Category / Uncategorized

BU: Working towards becoming a Dementia-Friendly University

Uncategorized

The number of people living with dementia is set to increase as the population ages. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, a dementia-friendly community is a ‘place where the community acts consciously to ensure that people with dementia (along with all its citizens) are respected, empowered, engaged and embraced into the whole’. Nationally this agenda is being led by the Dementia Action Alliance and the Alzheimer’s Society who have have recently launched a formal dementia-friendly recognition process to ensure that communities are accountable to people affected by dementia.

BU becoming a dementia-friendly university is an essential part of our preparation for an increasingly ageing society. A number of staff and students have already spoken out, in confidence, about concerns for family members, close friends and themselves. Sadly, this is a real welfare concern for staff and students and is likely to develop at a fast pace. BU therefore needs to ensure that all staff and students are aware of dementia, understand what it is like to live with the condition, and know where to turn if they need further advice and guidance about dementia.

A Steering Group made up of staff from across BU has been created to take forwards this work. The Steering Group are working towards an action plan to enable BU to apply for recognition that we are ‘working towards becoming dementia friendly’. To achieve this recognition we are working on four areas:

1. Developing new buildings and refurbishments to take account of dementia-friendly design principles as part of the general accessibility principles guiding new build, lead by Estates.
2. Ensuring that policies and procedures support staff who might be concerned about their memory, or who are caring for family members with dementia, lead by HR.
3. Providing training to raise awareness of dementia and enable staff to accommodate the needs of people affected by the condition, lead by BUDI.
4. Ensuring that communications are dementia-friendly, lead by Marketing and Communications

As part of this work we are running a number of dementia awareness sessions for all staff, please sign up for a session here: https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/workingatbu/staffdevelopmentandengagement/ddeevents/budementiaawarenesssession/

We will continue to keep you up to date with our progress, but in the meantime if you have any questions or for more information please contact budi@bournemouth.ac.uk or call 01202 962771.

BU Dementia-Friendly University Steering Group

Reminder, talk by Dr Sarah Collard today, Royal London House, R301, 1-1:50 pm.

Uncategorized

All staff and students welcome,

Please feel free to bring your lunch.

 

How do you exercise with epilepsy? Insights into the psychosocial impact of exercising with epilepsy

Dr Sarah Collard,

Research fellow, FHSS

 

Abstract: Research examining the connection between epilepsy and exercise has seen a surge in recent years, specifically examining the benefits to exercise on seizure control and overall well-being for a person with epilepsy. However, the barriers to exercise and methods of exercising currently employed by people with epilepsy have yet to be explored within depth. This presentation will provide a background to the psychosocial impact of exercising with epilepsy and what barriers stand in the way for people with epilepsy in feeling the benefits of exercise. Discussing findings from an exploratory qualitative study investigating possible barriers and coping strategies already in place for people with epilepsy in regards to their exercise life, this presentation will further our insight into the psychosocial impact of exercising with epilepsy as well as discuss how we might move this research forward in encouraging more people with epilepsy to exercise.

 

For more information on Social Science Seminar Series, please get in touch with Dr Mastoureh Fathi (FHSS).

2016 BU PhD Studentship Competition – only 1 week left!

BU research, Funding opportunities, PG research, Uncategorized

2016 BU PhD Studentship Competition

Call for submission of up to 20 matched funded Postgraduate Research Projects now OPEN

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of the 2016 BU PhD Studentship Competition, with up to 20 matched funded projects available.

At this stage, Academic Staff are invited to submit proposals for studentship projects which, if successful, will be advertised to recruit PhD candidates for a September 2016 start.

Full details can be found on the Graduate School Staff Intranet where the following information can be found:

Submission Deadline:

Applications should be submitted on the Studentship Proposal Form to the Graduate School via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk no later than 9am on Monday 22 February 2016.

The Graduate School will manage the recruitment process along the following timetable:

Date Action
Wednesday 13 January 2016 Launch PhD Studentships Internal Competition – development of proposals
Monday 22 February 2016 Closing date for submission of proposals
Tuesday 15 March 2016 Panel meeting
Late March 2016 Feedback to supervisors and preparation of adverts
March – June 2016 Launch PhD Studentships External Competition – recruitment of candidates
September 2016 Successful Candidates start

CALL FOR PAPERS: SUSTAINABLE EARTH 2016

Uncategorized

CALL FOR PAPERS: SUSTAINABLE EARTH 2016

earth
A global forum for connecting research with action

23 and 24 June 2016, Plymouth University

Key note speakers include:

Craig Bennett – CEO, Friends of the Earth

Wendy Darke – Head of the BBC’s Natural History Unit

Sir Mark Walport – Government Chief Adviser in the United Kingdom

You are invited to participate in Sustainable Earth 2016 – a global forum for connecting research with action taking place on 23 and 24 June 2016 at Plymouth University.

Plymouth University are inviting papers from the academic community on sustainability research and also organisations interested in highlighting their sustainability related activity and where Universities can help in the future. Submit your abstract.

If you are interested in profiling your sustainability research or initiative and connecting with like-minded people then this forum is for you!

Submission Deadline: 28th February 2016

forum

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 2015-16 17 February 2016

Uncategorized

Communicating Research
FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 2015-16
The Faculty of Media and Communication at BU

Venue: CG17, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB
Wednesday 17 February 3pm CG17

A Journalism Research Group Guest Lecture
Glenda Cooper, City University

Hurricanes and Hashtags: The Power Dynamics of Humanitarian Reporting in a Digital Age
Who tells the story of today’s humanitarian disasters? Twitter, Instagram, SMS messages have entered into the defining images and texts of humanitarian disasters, theoretically allowing survivors to play a role in the framing of such crises.

Yet research suggests both mainstream media and NGOs – whose symbiotic relationships traditionally framed such stories – have cloned and absorbed such content, potentially restricting the voices that are heard. Issues around privacy and copyright are yet to be resolved in the mainstream media, while NGOs have turned to Western bloggers rather than beneficiaries to mediate their message.

This seminar will draw on the recent collection Humanitarianism Communications and Change, co-edited by the author, and also 50 semi-¬‐structured interviews she has conducted with a) those whose content was used by UK mainstream media; b) journalists from the main broadcast and print outlets in the UK; and c) members of each of the 13 UK Disaster Emergency Committee aid agencies who responded to recent crises including the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake. It aims to look how voices of citizens in crises are being mediated and mediatized, as well as what issues the use of this content raises around the contextual integrity of privacy. It concludes by examining whether NGOs’ engagement online allows the voices of the marginalised to emerge?

Wednesday 17 February 4pm CG17

A CMC – Politics and Media Guest Lecture
Laura Sudulich, University of Kent

Not all that glitters is gold: Assessing the (absence of) impact of social media on preference voting in the 2014 Belgian elections
A growing number of studies address the relationship between candidate use of social media (particularly Twitter) and candidate voting, suggesting that those candidates who embedded social media in their campaign strategy attract more votes than those who have not. This holds across a variety of countries and political systems. We use data from the May 2014 Belgian to estimate the effects of social media campaign on preferential voting. This election is of particular interest because on the same day Belgian voters chose their representatives to the regional, federal and European parliaments (allowing us to examine ‘who’ would benefit most from Twitter). We captured candidates twitter feeds during the campaign and we merge this with information about the ballot position of the candidate, incumbency status and demographics. We control for traditional media coverage of each and every candidate to isolate social media effects. We find little evidence of social media directly leading to vote gains. Twitter adoption is correlated to better electoral performances but when taking a closer look at the dynamics of usage we find that usage is more symbolic than strategic.

Laura Sudulich is a Senior Lecturer in Politicas at the School of Politics and International Relations of the University of Kent. She is also affiliated to the Centre d’étude de la vie politique (Cevipol) Université Libre de Bruxelles. During the academic year 2012-2013 Laura was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. Laura holds a PhD in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin.

To date, her research activity has looked at the effects of new media use on electoral behavior and public opinion, electoral campaigns and their effects on vote gains, Voting Advice Applications, election forecasting and processes of politicization. Laura is also interested in survey design, quantitative methodologies and in making innovative use of existing data about elections and campaigns

About the series

This new seminar series showcases current research across different disciplines and approaches within the Faculty of Media and Communication at BU. The research seminars include invited speakers in the fields of journalism, politics, narrative studies, media, communication and marketing studies. The aim is to celebrate the diversity of research across departments in the faculty and also generate dialogue and discussion between those areas of research.

Contributions include speakers on behalf of

The Centre for Politics and Media Research
The Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community
Promotional Cultures & Communication Centre
Public Relations Research Centre
Narrative Research Group
Journalism Research Group
Advances in Media Management Research Group

Kind Regards,
Brian

Brian McNulty
Research Development Co-ordinator
Faculty of Media & Communication
The Loft (P181), Poole House, Talbot Campus
Fernbarrow, Poole
BH12 5BB

A series of co-incidents

BU research, international, Publishing, Uncategorized

Over 25 years ago during my PhD research comparing the organisation of midwifery and maternity care in the Netherlands and the Northeast of Scotland I wrote a chapter comparing the history of maternity care in the two countries.  I needed to write this not, as I thought at the time, to improve my thesis, but for myself to help me as a sociologist to help understand these historical developments.

In the process of researching the history of midwifery in the Netherlands I found a commemorative book by Drenth (1998) celebrating the centenary of the Dutch midwifery organisation. In this book is a footnote stating that the first chair of the KNOV (Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives), Ms Francijntje de Kadt, lived and worked in the town of Vlaardingen in the late 19th to early 20th century (Drenth 1998). This note caught my eyes as I am born and bred in Vlaardingen.

Francijntje de Kadtlaan in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands

Francijntje de Kadtlaan in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands

After a bit more searching and a visit to the archives of the town of Vlaardingen I managed to dig up a little more about Francijntje de Kadt, but not an awful lot. During a family visit to the Netherlands I visited the archives of Vlaardingen to see what information they had about her. The archivist immediately recognised the name of Francijntje de Kadt, since genealogists keep finding her name as the midwife listed on their ancestors’ birth certificates. However, the archivist did not know that Francijntje de Kadt had been the first chair of the Dutch Mmidwifery organisation from its establishment in 1898 till 1926. At that point I decided to apply for a small travel grant in the History of Medicine from the Wellcome Trust. That application was successful, awarding a travel grant of £ 1,050 in 2001. My research in various archives in the Netherlands resulted in two papers (in Dutch) about Francijntje de Kadt, one in a local history journal (van Teijlingen 2003a) and one in the Dutch midwifery journal (2003b) and one about the collapse in 1921 of the midwives’ first pension fund (van Teijlingen 2002). This was for a while the end of my career as an amateur historian due to my busy day job as a health researcher and MSc coordinator at the University of Aberdeen.

Many years later (2010) I ended up talking to the burgomaster of Vlaardingen at the reception organised by the town to celebrate the fact that my father had been awarded the Dutch equivalent of an OBE. Over a drink I asked the burgomaster what the process was for suggesting a new street name in Vlaardingen. He suggested I write to the Street Name Committee with a justification why Francijntje de Kadt deserved a street name. With my recommendation I sent this committee my two Dutch publications. A few months later the secretary to the Street Name Committee wrote to say that my proposal had been accepted and that her name would be given to a street in a new development of the former local hospital grounds.

Then in mid-2015 a Dutch historian Eva Moraal came to Vlaardingen with her partner on a day trip and they ended up walking through the Francijntje de Kadtlaan. She read the subscript on the street sign (see photo) and thought ‘This woman need to have an encyclopaedia entry!’ A few days later she emailed me at Bournemouth University for further information on the live, work and achievements of Francijntje de Kadt to help her write a piece for the encyclopaedia. Two months ago Eva Moraal (2015) published her very nice contribution on Francijntje de Kadt.

So what started as a small historical study as an introduction chapter of a PhD thesis in Medical Sociology ended up with a ‘forgotten’ national midwifery leader having a street named after her in the town she spent most of her working live and her own entry in the encyclopaedia, Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland (in Dutch: Online Women’s Lexicon of the Netherlands). What is even more interesting that this otherwise chronologically logical story is based on three major co-incidents: first, spotting a footnote in commemorative book about Vlaardingen. If Francijntje de Kadt had lived and worked anywhere else in the Netherlands other than my birthplace I would not have paid much attention. Secondly, speaking to the burgomaster of Vlaardingen and having a conversation in which street names cropped up, and thirdly, Eva Moraal who just happened to walk through the Francijntje de Kadtlaan, reading the street sign, and thinking this is an historical figure who needs better recognition.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

Drenth, P. (1998) 1898-1998. Honderd jaar vroedvrouwen verenigd, Bilthoven: KNOV.

