BU Research Blog

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?

It is now just over one month since I joined BU, after spending the last four years in China and Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (MSAR). First, I would like to say thanks to all those who helped answer questions, big and small as I settled into BU, Bournemouth and the UK. As my role will also focus on the departmental marketing and communications strategy, I will be reaching out to many of you within and outside the department for advice, tips and counsel.

Join us for an ESRC Festival of Learning Event on Saturday 7 November at EBC!

Learn how in-depth research over time produced substantial findings.

Find out how these results were then turned into innovative dissemination tools.

Then learn how those tools were used by service providers (who will be attending!) and impacted on their communities.

Are you interested in LGBT and ageing issues?  We have tools to share to engage people about the discrimination experienced by older gay or lesbian service users and what to do about it.  These include the award-winning short film RUFUS STONE and Methods to Diversity, a deck of cards.

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 and get their take on our efforts.

Newcomers will received a copy of the Method Deck “Methods to Diversity” and the award-winning short biopic, RUFUS STONE.

Faculty and Students are welcome!

Facilitators Drs Lee-Ann Fenge & Kip Jones, HSS, Department of Social Work and Social Sciences

For more information and to register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pathways-to-impact-part-deux-tickets-18205534243

Monday

Earnings Data

Students will be able to see how much they stand to earn in the future depending on which subjects they choose to study and where they choose to study them, under radical plans to open up Government data to the public. Students to assess earnings potential of different courses with Government data (The Independent).

Policy Exchange

In a new report, the thinktank Policy Exchange is urging the government to cut £532 million out of the higher education budget to safeguard the further education sector in the next spending review. The think tank says universities could offset the reduction in funding by drawing cash from their reserves. Cut HE funding to boost FE, says thinktank report (THE).

Tuesday

TEF

Leading academics have signed an open letter warning that it would be “completely inappropriate” to use data on student outcomes to measure university teaching standards. TEF metrics plan attacked by academics (THE).

Wednesday

Studying in the UK

According to Eurostat, the EU statistics organisation, Britain is the most popular place to study in the EU, allowing more people from outside the EU to enter for work or study than any other member state. One in four of the 2.3 million residency permits given to citizens from elsewhere in the world by EU countries last year was issued by Britain. Britain most popular place to study in EU. (The Times).

Thursday

Career Readiness

According to the study by the education technology company Instructure, students in the UK are “overly optimistic” about how skills and experience gained at university prepare them for the workplace. Student perceptions of career readiness not matched by reality (THE).

Friday

Consumer Law

A Which? report concludes that three in four universities are breaching consumer law by failing to tell students what their fees will buy them.  Its researchers compared the website of 50 universities offering psychology courses. Of those, 38 websites did not give all the details required under consumer laws including fees, contact hours, workload and teaching staff. Many universities ‘breach consumer law’, says Which? (BBC News).

The first Research Staff Association (RSA) coffee morning will be taking place on Wednesday the 28th October, in the café area of the EBC (Lansdowne Campus) from 10 to 11am. This is an informal opportunity to meet other research staff over coffee and cake, discuss your work and share ideas for future collaborations. It will also provide an opportunity to make suggestions toward a planned RSA seminar series that will act as a conduit for researchers of the University to showcase their work.For catering purposes please email mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk to confirm your attendance.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Kind regards, Michelle Heward and Marcellus Mbah (RSA Staff Representatives)

Monday

Europe

Organisations representing universities and students have joined the campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union, while a group of pro-EU scientists has also set out its arguments. NUS and UUK join EU ‘in’ campaign. (THE).  

Tuesday

Oxford University

A Freedom of Information request has revealed there are just 13 women paid more than £140,000 a year, compared with 145 men at Oxford University. Oxford University criticised for gender gap among top earners (BBC News).

Wednesday

TEF

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary has been questioned by the BIS select committee on the TEF. When questioned on the timescale of the TEF, Mr Javid said that introducing the TEF for 2017 is workable but concerns for universities around it being rushed were understandable, he went on to say that his priority is to ensure they get the TEF right.  Sajid Javid: priority for TEF is to ‘get it right’ (THE).

HEFCE

A piece in the Guardian looks at the future of HEFCE, including how likely it is to continue to exist as well as the importance of it to the higher education sector.  Has Hefce had its chips? (The Guardian HE network).

Thursday

Green Paper

The likely inclusion of widening participation metrics in the teaching excellence framework is being shaped by ministers’ drive to meet targets set by David Cameron and a fear of dropout rates rising after the scrapping of student number controls. Cameron access targets ‘a major factor’ in higher education Green Paper (THE).

General Election

According to a report by HEPI, students had less impact on the outcome of this year’s UK general election than expected. HEPI reveal that one of the reasons for this could be the lack of enthusiasm for Labour’s £6K fees policy. Student voters had ‘less impact than expected’ on general election (THE).

Friday

Student loans

GuildHE has criticised the Chancellor’s plan to freeze loan repayment thresholds for all post-2012 students and graduates in England, calling the move an ‘unfair retrospective change’ that would prompt doubts among future students about whether to go to university.

Osborne plan to force current students pay more for loans ‘unfair’ (THE).