Category / Research themes

Surveys at Avebury and Stonehenge on German TV

Collaborative research between Professor Tim Darvill in the Centre for Archaeology and Anthropology at BU and Professor Fritz Lüth of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin was featured in a short television programme made by ARD, the first German channel, first broadcast on 26 November. The programme focuses on the extensive high resolution geophysical surveys being undertaken within the Avebury and Stonehenge World Heritage Site, and was filmed during the 2016 fieldwork season in September. Click here to view the programme.

British Pain Society Meeting – Headaches and Migraines

Awarded & submitted bids, student research

Headache Special Interest Group Meeting 16th November 2016

I was supported to attend the above workshop as part of the development of my PhD which is entitled: Identifying subgroups of migraine patients who could benefit from physical therapy.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that between 50% and 75% of adults aged 18–65 years globally have had at least one headache in the last year with more than 10% reporting migraines. Migraines/severe headaches are a debilitating condition often requiring time off which has huge social, economic and personal consequences.

Approximately 35- 50% of those who suffer migraines achieve some sort of relief through medication. It is important that those who do not respond to medication find pain relief through other means for example physical therapy. The aim of my study will be a 2 arm RCT aimed at identifying migraine effect moderators, comparing physical therapy with usual medication in a tertiary migraine clinic.

The work shop run by the British Pain Society on migraines/severe headaches involved presentations from colleagues nationally who discussed; pathophysiology, comorbidities, new pharmacological and non pharmacological approaches for the treatment of migraine.

The issues of peripheral and central sensitisation were addressed and are two common areas for discussion in the pathophysiology of migraine and other pain conditions. One of the peripheral triggers to migraines that was considered were temporomandibular disorders. This raised issues around comorbidities that contribute to migraine (of which there are many) and how these may be managed using physical therapy such as physical therapy Cary.

One of the interesting aspects I took away from the day was the concept that the development of migraines may be as a result of an impairment of homeostasis and the involvement of contributory stressors. I believe this is an important development and will form part of my study.

What is clear is that the treatment and management of migraines/severe headaches are still a major challenge and my research project will aim to address a very relevant topic.

Jim Odell PhD Student and supervision team Dr Carol Clark, Dr Damian Fay and Dr Jonny Branney

ERASMUS+: And so it begins in Valencia

erasmusimage1Last week, Dr Ben Hicks (lecturer in Psychology and an associate of the Ageing and Dementia Institute) and Prof. Wen Tang (Head of Research in the Department of Creative Technology) attended the Kick-Off meeting in Valencia for their recently awarded Erasmus+ project. This two year study is led by Alzheimer’s Valencia and includes partners: Alzheimer’s Slovenia, Alzheimer’s Romania, Alzheimer’s Greece and IBV Valencia. The project aims to explore the use of ‘Serious Games’ for people living with dementia and to exchange best practice knowledge between the various EU countries. As part of the study, the research team will develop an online training platform that will enable people living with dementia and their care partners to access and use a range of ‘Serious Games’ that can support their well-being.

The preliminary meeting was an exciting affair with lively discussions between the partners as they outlined their aspirations for the project. Following a two-day meeting that included an unexpected trip to the Regional Parliament of Valencia to meet a representative of the Valencian Government for the European Union, the partners have been tasked with exploring up to date ‘Serious Games’ that are being used with people with dementia in their countries. The research team will initially compile a list of games and devices that are being used within the dementia community.  Following this, each country will host a series of workshops to assess the perceived impact of the games as well as understand best practice for their implementation. Once this information has been collected, work will begin on designing the e-training platform.

Over the next two years, meetings will be held in each of the four countries to enable the partners to continue to share their knowledge. So bring on Greece in March 2017!erasmusimage6

If you would like more details on the project please contact Ben on bhicks@bournemouth.ac.uk.

