Tagged / conference

Extended deadline! CFP: Psychosocial Reflections on a Half Century of Cultural Revolution

BU research, Uncategorized

Association for Psychosocial Studies Biennial Conference

Bournemouth University, 5th- 7th April 2018

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Extended CALL FOR PAPERS!

Association for Psychosocial Studies Biennial Conference

Bournemouth University, 5th-7th April 2018

‘Psychosocial Reflections on a Half Century of Cultural Revolution:

The 50th anniversary of seasons of love and protest’

Join us to reflect on revolutionary relationships and revolutionary politics which challenged authority then and which influence us now.

The cultural forces and the political movements of 1967 and 1968 aimed to change the world, and did so. Recent development of some populist and protest politics could be seen as a continuation of the revolutionary movements in the 1960s. Hedonic themes that recall the summer of love suffuse contemporary life, and self-reflection and emotional literacy have also become prominent values, linked towards human diversity and the international community.

We invite you to offer psychosocial analyses of the development and legacy today of the ‘revolutions’ in love, sex and politics. This could be via explorations of contemporary issues in politics, culture and artistic expression, or through historical studies. All proposals for papers must indicate how they address both psychological and social dimensions of their topic.

 

Send your abstract of 250-300 words to: APS2018@bournemouth.ac.uk

Deadline: 1st October 2017. Confirmation of acceptance: 1st November.

We welcome contributions from academics and practitioners from different fields and disciplines and very much look forward to seeing you there!

 

Open in Practice: Inspirations, Strategies and Methods for Open Research – last few places

BU research, conferences, Training

network

The RKEO have developed networks with several regional universities in order to share best practice, link up collaborations for research, and share events.

A few places remain for research academics to attend the conference Open in Practice: Inspirations, Strategies and Methods for Open Research at the University of Reading on 30th March. The full conference programme and registration information can be found at http://bit.ly/2jGTwbc.

An opportunity for researchers to learn about and discuss:

–          Open Science solutions to the reproducibility crisis (http://bit.ly/2m2SO74)

–          Digital methods for the humanities

Open in Practice is a free conference on the theme of Open Research for researchers in the sciences and the humanities, hosted by the University of Reading. A small number of places at the conference are available to members of the research community outside of Reading.

The conference will explore how researchers can incorporate Open Research methods in their practice, to the benefit of the quality, integrity and impact of their research. Guest speakers will showcase inspiring examples of Open Research in the sciences and the humanities, and present strategies and methods that researchers can use to make their research more transparent and more effective.

Speakers at the conference include academics, data specialists and publishers:

–          Marcus Munafò, Professor of Biological Psychology, University of Bristol;

–          Simon Tanner, Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage and Pro Vice Dean (Impact & Innovation), Arts and Humanities, King’s College London;

–          Martin Paul Eve, Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing, Birkbeck, University of London;

–          Iain Hrynaszkiewicz, Head of Data Publishing, Springer Nature;

–          Sierra Williams, Community Manager, PeerJ;

–          Tom Crick, Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy, Cardiff Metropolitan University;

–          James O’Sullivan, Digital Humanities Research Associate, Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield;

–          Louise Corti, Associate Director, UK Data Archive.

There will be opportunities to network and share ideas throughout the day. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

What is the nature of the innovation required from education for our mobile and connected society?

conferences, Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

innovation---useFirst in the ‘Leading Innovation’ series of seminars, Professor John Traxler, Professor of Digital Learning at the University of Wolverhampton, will visit BU on Tuesday 24 January to present ‘What is the nature of the innovation required from education for our mobile and connected society?’.

Professor Traxler will be looking at questions such as; why do we need to be innovative? What are the benefits of innovation to me, my department, Faculty and the wider organisation of BU? And How can we nurture and support innovation as leaders? The session will take place on Talbot Campus, starting at 2.30pm and finishing at 4pm.

The ‘Leading Innovation’ series is based on the presenters’ own experiences, case studies, ideas and thoughts and by sharing their approach, techniques and other interesting facts, covering Innovation in Research, Innovation in Education and Innovation in Professional Practice. A number of sessions are scheduled to run between January and May 2017 and will be presented by colleagues from across BU as well as guest speakers, which include Peter Bryant, Head of Learning Technology and Innovation at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Sarah Knight, Senior Co-design Manager at Jisc.

For further details of the sessions, and to book to attend, please visit the Staff Development & Engagement Staff Intranet pages.

 

Reporting back from the BSA Auto/Biography Christmas Conference!

BU research, conferences

“I say tomato, You say tomato”. Is Autoethnography Auto/Biography by any other name?

Prior to our holiday break, Dr Judith Chapman and Dr Sarah Collard presented their research at the recent British Sociological Association (BSA) Auto/Biography Conference in London. This was a novel presentation, not limited to following a power point, but involving discussions with one other and the audience about the differences between the two research methods of autoethnography and auto/biography.