Moraal, E. (2015) Kadt, Francijntje de, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Kadt

van Teijlingen, E. (2002) Ondergang eerste pensioenfonds voor vroedvrouwen (in Dutch: Decline of the first pension fund for midwives), Tijdschrift voor Verloskundigen (in Dutch: Journal for Midwives), 27(12): 684.

van Teijlingen, E.R. (2003a) Berichten – Francijntje de Kadt (1858-1929), Tijdschrift voor Verloskundigen (in Dutch: Journal for Midwives), 28(12): 630-633.

van Teijlingen, E.R. (2003b) Francijntje de Kadt (1858-1929). Vroedvrouw te Vlaardingen en eerste voorzitter van de Nederlandsche vroedvrouwenvereeniging, Tijd-schrift (in Dutch: Time-Magazine) 88: 14-23.

HE Policy Update

Uncategorized

Monday

Higher Education Academy

The HEA has withdrawn its current plans to significantly increase its subscription fees after they were rejected by vice-chancellors. HEA halts plan to hike university subscription fees (THE).

Tuesday

Employment

According to the latest Graduate Market Trends report, employment rate for master’s students has significantly risen for the first time since the recession. Graduate jobs outlook improves for those with a master’s (THE).

Wednesday

Inequality

Former York Chancellor has said that leading universities should lower entry requirements for students from poor backgrounds. Greg Dyke – ‘total cop-out’ to blame access inequality on schools (THE).

Thursday

Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn is still keen that his goal to scrap tuition fees will become Labour Party policy, but acknowledges that it will take “serious debate within the party to achieve” and that he is “not a dictator” in an interview with the THE. Jeremy Corbyn still wants to scrap fees but is no ‘dictator’ (THE).

New Guidance

Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement of a new requirement for universities to routinely publish data on the backgrounds of their applicants, new guidance has been issued to the Director of Fair Access (DFA) outlining the priorities for widening access and success for disadvantaged students. You can view details of the guidance here.

Degree Apprenticeships

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, has called on all universities to provide degree apprenticeships to raise the quality of what is available Russell Group should introduce degree apprenticeships, says business secretary (Research Professional).

Vice-Chancellor Salary

The University and College Union used Freedom of Information requests to reveal vice-chancellor’s pay packages and expenses. University bosses’ pay ‘inflation-busting’ (BBC News).

Friday

Ucas

Ucas has said that it is in talks to open up access to more of its data, after the admissions service was branded a “barrier” to gathering better information on disadvantaged students by the president of Universities UK. Ucas a ‘barrier’ to better data on access, says UUK president (THE).  

Student Loans

As part of the new strategy designed to help recoup more of the £457 million portion of the UK student loan book that is held by non-paying or “unverified” borrowers who live overseas, the UK and Australian governments are set to share data on expatriate graduates to improve student debt collection. UK and Australia set to collaborate on student loan repayment (THE).

Gender Pay Gap

Companies with over 250 employees will be forced to reveal their pay gap under new plans. Firms forced to reveal gender pay gap (BBC News).

Win £50 by testing your memory or dart throwing skills!

Uncategorized

The centre for sport and event research is running two studies looking at performance of dart throwing or working memory in competitive  environments. From the 15th to the 19th of February the research team is running an exclusive research week where these studies will run all day every day! So why not sign yourself up and have a go! The only inclusion criteria is that you are actively competing in sport.

If you are interested please contact Emma Mosley: emma.mosley@bournemouth.ac.uk. 

Lightning Talks at Cafe Scientifique Bournemouth- Interested in presenting?

Uncategorized

Cafe Sci runs every first Tuesday of the Month from 7.30pm – 9pm and takes place at Cafe Boscanova in Boscombe.DSC_7906

You can find out more about Cafe Sci here: https://cafescibournemouth.wordpress.com/

We are looking for BU Academics, Researchers, PGR students and URA students to present a Lightning Talk on their Research as part of Cafe Scientifique on Tuesday 5th April.

What is a Lightning Talk; In essence it is a short, to the point talk on a particular subject.

