features
With the Oscars coming up soon, we take a look at all the Best Picture nominated movies, starting with ’12 Years A Slave’. Seen as an Oscar-favourite, the movie raises important questions about the legacy of slavery in contemporary America and provokes us head-on. By Dorina Marlen Heller, BA Chinese
features
KATERINA VELISKOVA BA Middle Eastern Studies Rumours say it was a madhouse or that someone committed suicide just in the room your lecture is in. What was the history of this slightly scary and confusing building really like? Here it is, your first lecture at Vernon Square. You arrive early,
Opinion
The jury verdict deeming Mark Duggan’s death ‘lawful’ is indeed a perverse judgment. LADAN DIRIE, BA Politics Mark Duggan’s aunt Carole, speaking outside court: ‘No justice, no peace’. Source: The Guardian The death of Mark Duggan, killed at the hands of police in August 2011 in Tottenham, North
Opinion
As we have also seen with mainstream media narratives of South Sudan in recent months, to entertain the gawping Western audience, African political struggles have to be, well, Westerns. JAMES APPLEBY, BA African Studies and Politics A good depiction of François Hollande’s stance, but it is foolish to believe
News
Cleaners working at SOAS have voted in favour of taking strike action over their sick pay, holiday pay and pensions, their union, UNISON, has said. According to UNISON, 100% of cleaners voted “yes” in the three week-long postal ballot on a turnout of 62%. The cleaners are outsourced to facilities
National News
Tom King, BA Politics The Metropolitan Police have paid £40,000 in compensation after “shocking” inconsistencies in police accounts of arrests at a tuition fee protest at SOAS in 2011. Ashok Kumar and Simon Behrman were wrestled to the grounded and arrested by police at a demonstration prompted by a
Uncategorized
[Carrie Benjamin – Barcelona, Spain – published Sept ’13] As the summer comes to an end, Spain’s autonomous region of Catalonia is courting greater domestic and international support for an independence referendum in 2014. Although the Catalan independence movement has its roots in the early XX century, public support has significantly
Opinion
Is our Students Union fit for purpose? By Alia Osman SOAS students assume that we have an effective complaints system in place for students to use if we ever need it, as the Students’ Union (SU) has a reputation for being radical and at the forefront of political activism. So
News
Students can now vote in the referendum on the future of ULU until 7th February, after union officers decided to extend the deadline for colleges to organise ballots. The decision was taken after several colleges failed to hold the referendum by 12th December, the original deadline. Michael Chessum, ULU President,
News
Caterers Elior are at the heart of a new scandal over the treatment of outsourced workers at SOAS after whistleblowers revealed a catalogue of complaints to The SOAS Spirit. Elior employs a number of workers at SOAS on precarious casual contracts, where workers have no guaranteed hours per week and
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By Mohammad Tahboub, Editor After 2 years of progress will you let your SOAS Spirit crumble? Will you SOAS student let the platform made to protect your free speech fail? We are fighting a battle 2 years after the union censored the former SOAS Spirit and prevented it from publishing
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Charles Brook (BA Politics and Arabic) SOAS students run campaign in south London promoting healthy relationships and providing support for victims of domestic violence Team V is a national network of young people changing the world, one community actions project at a time! Over the course of the year Team