Category / Communities, Cultures and Conflicts

eBU in final stages before launch – please submit now!

eBU is going through the final IT phases before the anticipated launch at the end of July.

I have been delighted with the interest that eBU has generated from all sections of the BU community. Academics, students and professional and support staff have all shown an interest in submitting to and signposting others to eBU, and it is clear that eBU will play a significant role in developing academic output.

eBU has champions in each school (I’m happy to put people in contact), and section editors across all of the research themes under which submissions will sit.

Authors will be encouraged to submit by logging in to the eBU site. However, if you’re interested in submitting to eBU before the live date, please get in touch and email submissions to me at eBU@bournemouth.ac.uk or aharding@bournemouth.ac.uk

We already have some submissions, and submissions sent to me before the launch date will be among the first to be published by eBU and undergo immediate publication and open peer review.

Author guidelines can be found here – eBU guidelines.

CEMP Conversation / Cluster

Audio extracts of our CEMP conversation last week are here:

(1) Discussion of Marketa Zezulkova’s book chapter on a holistic approach to media literacy:

Marketa’s article: discussion

(2) Discussion of Richard Wallis’ journal article on media literacy and policy discourse: Richard’s article – discussion

And a reminder that the final CEMP Research & Innovation cluster meeting of the year is this Thursday the 11th July, 10-11am in the CEMP office, Iain MacRury is joining us to discuss a new AHRC call.  The latest version of the CEMP R&I bulletin is here: CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 4.7.13

 

 

Fusion supports Euro PR History Network advance

Delegates to the EPRHN Planning Meeting

With financial support from the Fusion Investment Fund, the European Public Relations History Network (EPRHN) held its first planning meeting at BU on Wednesday June 26.

The network was founded virtually in 2012 by Prof Tom Watson of the Media School and drew interest from 33 academics and practitioners in 11 European countries. It was approved.as a project by EUPRERA (Europe’s PR education and research association) in autumn last year.

Its aims are to develop and produce information about the history and historiography of public relations in Europe through the identification and formation of archives, transnational research, joint research bids and the production of publications in print and online formats.

The meeting of EPRHN’s core group brought seven historical researchers from Germany, Romania, Spain, Scotland, Turkey and Bournemouth. Fusion assisted their attendance through travel bursaries.

Among the actions to be progressed are a bid to the EU’s COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) scheme, which was facilitated on Wednesday by Paul Lynch of RKE; a second edition of its Archives Record publication; and a panel session on ‘developing the history of European public relations’ at EUPRERA’s annual conference in October.

Prof Watson, who was supported by Dr Tasos Theofilou in the organisation of the meeting, said it had been highly productive. “There’s a limit to what we can achieve by email and Skype. The EPRHN made a big forward step because FIF helped bring key members together”. It will also assist Prof Watson and Dr Theofilou to fully launch the group at the October conference.

“At present, 13 countries are represented in the network. We hope to widen that base and engage many more historical researchers in its activities”, said Prof Watson.

For more information about EPRHN and BU’s contribution to the burgeoning field of PR history, go to: http://historyofpr.com.

CEMP Conversations this week and next

An extract from this morning’s conversation is here: CEMP conversation Tom Stacey

Tom Stacey shared an article about second language acquisition and related this to his own PHD research into coding as language acquisition.

He also talked about the practice-based element of his research, of which this robot is an example.             

Next week – on Friday 5th July, at 11.30 – 12.30, in the CEMP office, our final CEMP conversation of the academic year will take place.

We’ll be discussing two related items:

(1) Marketa Zezulkova’s book chapter on a holistic approach to media literacy education:  Marketa Book Chapter

(2) Richard Wallis’s recently published article, co-authored with David Buckingham, on the construction of media literacy within the policy context of the Communications Act: European Journal of Communication-2013-Wallis-0267323113483605

It should be a cracker, and,as always, all colleagues are very welcome to join us, in the current CEMP office, for the last time!

