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Portrayals – in educational settings – of the relationship between Britain and the Holocaust.
Get PDFThis thesis offers an original examination of how the intricate British response to the Holocaust has been portrayed in different educational contexts. Learning about the relationship between Britain and the Holocaust has manifest benefits. Exploring the topic can complicate national historical narratives, while mitigating against glorified interpretations of the past. But to what extent has this topic been addressed in schools and museums?
Section I considers the classroom as educational setting. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, I analyse textbooks, along with resources produced by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMD).
Section II focuses on two burgeoning museums: the National Holocaust Centre and Museum (NHCM) and the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre (HELC). I study the exhibition content of each setting, whilst my interviews with key staff members provide texture to these outward-facing representations of the Holocaust.
My research finds that portrayals of the British response lacked depth, and rarely encouraged substantial critical reflection. Classroom resources typically dealt with the issue in a cursory fashion, or simplified the topic through its use as a ‘lesson’ for modern society. At the NHCM and HELC, practical constraints limited the extent to which the relationship between Britain and the Holocaust is considered. The centrality of individual survivors to the operations of both museums created internal political pressures to portray the British response in sympathetic terms. However, in both classrooms and museums, these limitations were not necessarily accompanied by triumphalist narratives of British history.
From the fine detail at its heart, this thesis looks outwards. It considers broader issues relating to pedagogy, history, and memory. Centrally, I question the purpose and form of Holocaust education, along with the manner in which societies have negotiated memories of uncomfortable pasts. Fundamentally, in spite of existing sweeping
characterisations of Holocaust memory, my research demonstrates that the groundwork of individual agents is a crucial factor in the transmission of historical interpretations
T. S. Eliot and the Implications of Laforgue and Corbière
No full textThis thesis investigates T. S. Eliot’s creative dialogue with two nineteenth-century French poets, Jules Laforgue and Tristan Corbière. In particular, it focuses on Eliot’s prolonged engagement with the avant-garde techniques pioneered by Laforgue, examining their presence and influence not only in his early poetry, above all in his debut collection Prufrock and Other Observations, but continuing in his next collection Poems (1920), and then in the composition of his most celebrated and analysed work The Waste Land. This study therefore challenges the received critical consensus that Eliot discarded Laforgue’s example after his first volume.
This thesis takes an innovative approach to the study of poetic influence, moving beyond the tabulation of allusions, echoes, and source texts, to a holistic consideration of the effects of rhythm, syntax, diction, tone, and soundscapes, by means of a critical method of ‘close listening’. As a consequence, comparative readings of poetic language developed throughout this thesis demonstrate a deeper engagement with the poetry of Laforgue and Corbière than existing Eliot Studies. Throughout, the research findings are underpinned by recent scholarship and a first-hand familiarity with French material that were unavailable to previous critics. This thesis also gives new importance to Corbière’s marine poetry in the writing of The Waste Land, examining why Eliot frequently linked Corbière and Laforgue as ‘metaphysical poets’, while at the same time differentiating their influences as distinct. Ultimately, this thesis argues that these two poets shaped Eliot’s conception of poetry at the most profound and enduring level, illuminating his sense not only of what a poem could do, but how it could sound, transforming, in the process, modernist poetry
Parents and treatment decision-making for very young children at the end of life: a comparative analysis
Get PDFIt is commonly accepted that parents have the responsibility to make decisions regarding the medical treatment of their very young children. This remains so at the end of their child’s life when the decision must be made to withdraw treatment or pursue further interventions. In practice, this responsibility is conditional on the parents acting in their child’s best interests. When parents make treatment decisions which are deemed by healthcare professionals to be contrary to the child’s best interests, disputes can arise which may require resolution by the courts if an agreement cannot be reached in partnership. Under its inherent jurisdiction, the court then determines the course of action to be taken. This assessment lacks sufficient normative grounding with no guiding principle, resulting in excessive flexibility which is not properly constrained.
