The editorial board of the Journal of Promotional Communications (JPC) would like to announce the publication of its new issue.  Volume 6 Number 3 is now available for download at:  http://promotionalcommunications.org/index.php/pc

In this issue, we include the top six papers presented at last year’s Promotional Communications annual conference organised by the Corporate & Marketing Communications (CMC) Department in the Faculty of Media and Communication.  Papers deal with subjects that many of you will find very interesting and topical (branding politics, Trump, gender equality, neuromarketing, monetisation and public health).

The journal was launched in 2013 with the help of BU Fusion Funding and is the first open-access, peer-review journal for the study of promotional cultures and communication to publish outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate work.  More recently the journal has published issues showcasing excellent collaborative papers written by BU students and their tutors.

The journal welcomes submissions from a range of disciplinary areas, including, but not limited to advertising, cultural studies, consumer research, sociology and political communications

If you would like to get involved with the journal or edit a special issue on a topic of relevance, please contact the editors: (Janice Denegri-Knott, jdknott@bournemouth.ac.uk or Carrie Hodges, chodges@bournemouth.ac.uk.) 

Sue Sudbury, Xue Han, Charlie Mott and Julian McDougall’s article on the Hunger By the Sea co-creation project has been published in the International Journal of Students as Partners. 

This research was generated by the co-authoring scheme funded by CEMP and Uo23, led by Anna Feigenbaum. Sue and Julian committed to working together on this interdisciplinary reflection on a project which connected Sue’s award-winning approach to film as research with Julian’s work on student learning in ‘the third space’.

Hunger by the Sea: the film

Hunger by the Sea: the research output  

As gender intersects with race and ethnicity it is important to make visible the experiences of ethnic ‘Other’ women (Ratna and Samie, 2017). The intersection causes deep-rooted prejudice, discrimination and injustice that is evidenced within Higher Education for staff and students (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/sep/07/uk-university-professors-black-minority-ethnic;https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/universities-want-to-pretend-racism-is-not-happening-q3bd77www)

Last week, in the inaugural WAN Gender Research Seminar, Dr Hyun-Joo Lim and Dr Deborah Gabriel presented their published academic research that shows how political and societal structures, cultures and every-day practices produce inequalities for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women, and men.

A key concern, which was demonstrated through both of their long-term qualitative research projects, is that despite established policy and legislative frameworks ethnic ‘Other’ women continue to face unequal and unjust treatment. This is corroborated through statistics that reveal the quantities of inequality around the world (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/). However, both presenters argue that it is the lived experiences of BME women, and men, that must be made visible in order to properly reveal the subtle, and sometimes insidious, mechanisms of discrimination. Such a methodology enables deep and detailed knowledge that can produce change at a faster rate than at present. It is the intricacies within political and societal structures, cultures and practices that require our attention as academics, and scholars.

The seminar participants discussed the significance of the presented research – methodologies and empirical findings – as well as the reach of the research in terms of making a difference. Through sharing their work with students and staff at Bournemouth University, Dr Lim and Dr Gabriel connect research and pedagogy. We are better educated in the harsh realities women often experience. For example, the brutal human rights abuses faced by women who escape North Korea (https://theconversation.com/a-terrible-fate-awaits-north-korean-women-who-escape-to-china-82992), and the effects of a lack of critical conscious when it comes to white privilege within Higher Education in the UK. Education is the first step. The next steps involve activism and transformation of the status quo.

The seminar achieved three main aspects. First, it provided a critical forum to discuss frequently marginalised aspects of gender research – the intersections of race, ethnicity and gender. Second, it made explicit that official policy and legislation often mask contemporary inequalities and serve to present issues as no longer in need of scrutiny. Finally, that a focus on the personal and everyday is in order to theorise and implement change. Especially the adoption of a critical conscious by those with privilege and power (http://blackbritishacademics.co.uk/research/inside-the-ivory-tower/).

If you would like to present gendered-related research at the WAN Gender Research Seminar Series, please contact co-convenors:

Jayne Caudwell: jcaudwell@bournemouth.ac.uk

Lorraine Brown: LBrown@bournemouth.ac.uk

Francis Hawkhead: fhawkhead@bournemouth.ac.uk