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CMMPH disability & childbirth research

BU research, Featured, Publishing, Uncategorized

Last month’s press release for the latest study in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) was picked up by the Journal of Family Health.  disability-pregnancy-2016The study ‘Human rights and dignities: Experience of disabled women during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting’ appeared under the heading ‘Maternity care failing disabled women, charity warns’ in the Journal of Family Health.  The charity in question is Birthrights which funded the survey of women with physical or sensory impairment or long-term health conditions and their maternity care experiences.  The research was conducted by midwifery researchers Jenny Hall, Jillian Ireland and Vanora Hundley at Bournemouth University and occupational therapist Bethan Collins, at the University of Liverpool.

rcm-disabilityLast month this important study had already been reported by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) on their webpages (click here to read more).  On the RCM website  Louise Silverton Director for Midwifery at the RCM said: “It is deeply disappointing to hear that women with disabilities are not getting the maternity care they need and deserve. Although this is only a small survey, it does provide a very valuable insight into the realties of the care these women have received while pregnant.  The RCM believes that maternity services should treat disabled women like every other woman, while ensuring that the care provided does not ignore or overreact to their specific wishes and aspirations.”

 

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

FMC Research Seminar, 4pm, 12 Oct: Prof Geoffrey Samuel, University of Kent: ‘The Paradigm Case: Is Reasoning and Writing in Film Studies Comparable To (or With) Reasoning and Writing in Law?’

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Faculty of Media and Communication

Research Seminar Series 2016-17

A Conflict, Rule of Law and Society

Research Seminar

 

Venue: F309, Fusion Building, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB 

 

Wednesday 12 October 2016 at 4pm

 

Conflict, Rule of Law and Society Welcomes:

 

Prof Geoffrey Samuel, University of Kent

 

The Paradigm Case: Is Reasoning and Writing in Film Studies Comparable To (or With) Reasoning and Writing in Law?

To what extent can theories or models that have been developed by literary and film theorists inform legal knowledge? Can any such literary and film models offer any serious insights to legal epistemology or are such ‘borrowings’ likely to remain at best rather superficial? The purpose of this contribution is to suggest that there are a number of theories – or at least models – that can prove quite fruitful for lawyers. Three, in particular, will be examined: namely personification theory, representation theory and reception theory. Personification theory is concerned with the notion of persona in cinema, theatre and literature and reflects, in particular, on the relevance of identity in films like Vertigo (1958) and Phoenix (2014). Persona, of course, is both a literary and a legal concept and so there is, however tenuous, a direct conceptual connection. Representation theory (see Bacon extract overleaf) has already had some impact on law – it can be seen as an aspect of fiction theory (see Vaihinger) – and this impact might be revived with the publication of a recent work by Professor Mathieu. Reception theory (see Dzialo overleaf) is more closely associated with hermeneutics which of course as a scheme of intelligibility has attracted much attention from jurists. Nevertheless the categories of text developed by Stagier have, perhaps, a particular reference for the jurist: what is the relationship between legal texts and their readers and does this relationship vary according to the nature of the text in question? One further point will be developed with respect to these theories or models mentioned. Perhaps labelling them as ‘theories’ or ‘methods’ is unhelpful; a more fruitful label might be one mentioned by Bouriau in his examination of Vaihinger’s ‘as if’ (comme si) fiction theory. It is not so much a theory; it is more of an ‘epistemological attitude’ (attitude épistémique).

 

Geoffrey Samuel Born in 1947 in England, Geoffrey Samuel is currently a Professor of Law at the University of Kent and a Professor affilié at the École de droit, Sciences Po, Paris. He received his legal education at the University of Cambridge and holds doctoral degrees from the Universities of Cambridge, Maastricht and Nancy 2 (honoris causa). He has also held many visiting posts in France, Belgium and Switzerland and is still a visiting professor in Rome (Tor Vergata), Fribourg and Aix-en-Provence. Geoffrey Samuel is the author of many books on contract, tort, remedies, legal reasoning and legal epistemology, the most recent being An Introduction to Comparative Law Theory and Method (Hart, 2014) and A Short Introduction to Judging and to Legal Reasoning (Edward Elgar, 2016). His areas of specialisation are the law of obligations, comparative law and legal reasoning.

 

All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!

 

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

Promotional Cultures and Communication Centre

Centre for Public Relations Research and Professional Practice

Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community (JRG and NRG)

Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management

Conflict, Rule of Law and Society

EMERGE

Centre for Film and Television

 

 

 

BU Professor gives plenary at Milan conference

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On Thursday BU Professor Jonathan Parker delivered a plenary address to I Convegno Internazionale ‘Social Work Education’ Innovazioni ed Esperienze Milan conference(The International Conference on Social Work Education: Innovations and experiences) in Milan, Italy. Having represented the UK higher education sector when vice chair of the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee body and drawing on wide research, knowledge and experience of the reforms in English social work education he presented the dangers of replicating England’s changes before introducing innovations that offset some of the risks.