Given the flexibility of best interests, an inquiry into how—if at all—the decision-making process can be improved may be beneficial. In that sense, this thesis introduces one possible improvement in the form of the application of human dignity in making decisions. It will do this by comparing the German law approach to determining the child’s best interests, based largely on the Grundgesetz, with the English law approach developed through the common law. The German approach is guided by the principle of human dignity, which offers a strong principled basis not just for the decisions made but for the intervention in the parents’ decision-making responsibilities. The thesis will therefore address the level of engagement with the parents’ views and responsibilities in the two jurisdictions and how the courts engage with them whilst discharging the fundamental duty to protect the child’s interests. It will suggest that English law may benefit from closer engagement with human dignity using German law as a model, and it will lay the preparatory foundations for the PhD thesis to follow
The Transformative Power of Re-storying Childhood Trauma: A Life Span Approach to Understanding Posttrauma Leadership and Posttrauma Leadership Identity Construction Processes
Get PDFAbstract
We are living in a culture of trauma, with media depicting psychological trauma, crisis, destruction and mayhem almost daily. Yet, while much is known and communicated about the harmful effects of trauma, less is understood about positive growth post-trauma. Studies have demonstrated the possibility for individuals to experience posttraumatic growth. An equally substantive amount of management studies has explored leader identity and development. However, few studies have examined the effects of childhood trauma on the identity construction process, post-trauma leadership identity or leader development over the life span.
Using narrative inquiry to capture rich data and thematic analysis to identify themes related to the construction of their leadership identities, this study investigated the lived experiences of eight women who - despite histories of early childhood sexual abuse - ascended to top senior leadership levels. The aims of the study were to 1) explore how the participants were able to re-story their childhood trauma in positive ways, 2) investigate the influence of their childhood trauma on the construction of their personal and leader identities over their life span and 3) understand the formation of identity motives and competences related to their trauma, and their relevancy to the participants’ corporate success.
The study reveals how the participants used narrative and re-storying to make sense of their early childhood experiences and how they influenced their leader identity development. It offers further insights into how these transformative narrative identity re-storying processes shaped their evolving life stories and influenced the construction of their personal and leader identities, life trajectories, and contribution to their corporate success. This work contributes to posttraumatic growth and narrative identity theories, with broader implications for leadership development, posttrauma leadership and leader identity construction over the life span while offering mitigating strategies for therapeutic practice
Immune and microbiota contributions to age-related intestinal decline
Get PDFDeterioration of the innate immune system is generally accepted as a hallmark of aging. As a consequence of immune dysregulation, the host is not able to reliably fight infection or retain a symbiotic relationship with gut microbes. Individuals diagnosed with immune-related pathologies demonstrate gut microbial imbalances, or dysbiosis, as well as a decline in immune cell function. Additionally, aging significantly contributes to immune cell decline. Studies in adult Drosophila melanogaster have reported age-related dysbiosis as a primary driver of immune dysfunction. The objective of this thesis is to better understand how specific physiological changes, namely microbial imbalance, and immune dysfunction, along the aging intestine affect gut and host health. Here, my data demonstrates that the consequences of chronic immune activation, in particular microbial imbalance and changes in immune cell number and function, are closely associated with immune-induced intestinal permeability. This adds weight to recently published work across multiple model organisms that highlights the key role of intestinal barrier loss as a driver of age-related decline. Detailed insight into the immune factors that drive intestinal barrier loss and how this drives age-associated decline in immune function, for example, changes in macrophages, could lead to the development of immune-targeted antiaging therapies
An assessment of tropical dryland forest ecosystem biomass and climate change impacts in the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) region of Southern Africa
