11.06.07
Gift boosts library on Tremough campus

A donation of 600 books on Cornish literature and feminist theory will boost teaching and research for students in Cornwall. The Hypatia Trust in Penzance has given a collection of books to the University of Exeter's English department in Cornwall for the library on the Tremough Campus.

Among the significant items are a substantial range of books on feminist theory between 1960 and 2000, and the complete multi-volume works of Oscar Wilde and Maria Edgeworth.

Dr Melissa Hardie, who founded the Hypatia Trust and its documentary collections, was born in America and now lives in Penzance.

Doreen Pinfold, Head of Library and Information Services in Cornwall explains: "Melissa Hardie has been collecting books by and about women for over twenty five years and this donation provides a record and celebration of women's history. These books will also complement the larger Hypatia collection of books, documents and artefacts held at the University of Exeter, and around Cornwall and America that concern women's role in history and contemporary life."

Dr Adeline Johns-Putra, senior lecturer in English, says: "The donation represents an exciting addition to the library holdings and greatly enhances the English Department's research and teaching, particularly in the area of literature, place and identity. It will be a great resource for undergraduate and masters students."

Dr Melissa Hardie recently visited Tremough at the invitation of the Department of English to give a talk entitled 'Cornwall in her words: Diaries and Documents of some Literary Women Travellers'.

The Trust is named after Hypatia, a Greek woman scholar, interested in science and ethics, who was born in Alexandria in 355AD and assassinated in 415AD. The Hypatia Trust has been created to collect and make available published and personal documentation about the achievements of women in every aspect of their lives, with a particular emphasis on Cornwall. Central to the Trust's activities is the care and development of the Hypatia Collection, a unique collection of books, artefacts and archives, by and about women.

There are currently 75 undergraduates and 5 postgraduates studying English with the University of Exeter on the Tremough Campus. Next year that number will almost double.

The £100 million Tremough Campus is a Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative, of which the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth are two of the founding partners. It has received investment from the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council. Set in 70 acres of countryside, but close to the waterside towns of Penryn and Falmouth, the campus offers a lively student community. The University of Exeter now offers degrees in Biology, Cornish Studies, English, Geology, Geography, History, Law, Mining Engineering, Politics and Renewable Energy on its Tremough Campus, which has expanded rapidly as part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative.

For further information please contact Abigail Dixon, Press Officer, University of Exeter on 01392 262307.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) project, both Phase 1 and Phase 2, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). The University of Exeter is a partner of the CUC.

Editor's notes:

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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