Papers from 19 countries at 4th PR history conference

Boston University (BU) speakers at IHPRC 2013

Aussie academics at IHPRC 2013

 

 

The fourth International History of Public Relations Conference, held at BU on June 24-25, attracted papers from 19 countries. Organised by the Institute for Media & Communication Research in The Media School, it covered topics as diverse as the Royal Family’s first PR adviser to PR in Kazakhstan, and publicity for the launch of Gone With The Wind in 1939.

Held at the Executive Business Centre, there were two strong themes: the historiography of public relations and historical aspects of the professionalisation of PR. They symbolised the conference’s development since 2010 from largely descriptive narratives to a more analytic, sometimes critical approach.

The conference welcomed the authors of five new or recent books and witnessed the launch of the first title in Routledge’s New Directions on Public Relations and Communication Research series which has been developed and edited by Dr Kevin Moloney of the Media School. The book, Public Relations and Nation Building: Influencing Israel, was written by Dr Margalit Toledano and Prof David McKie.

Prof Tom Watson gave the keynote presentation about the state of scholarship in public relations history. He called for historians to move away from “comfortable” topics to more critical investigation into the use and abuse of public relations.

The conference dinner was addressed by Bob (Robert S.) Leaf, a pioneers of international public relations in the 1960s to 1980s, when he was the international chairman of the leading public relations consultancy Burson-Marsteller. Mr Leaf recently published a memoir, The Art of Perception. Delegates also attended a “meet the editors” session which featured contributions on research and publishing by the editors of four major academic journals in the field.

Papers and presentations will be published on the conference website, http://historyofpr.com, in the late summer. Planning for the 2014 conference, which will be held at the EBC on July 2-3 next year, will start shortly.

CEMP Research & Innovation Funding Bulletin & Cluster Meeting

Here is the slightly late, but updated, CEMP Research and Innovation Funding Bulletin: CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 20.6.13

The next cluster meeting is on Thursday 27th June, 10-11.30 in the CEMP office and, as always, anyone interested in a funding opportunity in the bulletin or wanting to develop another idea for a CEMP project, is very welcome indeed.

Or if you are interested in discussing a project / funding call but cannot attend the meeting, please contact Julian McDougall.

 

CEMP Conversation: 27:6:13

The next CEMP conversation – our fortnightly readers’ and writers’ group – will take place on Thursday June 27th 12 – 1pm in the CEMP office.

This time we’ll be discussing this article, provided by CEMP research student Tom Stacey:

Psychological Science-2013-Frost-0956797612472207

Tom will make a link from the article to his own PHD research and open the discussion.

As always, anyone who wants to read the article and join the discussion is very welcome indeed.

 

eBU staff drop in sessions to be held in each school

I am pleased to announce that I am holding drop in sessions in each school for the BU community to ask questions about eBU: Online Journal.

These sessions will be:

Mon 24th June – DEC 12 -2pm in P411

Mon 24th June – School of Applied Sciences 2-4pm in C122

Tues 25th June – HSC 9-11am in the Wellbeing Centre, B112 Bournemouth House 

Tues 25th June – Business School 2-4pm in EB205

Thurs 27th June – School of Tourism 1.30-3.30 in P410

Fri 28th June – Media School 8-10am in CAG04

 

Festival of Learning – Testament to a Successful Morning (Dr Simon Thompson, DEC Psychology Research Centre)

‘Testamentary Capacity in Dementia’ (03 June 2013 10:00h – 13:00h) – Presentation followed by in-depth plenary session about the complexities of leaving an estate to beneficiaries following a diagnosis of dementia.

‘Dementia’ is an umbrella term used to describe many types of deteriorating diseases – the most common ones are Alzhiemer’s disease, Vascular dementia, and Lewy body dementia.

Many married couples own property as ‘joint tenants’. Upon death, ownership automatically passes to the survivor. If property is owned as ‘tenants in common’, one half of the estate belonging to the deceased is dealt with by their Will. Problems arise when there is no Will, when others make a claim, or when another Will is executed.

