Diversity and inclusivity are essential to a thriving society and to our success as a forward-looking, world-class university. We will excel if we can attract and retain talented people with a broad range of backgrounds and if we value and mobilise the abilities of all of our staff and students. The University has been making a determined shift in its culture to ensure that everyone – our students, staff, and alumni – can thrive as part of the St Andrews community.
On opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean lie Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Isle of Skye. The cultures of these two islands have unique connections to land, in which the natural environment is deeply intertwined with culture and community. These connections have endured through a long history of challenge: clearances, dispossession, and displacement … Read more
What do ancient India and video calls have in common? It’s not a trick question. Aryabhatta (476–550 CE) was an Indian mathematician whose place-value system was instrumental to the development of zero. Over thousands of years, and further established through thinkers such as Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi (c.780 – c.850 CE), that concept of zero underlies … Read more
Miss Julie, Clytemnestra, Lady Macbeth – iconic women in theatre that have become larger-than-life representations of wildness, evil, and ruthless ambition. But do the stories that have been told about them reflect who they really are? Zinnie Harris – playwright, director, Associate Artistic Director of the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, and Professor in the School … Read more
In Rio de Janeiro, there are more than 1000 favelas (informal neighbourhoods) that are home to an estimated 1.5 million people. The word “favela” is often translated to “slum” or “shantytown” in English, evoking images of squalor, pain, and destitution. These connotations are amplified through efforts by the media to ensure a routine sensationalisation of … Read more
In the centre of the Bute Medical Building lie hundreds of skeletons, birds, mammals, insects, amphibians, and many, many more natural specimens. This is the Bell Pettigrew Museum of Natural History, the University of St Andrews’ collection of around 13,500 specimens and related scientific instruments spanning centuries and continents. Since its opening in 1912, the … Read more
