De Montfort University Research Articles

Boxing in History

This issue of Sport in History is the product of a symposium entitled ‘Boxing, History and Culture: New Themes and Perspectives’ held in June 2010 at De Montfort University and organized by the International Centre for Sports History and Culture. The symposium was an attempt to highlight and reflect upon a notable increase in recent years in scholarly research on the culture and history of boxing. It brought together academics from a range of disciplines, as well as boxing writers and some participants, all of whom were either involved in researching, or simply interested in, aspects of boxing's past. It generated stimulating discussion and raised important questions not only about the gaps in our knowledge of the history of the sport but also about the contrasting approaches to the subject taken by literary scholars, sociologists, sports studies academics and cultural and social historians. Yet the synergies between these perspectives was equally evident, a point that has been underlined subsequently by the organization of similar inter-disciplinary events. This issue includes articles by four of the speakers at the symposium alongside three additional pieces connected to its themes. Its appearance is testament both to the absence of an established academic historical literature on boxing in Britain and the vitality of current research on the topic.

Measuring carbon performance in a UK University through a consumption-based carbon footprint: De Montfort University case study

Abstract This paper presents a consumption-based carbon footprint study for a UK university including scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions under the classification of the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard. Data was collected from different departments of the University to estimate emissions and identify carbon hotspots. The scope 3 emissions comprised around 79% of the total university’s greenhouse gas emissions, which supports the rationale for the consumption-based methodology. Procurement emissions were 38% of the overall estimated footprint and 48% of total scope 3 emissions which, as the largest emissions sector, highlights the need to implement policies that address the supply chain of the products that universities consume. It presents the most comprehensive analysis to date of the consumption-based emissions associated with a UK higher education institution. The consumption-based methodology developed in this project can now be applied to other universities to gain a better understanding of their major greenhouse gas emissions and the actions that they need to take to reduce these emissions.

A New Mode of Organizing in Health Care? UK Cancer Services and Governmentality

1 professor of public services management, Department of Management, King's College London; 2 lecturer in work and organizations, Department of Management, King's College London; 3 visiting professor, Manchester Business School, and professor emerita, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.

Visual Work: Maternal Subjectivities, Care and Labour

'Underbelly', by Christine Wilks, is the winner of the 2010/11 MaMSIE Digital Media Competition. It is a moving and complex work of digital fiction, about a woman sculptor who is carving in stone on the site of a former colliery in the north of England. As she carves, she is disturbed by a medley of voices, including her own internal dialogue, an articulation of her innermost fears and desires. As she chips away at the stone, other voices begin to emerge, telling the stories of women who worked underground in the pits, hauling rock in squalid, harsh conditions. The Digital Media Competition was kindly supported by the Faculty of Humanities, De Montfort University

Improving the quality of community placements for nursing students

This article explores the development and implementation of a structured framework to enable adult branch nursing students to undertake delegated care activities independently while working in community practice placements and aligned to district nursing teams. A working group comprising academic staff from De Montfort University, Leicester, and practice colleagues from Leicestershire Partnership Trust collaborated to develop the framework and accompanying guidelines.

Improving the quality of community placements for nursing students

This article explores the development and implementation of a structured framework to enable adult branch nursing students to undertake delegated care activities independently while working in community practice placements and aligned to district nursing teams. A working group comprising academic staff from De Montfort University, Leicester, and practice colleagues from Leicestershire Partnership Trust collaborated to develop the framework and accompanying guidelines.

Whither Ethics?

Neil McBride of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, asks whether computer ethics codes have failed the IT professional and, if so, what should be done.

Christmas tidings: Any gifts for GI nurses?

Senior lecturer in adult nursing, De Montfort University, Leicester, argues that in the upcoming year, gastrointestinal nurses cannot depend on financial ring-fencing and will need to use their talents and skills to face the challenges posed by economic constraints and limited resources.

A Century of Cinema Exhibition: From Silent Screen to Digital Screen De Montfort University, Leicester, 10–11 July 2010

A Century of Cinema Exhibition: From Silent Screen to Digital Screen De Montfort University, Leicester, 10–11 July 2010

Maximizing effective learning for students

Penny Harrison, senior lecturer in adult nursing, De Montfort University, Leicester, considers how gastrointestinal nursing staff can ensure nursing students experience personal and professional development as well as enhancing their practical learning and clinical skills in the work environment.

Locating Learning Development in a University Library: Promoting Effective Academic Help Seeking

The Centre for Learning and Study Support at De Montfort University relocated to the Department of Library Services in September 2006. During that academic year student use of study support tutorials increased by over 100%. This article considers the factors that led to this increase, using as a starting point, the experiences and opinions of students who have needed help for academic study. It analyzes student responses to a short survey. Many students do not ask for help and the survey findings suggest that this is more a response to ambivalence about the acceptability of needing help in higher education (HE) and less a positive decision about an individual's learning. The article goes on to identify the conditions that encourage appropriate help-seeking behavior and to suggest that these can be successfully created in the academic environment of a library. The article acknowledges the potential impact of social learning spaces on students’ approaches to learning and suggests that the integration of learning development activities facilitates an overtly positive learning environment.

Pre-registration education standards

Penny Harrison, senior lecturer in adult nursing, De Montfort University, Leicester, argues that, while the new pre-registration nursing standards set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Council have yet to be implemented, gastrointestinal nursing and endoscopy are well-placed to adapt to these new standards.

The Future for Computational Intelligence Education: A Case Study of Postgraduate Courses at De Montfort University [Educational Forum

This article summarizes the way we teach Computational Intelligence (CI) at postgraduate level at De Montfort University (DMU). The University is based in the center of England, in a city called Leicester. We have over 18,000 students studying a mixture of courses at undergraduate, taught postgraduate and post graduate research level.

Summaries of Nursing Rare-Related Systematic Reviews from the Cochrane Library

Principal Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK A member of the Cochrane Nursing Care Network (CNCN)

E-learning: The new panacea for nurses?

Penny Harrison, senior lecturer in adult nursing, De Montfort University, Leicester, argues that gastrointestinal nurses need to access new e-learning facilities and initiatives in order to fully engage in lifelong learning, and take advantage of the resources available in their area of professional practice.

How to make care champions

This article provides an overview of how second-year, adult branch nursing students at De Montfort University, Leicester, were trained as older people's champions to improve the care provided to this patient group.

The Congress on Research in Dance Special Conference International Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, England, June 25–27, 2009

<i>The Congress on Research in Dance Special Conference</i> International Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, England, June 25–27, 2009

Racism in comedy reappraised: Back to Little England?

ABSTRACTThis article was originally researched to consider issues of taste in the self-proclaimed ‘New British Comedy’ (circa 2003–2009) exemplified by television, film and stage shows of the previous decade, such as Little Britain, Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat and Mock the Week. Considering the contemporary and continuing debate concerning the divide between satire and inappropriate racist offence, the article now considers and focuses on reappraising racism in comedy, with particular reference to the trends that emerged in the Little Britain series of this era. As American commentators mark the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication in 1960 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1989) through a critical reflection on racism in contemporary American culture, the authors believe it is timely to revisit the ways in which comedy reflects broader British attitudes towards race and racial stereotypes. A number of traditional social psychological theories will be used to explain why racist humour is still prevalent in Britain's multicultural society. In particular, the article will seek to illustrate the ways in which developments in contemporary comedy reflect the move from what is termed ‘old-fashioned racism’ to what Gaertner and Dovidio (1986) term ‘aversive racism’. The article will then develop the argument to illustrate the ways in which the interactional qualities that exemplify ‘aversive racism’ are manifested in the broader socio-political context as ‘principled racism’ that warrants racist humour through the rhetoric of ‘race-blind’ liberal principles (Sniderman et al. 1991).Early drafts of a paper on which this article was based were presented at Leicester De Montfort University Symposium (2008), The International Federation for Theatre Research Conference Political Performance Working Group in Stellenbosch, South Africa (2007) and The Salford International Comedy Conference (2007).

Take my mother-in-law: ‘old bags’, comedy and the sociocultural construction of the older woman

ABSTRACTThis article investigates how older women are depicted in jokes, how jokes about mature women conform to or challenge stereotypical notions of the older woman, and explores the sociocultural function of laughing at and with ‘old bags’. The article asks questions about the role and functions of jokes about older women and argues that jokes are lies in search of the truth. Jokes can neutralize fears and defuse tensions; but they also reveal what disturbs us. The thinking underpinning the article is informed primarily by Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas about carnival and the carniva-lesque, though Michel Foucault's notion of ‘disciplinary power’ and Edward Said's concept of orientalism are briefly referenced. An earlier version of this article was presented as a paper at the ‘Playing for Laughs’ conference at Leicester De Montfort University in February 2009.

Viewing a/new: the landscape of dance in 2009

This paper was originally presented as a keynote address to the Conference on Research on Dance (CORD) held at De Montfort University, Leicester England in 2009. The themes of the conference, global perspectives on dance pedagogy: research and practice, are considered, particularly in relation to the interwoven nature of the relationships between pedagogy, research and practice. The aim of the speech was to touch on recent trends as identified in the conference abstracts and to offer some provocative observations on the landscape of dance in Higher Education today.