‘Testamentary capacity’ is a person’s legal and mental ability to make a
valid Will. There are three premises: Presumption of capacity; Requirements; Proof of testamentary capacity.

It is proposed that the law should allow testators alternative means of satisfying the testamentary capacity standard such as an option to validate a testator’s capacity during their lifetime through forensic assessment measuring cognitive elements of testamentary capacity.

It does not remove the difficulty of knowing the status of person at a specific time line. However, it goes some way to describing a person during their lifetime in terms of mental ability and capacity.

Thompson, SBN (2006). Dementia and memory: a handbook for students and professionals. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Thompson, SBN (2012). Dementia. In SBN Thompson (Ed), Psychology of trauma: clinical reviews, case histories, research (pp169-202). Portsmouth: Blackwell-Harvard-Academic.

‘Off the Campus and Into the Community: Teaching for Social Justice

Speaker: Dr Susan Hyatt, Visiting Fellow, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, Associate Professor of Anthropology, IU School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis 

 Monday, 17th June 2013

12:00– 13:30

R303  Royal London House

 

Abstract:

Over the past 20 years, institutions of higher learning in the US, both public and private, have increasingly emphasized the value of civic engagement and community outreach as integral parts of their educational missions. In my teaching of applied anthropology, I have embraced this pedagogical turn as a way to involve students in community-based issues and to promote critical thinking. In this talk, I offer several brief examples where I have taken students out off the campus and into the community to engage in collaborative research projects. And, I have also offered students opportunities to participate in courses taught in somewhat unconventional community settings, including prisons and a residential treatment facility for women overcoming addiction. I argue that through such courses, we do not teach our students about social justice; rather, we allow students to experience for themselves the inequalities that structure much of our contemporary world and to reflect deeply on the ways that social action connects theory with practice.

 

 

PHENOMENOLOGY INTEREST GROUP: Sport and Well-being

 

 

 

 

You are warmly invited to the fourth meeting of the Phenomenology Interest Group which will be held on Wednesday 3 July between 12.00—1.30. Venue: R201, Royal London House

We are fortunate to have Dr Joanne Mayoh and Dr Ian Jones from the School of Tourism who will demonstrate an example of cross-disciplinary thinking and the translation of theory into practice:

Title: Using the Dwelling Mobility theory to explore how sport can make wellbeing an experiential possibility

Abstract:

The positive relationship between sport and wellbeing has been widely documented in both policy documents and the academic literature. Whilst it is widely acknowledged that this relationship exists, little is known regarding how and why sport can contribute to positive wellbeing for individuals.  Subsequently, there is a need for research that takes a bottom-up approach in order to adequately explore the nature of this relationship in order to contribute to wider knowledge regarding sport and wellbeing, and effectively inform future policy and practice. In mirroring this approach our research draws upon phenomenological philosophers such as Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty to provide a view of the individual that sees them having a sense of agency and existential freedom. This philosophical standpoint will provide the human-centred emphasis for research that is required to fully understand how sport and wellbeing may be connected.  Specifically, this paper draws upon the existing work of Todres & Galvin with regards to Dwelling- Mobility Theory in order to consider how lifeworld philosophy could become more central in leading sport research. In line with this theory, our work considers how sport can provide a sense of dwelling, mobility, and dwelling-mobility within each of six lifeworld dimensions: temporarily; spatiality; embodiment; inter-subjectivity; identity and mood. We conclude that sport is one of the few single activities that can provide the potential for feelings of dwelling, mobility and dwelling-mobility within these dimensions simultaneously.

Dr Joanne Mayoh is a Lecturer in Sport, Physical Activity and Health at Bournemouth University. Her main research interests include the Conceptualisation of Wellbeing, and Active Ageing. She has published journal articles on Phenomenology and research methodology.

Dr Ian Jones is the Associate Dean for Sport at Bournemouth University- His research interests include Sport and Identity, Sport Fandom, and Spectators. He is author of Research Methods for Sport Studies and Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity.