 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, first of all to all our graduates, I should like to add my congratulations to those of the Chairman and the Director. We do hope your time at CERAS has been rewarding and that it will stay with you as your career progresses. I know that many years on, some of your sharpest memories will be of those people who have taught you. Which brings me to the presentation of this year's Director's Prize for Teaching. As you know, the school has many brilliant teachers in the areas we specialize in, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But as I'm sure you'll understand, being a great teacher requires more than just expertise in the subject. It also requires passion and the ability to inspire, excite, encourage and guide. Here at the school, we recognize the importance of these qualities by honoring the best of our teachers each year. The Director's Teaching Prize is one of the most important awards we make. It now forms part of our academic session, an event at which students and teachers come together in the search for the best of our teaching talent. The prize is open to any members of staff and nominations are welcomed from both individuals and teaching teams. Over the years, we've made a number of awards to outstanding teachers. It has always been difficult to choose between them. And nominations for the prize are judged by a panel comprising the Pro Director for Learning and Teaching. Associate Dean's for Learning and Teaching, the Director of Academic Development, representatives of the Student Union and an external member. And this year we were fortunate to have Dr. Martin Oliver from the Institute of Education to serve as our external and join the judging panel. This year we saw a record number of nominations, both in terms of quantity and quality. We had more than 80 nominations and these were double last year's submissions and each one was of exceptional quality. The task of selecting winners from the shortlist of eight, including two teaching teams was all the more difficult, but also highly rewarding. Let me begin with the two outstanding runners up who were Harry West, who's Professor of Anthropology and the teaching team for the Center of Taiwan Studies comprising Professor Ash, Dr. Chu, Dr. Fell, Dr. Allendorf. Professor Harry West impressed the panel with his approach to student engagement, ways in which he had encouraged students to think about the studies, but beyond that, preparing them for their careers, described by the student panel member as the best approach to employability I've ever seen. Crucial to this is the SOAS Food Forum, it's a research seminar, the only weekly food study seminar series anywhere in the world, which is integrated into course teaching. Students on the course actively participate in discussions with scholars from a broad range of disciplines, policy makers, activists, journalists, and representatives of the food industry. Another component of student career preparation on the course is the opportunity to undertake an internship in a food related area of interest, whether in applied research, activism, media, or the industry. In many cases, internships have expanded students' networks leading to employment elsewhere. The interdisciplinary teaching team from the Centre of Taiwan Studies impressed the panel with their cross-disciplinary and unique approach to building a sense of community for the students through intensive short courses and training programs, and these were provided by leading Taiwanese experts. Students participate from around the UK and Europe, and theirs was a presentation of a shared broader vision, a wider context, something that so has excelled at, and we pride ourselves in. And I now come to the winner of the 2012 Director's Teaching Prize. This year's prize goes to Dr. Elena Letova, a senior lecturer in the Department of Athletical Languages and Cultures. There are two areas in which Elena's approach to her teaching stands out. The first is the encouragement she gives to her students to participate in a wide range of conferences and seminars. One such was the recent annuals for Helicon Colloquium, held at the University of Beirut, which gave students an opportunity to take part in an academic colloquium with leading scholars in the field of Swahili studies and to present papers. Such participation encourages students not only to engage with Swahili literature itself, but also to develop transferable skills in writing and presentations. The distinctiveness of Elena's teaching of Swahili literature is also apparent in the way she brings her research interests in philosophy to bear on her teaching. The results are impressive as one of her nominators observed. We are pleasantly surprised by the intellectual depth of presentations and the way in which students deal with extremely complex and abstract philosophical questions. Dr. Martin Orvin, head of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Africa, said of Elena, she's a teacher who on the basis of the student feedback, I've had both formally and informally, is very much liked and admired by her students. She brings a very professional and thorough attitude to teaching, as she does to other aspects of her work at Swahili. On that note, Mr. Chairman, I would now like to invite Dr. Elena Litova to receive the 2012 Director's Teaching Prize.