12244 research outputs found
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Fiction machines (2016-2019) [REF2021 collection]
No full textFiction Machines is a multi-component output comprising a body of video art works, a journal article, a curated symposium and a journal special issue. The research considers how media art works can be developed that expose, rewrite and critique the mechanisms of contemporary control technologies from informational and affective perspectives.
Secondly, how re-appropriation can be used to harness source material drawn from the operations of these technologies? Thirdly how can the works themselves become self-reflexive machines, performing affective control on the viewer, whilst also exposing their artifice? Fourthly, how can similar research approaches that harness fiction to rethink technologies can be interrogated and brought into view
Historicising black rhino in Namibia: colonial-era hunting, conservation custodianship, and plural values
No full textThe black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is a threatened species of which the south-western subspecies (D. bicornis bicornis, synonym D. bicornis occidentalis) persists on communal land and elsewhere in Namibia. It does so despite its clearance from most of the animal’s former range due to the expansion of colonial-era hunting with firearms, and the concentration of marginalised Namibians alongside this high-value species in the challenging landscapes of north-west Namibia in particular. We trace what is known about the patterns and impacts of colonial-era hunting of rhino in the territory that is now the modern state of Namibia, introducing an online map of documented historical encounters with rhino in Namibia and the pressures on them from late 1700s. This map of historical encounters is currently complementing baseline information on the past distribution of black rhino in Namibia held by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) in support of its collaborative Black Rhino Custodianship Programme (BRCP). We outline contemporary pressures on black rhino and conservation responses to these circumstances, tracing the emergence of a novel approach to rhino conservation in Namibia that recruits people living under different kinds of land tenure as ‘custodians’ of these animals, so as to support the reintroduction of both black and white rhino throughout their former range. We focus in on proactive rhino conservation work in communal-area conservancies of west Namibia which combines the translocation of black rhino to areas of its former range with an array of endeavours to pluralise the animal’s contemporary value, including rhino tourism, the recruit of local ‘rhino rangers’, and ‘rhino pride’ initiatives. In this context, and differently to custodians on freehold land, a vulnerable, large-bodied, space-requiring and sometimes dangerous mammal with very high international conservation value, simultaneously lives alongside peoples impoverished historically and with their own ambitions towards self-determination. This custodianship model of rhino conservation can be understood in part as a creative species conservation response to the very challenging structural circumstances effected by both past impacts on rhino and present inequality in land distribution and tenure, both of which add heat to questions of access to land and resources, including wildlife
Animal-assisted interventions for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder: a meta-analysis
Get PDFResearch has indicated beneficial effects of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) for children with Autism. However, there is a dearth of meta-analyses and findings are often contradictory. The current meta-analysis assesses the effectiveness of AAIs on social interaction, communication and global Autism symptoms. A total of 1447 studies were returned, of which 16 (n = 489) met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses indicated small effect sizes related to improvements in social interaction and communication and reduction in Autism Spectrum Disorder symptoms. Additionally, there was little evidence for a relationship between dosage and effect size. In conclusion, AAIs appear to offer small improvements in social interaction and communication for children with Autism, which may be comparable to activities used in active control conditions
A behavioral framework for construction waste minimization: the case of Jordan
Get PDFConstruction waste (CW) accounts for approximately 36 percent of the total solid waste received at landfill sites around the world and, therefore, presents a significant challenge to the sustainability of the construction industry, the country’s economy at large, and environmental sustainability worldwide. For Jordan, this issue is pertinent since the construction industry is still suffering from insufficient sustainability practices characterized by poor production, sub-standard performance, and a wasteful culture. Increasing attention has been placed on addressing the role of human factors in construction waste minimization (CWM), as the majority of the causes underlying CW are directly or indirectly affected by the behavior of those working in the construction industry. However, understanding CWM behavior is most challenging and complex, as adopting positive CWM behavior depends on many factors that contribute to its success or failure. This paper describes the development of a behavioral framework (BF) that aims to address this research gap. The Delphi technique, incorporating a series of semi-structured interviews, was chosen as the primary research investigative method, for the discovery and building of the BF. Twelve respondents (the experts’ panel), with extensive knowledge of and experience in the Jordanian construction industry, participated in two rounds of the Delphi study. They were able to offer a well-informed look at the current and potential status of the adoption of CWM behavior among Jordanian contractors. The resulting BF advances a more holistic understanding of the factors influencing the behavior of contractors toward CWM, which will support the adoption of waste minimization in Jordanian construction projects