Get PDFThe dryland forests of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) region in Southern Africa are highly susceptible to disturbances from an increase in human population, wildlife pressures and the impacts of climate change. In this environment, reliable forest extent and structure estimates are difficult to obtain because of the size and remoteness of KAZA (519,912 km²). Whilst satellite remote sensing is generally well-suited to monitoring forest characteristics, there remain large uncertainties about its application for assessing changes at a regional scale to quantify forest structure and biomass in dry forest environments. This thesis presents research that combines Synthetic Aperture Radar, multispectral satellite imagery and climatological data with an inventory from a ground survey of woodland in Botswana and Namibia in 2019. The research utilised a multi-method approach including parametric and non-parametric algorithms and change detection models to address the following objectives: (1) To assess the feasibility of using openly accessible remote sensing data to estimate the dryland forest above ground biomass (2) to quantify the detail of vegetation dynamics using extensive archives of time series satellite data; (3) to investigate the relationship between fire, soil moisture, and drought on dryland vegetation as a means of characterising spatiotemporal changes in aridity. The results establish that a combination of radar and multispectral imagery produced the best fit to the ground observations for estimating forest above ground biomass. Modelling of the time-series shows that it is possible to identify abrupt changes, longer-term trends and seasonality in forest dynamics. The time series analysis of fire shows that about 75% of the study area burned at least once within the 17-year monitoring period, with the national parks more frequently affected than other protected areas. The results presented show a significant increase in dryness over the past 2 decades, with arid and semi-arid regions encroaching at the expense of dry sub-humid, particularly in the south of the region, notably between 2011-2019
ELECTRIC FIELD INDUCED DROPLET MANIPULATION
Get PDFIn this thesis, we explore several droplet manipulation concepts on different length scales for a surface cleaning application. The design evolution to transfer these techniques from laboratory conditions to a chaotic environment, such as on the road, is an evolving engineering challenge where reliability and performance are equally important. Electrowetting and liquid dielectrophoresis are techniques by which an electromechanical response from an applied electric field enables precise droplet manipulation. This thesis presents several contributions to these technologies, focusing primarily on scalability, simplicity, and reliability.
The control of surface wettability using the electric methods attracts much attention due to their fast response (milliseconds), exceptional durability (hundreds of thousands of switching cycles) and low energy consumption (hundreds of microwatts). Furthermore, their superior performance and reliable nature have prompted a vast amount of literature to expand their application. They are widely used in several scientific and industrial fields, including microfluidics, optical devices, inject printing, energy harvesting, display technologies, and microfabrication.
Droplet actuation using electric methods has been a long-standing interest in microfluidics, and most often, it is limited by high operating voltages. The first actuation method explored in this thesis is based on interdigitated electrodes to generate a dielectrophoretic response. In order to apply an effective electrostatic force for droplet manipulation, the geometry of the electrodes must be optimised, which similarly leads to a lower operating voltage (as low as 30 V). Furthermore, microscale electrodes can be iteratively combined to realise larger arrays to move larger droplets. The iterative approach was developed for a large-scale device to manipulate droplets of varying sizes while keeping the actuation process simple.
In the second actuation method, a pair of microelectrodes separated by a variable gap distance generated an electrostatic gradient to produce a continuous droplet motion along the length of the electrode pad. The novel actuation method transported droplets of different sizes without active control. The droplet actuation was demonstrated on a larger scale using several platforms, including radial-symmetric, linear, and bilateral-symmetric droplet motion. An automated self-cleaning platform was tested in laboratory conditions and on the road. The technology has significant potential in the automotive sector to clean body parts, camera covers, and scanning sensors.
The electrostatic force applied across the droplet was calculated by placing a continuously moving droplet on a tilted platform and measuring the critical angle at which the droplet’s gravity overcomes the opposing applied electric force. Several electrode designs were also considered to evaluate the effect of electrode geometry on the actuation force. The droplet actuation was also modelled using an analytical approach to estimate the critical signal frequency, maximum electrostatic energy, and maximum electrostatic force.
Lastly, a tilting micromirror platform investigated the dielectrophoretic response without measuring the droplet contact angle. The mirror platform is also suitable for other optical applications as it provides three axes of movement for beam steering. The tilting platform enabled an angular coverage of up to 0.9° (± 0.02°), with a maximum displacement of 120 μm. We also explored the feasibility of using a microhydraulic actuator based on liquid dielectrophoresis for a microfluidic application. The actuation method opens new possibilities for positioning and manipulating particles and components. These could be hazardous medical materials or even radioactive substances, where direct contact should be avoided
Can improving the academic buoyancy of secondary school students improve their school attendance?
Get PDFThis study explores a potential link between academic buoyancy, school attendance and mindfulness in Key Stage 3 students in English state-funded schools. Following a unique time in school history, schools are continuing to experience higher-than-normal school absences in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuing school-related challenges such as studying from home, anxiety relating to examinations and the impact on students’ futures, breakdowns in social relationships with peers and general disengagement from school have been reported as reasons for students’ absence (Ofsted, 2022). Despite the most recent trends in school absence being largely driven by the pandemic, persistent absence has continued to increase without including students’ covid non-attendance in the figures (GOV.UK, 2021e). Understanding the factors that drive problematic school absence, particularly persistent and unauthorised absence, and finding evidence-based and data-driven ways to intervene have been highlighted as government priorities for the current Education Secretary. Driving factors such as improving student mental health and wellbeing are often cited as the motivation for prioritising action in this policy area.
This thesis is underpinned by three key constructs: academic buoyancy, school absence and mindfulness. Academic buoyancy is defined as students’ ability to successfully deal with academic setbacks and challenges that are typical of the ordinary course of school life (Martin & Marsh, 2008a). In this thesis, school absence will encompass all types of school non-attendance and is defined as pupils who fail to attend school (Thambirajah, Grandison & De-Hayes, 2008). Furthermore, mindfulness is defined as, “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p.145). In phase one of this PhD project, a systematic review of buoyancy literature identified mindfulness as a potential promising intervention to change students’ levels of academic buoyancy. This review also explores how the construct is defined and measured in existing literature and considers randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence to assess whether it could be a malleable construct.
In phase two, a longitudinal secondary data analysis of one cohort’s absence and exclusions data (N=536,530) is carried out over their academic career. This phase explores how much data is missing from the National Pupil Database (NPD), what patterns of absence and exclusions exist for this cohort, which students and schools may benefit from an attendance intervention and a series of models are designed to predict which students are most likely to be absent from state-funded schools in England at KS3. This analysis identified that school absence increased as students got older, with the poorest attendance highlighted during the transition between KS3 and KS4. An intervention aimed at Year 9 students attending state-funded schools in the North East region of England may be beneficial. An analysis of the NPD also identified that students’ eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) was a key predictor of unauthorised absence and persistent absence at KS3. Targeting students in areas of high disadvantage and poverty should be prioritised. The final phase presents a protocol for a potential RCT which combines the findings from phases one and two to test a 10-week mindfulness curriculum. Through implementing a mindfulness intervention in schools this project would ultimately aim to explore the question, can improving academic buoyancy in secondary school students improve their school attendance?
As improving school attendance and students’ mental health and wellbeing are national priorities, the findings of this thesis have implications for educational policymakers and practitioners. For policy makers this thesis offers a different approach to defining a type of resilience which may encompass the wider student population, as opposed to a minority of students who are exposed to significant adversity. For practitioners, this thesis offers an evidence-based approach to identifying a promising intervention which may have the potential to improve students’ ability to cope with the daily challenges encountered at school, which in turn could also improve their school attendance
THE SACRAMENT OF LEARNING: RECOVERING A MYSTAGOGICAL VISION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SALVATION
Get PDFThis thesis offers a sacramental account of learning through a thematic reading of the
mystagogical homilies of four fourth century bishops: Ambrose of Milan, Cyril of Jerusalem,
John Chrysostom, and Theodore of Mopsuestia. In the initiatory practices of the fourth century,
mystagogy was the portion of catechetical instruction given to explain and interpret the rites
and liturgy of initiation. My reading of the mystagogies will argue that these homilies reflect a
theology of learning in which the end of knowledge is to encounter and embrace God with all
of the faculties given to our nature; both the humbly material and the intellective and spiritual.