In an effort to ‘raise the quality’ of social work education, and to respond cynically to popular pressure, successive UK Governments, particularly in England, have imposed standards and regulatory frameworks that have curtailed the capacity of universities to educate students according to their specialist interests and research areas. Rather than focusing on pedagogy, universities have allowed employer organisations to set the agenda. They have increasingly restricted their curricula and by so doing have co-created, with various governments, a social work that is predominantly concerned with protection and safeguarding. Addressing a wide audience including the current president of the International Association of Schools of Social Work, Professor Annamaria Campanini, Jonathan Parker focused on the dangers of transferring these models and replicating them rather than promoting social justice and relational social work practice. He called for education that championed passion and joy in teaching and learning, was student-centred and actively challenged the corporate homogenisation of education. He suggested a focus on ethnographic practice in education, learning and onward into social work practice could offer a way forward and was needed.

Two other British academics, Professor Peter Beresford and Dr Pamela Trevithick, provided plenary sessions on service user involvement in education and relational skills. The conference was keen to learn about the innovations in and the problems of the English sector and to promote relationship skills and wisdom not the rigid application of standards that have crossed into higher education from the adoption of neoliberal market practices.

Jonathan Parker

RUFUS STONE to be Highlighted at ESRC Festival of Learning on the 7th November

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esrc-fest

You are cordially invited to attend the gala 5th Anniversary Screening and Reception for the award-winning research based biopic, RUFUS STONE.

The Event will be held at the historic Shelley Theatre in Boscombe              

7 November from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.

rufus-shelley

Over the past five years, RUFUS STONE has been viewed in academic, community and service provider settings throughout the U.K. Uploaded to the Internet for just over a year, the film was viewed on line by more that 12 thousand viewers in 150 countries. It has won serveral film festival awards and was shortlisted for the AHRC Anniversary Prize in 2015.

The three-year research project behind the film’s success was part of the New Dynamics Programme of ageing in 21st Century Britain, supported by Research Councils UK. This event will hallmark this achievement and continue the film’s impact in the wider community.

We expect the gala event to atract an audience of the film’s cast and crew members, past participants in the research project, community workers and service providers, and a range of citizens, young and old, gay and straight, with an interest in LGBT history and the contributions that the film has made to myriad diversity efforts. Whether you have seen the film before, or this will be the first time on a large theatre screen, you will enjoy the occasion.

R.S.V.P. Places are limited to 150 seats only! Please register on the Eventbrite site as soon as possible to avoid being disappointed.

skip-harry

Research on digital consumption makes the Journal of Marketing Management Editor’s Choice List

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Two papers on digital consumption co-authored by Dr Janice Denegri-Knott have been selected to appear in the Journal of Marketing Management’s new Editor’s Choice collection on digital consumption, and will be available free online until the end of November, 2016.

Redistributed consumer desire in digital virtual worlds of consumption

In this paper we discuss and illustrate how the use of software available in digital virtual worlds of consumption, including wish lists, watch lists and digital virtual goods (DVGs) interact with consumer desiring practices. We draw on a data set of three interpretative studies with technology users living in the South of England. We note the emergence of software-human desiring hybrids where various aspects of competence in and commitment to desire construction, maintenance and actualisation are distributed between subject and software, leading to new configurations of consumer desire. We bring to the fore the often neglected role of nonhuman agents in the practice of consumer desire and highlight the potential breaks caused in the assemblage of the practices unfolding in digital virtual worlds of consumption. Our study shows new ways in which consumer desire practices are re-assembled in software-human hybrids, thereby enhancing our understanding of the role of nonhuman agents (software) in consumer desire practices. It also contributes a finer understanding on how software used in the construction and actualization of desire ultimately reconfigure consumer desire practices into a management process, where the focus is not daydreaming activity or material commodities per se, but rather the software itself. Here, the software not only presents things to be desired, but also absorbs some of the skill and competence needed to conjure up desire. Ultimately these configurations appear to create breaks in the experience of desire that weaken the hold previously binding consumers to objects of desire.

