Creativity, arts and culture are at the heart of the University of Southampton experience, whether in supporting your studies or offering a range of activities to enjoy in your down time, with world-renowned music and arts venues found alongside numerous creative communities.
I’ll be working as “Arts, Culture and Student Insights Coordinator” which is a fancy title I came up with to look cool on LinkedIn. In reality, it means I’ll be working closely with Louise Coysh and Jen Harris in the University’s Arts and Culture team, alongside our venues John Hansard Gallery and Turner Sims, to look at how we can develop the student experience around the University’s arts and culture offer. This involves supporting the student voice in the Heart of Campus project and city-wide cultural development. I’ll be particularly focused on making sure we have extensive student consultation and input!
Thea Hartman during her time as Editor of The Edge magazine
MA English Literary Studies student Thea Hartman talks about her passion for escapism, textual analysis, her experience of the Southampton art scene, and what plans she has for her time as an Arts Ambassador!
This is going to sound ridiculously cliché, so brace yourselves, because I really don’t know how else to say it: yes, I have loved art in all its forms for as long as I can remember. The philosophy behind this love is simple: if you’re looking to escape the real world for a bit – and I honestly bet you do – there is no better way to spend those rare spare hours than with a film, some music, a trip to the theatre, a gig, or many a good book.
As
far as that goes, I am an expert fugitive. My Mum taught me how to read early
because I would always ask her to read me one more story and she couldn’t catch
her breath. And that hasn’t really changed (well, I did learn to read, but you
get the idea) – ‘one more story’ became a BA English degree, and then an MA
English Literary Studies degree, with a focus on twentieth century literature.
Turning a text on all its facets, understanding it in its present and in our
own – to me, there’s nothing quite like it, even if it does sometimes push my
limits so much that I can’t touch a book for months… Luckily, there are other ways
to keep escaping.
And
because we’re in Southampton, we have loads of them right on our doorstep! I
started discovering the Southampton arts scene due to The Edge, the University’s student entertainment magazine, which
sends writers to a wide range of theatre shows and concerts (even after over
three years of writing for it I’d probably have a hard time naming all the
music venues in Southampton…), but it wasn’t until my summer internship with ‘a
space’ arts that I had the chance to get to know the arts community in
Southampton and learn just how complex and welcoming it is!
I’m
not an artist, so I’m not a stranger to thoughts like “I’m not artsy enough to
go there,” or “I don’t belong there” – but I realised I couldn’t be more wrong.
And that’s what I’m most excited about doing as an Arts Ambassador – helping to
spread the word not only about what the arts scene in Southampton has to offer
generally, but also about what it has to offer to those who think like I used
to. I’ll be found mostly on this blog and on social media, trying to put all
these feelings into words as I explore Southampton’s art scene with Molly and
Kate this semester – I hope you join us on this journey!
Our brilliant new Arts Ambassadors Thea Hartman, Molly Ellis and Kate Briggs-Price have produced a slicker-than-your-average video introducing themselves to Southampton, Winchester and the world! Stay tuned for more from this trio over the coming weeks, starting with introductory blogs from each.
Katie Power and Abaigh McKee, PhD candidates in The Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations at the University of Southampton, discuss Rediscovering ‘The King of Lampedusa’, a lecture-recital that took place at Nuffield Southampton Theatres City (NST City) in June.