I will propose an analogical relation between mundane learning and the movement into the
intimate and divinizing knowledge of God one receives in the sacraments. I present the
mystagogues’ teachings in terms of the ‘capacitation’ of our nature for this knowledge of God;
a knowledge that becomes indistinguishable from union. The sacraments make humanity
capable of receiving God, chōrētikos theou. I will demonstrate how the mystagogues
understand the sacraments as a true participation in union with God here and now and how the
Holy Spirit makes humanity capable of union with the divine through conformation to Christ.
I will also show how mystagogy proposes a consonance and continuity between mundane
learning and the sacramental formation of humanity into a creature capable of heavenly
participation. These belong to one divinizing grace. And, thus, learning is primarily intelligible
through its relation to salvation and theōsis. This account of mystagogy’s ‘mystery of learning’
will be proposed as a remedial challenge to the impoverishments of modern conceptions of the
nature and end of knowledge. The beatific end of being divinely capacitated for heavenly
communion sits at the heart of the human capacity to learn
Improving the selectivity of nickel-based catalysts for vapour-phase furfural hydrogenation
Get PDFFurfural is a key bio-based platform chemical, and its hydrogenation allows access to a variety of
important chemical intermediates, particularly furfuryl alcohol, which is widely used to make resins.
Here, nickel and tin-nickel catalysts have been thoroughly investigated for vapour-phase furfural
hydrogenation as a replacement for the highly carcinogenic and environmentally damaging current
commercial catalyst, copper chromite. The addition of tin to incipient wetness impregnation (IWI)
nickel-based catalysts (metal particle size: 9 ± 4 nm) resulted in a markedly improved selectivity to
furfuryl alcohol of up to 86 %; however mass activity was decreased by an order of magnitude. A
commercially available copper chromite catalyst was used for comparison and exhibited similar
mass activity and stability to the tin-doped IWI catalysts but with a slightly higher furfuryl alcohol
selectivity of around 90 %. To understand the selectivity change that occurred upon the
introduction of tin, more well-defined and uniform SnNi-based catalysts were prepared by
synthesising colloidal SnNi bimetallic nanoparticles. Smaller nanoparticles (~4 nm) could be
successfully synthesised using only an amine capping agent, however larger nanoparticles
(12 – 15 nm) required a phosphine capping agent. The use of a phosphine capping agent led to
phosphorus incorporation into the surface of the nanoparticles (as shown by near ambient pressure
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS)), even when the bulk structure exhibited no evidence
of phosphorus incorporation. Silica supported small phosphorus-free SnNi nanoparticles (Ni:Sn
molar ratio of ~3) had a superior furfuryl alcohol selectivity (96 %) when compared to the IWI
catalysts, however significant sintering occurred in the in situ reduction step prior to reaction (i.e.
the active catalyst was sintered). The silica supported nanoparticles prepared with a phosphine
capping agent exhibited minimal to no sintering. The presence of phosphorus in nickel
nanoparticles led to an increased furfuryl alcohol selectivity (~67 %) when compared to IWI nickel
and amine-capped nickel nanoparticle catalysts (~50 %). The furfuryl alcohol selectivity of the
phosphine capped nanoparticles could be further improved by the introduction of small amounts
of tin, reaching around 92 % for nanoparticles with a Ni:Sn molar ratio of ~18. NAP-XPS was used
to investigate the structure and composition of the nanoparticles, revealing the top surface of both
the small phosphorus-free and larger phosphorus-containing nanoparticles consisted of a tin-nickel
phase with a Ni:Sn molar ratio of ~3, followed by a tin rich layer and then a nickel-based core. This
provides a potential explanation for the similar furfuryl alcohol selectivities achieved by the
nanoparticle catalysts, despite the very different bulk Ni:Sn molar ratios. Overall, the introduction
of tin to nickel catalysts was found to drastically improve the furfuryl alcohol selectivity during
vapour-phase furfural hydrogenation, affording a potential less toxic alternative to
chromium-based catalysts for a future bio-refinery process
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