If you are interested in taking part in this event and sharing your research in an enganing and lively manner then please contact Rhyannan Hurst in RKEO on 61511

 

BU study seeks participants with autism

Uncategorized

Back in September 2015, Dr Helen Bolderston and I from the Department of Psychology, were awarded a Fusion Investment Fund award to examine social cognition and visual attention in people with autistic spectrum disorders and borderline personality disorder.

The study is now well under way and we are seeking participants between the ages of 18- 50 years with an autistic spectrum disorder to take part. Students and staff with such a diagnosis would be most welcome to be involved. It should go without saying that participation is confidential and responses are anonymous. The sessions take around 1.5 hours to complete and we can reimburse your local travel expenses if required. We are also always on the look out for “neurotypical” control participants too, particularly  men!

The study uses eye tracking technology to record where participants look on a computer screen whilst they watch a series of social scenarios. Afterwards, we ask participants questions about what happened in the scenes. There a several additional tasks which form part of the study which include questionnaires about social and communication skills and some verbal and non-verbal reasoning tasks.

Anyone interested in taking part should contact me, Dr Nicola Gregory, at ngregory@bournemouth.ac.uk

Is bid writing a waste of time and money

Uncategorized

Writing for the Alternative Democracy Research website Jan Blommaert offers a very interesting and controversial perspective on bid writing. His claim is that it is large a waste of time and public money. His case relates to his participation in a Horizon 2020 bid consortium, the production of the bid he estimates having taken hundreds of man hours, but the stream could only fund two projects. The fact that 147 were submitted meant that independent of quality 145 of which could be deemed excellent but could not be funded.

One might consider this argument as sour grapes on the part of a member of a team whose project was deemed excellent but could not be funded. But there is a serious point here. If the hours taken up by bid writing were re-channelled, would more valuable research be done. In other words if the 100+ hours of manpower devoted to writing bids were monetized would this be seen as an ineffective way to expend resources and instead the funds were used to support actual data gathering. It is an interesting thought. Much research entered into the REF in the UK is deemed excellent, what percentage of that is funded research is unknown. If research does not have to be funded to be excellent, and if bid writing detracts from research in order to meet arbitrary targets is this a misallocation of valuable resources. This argument may be particular prescient for social science where funding is less available yet no less important.

The thought here is whether academics explore ways to minimize costs of research that still answer important research questions rather than constantly seeking funding. It is a thought.

 

Call for Papers: Geographies of Religion and Spirituality

Uncategorized

RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2016: Nexus Thinking
London, 30th August – 2nd September 2016

RGS CFPs

CFP: Geographies of Religion and Spirituality: Beyond the ‘officially’ sacred

Session Convenor(s):
Jaeyeon Choe (Bournemouth University, UK)
Michael Di Giovine (West Chester University, US)
Michael Hitchcock (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
Michael O’ Regan (Bournemouth University, UK)

Religious spaces facilitate not only historical and traditional rituals and practices, but also social activities such as festivals, games, feasts, travel, sports as well as weddings and funerals (Chick, 1991). In greater and complex societies, religion has become secularized as religious options, personal choice and quests outweigh religious obligation (Graburn, 1983; Possamai, 2000; Turner & Turner, 1978). There has, for example, been increased participation in spiritual activities among tourists at pilgrimage sites (Timothy & Olsen, 2006). Whilst many of people at the sites are motivated by devotion, a large number of sites are shared by tourists and touristic processes. Indeed, many pilgrimage sites have often themselves become secularized (Di Giovine & Picard, 2015). Thus, the distinction between pilgrims and secular tourists has been diminishing, and “not only pilgrims not be easily separated out from secular tourists in this (post-) modern and ‘post-traditional’ age wherein sacrality is often divorced from pure religion” (D’Agostino & Vespasiano, 2000, p. 5). Pilgrims often “share many of the physical infrastructures and service providers as secular travelers…pilgrimage trails and destinations have been given new life through modern, secular tourism” (Di Giovine, 2011, p. 249). As such, pilgrims and tourists exist on a continuum of sacredness and secularity (Smith, 1992), and the distinction between tourism/pilgrimage, tourist/pilgrim, and secular/sacred is rather complex.

