrating resilience, joy and the importance of inclusivity and allyship within clinical environments. 

Attendees will be provoked to consider how each one of us can contribute to a more supportive and nurturing healthcare culture where everyone thrives.

This is a hybrid event. Join via zoom or attend in person, Gannochy Lecture Theatre, Ninewells Hospital