As they recently presented on this topic at the Centre for Qualitative Research lunchtime seminar, Judith and Sarah felt warmed up for the conversation and debates that occurred when presenting and discussing the topic in front of an audience of methodological experts within this area! After each shared their own experiences of conducting either authethnography or auto/biography, they opened it up to the audience to debate the merits of the two methods. An exciting and interesting dialogue with the audience ensued, with the ethical considerations of each method being fervently discussed, as well as the challenges of deciding what can be classified as autoethnography or auto/biography. There was no lull in the exchange of views and conference members applauded the informative and interactive element of our presentation.

After our presentation, we were able to forge links with others at the conference and were requested to share our work even more! It was very exciting to be so well received and have such a positive response to the presentation. However, there was no overall consensus and we agreed to differ on the syllabic emphasis of “tomato”!

BU at The Freud Museum: ‘Powerplay: Psychoanalysis and Political Culture’

BRIAN, BU research

Special Day Conference, BU at the Freud Museum:

‘Powerplay: Psychoanalysis and Political Culture’

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We are surrounded by political culture as never before and yet, in some ways have never felt so powerless. The recent Brexit vote ( see: http://bit.ly/EUReferendumAnalysis2016_Jackson-Thorsen-and-Wring_v1) and the victory of Trump in the US Presidential election (US Election Analysis website) have foregrounded the significance of politics as a field of social and cultural contestation, shaped by the dynamics of power, history and material interest, but also by the irrational forces of emotion and processes of unconscious fantasy. In December 2016, the BU Centre for Politics and Media collaborated with the Freud Museum, and the Media and Inner World research network to host a special conference on different aspects of political culture today.

The conference was held at the Anna Freud Centre and the Freud Museum, London and it brought together some renowned figures to look at a broad idea of political culture and psychoanalysis, discussed as history, as a state of mind, as televisual culture and as being linked to political practice. Throughout the course of the day, the conference looked at these different areas, and how those spheres feed into the political imagination and the unconscious processes that shape it.

The day began with organizer, Professor Candida Yates (biog) who in her opening remarks, developed the themes of her recent book, The Play of Political Culture, Emotion and Identity (Palgrave Macmillan) by discussing the psychodynamics of political culture, focusing as a case study on the relationship between shame and the emotional appeal of Donald Trump for voters.

BU Professor Barry Richards (biog) then chaired the first full session of the day with the renowned cultural historian, Professor Eli Zaretsky (biog). He discussed ‘The Three Faces of Political Freud’ and the hisorical influences of psychoanalysis upon political social movements (abstract).

The second presentation was given by Psychoanalyst and Organisational Consultant, Philip Stokoe (biog), who presented a psychoanalytic approach to understanding the states of mind in societies that can produce Brexit and Trump (abstract)

In the afternoon, BU Professor, Iain MacRury (biog) interviewed the acclaimed TV screenplay writer, Andrew Davies (biog), who discussed the experience of writing TV drama House of Cards and its links to the theatre of politics in ‘real life’.

In the final session, Psychotherapist and TV and radio broadcaster, Professor Brett Kahr (biog) interviewed Baroness, Professor Sheila Hollins (biog) about the day to day culture of working as a female politician in the House of Lords. As an Independent member of the House of Lords, she speaks on mental health, disability and press regulation and she spoke in a highly compelling way about the experience of her work in those fields.

The conference was fully booked and the audience was made up of psychotherapists, analysts and academics and PhD students from the fields of politics, history, cultural studies and psychosocial studies. Students from the BU MA in International Political Communication also attended and contributed to the discussions that took place throughout the day.

The talks were recorded on podcast and so there will be an opportunity to catch up via the Freud Museum website: https://www.freud.org.uk/events/76650/power-play-psychoanalysis-and-political-culture/

Our thanks to the Centre for Politics and Media and the Freud Museum for hosting and partly funding this timely and enjoyable event.

Centre for Midwifery, Maternity and Perinatal Health (CMMPH) represented at the 5th European Midwives Association Education Conference

Uncategorized

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The CMMPH was well represented at the above international conference highlighting innovations in education, practice and regulation. The conference was held this year in London and attended by HRH The Princess Royal. Presentations from CMMPH colleagues ranged from developing a common framework for assessing practice and innovative on-line education approaches, to dignity and care in pregnancy and childbirth and how evidence is utilised in practice.