While there have been ongoing discussions about categorizing ‘pilgrims’ and/or ‘tourists,’ it is still challenging despite frequent attempts (Afferni, Ferrario & Mangano, 2011; Collins-Kreiner & Gatrell, 2006; Di Giovine, 2011; Poira, Butler & Airey, 2003; Sharpley, 2009). This panel session aims to recognize how religious spaces are central to the lives of pilgrims, and how these religious spaces have meanings to tourists. This panel also seeks to explore discourses on how the two groups experience, interpret, co-exist and perform religious space. Beyond the ‘officially sacred,’ this panel will explore the meanings of religious space to pilgrims and tourists so as to provide a blueprint for how work in the geography of religion and the field of religious tourism may move forward (Brace et al, 2006). We are inviting contributors with papers in the following areas (but not limited to):

– Pilgrim culture
– Pilgrimage and ritual
– Intersection of pilgrimage and heritage
– Pilgrimage and nationalism
– Popular vs. authorized pilgrimage movements
– Religious (space) tourism management
– Pilgrimage trails and destinations
– Trends/Motivations of spiritual tourists
– Conflicts between pilgrims and tourists at pilgrimage sites
– Religious/spiritual tourism and sustainability
– Religious tourism and regional development
– Future directions

Di Giovine, M., & Picard, D. (2015). The Seductions of Pilgrimage: Sacred Journeys Afar and Astray in the Western Religious Tradition, Surrey, UK: Ashgate.

Please submit abstracts to Jaeyeon Choe (jchoe@bournemouth.ac.uk) by 15th February 2016. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words and include your contact details.

Please see the following link for more details on the CFP, conference and registration details:

http://www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/ConferencesAndSeminars/Annual+International+Conference/Annual+international+conference.htm

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series Wednesday 10 February 2016

Research news, Uncategorized

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 2015-16

The Faculty of Media and Communication at BU  

Venue: CG17, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB  

Wednesday 10 February 2016, 3pm-4pm, CG17 

Pollyanna Ruiz, University of Sussex 

Twitter, Transparency and Surveillance

Transparency is central to an understanding of the public sphere as a universally accessible arena characterised by reason, inclusivity and sincerity (Habermas, 1974). Consequently, the refusal to be seen is invariably interpreted as a threat to the principles that underpin the democratic process (Engles, 2007). However, if one experiences the public sphere not as a utopia of transparency (Johnson, 2001), but as a nightmare of surveillance and coercion then the desire to evade surveillance can be read very differently (Foucault, 1995). These dynamics are especially fraught in socio political environments in which the power relations that usually construct the relationship between the individual and the nation state are being blurred and eroded by criminal forces.

These complexities will be illustrated by a case study from Mexico in which a citizen journalist used a pseudonymous Twitter account to crowd source information about the movements of the drugs cartels in the state of Tamaulipas. Within this context Twitter can be read as a technological mask concealing the identity of multiple dissenting voices whilst also seeking recognition for the injustices being suffered by a people left unprotected by their state. As such ‘Felina’, who used a masked cat woman as her avatar, drew upon of long history of semi-folkloric figures who have used the protective qualities of the mask to speak to power (Ruiz, 2013).

However in January of this year ‘Felina’ was publically unmasked. Her Twitter account was commandeered by the cartel, her cat woman avatar was replaced by an image of her dead body and her followers were warned of retributions to follow. The brutal murder of Felina and the dissemination of threats through her social network is part of a cartel led counter offensive, which uses the fear of transparency to repress an emerging culture of sousveillance in cartel held territories. Consequently this paper will conclude by arguing that the optimism that characterised the rise of citizen journalism in oppressive regimes is being modified by the realisation that while online dynamics can be socially and politically productive, they can never disembody acts of dissent.

Bibliography

Engle, K. (2007) The face of a terrorist. Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies. Vol. 7 p.397-424.

Foucault, M. (1995) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York Vintage Books.

Habermas, J. (1974) ‘The public sphere: an encyclopaedia article’, New German Critique, Vol. 3, pp.49-55.

Johnson, J.H. (2001) Versailles, meet les Halles: masks, carnival and the French revolution. Representations, Vol. 73 pp. 89-116.

Ruiz, P. (2013) ‘Revealing Power: Masked Protest and the Blank Figure.’ The Journal of Cultural Politics. Dukes Journals.

