Month: October 2024

Virginia Woolf Encounters Naser al-Din Shah in London

Posted on by George Thomas

By Sajad Sotoudeh, PhD Film and Television candidate, School of Arts

In the final entry to our series spotlighting PGR summer internship projects, PhD Film and Television candidate Sajad Sotoudeh explains his collaboration with Dr Nariman Massoumi on a film essay that explored the perceptual experience of the flâneur in the metropolis. Flânerie refers to wandering through the modern city, a concept that has intrigued many thinkers, including Walter Benjamin, Charles Baudelaire and Guy Debord.

My collaborative project with Dr Nariman Massoumi centred on two historical figures: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), a Western writer, and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831-1896), the king of Iran, focusing on their flânerie in London in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Virginia Woolf was an English writer who is considered one of the influential figures of modern literature. She wrote about the experience of the figure of flâneur in the modern city. Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the monarch of Iran for fifty years, was also a photographer and writer interested in traveling to Europe and seeing the manifestations of Western modernity.

We were interested in drawing on and entangling their unique mobilised gaze of the city into a dialogue or conflict to initiate new interpretations of urban modernity, postcolonialism, and gendered perceptual experience. Our project aims to create a visual impression of their contrasting perspectives as they walk London in parallel, across time and space. Through the meeting of these two historical figures on film, a layered encounter across temporal, gendered, and cross-cultural lines is intended. Using formal experimentation, the film will seek to examine an alternative historiography based on a non-linear approach to uncover neglected moments in the history of everyday life.

In the initial phase, Dr Massoumi and I examined various texts regarding Virginia Woolf and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, flânerie, perception, gender, and sexuality in the modern city. We shared our findings in numerous meetings, which helped us better understand each other’s perspectives.

Dr Massoumi’s expertise in the cultural conflicts and influences between Iran and Britain and post-colonial studies significantly contributed to solidifying my ideas. Furthermore, his experience in filmmaking, particularly his focus on archival practice research about the history of the British-Iranian confrontation, provided me with invaluable insights into translating theoretical ideas into visual concepts in filmmaking. Acquiring this skill was a significant milestone, as it enabled me to present my ideas in a medium (cinema) that reaches a wider audience. This not only expanded the impact of my work but also provided me with practical experience in the burgeoning field of practice-as-research in academia.

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar in a carriage during one of his trips to Europe.

Since this project is closely related to my dissertation topic on the history of flânerie in Iranian cinema and culture, it has enabled me to study and explore texts associated with the concept of flânerie in greater detail. This PGR Internship has also allowed me to go through my first filmmaking experience in the UK with Dr Massoumi’s guidance, face its challenges, and better understand how films are produced in the UK. These achievements will help me to continue my career path in the field of research as a practice in the future, which can provide me with better job opportunities.

Currently we hope to complete the essay film by the summer of 2025 and submit it to a wide range of international conferences and film festivals.

Sajad Sotoudeh is a PhD Film and Television candidate with research interests in Iranian cinema, haptic perception, gender and sexuality in cinema, flânerie, and urban modernity. To find out more about the project with Dr Nariman Massoumi, contact af23066@bristol.ac.uk. To read more PGR summer internship projects, visit ArtsMatter.

Cognitive Biases in Describing Biological Evolution: A Study of Popular Science and Social Media

Posted on by George Thomas

By Calum Sims, PhD Philosophy candidate, School of Arts

In the penultimate entry to our series spotlighting PGR summer internship projects, PhD Philosophy candidate Calum Sims tells us about working with Professor Samir Okasha to study the ways biological evolution is explained on social media. Taking for their subject crows, jays and ravens—birds known for their remarkable cognitive abilities—the pair examined Instagram videos to identify evidence for the presence or absence of bias when describing their behaviours, an important question in the study of philosophy of science.