CFP: Special Issue on Gender and Mobility in Tourism

Knowledge Exchange, Women's Academic Network

Call for Papers: Tourism Review
Special Issue on Gender and Mobility in Tourism

Guest Editors:
Jaeyeon Choe, PhD
Centre for Events, Leisure, Society & Culture, Faculty of Management
Bournemouth University, UK

Cristopher Livecchi, PhD
Department of Geography
State University of New York, USA

Gender in/and tourism have been gaining an increasing attention from tourism scholars since the 1990s (e.g., Aitchison, 2005; Figueroa-Domecq et al., 2015; Ferguson, 2011; Ireland, 1993; Pritchard & Morgan, 2000; Munar et al., 2015; Swain, 1995). Despite growing interest and published works, the nexus of tourism and gender has not been thoroughly explored by researchers. Gender and tourism literature is fragmented, with a lack of communication and collaboration across disciplines even though there are overlapping topic areas and discussions. There has not been enough interdisciplinary research work carried out, leading to fragmented literature reviews, theorization processes and methods. Thus, the primary aim of this special issue is to thoroughly review the theories, theorization processes and methods/methodology of gender studies in tourism, by encouraging the incorporation of LGBT, queer studies and ‘White’ feminism concepts and theories.

Secondly, we are interested in exploring how migration and mobility in a globalising world have affected gender issues in relation to tourism, and implications of practices, politics and meanings of mobility for women (Porter, 2011). Migration theory had begun to include feminist theory in the early 1990s (Chant ,1992), and has provided insights into the connections and the mutually constitutive relationship between the construction of masculinities and masculinist ideologies; and migration, (im)mobilities and transnationalism and gender issues. As scholars interested in migration and mobilities work collaboratively and transnationally across different worlds (Yeoh & Ramdas, 2014), papers that address how migration and gender issues influence tourism research and practices are welcome. We also welcome papers that incorporate action research, as well as papers that develop future research directions.

In summary, this special issue, we seek papers related to issues about (im)mobilities, migration, LGBTQ, ‘White’ feminism, action research, social sustainability and the cultural geography of gender and tourism. We invite contributions from a variety of disciplines including anthropology, geography, sociology, psychology, cultural studies, leisure studies, tourism studies and education. We invite you to submit papers on topics that include (but are not limited to):

– Migration and gender (in)equality
– Gender politics, migration and (im)mobilities
– Action research in gender and tourism
– Research methods development
– LGBT/queer studies in tourism field
– ‘White’ feminism/ ‘White’ masculinity
– Cultural geography of gender and tourism
– Social sustainability and gender issues
– Gender and the Sharing Economy
– “Dangerous women” in tourism
– Implications of practices, politics and meanings of mobility for women
– Gender, migration and (im)moralities in developing worlds
– Brexit and its potential impact on immigrant women communities

Each article should be approximately 3000-5500 words long.
Submission Deadlines:

· 500 words abstract due: 20 December 2016
· Full paper due: 20 February 2017

Please send your abstracts/papers to Jaeyeon Choe, PhD (jchoe@bournemouth.ac.uk)

Fusion project leads to best paper award

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund

Work by BU researchers examining the human aspects of Digital Rights Management has won a best paper award at the Fourth International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and IP Law. This is joint work carried out by Marcella Favale, Neil McDonald, Shamal Faily, and Christos Gatzidis.

This work, which resulted from research carried out during the FIF funded MADRIGAL project, examines the perspective of DRM from the perspective of content creators using qualitative socio-legal analysis.

In addition to this work, we were also invited to write an extended version of this paper for SCRIPTed, which is currently in press.

Well done Marcella and the rest of the MADRIGAL team!

Congratulations to FHSS orthopaedics academics

Publishing

j-nurs-ortho-2016Congratulations to James Gavin, Tikki Immins and  Thomas Wainwright on the publication of their systematic review: ‘Stair negotiation as a rehabilitation intervention for enhancing recovery following total hip and knee replacement surgery‘.

Reference:

Gavin, J., Immins, T., Wainwright, T. (2016). Stair negotiation as a rehabilitation intervention for enhancing recovery following total hip and knee replacement surgery. Int J Orthop Trauma Nurs. Available online October 2016

 

Enhanced Rehabilitation Of The Upper Limb Following Stroke By An Adaptive Virtual Reality And FES Approach

PG research

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Games and Music Technology Research.presimage

 

Speaker: Nathan Barrett (A Bournemouth University PhD student based at Salisbury NHS).