Presentations (oral and poster) include:

  1. i) Grading Practice: A common framework to aid consistency and parity across midwifery education programmes in the UK, Fisher M and Way S
  2. ii) Dignity and care in pregnancy and childbirth: Educating student midwives, Hall J and Mitchell M I
  3. ii) The BRIEF randomised trial: do Cochrane summaries help midwifery students understand the findings of Cochrane systematic reviews? Alderdice, F and Hundley, V
  4. iv) UUPP study: Updating the understanding of perineal practice at the time of birth across the UK, Stride, S, Hundley, V, and Way, S.
  5. v) Promoting physiological birth in Malta: reflection on an educational project. Poster, Hall J and with three midwifery colleagues from Mater Dei Hospital, Malta
  6. vi) Not just ticking the boxes: online practice assessment in midwifery. Poster, Angell, C. Wilkins, C., Leamon, J. and Way, S.

Other research that is currently ongoing at BU, but was highlighted at the conference was the Interim report of the Human Rights & Dignity Experience of Disabled Women during Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Parenting. Hall, J., Collins, B., Ireland, J. and Hundley, V.

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The photo is of (L-R) Jenny Hall, Sara Stride, Sue Way, Carol Wilkins, Catherine Angell and Vanora Hundley.

BU ADGE to chair ASEAN region conference

Uncategorized

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Associate Dean (Global Engagement) in the Faculty of Media and Communication, Professor Guy Starkey, has been invited to be Programme Chair of the JMComm 2017 conference in October in Singapore. The call for papers has just been published, and you can find it below.

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Call for papers for the Global Science and Technology Forum’s 6th Annual International Conference on Journalism & Mass Communications (JMComm 2017). The conference will take place from 9th – 10th October 2017 in Singapore. 

Past contributors have included scholars from Europe, the Americas, Australasia, Africa and elsewhere. Accepted papers will be considered for publication.

The paper submission deadline is 8th May 2017. The call is now open at http://www.jmcomm.org/call-for-papers/en/cfp.html

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Guy would be grateful if you could help disseminate the JMComm 2017 call for papers through your own networks. For ANY inquiries, please email secretariat@jmcomm.org

FMC Associate Professor delivers plenary at Style and Response Conference

BU research, conferences, Research news

It was my great pleasure to take part last week in a conference organised by the Stylistics Research Group at Sheffield Hallam Style and Response. My paper reported on the activities of our two BU based AHRC funded projects, and on the ethical and methodological challenges of researching readers and reading online.  The conference was an important opportunity to disseminate the work of the existing projects and to further extend our network of scholars researching reading in the digital age. It was also an opportunity to discuss what will hopefully be the next stage of this research, as our application for Follow on Funding to the AHRC is currently being finalised….

 

The first day included a fascinating panel on Digital Fiction, particularly focusing on immersion and showcasing different methodologies including the Think Aloud protocol and participant interviews. The case studies discussed in this session included Dreaming Methods’ Wallpaper (Alice Bell), videogame Zero Time Dilemma (Jess Norledge and Richard Finn) and The Princess Murderer (Isabelle Van der Bom). After lunch, I switched between panels to catch Sam Browse’s entertaining paper presenting an ethnographic study of a group of local Labour party activists, followed by Lyle Skains’ paper reporting on how her creative writing students responded to reading digital or ‘ergodic’ fiction, and how they felt this influenced their own creative practice.

 

It was great to see diversity throughout the programme both in terms of methods and case studies.  One of the takeaways from day one was a strong preference for mixed methods, and there was a very lively discussion following the closing plenary (presented in absentia by Ranjana Das) about the extent to which exploring new approaches and methods from different disciplines can be managed without diluting or compromising the skills and expertise that we have as researchers primarily trained in critical analysis and close reading.

 

I delivered the opening plenary on day 2, followed by a fascinating panel on Attention, with an insightful paper on cognitive approaches to re-reading from Chloe Harrison and Louise Nuttall, and a very informative and interesting paper on eyetracking and onomatopoeia in manga from Olivia Dohan.

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The afternoon sessions provided further innovative approaches to media and new media texts and cultures.  Isabelle van der Bom and Laura Paterson reported on a corpus linguistic study of live tweeting of Benefits Street, which provided depressing but fascinating evidence of the ways in which the ‘echo chamber’ of social media is nevertheless shaped in interaction with other media (tv, the tabloid press).  It also raised questions about the extent to which empirical and particularly quantitative approaches can tell the ‘whole story’ when it comes to a discourse where there may be just as many silent witnesses as participants.

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Alison Gibbons’ paper on JJ Abrams’ S offered a fascinating account of the novel as part of a transmedia universe, and reported on her attempts to get ‘real readers’ to create and insert their own marginalia alongside that provided by the novel’s creators.  The closing plenary was an energetic and engaging discussion of persuasion and transportation by Melanie Green.  As well as transporting us to another world by reading us a story, Melanie’s paper left us with some important insights into the power of stories to change minds for good and ill.

Many congratulations to the organisers of this event for producing such a stimulating couple of days. It was wonderful to see that the study of readers and reading is attracting some innovative work from within the field of stylistics, drawing on a long tradition of focusing on the empirical, but also demonstrating breadth of engagement with terms and methods from multiple disciplines.