BU Research Blog

I have recently returned from a Santander sponsored trip to Glucksman House Ireland, New York University for a series of meetings with key academics within the department of Irish Studies Professor Miriam Nyham, and Professor Mick Moloney at NYU. I attended a number of events to connect with key stakeholders in the Irish events sector in New York. Having recently received funding from the BU Fusion Staff Mobility and Networking Fund (SMN) I plan to continue my networking at NYU performing research regarding my PhD topic ‘The role of identity and place attachment for Irish Diaspora audiences at Irish cultural events’. I am very excited about returning to NYU in Spring next year to meet with my contacts at Glucksman Ireland House, NYU and to perform my Ethnography field research at the Irish Arts Center NY, the Irish Center in Long Island and the range of events at Glucksman Ireland House NYU with many commemorative Irish cultural events. For more information about this project, please contact: Pearl Morrison morrisonp@bournemouth.ac.uk

Dr. Miguel Moital, Principal Academic in Events Management in the Department of Events & Leisure, Faculty of Management, has just seen his paper published in the Current Issues in Tourism journal reach the 10.000 views mark. The paper has been leading the most viewed ranking for some time, and has now achieved this important milestone. Reaching 10.000 views is a major achievement since the paper was published only 2 years ago. The paper is co-authored with Scott Cohen (University of Surrey, UK, but formerly at the School of Tourism, BU) and Girish Prayag (University of Canterbury, New Zealand).

Current Issues in Tourism is a highly regarded tourism journal:

• Edited by one of the most prominent tourism academics (Professor Chris Ryan)
• 2 star ranking in the Academic Journal Guide by ABS – Association of Business Schools
• 2014 impact factor of 0.918

The paper is freely available for download for everyone (golden access sponsored by BU) from this address.

Monday

David Willetts

The former Conservative Universities and Science Minister, David Willetts has criticised the stance of some Conservative colleagues who argue that “too many people go to university”, noting that Tory areas are the main source of the “problem”. David Willetts: Tory areas are ‘culprits’ if too many people go to university. (THE).

Tuesday

Overseas Students

At the Conservative Party conference, the Home Secretary Theresa May spoke about overseas students. She said that if international students do not have a graduate job after their studies, they must return home. She also commented that universities must be responsible for ensuring that overseas students do not stay in the UK without a graduate job. Theresa May: rules ‘must be enforced’ on overseas students. (THE).

Green Paper

The Universities and Science Minister, Jo Johnson has revealed that the higher education Green Paper will be due over the next few weeks. The Green Paper will have a focus on the upcoming Teaching Excellence Framework and will invite responses from the sector and employers. Jo Johnson: TEF will include metrics on widening participation. (THE).

Wednesday

Private School Students

UCAS has accused private-school students of “sleepwalking” through their education, shunning hi-tech subjects such as robotics and bio-engineering in favour of “predictable” careers, following many of their parents into law, banking and the media. Private-school students ‘sleepwalking into predictable careers’ (The Guardian).

TEF and REF

Paul Boyle, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, argues that the teaching excellence framework should not be divorced from the research excellence framework in a blog post for the Guardian. Don’t let politicians drive a wedge between teaching and research (The Guardian).

Thursday

Overseas Students

Concerns are growing about international students suffering “harsh and unjustified” refusals by Home Office officials after being accepted for admission by UK universities. The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), whose membership includes all British universities, says that it has received a “substantial increase in reports of [visa] refusals on grounds of ‘credibility’”. Home Office’s new visa crusade threatens to ‘cut overseas student numbers’ (THE).

Friday

Salaries

According to a report by the Sutton Trust, graduates from Oxford and Cambridge will over their lifetimes earn on average £46,000 annually, compared with £41,000 earned by other Russell Group graduates, and just under £36,000 by graduates from other universities. £10,000 extra a year – the reward of a degree from a top university (The Guardian).

Apprenticeships

Analysis commissioned by the Sutton Trust has revealed that young people who enrol on the highest-level apprenticeships can expect to earn more over the course of their careers than graduates of all but the most prestigious universities. Higher apprenticeships lead to ‘greater earnings than most degrees’ (THE).

Every year at this time (autumn), the IMF holds large international meetings to highlight and discuss the state of the global economy for its members.  The latest sessions, and the World Economic Outlook that supports them, have indicated slower growth this year, averaging 3.1% worldwide – a rate lower than in 2014 (3.4%) and lower than the previous forecast.  Prospects are termed “uneven”, with better numbers for the advanced economies and worse ones for emerging and developing countries.  Within these broad assessments, however, there is a range of projected experience, with commodity producers hurting and consumer orientated economies doing relatively fine.  The IMF concludes, ” In an environment of declining commodity prices, reduced capital flows to emerging markets and pressure on their currencies, and increasing financial market volatility, downside risks to the outlook have risen, particularly for emerging market and developing economies.”

A key issue is how the “Great Recession” has affected the underlying potential to grow in different economies around the world.  There is a debate about whether the 2008-10 drop permanently hurt the global growth rate.  Nothing is ever permanent in global economics but there is probably a case to say that persistent imbalances in trade, investment – real and financial, and productivity are dampening growth prospects.  The sluggish recovery looks set to continue.  In response, the IMF, as it often does, calls for infrastructure spending and continued monetary largesse.  If only it were that simple.

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)

‘Communicating Research’

 FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 2015-16

Venue: Room PG10, Talbot Campus, 

The Faculty of Media and Communication at BU

Time: Wednesdays, 3-5 pm

Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB 

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Speakers :
Dr Sukhpreet Singh, University of Glasgow and Dr John Oliver, Bournemouth University

‘Innovating and trading TV formats through brand management practices’

Television formats form a major cultural export and yet, there is no protection under copyright law. Format copycats or imitators freely develop game, reality and talent shows based on successful format ideas. Despite this, the format industry has developed an ingenious and complex suite of market based practices that are allowing a thriving format industry to appear. This chapter discusses how TV format makers use brand management practices, in the absence of any legal solutions, to innovate and trade in their products. These include a number of practices such as: developing and managing the format brand identity, developing localized brand extensions and leveraging the producers brand reputation.

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

The Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community

Advances in Media Management Research Group

Emerging Consumer Cultures Research Group

Public Relations Research Group