 

Title:     Enhanced Rehabilitation Of The Upper Limb Following Stroke By An Adaptive Virtual Reality And FES Approach

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 30th November 2016

Room: PG11, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Of the approximately 150,000 people a year who suffer a stroke in the UK, 85% of survivors are left with some degree of motor dysfunction in their upper limb. Complete functional recovery has been found to occur in just 5% to 34% of cases. These low rates may be due to rehabilitative interventions that lack the volumes of specific motor practice needed to induce neuroplasticity – a form of cortical rewiring that allows the brain to adapt after damage. Assistive technologies, such as Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and virtual games, can augment such therapy and may be beneficial to a person’s recovery.

FES is a type of electrotherapy which has good clinical evidence for its use. Electrically-stimulated movements, however, often lack combined voluntary effort – a factor necessary to aid effectiveness. Virtual games, on the other hand, often inspire huge amounts of volitional movement, although, particularly with popular commercial devices, this movement isn’t always therapeutic.

Combining the two is therefore an attractive prospect, yet attempts at this have resulted in systems that are costly, immobile and commercially unavailable. There is therefore a need to combine the two within a system that fulfils the criteria for an effective assistive technology. The system, Esmé (the Electrically-Stimulated Movement and game Environment), is currently in development. This seminar provides an overview of the project and discusses next steps.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

Cage4All shortlisted for Pride of Sport Awards

Cage4All, a Hampshire-based charity, has been shortlisted for the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Sport Award for their work to make sport more accessible to marginalised groups, including those with dementia.  Researchers from Bournemouth University’s Dementia Institute have been involved in evaluating the effects of Cage4All’s work.

Cage Cricket allows small groups of people to take part in a modern twist on the game of cricket, which sees every player rotate around the pitch to take on the role of batter, bowler, fielders and umpire.  The game takes up much less space than traditional cricket and its structured approach makes it easy to learn.

Bournemouth University’s Dr Rick Fisher and Dr Ben Hicks, Lecturer in Health Psychology, have been working alongside the charity to evaluate their work with people with dementia.

“We were originally approached because of Dr Hick’s PhD project which explored the use of technology clubs for men with dementia in rural areas,” says Dr Fisher, “Dr Hick’s research showed the benefits of both the activity and the social contact.  He discovered that most social clubs tend to be aimed at women, so we were really interested to find out how sporting activities might help men with dementia.”

“We ran a small pilot study with people who had quite advanced dementia, who we initially thought would struggle to get something out of the project because of the difficulties they face,” explains Dr Fisher, “However, we were very quickly proved wrong as the people involved were able to take part in the game and showed signs of enjoying themselves.  We had a lot of positive feedback from carers who could see that it was making a difference.”

Simon Young, Managing Director of Cage4All noted “To see someone with a severe diagnosis taking the ball between his fingers, to ensure that the seam of the ball is correctly lined up, as he would have been taught sixty years ago, is a quite stunning sight. To see groups having the opportunity to take part in physical recreation within a safe and structured environment has established a ground-breaking community partnership through Cage 4 All which can provide hope and opportunity for communities across the UK.”

The team hope that the ideas they have been able to draw from this pilot project will enable them to carry out further research into the benefits of sport for people with dementia.

“It was very encouraging to see that those involved in the game appeared to be able to learn new rules and skills and seemed to enjoy the role of umpire, where they were able to take charge of other players,” says Dr Fisher, “In future projects, we’d like to be able to see how this kind of activity makes a difference in people with dementia over a longer period.”

The Daily Mirror’s Pride of Sport Awards take place on 7 December.

Civic Media Hub launches ‘Innovation Lunches’

 The Bournemouth University Civic Media Hub is hosting a series of ‘Innovation Lunches’ with invited guests from institutions across the UK. Bringing together BU faculty, PGR and UG students from different faculties and areas of expertise, the innovation lunches offer time to discuss new methodological practices and share interdisciplinary approaches to questions around data, digital media and society. With the aim of fostering collaborations for future grant bidding and strengthening our interdisciplinary connections, innovation lunches foster a space for inspiring research.

A catered lunch will be provided. Events are open to all staff and students, but places are limited. RSVP to attend an innovation lunch to afeigenbaum@bournemouth.ac.uk

Exploring Methods for Investigating Algorithms and Data Processes w/ Lina Dencik (Cardiff University)

Wednesday December 7th @ 13:00-14:00 F305 (Fusion Building, Talbot Campus)

As algorithms tell us what we want to watch and predict the years we have left to live, few aspects of our social, cultural and economic lives are left untouched from data processes. Despite popular claims, this datification of society is never neutral. What does it look like to study data as emerging sets of power relations?  How can we approach algorithms as social processes? Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion on methods for investigating algorithms and data processes.

