Every good conference starts with a plenary that brings together all the speakers, delegates and conference helpers. Its with the opening plenary that a conference’s scene is set, and that aspirations and hopes for the conference are set out. So, while this is the most coveted spot of any conference, this also means that the plenary speaker finds him/herself subject to rather intense scrutiny and the focus of the undivided attention of a full lecture theatre.
No pressure there then for Professor Stephen Mumford, who steps up on Monday 14th April, 10:30 am, to deliver his plenary on ‘Knowledge is Power’, to the fourth- and largest ever- British Conference of Undergraduate Research. At the latest count, Professor Mumford will address approximately 300 Undergraduate speakers and delegates, as well as a 40+ team of student and staff from the University of Nottingham supporting and running the convention.
So, who is Professor Stephen Mumford and what can delegates expect? If in doubt, I always say, lets look at what we can learn about our plenary speaker from his online presence. A basic search brings up his University of Nottingham home page, and this quickly leads to another web page with details about biography, publications and details about his research. The following quote is taken from Stephen Mumford’s online biography:
I was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire on July 31st 1965 and attended Outwood Grange School. After working as a low-grade civil servant for three years, I read Philosophy and History of Ideas with Politics at Huddersfield Polytechnic (now University). After that I entered the Philosophy Department at the University of Leeds to take an MA in Philosophy of Mind. There I met Robin LePoidevin who became my PhD supervisor. I was awarded a PhD in 1994 for ‘Dispositions and Reductionism’ and was offered a two-year lectureship at Leeds. I left to join the Philosophy department at Nottingham in 1995, where I have been ever since. I was for three years the Head of Department and then for two years Head of the School of Humanities (the School of which Philosophy is a part). I am currently Dean of the Arts Faculty: a four-year appointment. While at Nottingham, I wrote my books Dispositions, Laws in Nature, David Armstrong, Watching Sport: Aesthetics, Ethics and Emotions and co-wrote Getting Causes from Powers.
Professor Mumford also blogs on Arts Matters and is an avid tweeter (as @sdmumford). Who better to open a conference that seeks to inspire and professionalise a new generation of researchers!
Gabriele Neher (@gabrieleneher)
bcur14nottingham 