Do you watch shorts and reels on social media? If, like me, you participate in this recently emerging trend, you have likely come across videos of animals. Carrying on the lineage from shows like ‘Animals do the craziest things’ and ‘Animal Planet’, videos abound of animals doing attention-grabbing stuff. Sometimes they’re being silly; sometimes they’re being cute; sometimes they’re being remarkably intelligent. What makes these videos attention-grabbing? What, if anything, do these videos have in common? And, perhaps most importantly, what effect do they have on popular understanding of scientific ideas?

Professor Samir Okasha and I chose to focus on corvids (crows, jays and ravens) because they are both prevalent on social media and a key research topic at the forefront of animal cognition. In this field, researchers document the ‘surprisingly intelligent’ behaviour of corvids and debate the nature of the cognitive machinery supposed to support it.

Corvids engage in a range of behaviours that suggest cognitive similarity to humans. To give a few examples:

  • They engage in pair-bonding ‘rituals’
  • They interact with other species for mutual benefit
  • They cache food in a way that is sensitive to the presence (and perhaps intentions) of members of the same species
  • They successfully solve multi-step puzzles for food rewards

Debate concerns whether the exhibition of these behaviours warrants attributing human-like cognitive capacities to corvids, and while intellectual currents seem to be moving in the ‘yes’ direction, the question is far from settled. Hence, we were curious to see whether videos of corvids on Instagram reflected this complexity, and hence how they bear on popular understanding of scientific ideas.

It soon became apparent that the videos, which showed animals engaged in surprising and interesting behaviours, contained some well-known biases that traditional biology education normally attempts to mitigate away. In somewhat romantic fashion, the language in the videos treated the animal’s behaviour in anthropomorphic, teleological and essentialist terms: that is, it uncritically assumed that the behaviours on display were caused by the animals having certain intentions and goals and acting for the same sorts of reasons as humans.

This allowed us to connect our research to a prominent debate in the philosophy of science education concerning whether this sort of language use should be conceptualised as ‘biased’. The patterns of speaking outlined above (which, according to the debate, could either be called ‘biases’ or ‘cognitive construals’) lead systematically to errors in biological thinking. Because of this, researchers have traditionally attempted to structure science education in such a way as to eliminate them. However, a growing counter-current argues that these thinking patterns, while sometimes problematic, are a useful and maybe even essential part of human reasoning, to be accommodated by educational strategies rather than eliminated from them.

The novelty of our contribution consists in applying this question to the domain of social media. Here, biases appear to have a dual role: they seem to get in the way of good biological thinking, but they also seem to drive attention and engagement towards scientific topics. So, how do we get the good without getting the bad? A prominent line of reasoning (Coley and Tanner 2012) suggests that supplementing these construals with opportunities for reflection and critical analysis – essentially, asking viewers to reconstruct, query and debate their explanations of behaviour – could improve scientific understanding without detracting from engagement. We concluded by suggesting that such interventions could be made in the descriptions of the videos in question, by pointing to areas of uncertainty in the research field or asking questions to viewers directly.

On the whole, this project was incredibly useful for clarifying the role of social media in science communication and beginning to systematise the contribution of videos to this goal. Going forward, we will continue to look at ways that boosting metacognition can help to promote the benefits outlined above.

Calum Sims is a PhD Philosophy candidate with research interests in animal cognition, metacognition and cultural evolution. To find out more about the project with Professor Samir Okasha and view the data captured as part of the research, please contact cs15522@bristol.ac.uk. To read more PGR summer internship projects, visit ArtsMatter.

Navigating Authenticity: Hearing from Disabled Children’s Authors

Posted on by George Thomas

By Daniela Rozental, PhD Creative Writing candidate, School of Humanities

In the latest entry to our series spotlighting PGR summer internship projects, PhD Creative writing candidate Daniela Rozental tells us about working with Dr Jo Nadin to explore the role a disabled author’s lived experience plays in their writing. By conducting in-depth interviews with published disabled children’s authors, the research examined key issues such as accuracy and authenticity, ableism and internalised ableism, providing valuable insights that will help empower disabled writers in the future.

One of the key issues I have identified during my practice-led creative writing PhD is my struggle as a disabled children’s writer to find a balance between writing authentically and writing responsibly. My thesis explores my own writing process, but I was keen to look further and hear from other disabled writers.

Over the summer I was fortunate enough to participate in the Arts Faculty PGR summer internship scheme. I knew some other students who had taken part in previous years, but it was only now in the third year of my PhD that I felt confident and prepared enough to apply for it myself. Alongside Dr Jo Nadin, one of my PhD supervisors, we took the opportunity to work on a research project we had both been wanting to undertake for quite some time.

Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt, one of the authors interviewed by Daniela & Jo, has been praised for its authentic portrayal of autism, helping young people to appreciate neurodiversity.

Our main goal for the project was to interview disabled children’s authors on their attitudes towards writing stories that incorporate elements of their own lived experiences. We also sought their thoughts on authentic and responsible writing, ableism and accessibility in the publishing industry, and what advice they had to offer other disabled writers. Our topic was unique enough to stand alone from my PhD research, but relevant enough that our findings might inform my thesis going forward, as well as Jo’s own creative and critical practice.

When the internship began we were proactive and eager to get started, immediately getting to work on establishing our research objectives, drafting interview questions, and planning out the best ways to disseminate our eventual findings. It wasn’t long, however, before we reached our first stumbling block –ethical approval.

The internship was my first experience conducting interviews as academic research, so I was learning a lot on the job. The process of submitting an ethics application and waiting for approval took a lot longer than I had anticipated. My advice to future interns conducting this sort of research would be to put in your ethics application before the internship start date in order to maximize your internship experience.

Rapids by Anna Bowles and Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein bring attention to the lived experiences of disabled individuals. Both novelists were interviewed by Daniela and Jo.

Nevertheless, once we did receive ethical approval, we immediately got to work seeking participants and setting up interview dates. All in all we were able to secure six interviews (five over video call and one over email). The interview process was the real highlight of the internship for me. It was an honour to meet with our participants and create a safe space for them to share their experiences with us. I felt myself grow in confidence as the interviews progressed, and found myself falling in love with conducting interview research. I would leave one interview buzzing with ideas and eager to get started on the next. We gained some really valuable insights that will hopefully go on to help empower disabled writers in the future.

This research might not have been possible without the internship scheme, and I am very grateful to the Arts Faculty, and to Jo Nadin in particular, for the opportunity to work on something so meaningful.

Daniela Rozental is a PhD Creative Writing candidate, investigating ways for disabled authors to write authentic and responsible depictions of disability in children’s fiction. Daniela and Jo will be presenting some of their findings at Leaf Journal’s ‘On Writing for Young People’ conference (24-25 October). To find out more about the project, contact xs21605@bristol.ac.uk. To read more PGR summer internship projects, visit ArtsMatter.

Fostering Inclusivity in Mountain Biking

Posted on by George Thomas

By Emma Frazer, PhD Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies candidate, School of Modern Languages

To continue our series spotlighting PGR summer internship projects, PhD Latin American Studies candidate Emma Frazer tells us about working with Professor Martin Hurcombe and Associate Professor Fiona Spotswood on their interdisciplinary project, Fostering Inclusivity in Action Sports. With the project at an advanced stage in engaging with audiences beyond academic circles, Emma reflects on the invaluable lessons the experience has offered in developing and presenting her own research.

Over the summer of 2024, I conducted a six-week PGR internship with Professor Martin Hurcombe and Associate Professor Fiona Spotswood. I had previously assisted them with an event called Game On, which involved a documentary-screening and academic discussion group on women’s sports. This internship provided me with the opportunity to continue working with them. They have created a framework that works on Fostering Inclusivity in Action Sports (FIAS), with a focus on women in mountain biking.

My PhD is researching the ways in which playing football empowers women beyond the pitch, exploring the cases of Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, where I conducted my ethnographic research. The FIAS project has also used ethnographic research, and is again exploring women in sports, but it is further along than my own research, which means it has provided me with a really useful insight into how my work could develop in the future.

In particular, during my internship, the FIAS project has been at the stage of working on impact and dissemination by exploring case studies and reaching out to wider audiences. They have been experimenting with different ways to present their findings within the mountain biking community and beyond, including sporting institutions, stakeholders and policy-makers. It has been invaluable to learn how projects can progress from the research stage and be disseminated to a wider audience, beyond academic circles, and how the impact of that can begin to be measured too.

The Fostering Inclusivity in Action Sports (FIAS) Framework SnapshotDownload
  • To navigate through the framework, use the grey bar on the right hand side of the screen.
  • To view the framework in full screen, right click the above hyperlink and select first option.

My internship began with me working with their framework in the form of editing a presentation, as well as a short and long framework. By presenting their work in different formats of different lengths, I was able to see how the work can be adapted depending on the audience and the objective, with varying amounts of detail included. It also showed me the importance of strong, cohesive messaging, as well as clear, actionable goals. From there I developed a two-pager document myself for the project, which can be disseminated to organisations and stakeholders, but which can also be used as a policy brief.

Following the two-pager, I wrote up case studies of different women’s mountain biking organisations who have used the framework. This was a useful process as it showed me how I might include the case studies from my own ethnographic research within my PhD, as well as how they can be presented in the future dissemination of my work. 

(L-R) Associate Professor Fiona Spotswood chairs a panel discussion with Sue Anstiss MBE, Aneela McKenna (Mòr Diversity), Aoife Glass, Zoe Woodman and Professor Jean Williams.

Finally, I was involved in the marketing strategy for how to effectively reach different audiences with the framework. Having done some research, it was clear that direct messaging to members of different mountain biking and action sports organisations would be the most effective method. These can range from local groups, such as Women Ride Bristol, to cycling institutions, such as British Cycling. I then reached out through various groups to pass on the framework.

As a result of the internship, I have been able to learn the dissemination process of academic work to a wider audience, as well as how to provide the tools so that the research can have an impact in the real world, and how to measure any impact it might have.

Emma Frazer is a PhD Latin American Studies candidate with research interests in Latin America, sports, gender, empowerment, and ethnographic fieldwork. To read more about the FIAS project with Professor Martin Hurcombe and Associate Professor Fiona Spotswood, including the recently launched toolkit and framework, visit the project website and Instagram. To read more PGR summer internship projects, visit ArtsMatter.

Punk-up-the-Publication: Amplifying Community Voices through DIY Zine Culture

Posted on by George Thomas

By Peter Baxter, PhD History candidate, School of Humanities

Next in our series spotlighting PGR summer internship projects, PhD History candidate Peter Baxter tells us about working with Professor Hilary Carey and vibrant communities in the London Borough of Brent to co-produce a zine that confronts the legacies of British colonialism. Drawing inspiration from the punk ethos of ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (DIY), the research harnessed grassroots creativity to engage with the British Empire Exhibition, held in Wembley in 1924 and 1925, and spark conversations about decolonisation.

From Action Research to Zine Production

This project stemmed from my involvement in the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) project, ‘Becoming Brent’, which examines the British Empire’s legacy, the realities of racism, and how colonial hierarchies still affect communities today.

My aim for the internship was to apply the D.I.Y. ethic to co-produce a zine with the public and use the activity as a critical examination of colonial legacies, particularly those tied to the British Empire Exhibition. The punk subculture’s D.I.Y. ethic – where stuff is self-made and mutual aid is encouraged against the dogma of market forces – provided the perfect framework for this endeavour. As the punk movement has shown, D.I.Y. media can play a crucial role in agency, social activism and in amplifying marginalised voices in a way that rallies and inspires others.

Public Irreverence zine produced by Peter and his collaborators.

  • To navigate through the zine, click on the arrow icons in the bottom left and right of the zine.
  • To view the zine in full screen, click on the icon in the top right of the zine.