 Bio: Dr Lina Dencik is Senior Lecturer and Director of the MA in Journalism, Media and Communication in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, UK. Her research is concerned with the interplay between media developments and social and political change, with a particular focus on globalization and resistance. She has recently been working on issues relating to surveillance, visibility, and the politics of data. Her most recent book is Critical Perspectives on Social Media and Protest: Between Control and Emancipation (co-edited with Oliver Leistert, Rowman & Littlefield International, 2015).

14:Live with Dr Ashley Woodfall returns on Thursday!

Student Engagement

Do you want to get creative for an hour? Do you have an interest in creative research methods?

14:Live is back tomorrow on Thursday 17 November with Dr Ashley Woodfall!8115-rkeo-14live-digital-signage-v3-0

Join us as we get creative and discuss Mess and Mayhem: Creative/Reflective Methods at Play. This mess and discussion led session will be a space to discuss the use (and abuse) of creative research methods. How can they help trigger meaningful research interactions, and how the outcomes might be understood?

This session will be exploring research in a creative environment from drawing, to molding, to improv’ and beyond. We ask if creative reflective methods can share something of your own life world and whether these methods can help unlock metaphorical insights that are missed through more traditional approaches.

Come along on at 14:00-15:00 on Floor 5 of the Student Centre for an hour of mess and mayhem. There will be free drinks and snacks!

If you have any questions then please contact Hannah Jones

Royal Geographical Society-BU joint event at the EBC -17th Nov

neptuneHave you thought about how much our landscapes have changed in the last 50 years?

The National Trust owns 775 miles of our coastline and you can hear about the changes they have mapped between 1965 and 2015 on a seminar organised by the Royal Geographical Society, this Thu 17th Nov, 7.00-8.30pm at the Executive Business Centre (room EB708).

50 years of the National Trust Neptune Project: coastal land use and maps

Karin Taylor (Head of Land Use Planning, National Trust) and Huw Davies (Head of Conservation Information, National Trust) present an overview of the coastal land use changes mapped during the 50 years of the Neptune Project. The lecture will discuss the fascinating impacts of town and country planning, the National Trust ownership, and the difference in survey techniques used between 1965 and 2015.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Enterprise Neptune (a major appeal to fund the acquisition of pristine coastal land) the National Trust commissioned a re-survey of a coastal land use survey that was completed of the English, Welsh and Northern Irish coastlines in 1965.  Comparative analysis of the two surveys provide insightful evidence of the changes in land use that have occurred between 1965 and 2015, and the impacts of both the advent of town and country planning and the consequences of national Trust ownership. The lecture will also show differences in the survey techniques between then (geography students armed with maps, pencils, walking boots and tents) and now (GIS and other desk-based techniques).

For more information and tickets, please click here (free for RGS-IBG members, students and university staff, others £5):

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/50-years-of-the-national-trust-neptune-project-coastal-land-use-and-maps-tickets-25784848175.

FMC Associate Professor delivers plenary at Style and Response Conference

conferences

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.

sheff

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.

Faculty of Management academics are keynote speakers at MEAconf

conferences, international

Two Faculty of Management academics, Dr Mohamed Haffar and Dr Elvira Bolat, are selected as keynote speakers for the 6th International Conference on Modern Research in Management, Economics and Accounting, which is held on 15th November at London South Bank University.

Dr Haffar from the Department of Leadership, Strategy and Organisational Behaviour is presenting on the following topic, ‘Guidelines for organisational sustainability in an era of radical change: The vital role of employees readiness and commitment to change’. Dr Bolat from the Department of Marketing is talking about ‘Digital transformation and its implications for academia and practice’.

screen-shot-2016-11-15-at-06-26-53

The MEAConference aims to pave an international way for leading academics, active researchers, experts, industry leaders and interested scholars to communicate and exchange their viewpoints on latest scientific findings and practical experiences in the fields of Management, Economics and Accounting. Besides, the Conference attempts to examine the scientific and practical challenges in their application process across all geographical regions as well as at diverse local, national, regional and international levels.