Pollyanna Ruiz is interested in the media’s role in the construction of social and political change. Her research focuses on the ways in which protest movements bridge the gap between their own familiar but marginal spaces, and a mainstream which is suspicious at best and downright hostile at worst. In doing so, she looks at the communicative strategies of contemporary political movements, such as the anti-globalisation movement, the anti-war movement and coalitions against the cuts. Her new project Protest, Technology and the Dynamics of Intergenerational Memory extends these dynamics over time.

Pollyanna is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Sussex. Her recently published book Articulating Dissent; Protest and the Public Sphere examines the ways in which coalition movements access the mainstream media. 

Wednesday 10 February 2016, 4pm-5pm, CG17 

Dr Lincoln Geraghty, University of Portsmouth 

Constructing Childhood Memories: Nostalgia, Fandom and the World of LEGO Collecting

LEGO’s shift to producing product tie-ins has been supported by a very popular range of video games (eg. LEGO Star Wars) and the creation of online fan clubs aimed at both children and adults. One of them, the VIP Program, boasts a members’ only website, special offers and a point rewards system, specifically targeting grown-ups and encouraging them to collect LEGO rather than play with it, display it rather than pack it away. This convergence of popular fandom, new media, nostalgia and contemporary toy culture suggests that the lines between past and present, technology and culture, childhood and adulthood are increasingly porous. Memory is an important component of being a fan and the remediation of childhood toys like LEGO through video games, animated television shows and online communities helps to reconstruct memories of youth that are subsequently used to negotiate digital collaborative spaces shared by other fans. These spaces also serve as the means to add to and promote the often vast collections of adult collectors. In these web spaces personal memories and official histories of children’s culture are constantly negotiated and reshaped, taking on new meanings, as collections grow and collectors determine the subcultural and economic value of old and new LEGO sets. LEGO, a children’s toy originally based on the physicality of construction, has taken on new significance in contemporary media culture as it allows adult collectors/fans to reconnect with their past and define a fan identity through more ephemeral and digital interaction. Now that the LEGO “system” incorporates global franchises like Star Wars it means collectors/fans of one brand crossover to become collectors/fans of the other. The LEGO Star Wars universe develops a fandom of its own with the minifigure versions of Han Solo and Darth Vader (animated with comic effect in the video games and TV episodes) becoming just as iconic and desirable amongst collectors as the “real” toy originals. Therefore, I argue in this presentation that LEGO’s shift from educational children’s toy to transmedia adult collectible is characteristic of contemporary convergence culture. It highlights the importance of nostalgia in the influencing of what childhood media and commodities get collected but also how nostalgia acts to limit the original potentials of those remediated texts and commodities. There is an inherent conflict between how childhood texts are rebranded by producers and how fans choose to remember and negotiate those texts online. As a consequence, this presentation will also consider the reconstruction of personal and public memories of childhood in the digital sphere and assess the difficulties associated with the archiving and collecting of children’s media. 

Lincoln Geraghty is Reader in Popular Media Cultures in the School of Media and Performing Arts at the University of Portsmouth. He serves as editorial advisor for The Journal of Popular Culture, Reconstruction, Journal of Fandom Studies and Journal of Popular Television with interests in science fiction film and television, fandom, and collecting in popular culture. He was recently appointed as a Senior Editor for the new online open access journal from Taylor Francis, Cogent Arts and Humanities. He is author of Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe (IB Tauris, 2007), American Science Fiction Film and Television (Berg, 2009) and Cult Collectors: Nostalgia, Fandom and Collecting Popular Culture (Routledge, 2014). He has edited The Influence of Star Trek on Television, Film and Culture (McFarland, 2008), Channeling the Future: Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy Television (Scarecrow, 2009), The Smallville Chronicles: Critical Essays on the Television Series (Scarecrow, 2011), and, with Mark Jancovich, The Shifting Definitions of Genre: Essays on Labeling Film, Television Shows and Media (McFarland, 2008). He is currently serving as Editor for multi-volume Directory of World Cinema: American Hollywood from Intellect Books (2011 & 2015), and his most recent collection, entitled Popular Media Cultures: Fans, Audiences and Paratexts, was published by Palgrave in 2015. 

About the series

This new seminar series showcases current research across different disciplines and approaches within the Faculty of Media and Communication at BU. The research seminars include invited speakers in the fields of journalism, politics, narrative studies, media, communication and marketing studies.  The aim is to celebrate the diversity of research across departments in the faculty and also generate dialogue and discussion between those areas of research. 

