16 September 2012
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Research, Research Supervision
Alex Jeffery, Alexander Jeffery, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, conference, London, Music, popular music, popular music studies, research, research supervision, Sini Timonen, University, Wiley
Two doctoral students supervised by Dr Christopher Wiley presented papers at a major international conference, ‘Imagining Communities Musically: Putting Popular Music in its Place’, held by the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) last week at the University of Salford.
Sini Timonen, who is in the closing stages of her PhD on women musicians’ contribution to popular music in England between 1962 and 1971, gave a paper entitled ‘The Girl Singer in 1960s London: the Position of Female Vocalists within the Pop Music Industry’. Drawing on original interviews conducted with lesser-known ‘Brit Girls’ active on the London pop scene in the sixties, Sini explored the major challenges they faced, the strategies by which they navigated them, and the implications of the essentially male-oriented contexts in which they worked.
Alexander Jeffery presented the paper ‘Reconfiguring Prince: how online fan communities are taking back control of the album’, in which he examined traditions amongst Prince fans active in online forums of proposing their own alternative track listings for landmark albums such as Purple Rain as well as abandoned album projects. Alex, who has recently entered his second year on the doctoral programme, is conducting research on manifestations of the long-form musical work in contemporary popular culture.
16 August 2012
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Teaching
assessment, assessment practice, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, conference, education, feedback, Higher Education, International Conference on Learning, learning, London, presentation, research, teaching, The Institute of Education, University, University of London, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley presented his paper ‘Divided by a Common Language? Evaluating Students’ Understanding of the Vocabulary of Assessment and Feedback at a Single UK Higher Education Institution’ at the Nineteenth International Conference on Learning, Institute of Education, University of London on 16 August 2012.
Dr Wiley’s paper, which discussed the changing context of Higher Education in the UK and its implications for assessment and feedback, fell on the same day that students across the country received their A-level results and found out whether they had been accepted to their chosen university degree course.
Presenting some of the findings of interviews conducted with students across City University London in the past academic year (previously discussed here), Dr Wiley questioned many aspects of current assessment and feedback processes, enriching his talk with reference to innovations implemented this year in his own academic practice.
The Nineteenth International Conference on Learning welcomed some 600 delegates from 40 countries across three days.
28 June 2012
Christopher Wiley
Media
2012 London Olympic Games, BBC, BBC News Magazine, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, expert comment, London, media, Music, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has contributed expert comment to an article that appeared earlier today (28 June 2012) in the BBC News Magazine.
Speaking about ‘Survival’ by British band Muse, which was recently unveiled as the official song of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Dr Wiley is quoted as saying that ‘It’s epic. It’s inspirational. I’m sure that’s why it was chosen’.
The article, written by journalist Jon Kelly, also quotes Dr Wiley as saying that ‘There are sections that sound like a marathon and others that sound like the 100m’, alluding to the song’s varied and multi-sectional nature.
The full article may be accessed here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18624954.
19 June 2012
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Teaching
Aarhus, Aarhus University, Aarhus University in Denmark, arts and humanities, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, conference, Denmark, education, electronic voting systems, Higher Education, learning, London, presentation, research, teaching, Turning Technologies, Turning Technologies User Conference, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley addressed the Turning Technologies User Conference 2012 at Aarhus University, Denmark on 19 June 2012, delivering a presentation entitled ‘Using Electronic Voting Systems in the Arts and Humanities’.
In the first Turning Technologies Conference to be held in Continental Europe, Dr Wiley argued for the largely unrecognized potential for electronic voting systems to enhance teaching in disciplines other than the sciences and business, drawing on his use of the technology as a music lecturer as well as his original research.
Dr Wiley was one of six speakers to lead parallel breakout sessions during the conference, selected from over 50 proposals received. Participating delegates were drawn from countries including the US, Denmark, the UK, France, Germany, Holland, and Spain.
The full programme for the event may be downloaded here.
13 June 2012
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Prizes & Awards, Teaching
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, Learning at City, London, module evaluation, Music, prize, Student Voice Award, teaching, teaching excellence, University, Wiley
For the second year in a row, Dr Christopher Wiley has received a prestigious Student Voice Award, presented by City University London. He thus becomes only the second person in the history of the Award to have been a recipient in two consecutive years.
Chris was one of twelve members of academic and professional staff across the University to win the prize. Competition was, as ever, extremely fierce with a total of over 200 nominees.
The scheme is intended to reward ‘exceptional teaching practice and outstanding support services’, and to recognize excellent contribution to the student experience. Nominations are made by the students themselves and winners are decided by the University’s Students’ Union.
See this post for news of Chris’s being awarded a University Student Voice Award in 2011. Further information about the Student Voice Awards 2012 is available here.
Chris was separately awarded a School of Arts Learning & Teaching Recognition Prize for his excellent module evaluation feedback in the 2011-12 academic year.
The prizes were announced and formally presentated at a prize-giving ceremony at the close of the Fourth Annual ‘Learning at City’ Conference on 13 June 2012 (see picture above).
13 June 2012
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Teaching
assessment, assessment practice, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, conference, education, feedback, Higher Education, Learning at City, London, Music, research, teaching, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley presented a paper on assessment and feedback at City University London’s Fourth Annual ‘Learning at City’ Conference on Wednesday 13 June 2012.
Entitled ‘Divided by a Common Language? Evaluating Students’ Understanding of the Vocabulary of Assessment and Feedback at City University London’, Dr Wiley’s paper asked whether certain key terms used routinely in assessment and feedback practice might hold a subtly different meaning for students than for staff, presenting evidence from a series of consultations with students from across the University.
A video of Dr Wiley’s presentation may be viewed from YouTube here. The full programme is available here.
21 April 2012
Christopher Wiley
Media
Alexander S. Bermange, Bermange, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, media, Music, musicology, radio, Radio Verulam, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley was featured as a guest on Radio Verulam throughout its specially extended two-hour Arts Programme on Easter Day (8 April) 2012, in which he was introduced to listeners as a professional musicologist based in the St Albans area.
Presenter Alexander S. Bermange chatted with Chris throughout the two-hour show, interviewing him live on topics including James Horner’s and Céline Dion’s musical contributions to James Cameron’s film Titanic (recently re-released in 3D) and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s television talent discovery shows.
Chris (left) and Alexander (right) are pictured below at the Radio Verulam studio.
Chris returned to the show just a few weeks later on 13 May, giving a series of live interviews about the Eurovision Song Contest and this year’s entries from Ireland, Israel, and the UK.
Update: Chris returned to the show again on 22 and 29 July 2012 (see here and here) to discuss Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest television show, Superstar, which was being broadcast at the time on ITV, and on 30 September 2012 to talk about the production for which this show cast the lead role, Jesus Christ Superstar, which had been presented that week at London’s O2 Arena.
1 February 2012
Christopher Wiley
Educational Research, Presentation, Prizes & Awards, Teaching
assessment, assessment practice, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, debate, education, Higher Education, LDC, learning, Learning Development Centre, London, Nigel Duncan, teaching, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley was chosen as one of two guest speakers to participate in the first in a series of cross-institutional debates on matters of teaching and learning at City University London (see review here).
Hosted by the University’s Learning Development Centre and attended by an audience of around 60 staff and students from the University, the inaugural debate considered the provocative motion ‘Assessment Practice in Higher Education relies largely on a limited range of methods that are not always fit for purpose‘.
Supporting the motion was Professor Nigel Duncan (City Law School), the University’s academic lead for assessment and a distinguished law lecturer. Co-chairing the event were Patrick Baughan and Neal Sumner, both Senior Lecturers in the Learning Development Centre.
Both Professor Duncan and Dr Wiley were given an initial 10 minutes to address the audience followed by brief opportunity for rebuttal of one another’s arguments, before discussion was opened up to the floor.
In the final vote, the debate motion was supported by 70%-30%. Nonetheless, Dr Wiley was congratulated not only for having admirably risen to the challenging task of opposing such a motion but for having evidently swayed a significant minority with the persuasiveness of his arguments.
The debate opened the annual Learning Development Centre Showcase event, which this year was on the subject of ‘Student Engagement’, and at which Dr Wiley was also awarded a Best Learning Spaces Design prize for his design of a hypothetical lecture room layout.
17 January 2012
Christopher Wiley
Publication, Research Supervision
48 Studies, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, critical edition, Ferling, Hassiotis, historical musicology, Kostis Hassiotis, London, Music, musicology, oboe, performance studies, performing practice, Publication, research, research supervision, University, Wiley
D
r Kostis Hassiotis, who completed the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) programme at City University London in 2010 under the supervision of Dr Christopher Wiley, has recently published a book based on his doctoral thesis.
Entitled F. W. Ferling’s 48 Studies for Oboe, Op. 31: A Critical Edition Based on Historical Evidence with Particular Reference to Nineteenth-Century Performing Practices (ISBN: 978-3-8465-9724-8), the book is available for purchase from stores including Amazon and MoreBooks.
As the first systematic investigation of Ferling’s landmark 48 Studies for Oboe, the book includes information concerning Ferling as a performer and composer, a detailed description of his known compositions, and reference to the importance of the 48 Studies in modern instrumental training.
Now Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Dr Hassiotis is active internationally as a performer and researcher.
9 December 2011
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, conference, gender studies, London, Music, musical biography, musical canon, musicology, Radical Music History Symposium, research, Sibelius Academy, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has presented a paper at the Radical Music History Symposium 2011 hosted by the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki on 8-9 December 2011. His paper was entitled ‘Musical Biography and the Myth of the Muse’, and discussed the portrayal of women in biographies of the Great Composers who, though silenced throughout much of the text, suddenly came into view at critical junctures in life-writing on their male associates as rhetorical signifiers of the increasing power of their creative genius. Chris argued that musical biography thereby became complicit in women’s historical effacement by casting them in the role of vessels for the stimulation of artistic creation in men, implicitly denying them the possibility of undertaking such activities themselves while simultaneously linking them inextricably to those of associated male composers. Chris concluded by demonstrating some ways in which this model, for its longevity and the robustness with which it has been perpetuated, yields profound consequences for more recent writing of the lives of women composers as well as for contemporary feminist musicology’s project to deconstruct and critique musical canon.
30 November 2011
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Prizes & Awards, Research, Teaching
award, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, dissertation supervision, Learning at City, London, Music, presentation, prize, research, research supervision, Student Voice Award, teaching, teaching excellence, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has won a prestigious Student Voice Award (so named because all nominations are made by the students themselves) at City University London.
Staving off fierce competition from hundreds of nominees, Chris was one of 12 me
mbers of academic staff across the University to win the coveted £1,000 prize.
The Student Voice Award scheme is run by the University’s Students’ Union in conjunction with the Learning Development Centre, to acknowledge lecturers who have demonstrated great commitment to top-quality teaching, learning, and assessment over the past year, and who have made a positive impact on the student experience. Students are required to complete a one-page application by way of nominating a staff member.
Chris’s nomination was made primarily on the basis of excellence in dissertation supervision, together with quality and timeliness of feedback on written work. The students also commended him for the ‘buzz’ they feel after his lectures, for his listening and communication skills, and for the support he has given to student activities both on and off campus.
Chris was formally presented with the award at the prize-giving ceremony with which the annual ‘Learning at City’ conference ended on 23 June 2011. Earlier that day, he had delivered a presentation at the same conference based on his research on institutional handbooks for postgraduate research students.
27 September 2011
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
autobiography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, ethel smyth, gender studies, literature, London, march of the women, Music, musical biography, musicology, research, Sandi Toksvig, Smyth, suffrage activity, suffragette, The Women's Library, University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley appeared alongside writer and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig at The Women’s Library, London on Tuesday 27 September, providing an introduction to the life, works, and suffrage activity of Ethel Smyth.
Dr Wiley has been researching and writing on Ethel Smyth for over a decade, including a groundbreaking article on Smyth’s intellectual relationship with Virginia Woolf, published in one of the UK’s foremost journals of musicology, Music and Letters.
The event, entitled ‘Shout! Shout! Up With Your Song!’, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the first performance of Smyth’s celebrated suffragette anthem ‘March of the Women’, and also featured a recital by the acclaimed a capella feminist choir Velvet Fist.
The flier for the event is available for download here.
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Dr Christopher Wiley is quoted in BBC News Magazine article
28 June 2012
Christopher Wiley Media 2012 London Olympic Games, BBC, BBC News Magazine, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, City, City University London, expert comment, London, media, Music, University, Wiley Leave a comment
Dr Christopher Wiley has contributed expert comment to an article that appeared earlier today (28 June 2012) in the BBC News Magazine.
Speaking about ‘Survival’ by British band Muse, which was recently unveiled as the official song of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Dr Wiley is quoted as saying that ‘It’s epic. It’s inspirational. I’m sure that’s why it was chosen’.
The article, written by journalist Jon Kelly, also quotes Dr Wiley as saying that ‘There are sections that sound like a marathon and others that sound like the 100m’, alluding to the song’s varied and multi-sectional nature.
The full article may be accessed here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18624954.