BU Research Blog

BU lecturer Sam Goodman (Journalism, English & Communication) will be appearing at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival this weekend. Held in Gateshead over Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th November, the festival features a range of popular and academic talks and workshops designed for a public audience. Sam’s talk is entitled ‘Beer & the British Empire’, and builds on his research into the history and cultural representation of Britain’s colonial presence in India. In his talk, Sam examines the contested history of the use of beer and other alcoholic beverages in medical practice throughout the nineteenth century through to their place within contemporary ideas of well-being. Following the festival, the talk will be broadcast on R3’s The Essay on the 18th November: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06p5999.

Monday

Conservative Article

An article on Conservative Home raised speculation around the upcoming Green Paper.  Amongst several assertions, the article claims that HEFCE, QAA and OFFA are likely to be replaced with one teaching, quality and access focussed super-regulator. The accountability and transparency revolution. Coming soon to a University near you – courtesy of Jo Johnson (Conservative Home).

Tuesday

TEF

The Guardian identifies flaws in the measures of student satisfaction that will inform the Teaching Excellence Framework. The article states the TEF is unlikely to encourage discussions around the structure of programmes and modules which is crucial for students. The Teaching Excellence Framework: can higher education up its game? (The Guardian).

HEFCE Figures

A ‘transposition error’ meant that HEFCE wrongly stated that state school leavers were more likely than private peers to get a good degree at university. In fact it is private school students who are more likely to do better at university according to the figures. State schools versus private schools: Hefce sets the record straight (THE).

Wednesday

Student Protests

On Wednesday, a student protest ‘grants not debt’ marched through London. The protest was calling for the abolition of tuition fees and the retention of maintenance grants. Students protest against tuition fees (BBC News).

Thursday

Gender Gap

According to a new analysis of 2013-14 data by the Equality Challenge Unit, some 37,425 male academics are paid at least £50,000, compared with just 17,415 female academics. Similar disparities exist for professional and support staff, with 3.9 per cent of women paid more than £50,000 compared with 7.9 per cent of men. ‘Striking’ inequalities in higher education fuel gender pay gap. (THE).  

Friday

Higher Education Green Paper

The government’s higher education Green Paper was published today, it outlines major proposals which if enacted, will see great changes to the higher education sector. The main points from the paper are below.

• The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will start next year and will consist of different levels (1-4). For the first year, providers will automatically gain a level 1 TEF award if it meets the current quality assurance threshold. Providers will be able to apply for higher levels of the TEF in consequent years, however there will be pre conditions. The government will set a maximum fee cap for institutions successful in the TEF and providers will be entitled to raise their fees in line with inflation.
• HEFCE and OFFA will merge to create a new Office for Students (OfS). This body will have responsibility for access agreements, teaching funding, the TEF and quality assurance.
• Similar to that of private providers, institutions will not have to respond to Freedom of Information Requests.
• The next REF will be held by 2021, however the government proposes to challenge the associated cost and bureaucracy that attracts negative views concerning the REF.

Come and find out about the exciting research undertaken by BU staff and student researchers!

The first of our series of Lightning Talks will take place on Wednesday 11th November 1:45-2:45pm in the Refectory (next to Papa Johns pizza) on Talbot Campus.

We have six speakers presenting a five minute pitch about their research studies. The aim is to encourage staff awareness of the exciting research being undertaken at BU and encourage cross Faculty working.

The spaces are limited so you will need to book on by emailing Rhyannan Hurst. Pizza will be provided on a first come first served basis so please confirm your attendance no later than Friday 6th Nov.

Also if you are keen to take part in the next Lightning Talks in 2016 then please do get in touch with Rhyannan Hurst in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) on 61511.

We are hoping this will be a great event and look forward to seeing you there.

The ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council) Festival of social science is kicking off this Saturday 7th and below are just a few of the events that are running throughout the week! Please come along and get involved.

The festival  offers a fascinating insight into some of the country’s leading social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives – both now and in the future. In 2015, Bournemouth University has become a Festival partner with more than a dozen events on topics including healthy eating, financial scams, mobile working, identity theft, intellectual property and dementia.

Pathways to Impact Part Deux!– Are you interested in LGBT and ageing issues?  Are you looking for tools to engage your group or staff about the discrimination experienced by older gay or lesbian service users and what to do about it?

The aim of this event is to share our tools with you and hear the stories from others who have used them. We are inviting them to discuss how they have used the two learning tools within their organisations’ activities.

Back in 2012/13 more than fifty participants took part in either a one-day ESRC Festival of Science event entitled, “Pathways to Impact: ageing, diversity, connectivity and community” and/or attended the two-day Master class in Ageing and LGBT Issues, “Train the Trainers” in April, 2013.  The events included activities and informal discussions about diversity, the potential damage of discrimination experienced by many older gay and lesbian citizens, and what could be done about it.  It was also an opportunity to screen the award winning, short film, RUFUS STONE and launch the “Methods to Diversity” Method Deck learning tool to inspire agencies, practitioners and communities to think about diversity within their ageing population.

The aim of this year’s event is to follow up with participants from both events to track the impact of the outcomes of those activities, film screenings and discussions. We are inviting them to discuss how they have used the two learning tools within their local communities. Our part will be to listen!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pathways-to-impact-part-deux-tickets-18205534243

Church as place: an ethnography – Held on site within St Peter’s Parish Church this event will ask the question: What meanings of place and space are constructed by non-religious and religious visits to church buildings?

The event will include an exhibition relating to the research findings from our ethnographic study of church visiting, conducted by members of the Centre for Social Work, Sociology & Social Policy (Prof Jonathan Parker, Prof Sara Ashencaen Crabtree & Rev Dr Ian Terry). There will also be an opportunity to discuss and debate the value of churches in contemporary society and the role they play in today’s social life, plus ways in which accessibility can be enhanced.

The current activities associated with St Peter’s Parish Church will be shared and attendees will be invited to look around so they can actively engage with the building as they learn and ask questions about the architecture, traditional functions of the church and the importance of the benefits church can bring to those who visit.

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-as-place-an-ethnography-tickets-18646725859

Creativity and Dementia:making a connection – During this event Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) will bring dementia awareness to life, enabling the public to engage with the topic of dementia through creative activities, including: a screening of performances from the BUDI Orchestra (formed of people affected by dementia and musicians); wayfinding; Tai Chi and music workshops and poetry sessions.

The event aims to challenge people’s perceptions of the condition and the negative stereotypes of people with dementia. It will enable the audience to see first-hand that it is possible to for people with dementia to take part, learn something new and have fun, all at the same time.

There will also be an opportunity to hear more about the Dementia-Friendly University initiative at Bournemouth University (BU), attend a screening of the film Still Alice, become a Dementia Friend, and join SportBU rowing and cycling 850,000 kilometres – a figure chosen to represent the number of people currently diagnosed with dementia across the United Kingdom.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creativity-and-dementia-making-a-connection-tickets-18951436256

We look forward to seeing you at an event!

Monday

UCAS

David Cameron has announced that from 2017, candidates’ names will be removed from university application forms. He announced it is part of a plan to prevent unconscious bias against candidates from minority groups.  UCAS has announced it will consult on name-blind applications with higher education institutions. The Conservatives have become the party of equality (The Guardian).

Tuesday

Research Councils

With the upcoming spending review due in November, there are concerns over funding for UK research.  Recent concerns are around the future of the innovation agency, Innovate UK. It has been reported that ministers may be exploring whether Innovate UK’s £600 million of annual grants to support business R&D could be converted into loans. The spending review is just the start of a battle for UK research (The Guardian).

Extremism

Vince Cable has said that new powers to tackle Islamist extremism on campus will lead to universities banning non-Muslim speakers such as Nigel Farage and Germaine Greer in efforts to demonstrate impartiality. Vince Cable: Fight against extremism will lead to “bland” society (The Telegraph).

Wednesday

Post-1992 Universities

A recent study by PolicyBee has revealed that traditional and elite universities in the Russell Group are less likely to produce budding entrepreneurs when compared with post-1992 institutions.  Russell Group ‘less likely’ to produce entrepreneurs compared with post-1992 universities (The Independent).

Thursday

Part-time Students

A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute has claimed that a sharp fall in the number of part-time students at England’s universities is harming the economy and limiting social mobility. The report says changes to student funding arrangements from 2012 and inflexible course structures are to blame. Warning over falling numbers of part-time students (BBC News).

Overseas Students

It is thought the Home Office intends to use data from new checks on those exiting the country, which were introduced at all UK ports and airports in April, as the basis to force universities to take more responsibility for ensuring that graduates from outside the European Union do not overstay their visas. Theresa May ‘plans on making universities ensure overseas graduates leave UK’ (THE).

Friday

TEF

Million+ have argued that the government should pull back from its plans to link outcomes from the teaching excellence framework to permission to raise tuition fees in line with inflation. TEF: pull back from link to fees, urges Million+ (THE).

All welcome. 28 October 2015
Room R301, 1-1:50.

Please feel free to bring your lunch.

Title: Journalism and Public Relations: Shifting Boundaries, Shifting Power Relations

Abstract:

There is widespread concern in both the professional and academic fields of journalism about the growing tide of churnalism (unfiltered PR or agency copy) in the news. Invariably, such accounts are written from within and about journalism studies. But this ignores another story which I examine in this presentation: that of the PR practitioner.
Based on interviews with 28 PR practitioners, I document their perspectives on:
– The latest developments in PR media relations practice aimed at getting PR material into the news
– The apparent power shift between PR and journalism implied in journalism studies literature
– Normative evaluations of churnalism; does it trouble them either professionally or personally?
With respect to PR practice the findings revealed a number of PR professionals who understand news in depth, and whose media relations practice goes beyond the classic information subsidy, to what we call a style subsidy: targeted, tailored, page-ready news copy. In terms of PR practitioner culture, this practice of developing media material that is ‘copy and paste’ ready for publication is a recognised sign of professional expertise.
PR practitioners see power relationships in complex and contradictory ways. Despite many circumstances (such as newsroom cuts and fewer specialist reporters) working in their favour, this does not mean they necessary feel emboldened in their everyday encounters with journalists.
Perhaps surprisingly, for the vast majority of practitioners, there were either professional or personal concerns about increasing churnalism. The professional concerns stem partly from a position of self-interest: that unfiltered PR raises credibility issues for the PR message. Secondly, churnalism represents an ethical dilemma expressed through an ongoing tension between their personal/ civic and professional identities. Very few observe the journalists’ recent travails with glee: most want to see a robust and independent journalism where PR input is balanced with other sources.

There are still some places left to attend this joint one-day BSA and BU conference, happening on 3rd November, in Bournemouth House. If you would like to register, please get in touch with Dr Mastoureh Fathi, mfathi@bournemouth.ac.uk or visit http://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events.aspx

The conference programme can be viewed here:

9.00-9.30
Registration and Refreshments
Outside BG14

9.30-9.45
Welcome: Professor Jonathan Parker (Bournemouth University) Introduction and welcome to the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences

Welcome to the Citizenship Study Group: Dr Mastoureh Fathi (Bournemouth University) and Dr Kristoffer Halvorsrud (Knowledge Centre for Education, Norway)

9.45-10.45
Keynote: Dr Bridget Byrne (University of Manchester) ‘What is the Britishness in ‘British values’ and the citizenship process?’

10.45-11.00
Refreshment break

11.00-13.00
Policy and Politics Panel: Citizenship and Neo-Liberalism

Professor. Jonathan Parker (Bournemouth University): Students and Prevent: Implications for citizenship
Dr Lee Jerome (Middlesex University): England’s Citizenship Education Experiment: The First Ten Years
Rachel Lewis (University of Warwick): Testing Life in the UK, producing the desirable, neo-liberal subject
Dr Anisa Mustafa (University of Nottingham): Active citizenship and modes of resistance in the cultural politics of young adult British Muslims
Dr Nick Stevenson (University of Nottingham): Education, Democracy and its Alternatives: The Commons and the New Left

13.00-14-00
Lunch

14-00-15.15
Parallel Sessions

1. Comparative Contexts

Prof Trond Solhaug (Norwegian University of Science and Technology): Citizenship, diversity and antecedents of intercultural empathy among Norwegian pupils (Abstract)
Dr Shinichi Aizawa (Chukyo University): Citizenship, Social Problems, and Schooling in Japan
Caitríona Fitzgerald (Maynooth University): ‘Citizen Child; Hothouse Flower or Hardy Perennial? An exploration of contemporary debates about 21st century children’s ‘lived’ citizenship framed within the context of Irish and Swedish educational policy’

2.“Britishness” and Faith

Céline Benoit (Aston University): The role of secular state schools in the promotion of a White Christian sense of Britishness
Iro Konstantinou (University of Warwick):‘Promoting British values in an English, white, middle class context’
Iftikhar Ahmad (London School of Islamics Trust): Muslims faiths schools and the curriculum

15.15-15.30
Refreshment Break

15.30-16.45
Parallel Sessions

1. Faith and “Cohesion”

Donna Crossland (University of Kent): A rhetoric of social cohesion, tolerance and civility: A good lessen to learn?
Rachael Shillitoe (Institute of Education, University of Worcester): ‘Doing Good’: Understanding values and morality in collective worship
Shiva Zarabadi: ‘Crossing borders, changing faiths and the new organization of self and society’, The experiences of migrant Iranian converts to Christianity in the UK

2. Policy Processes and Relations

Dr Martin Myers (The Open University): Mobility, Citizens and Education: Are Gypsies supposed to be citizens?
Dr Kristoffer Halvorsrud (Knowledge Centre for Education, The Research Council of Norway): Student ‘Dropout’ in Upper Secondary Education: A Challenge to the Norwegian ‘Welfare State’?
Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith (University of Sussex): Roma women in European Higher Education: Exploring Tensions of Individual and Shared Responsibility in Policy and Experience

16.45-17.00
Refreshment Break

17.00-18.00
Keynote: Professor David James (Cardiff University) ‘Bringing the local knowledge back in?