Associate Professor Rose Williamson, who has just accepted the role of Head, Department of Creative Arts & Communication within HASS, is contributing this month’s School of HASS column at the invitation of Professor Alistair Noble.

Recent weeks have been something of a whirlwind – finishing up Trimester 1 and preparing for Trimester 2 and, for me, starting a new job as Head of the Department of Creative Arts and Communication in the School of HASS. I am enjoying working in this role with other recently appointed Heads: Associate Professor Elizabeth Hale (Department of Geography and Planning), Dr Sarah Lawrence (Department of Languages, Literatures, Linguistics and Cultures) and Professor Lloyd Weeks (Department of Archaeology, Classics and History). The appointment of the Head of the Department of Social and Philosophical Inquiry is still being finalised and we expect an announcement soon.

Despite this flurry of activity, some of us managed to find time to attend the symposium True Crime and Women: Writers, Readers, and Representations. Held over two part-days, the symposium showcased contributions to a book to be edited by Dr Lili Pâquet (Discipline of Writing) and myself, and under contract with Routledge for publication in 2024. I am privileged to be involved in this project, which is being led by Lili and builds on one of her areas of research strength.  The symposium was run by UCCAN, the University Cultural and Creative Arts Network.  We thank UCCAN for its support, and in particular Dr Richard Jordan (one of the Network’s convenors) for his work on organising and promoting the symposium, and ensuring all went to plan.

The symposium, and UCCAN’s involvement in it, served as a reminder of the interdisciplinarity of research in my Department and School, and the potential for us to connect productively with other colleagues within the Faculty and the University. As I deal with the logistics of staffing Trimester 2 units, I am also reminded of the far-reaching relevance of the curricula offered by the disciplines within my Department: Media and Communications, Music, Theatre, and Writing. Yet what we do and achieve might not always be as visible as we would like. As Head of Department, I look forward to working with others in my School to promote the value of these disciplines and the Humanities and the Arts more broadly.