The relationship between ownership and possession: observations from the context of digital virtual goods

This theoretical article highlights limitations in the current trend towards dichotomising full ownership and access-based consumption by recognising a broader, more complex array of ‘fragmented’ ownership configurations in the context of digital virtual goods (DVGs). In challenging this dichotomy, we recognise that the relationship between ownership and possession becomes particularly significant. We therefore consider how prominent DVG ownership configurations may shape the way in which possession is assembled, potentially reducing consumers’ scope of action relative to DVGs and leaving possession susceptible to disruption. Conversely, we acknowledge ways in which consumers’ continued attempts at possession may impinge upon the agency of ownership mechanisms within the market. Our analysis ultimately builds upon existing understandings of both ownership and possession, theorising their often overlooked relation in consumption.

New THET project paper published

BU research, international, open access, Publishing, Research news, Training, Uncategorized

thet-needs-assessmentToday saw the latest publication on our BU-led THET in Nepal.  The paper ‘Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey’ was published the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences [1].   This paper reports on a quantitative survey with nearly all Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi District in the southern part of Nepal. The findings illustrate the lack of training on mental health issues related to pregnancy and childbirth in this group of health workers. Thus the paper’s conclusions stress the need for dedicated training in this field.logo THET

This is the third publication linked to our mental health and maternity care project. In Nepal mental health is generally a difficult to topic to discuss. THET, a London-based organisation, funded Bournemouth University, and Liverpool John Moores University in the UK and Tribhuvan University in Nepal to train maternity workers on issues around mental health.  This latest paper and the previous two papers are all Open Access publications.  The previous two papers raised the issue of women and suicide [2] and outlined the THET project in detail [3].

np-thet-2916-jilly

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1. Simkhada, B., Sharma, G., Pradhan, S., van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. & the THET team. (2016) Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 20-26. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15793/12738
  2. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Winter, R.C., Fanning, C., Dhungel, A., Marahatta S.B. (2015) Why are so many Nepali women killing themselves? A review of key issues Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 43-49. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/12001
  3. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B., Fanning, P., Ireland, J., Simkhada, B., Sherchan, L., Silwal, R.C., Pradhan, S., Maharjan, S.K., Maharjan, R.K. (2015) Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(3): 499-501. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/13607/11007

BU researcher speaking at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw

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On 19th September, 2016 Dr Paweł Surowiec from the Faculty of Media and Communication’s Corporate and Marketing Communication Group delivered a guest lecture to diplomats and public diplomats at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw.

Following the publication of his research monograph entitled ‘Nation branding, public relations and soft power: corporatizing Poland’, this lecture was an excellent opportunity to share academic insights to Poland’s soft power, analysis emerging for this study, and to engage this key audience in the research produced by the Centre for Politics and Media Research.

Soft power and its communicative resources such as public diplomacy or nation branding continue to be of interest to diplomatic networks world-wide. Its local characteristics, however, the utilized media strategies, levels of professionalization as well as forces in global and regional politics shaping soft power capabilities are themes of professional discussions among diplomats.

The lecture session delivered by Paweł opened up a debate about the impact corporate resources have on Poland’s soft power as well as addressed questions concerning limitations of nation branding as a media strategy and a means to the advancement of influence in international relations.

Fusion Investment Fund – BU research collaboration with the University of Utah

BU research, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, international, PG research, Uncategorized

mmexport1474801890386

This year, I was awarded the Fusion Investment Funding which sponsored me and my research team to establish the collaboration between National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA, BU) and Simulation & Electronic Animation Lab (SEALAB, the University of Utah). The purpose of this collaboration is to publish high quality papers, exchange innovative ideas and explore the potential of improvement and commercialization of our surgery simulator.

Throughout the year, the collaboration progressed smoothly and obtained significant results. We kept in touch regularly with our partners, shared various interesting and inspiring ideas on the topic of physically based soft tissue simulation, collision detection and the development of surgery simulator. Inspired by the insightful discussion with our partners, we have published two journal papers and two conference papers. My PhD student Kun Qian, as the main participant of this project, has benefited a lot from it. His work was awarded the winner of British Computer Society Animation and Games Development 2016 Competition. We have also exchanged ideas on funding application, teaching and research team management. The most impressing experience was the attending of their internal computer graphic research seminars which aims to promote the idea exchange and potential cooperation between different research groups. It is quite useful for us to improve the efficiency and quality of the similar seminar we held at BU. Besides SEALAB, we also visited the world leading medical visualization research group of the University of Utah: Scientific Centre of Visualization (SCI) and University of Utah Medical Centre. Those two organizations demonstrated the state of art of medical visualization and simulation, provided practical and valuable suggestion on the future direction of surgery simulator.

Although this fusion project finished, our collaboration has never stopped. We are continuing working on the topic of biomechanical based soft tissue simulation and exploring potential opportunities for joint research funding application. The following are selections of some pictures of the beautiful view of the state of Utah, main campus of University of Utah and the award we achieved.