Contributions include speakers on behalf of 

The Centre for Politics and Media Research

The Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community

Promotional Cultures & Communication Centre

Public Relations Research Centre

Narrative Research Group 

Journalism Research Group

Advances in Media Management Research Group

Committee inquiries: open calls for evidence

Uncategorized

Below is a list of committee inquiries with current open calls for evidence. Please contact Emma Bambury-Whitton if you would like to discuss submitting evidence.

Commons Select Committee inquiries

Lords Select Committee inquiries

Joint Committee inquiries

Public Bill Committees

Policy Update

Uncategorized

Monday

Transparency duty

David Cameron has announced plans to require universities to publish statistical data on admissions by gender, class and ethnic background.  

Pay gap

Data analysis by the Trades Union Congress, has shown that black graduates earn on average £14.33 an hour, compared with £18.63 earned by white graduates. Black workers ‘earning less than white colleagues’ (BBC News).

Tuesday

EU

The Telegraph has reported that Britain is heading for a June referendum on membership of the EU as it emerged that David Cameron will be offered a deal allowing the UK Parliament to block unwanted Brussels laws. Britain heading for June EU referendum as David Cameron is offered ‘red card’ to block EU laws (The Telegraph).

Wednesday

Postgraduate funding

A survey of 1,226 taught postgraduates who enrolled on science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses at 11 UK universities last year found that 41.2 per cent of students from the most affluent families said that their parents would be their main source of funding. Poorer students ‘disadvantaged’ in postgraduate funding struggle (THE).

Thursday

EU students

A number of English universities have increased their recruitment of European Union students by more than 40 per cent after the removal of controls on undergraduate places. EU students up by over 40 per cent at some English universities (THE).

Oxbridge

The Sutton Trust has said that the way students are admitted to Oxford and Cambridge universities is complex and intimidating. It is argued that Oxbridge should simplify the process to help those from schools and homes not familiar with it. Oxbridge college admissions ‘complex and intimidating’ (BBC News).

Friday

Home Office

The London School of Business and Finance that has tried to enrol international students whose visa applications were subsequently refused, has had its licence revoked.  Foreign students must leave UK as college loses licence (BBC News).

Pizza, Planning and Postgraduate Research

BU research, Featured, PG research, Uncategorized

The Graduate School would like to welcome 310 new students to BU. Over four days last week, we welcomed these students through a series of inductions. This included 40 new PhD, 15 MRes, 235 Masters and 20 exchange students.  The four days covIMG_1387ered a huge amount of information including how to plan and prepare for your studies, research and what to expect as a student at BU.  In order to help some of the students relax after these busy first few days, the Graduate School invited the PhD and MRes students for pizza and refreshments at Dylan’s Kitchen and Bar. Some students even got involved with a bit of karaoke, although I don’t think there were any Mariah Carey’s amongst us.

To find out more about the Graduate School and what we offer, find us on the BU website under postgraduate research. Also, keep your eyes open for the 8th Annual Postgraduate Conference taking place in March 2016.

 

Undergraduate Research Assistantship Programme – Summer 2016 Applications

Uncategorized

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) will soon be inviting academics to submit an application for the summer round of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme (URA).

The programme is funded by the Fusion Investment Fund and aims to support undergraduates to undertake paid work under the guidance of an experienced academic in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline.

Summer programme

This placement is for successful students to work full-time (37.5 hours per week) for six weeks between 13th June 2016 and 31st August 2016. This programme will have the capacity for approximately 20 placements.

The URA programme is coordinated through RKEO.

Once applications are open, staff will apply for the funding via an application form. A panel of representatives associated with the University Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee will review all staff applications and decide which applications to continue to the student recruitment stage of the scheme.

Approved academic applications will be advertised as URA positions to students with student applications being received, processed and managed centrally within RKEO and distributed to the relevant academics after the closing date. The academics will be responsible for shortlisting, interviewing and providing interview feedback to their own candidates. Successful students will need to complete monthly timesheets, signed by their supervisor and returned to RKEO for payment.

These URA vacancies will be available to undergraduate BU students only, where URA applicants must be able to work in the UK and be enrolled during the time of their assistantship. Staff can only be named as the Lead Researcher on one URA application at any one time.

If you have any queries, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk