19/04/2024
The politics of time with Carolyn Smith
It was like a fresh breath of air to read, a few months ago, Wolfson’s warm invitation to join the new S&C Hub. Althought our world has been limited by grief and the fear of the unknown with the pandemic, I felt a new generation of Wolfsonians, together with the old helping hands, have built a sensitive and robust society.
As an avid rough water swimmer, I see challenges like the pandemic as opportunities to grow and improve on what we have done before. When I got in touch with Dr Nick Baylis (Senior Member), he recommended getting in touch with fellow alumni to understand what they would have done differently. Looking back, what changes to their learning journeys would they make? So when the open invitation to join the Hub came along, I jumped at the opportunity to reconnect with other Wolfson members!
The last few months have been an amazing journey together at the Wolfson S&C Hub. We all have an interdisciplinary edge and are keen to get to know people, places and ideas. With an open atmosphere, we have learned from each other and from established practitioners of sustainability. It has also given me an opportunity to get in touch with new and old friends alike, some of whom have contributed to the S&C Stories project or gave a talk about their work.
I also joined the Hub because I have an ongoing interest in the creative domain where people from different walks of life make meaningful connections. My thesis at the IDBE course looked into Dubai as a city with creative milieux: it's an interesting case where tribulation is a major driver for tolerance, which in turn makes space for the maverick. Another example of creative collaboration is Milongas, where completely strangers dance as couples. At Wolfson, I met a Byronist who inquired about the Byronic origin of my name. This led me to investigate and work on the Epic of Shahnameh, which is the result of a melting pot of cultures. The Hub is not dissimilar - it brings together different kinds of people to make connections across disciplines and cultures!
Golnar Malek (MSt in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment, 2006) is a creative learning manager and a mixed media artist with formal training in architecture.
For more information about the S&C Hub's activities, visit the S&C homepage.