Dr. Xiaosong Yang

National Centre for Computer Animation, Faculty of Media and Communication

bcsaward img_20160830_145313 img_20160816_085632 img_20160815_091353

Congratulations to BU Visiting Faculty Dr. Sam Rowlands

Featured academics, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

sam-rowlandsDr. Sam Rowlands, FHSS Visiting Faculty, has just published an interesting article on ‘On being an expert witness in sexual and reproductive health’.   The paper will appear in the Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care [1].  In this article Sam highlights that expert witnesses need to be able to apply appropriate legal tests to the evidence, to deal with the range of expert opinion on a matter, and explain clearly what constitutes an appropriate standard of care for a clinician in their discipline and specialty. They must be aware of pitfalls such as being sued for substandard work and being reported to their professional regulator for straying outside their area of expertise. Expert witnesses must be truly independent and ideally their reports should be the same whoever they receive their instructions from.

 

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

Rowlands, S.  ‘On being an expert witness in sexual and reproductive health’. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care doi:10.1136/jfprhc-2015-101385 (forthcoming/online first)

Event 14th October: Sisterhood, Solidarity & Self-Empowerment

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Black Sister Network is a dedicated resource within the Black British Academic Network created in 2014 to support women of colour in higher education.

Sisterhood, Solidarity & Self-Empowerment for Women of Colour in HE, is a ground-breaking event jointly hosted by Black British Academics and Shades of Noir at University of the Arts London. It is aimed at staff and students and includes:

  • Audience discussions on issues related to race and gender,
  • Presentations by graduates on dissertation projects focused on issues around race, ethnicity and culture,
  • A presentation by women academics of colour on a research project exploring strategies for survival and success,
  • resistance poetry on the theme of the event.

People of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds are welcome to attend. A buffet lunch and drinks reception are provided. Attendance is free but registration is required via Eventbrite.

For more information, contact Darren Lilleker.

Cafe Scientifique – 4th October – ‘Getting drunk with 302 brain cells- what can we learn from a worm?’

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untitled-1On Tuesday 4th October 2016 we will be joined by Lindy Holden-Dye, who is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southampton.

She will explain what we can learn about how our own brains, with their 86 billion brain cells, work by studying the brain of a simple nematode worm which has just 302.

We look forward to catching up with all of you at Cafe Boscanova!

Doors @6:30pm and the talk will start at 7:30pm until 9pm

Cafe Sci team

BU’s PhD Isabell Nessel at the Human Milk Bank in Southampton, Princess Anne Hospital

BU research, PG research, Research news, student research, Uncategorized

human-milk-bank-southamptonMost of you have probably heard/read about human milk banking by now from me or my previous posts, if not read here more about it. This week, I had the opportunity to meet Anita Holloway-Moger, the Human Milk Bank Nursery Nurse at the Princess Anne Hospital Human Milk Bank in Southampton.

It was a great opportunity to finally visit and see a milk bank and speak to the person responsible to gain more practical insight into human milk banking in the UK, instead of only reading about it for my research.

human-donor-milk
Human donor milk comes from mothers who have had several blood tests and is collected from the mothers’ homes by the milk bank staff and/or the blood bikes. The frozen milk then gets processed in the milk bank, which means it is tested for microbiological contamination and pasteurised (heat treated) to make it save for the premature or sick babies to receive. This has been shown to increase their chance of survival and help their development.
Thank you Anita for taking all the time to answer my questions and for showing me around, as well as Bournemouth University for the funding which made my trip possible!

 

UKAMBIf you would like to find out more about human milk banking in the UK or want to become a human milk donor visit the UK Association for Milk Banking website at http://www.ukamb.org/.

 

If you would like to learn more about our research, please feel free to contact me at inessel@bournemouth.ac.uk

Isabell

FMC Placement Development Advisor and CEMP Doctoral student, Vianna Renaud elected onto the ASET Trustee board

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vianna-aset-trusteeAt the recent annual ASET AGM and Conference at the University of York, FMC Placement Advisor and CEMP doctoral student Vianna Renaud was elected onto the Trustee board of the organisation. As the professional association for work based and placement learning in HE within the UK, this will help ensure that BU will continue to be at the forefront of the sector.

“As the leading association for our work, I am honoured that I have been elected. With so much change taking place, particularly with the future implementation of the Apprenticeship Levy next year by the government, university placement provision will have certain challenges. By working together, the Board will continue in providing up to date information and guidance to our institutional members which will be essential during this time of change.”

For more information on ASET: http://www.asetonline.org/