Anxiety biases audiovisual processing of social signals
No full textIn everyday life, information from multiple senses is integrated for a holistic understanding of emotion. Despite evidence of atypical multisensory perception in populations with socio-emotional difficulties (e.g., autistic individuals), little research to date has examined how anxiety impacts on multisensory emotion perception. Here we examined whether the level of trait anxiety in a sample of 56 healthy adults affected audiovisual processing of emotion for three types of stimuli: dynamic faces and voices, body motion and dialogues of two interacting agents, and circles and tones. Participants judged emotion from four types of displays – audio-only, visual-only, audiovisual congruent (e.g., angry face and angry voice) and audiovisual incongruent (e.g., angry face and happy voice) – as happy or angry, as quickly as possible. In one task, participants based their emotional judgements on information in one modality while ignoring information in the other, and in a second task they based their judgements on their overall impressions of the stimuli. The results showed that the higher trait anxiety group prioritized the processing of angry cues when combining faces and voices that portrayed conflicting emotions. Individuals in this group were also more likely to benefit from combining congruent face and voice cues when recognizing anger. The multisensory effects of anxiety were found to be independent of the effects of autistic traits. The observed effects of trait anxiety on multisensory processing of emotion may serve to maintain anxiety by increasing sensitivity to social-threat and thus contributing to interpersonal difficulties
Fictioning the third space
Get PDFThis paper addresses the challenges of sci/art collaboration, looking at a range of approaches, and then focusing on the potential for utilising fictional strategies as a means for drawing out alternative and future perspectives on scientific research. I will analyse two recent projects: firstly, the production of a collaborative science fiction film as part of the Wellcome Trust-funded 'Silent Signal' project (2013-16). Secondly, I will discuss my recent video work 'Notes from the Subsurface'(2020), made during my research fellowship in the Earth and Life Sciences Departments at Bristol University. I will argue that the use of these fictional methods can help to enhance the criticality and potency of sci/art collaboration, allowing for a shared co-enquiry to emerge and for the artwork to maintain its criticality. Finally, I will consider ways for building on these projects to enhance future sci/art interdisciplinary practice and to help foster new models for collaboration
Navigating new approaches for grassroot community theatre in a (post-) Covid world
Get PDFThe cultural revolution of 1968 paved the way for many
artists to reconsider how and where theatre was made.
Community theatre gained currency and one company
who became prominent during this cultural shift was
Welfare State, later Welfare State International. They
were one of the theatre companies who focused not
only on a community theatre aesthetic but a grassroot
one. I examine the radicality of community theatre and
consider the efficacy of the historical approaches to
engaging with communities in a (Post-)Covid world. I
acknowledge and explore the shifting understanding
of communities and assert that a deeper engagement is
needed to foster collectivity (Tannahill 2016; Fişek 2019;
Weston 2020; Bartley 2021). To reconsider the role that
theatre may play in the future, I focus on a grassroot
approach to community-led work and posit that location
will be a key component to how theatre is made as we
emerge from a pandemi
Roll to save: gaming disease response; how to construct games in support of public health professionals
No full textPublic health practitioners respond to a wide variety of disease events. Professional games place responders in situations where they face the decisions, conflicts, and challenges that they would experience in a real event. Playing professional games can help everyone understand the complex, inter-agency, challenges that often come up during these situations.
In this book we describe how to design professional games for disease response. We cover all forms of disease, from chronic and non-infectious diseases to bio-terrorism events. We intersperse discussions of game design with examples of games, from games on mental health services to naturally occurring infectious disease outbreaks. In addition we discuss aspects of disease response that you need to understand in order to avoid common pitfalls in designing these games.
Professional game designers are often called upon to design games that involve disease outbreak. Public health professionals can find themselves playing in, or sponsoring, games on disease response. Both groups can benefit from an understanding of the basic concepts of game design, disease response, and gaming disease response
Lecture capture policy: manager / academic negotiation exercise
No full textThe case presents a negotiation exercise on the issue of lecture capture policy implementation in a higher education institution in the UK. Introduced in a controversial manner, the policy seeks to legitimise a technological innovation of recording live lectures as they are being delivered in lecture theatres. In the context of limited evidence as to the effectiveness of lecture capture for student learning, the policy introduction sparks a conflict between university managers and academic staff, accentuating tensions around professional and managerial authority in higher education. During the exercise participants have an opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of one of the characters and grapple with contested aspects of the policy in a negotiation meeting. The case addresses issues of control over decision to record, issues of various rights, forms of student access, intended usage of the recordings and evaluation of impact on students