The Zine as a Tool for Resistance

Zines are cheap to make. Recycled, found objects, paper and glue can put the power of the press in anyone’s hands. This lo-fi, D.I.Y., assemblage approach not only rips up the criteria of publisher submission rules, it also offers a raw, gritty aesthetic that makes zines tangible, contingent and rebellious. And when created communally something richer emerges.

If the written word is the most important part of the book, then the zine is a paper cut to AUTHORity. And if history is cherry-picked by the oppressor, then cut-and-paste is the tool of resistance for the oppressed. This view took root in my mind after discovering Sniffin’ Glue – a fanzine created by Mark Perry in 1976 which spawned hundreds of imitators. (I was born in 1977 – so I count myself among them). With the zine the perfect medium for achieving my aim, I took to the streets of Harlesden, Willesden, and Wembley where I invited the community to join me to communicate with history creatively.

Challenges and Community Engagement

Taking to the streets of Brent with ephemera from the Brent Museum and Archives, I spoke to several people who had not visited Brent Museum before, some people didn’t know there is one. However, initial responses were sparse and mostly irreverent, and I felt this reflected the time I allocated in the project to co-produce a zine with the people I met. Given the complexity and emotional weight of engaging with colonial history this should have been a very apparent consideration from the outset.

However, this lack of initial public response did not deter the project. I turned to the Brent Museum and Archives where I accessed oral history recordings. One was of an elderly woman named Margaret Bird, who visited the British Empire Exhibition with her father at the age of 11. Her poignant interview provided inspiration for a zine about butter sculptures which were displayed at the Exhibition. The archive mitigated my failed attempts to engage the community meaningfully at this point. Other zines were produced from ephemera found there.

Butter Sculptures zine produced by Peter and his collaborators.

  • To navigate through the zine, click on the arrow icons in the bottom left and right of the zine.
  • To view the zine in full screen, click on the icon in the top right of the zine.

Collaboration with Becoming Brent’s Decolonisation Consultant

During the zine’s production, I was collaborating with Devika, Decolonisation Consultant on the ‘Becoming Brent’ project. We explored ways to bring aspects of the work to the public through learning activities. One significant outcome of this collaboration were some workshops where participants created collages on postcards using facsimiles of original Exhibition postcards and discarded contemporary local newspapers and magazines. This activity symbolised the reclamation of history, transforming colonial imagery into dialogical tools for critique. It significantly deepened the impact with the community ensuring their voices were better represented.

I initially wanted a zine that captured the challenges and complexities of confronting colonial legacies while also celebrating the community’s resilience and creativity. A key strength of this project was the creative input from colleagues on the Becoming Brent project and community members. Future postcard workshops and contributions can now form the collective content of zine production, making it a more collaborative effort.

Postcards in Perspective zine produced by Peter and his collaborators.

  • To navigate through the zine, click on the arrow icons in the bottom left and right of the zine.
  • To view the zine in full screen, click on the icon in the top right of the zine.

Building on the Success of Collaboration

Building on the success of this project, I will explore the role of creative learning in heritage engagement, with a particular focus on decolonisation and community storytelling. By continuing to work closely with communities and creative practitioners, I aim to produce a zine that will not only document this journey but also serve as a resource or toolkit for others interested in using D.I.Y. media for community participation.

Peter Baxter is a PhD History candidate whose research interests focus on comparing community and collaborative history projects in Britain and Australia. To find out more about the project with Professor Hilary Carey and the zines created by Peter and his collaborators, please contact peter.baxter@bristol.ac.uk. To read about more PGR summer internship projects, visit ArtsMatter.

Pioneering Research to Understand the Past: AHRC Centre for Chemical Characterisation in Heritage Science (C3HS)

Posted on by George Thomas

By Dr Lucy Cramp, Dr Tim Knowles, Professor Ian Bull, Dr Mélanie Roffet-Salque, Professor Richard Evershed, Professor Tim Elliott and Dr Jamie Lewis

A team of University of Bristol researchers, led by Dr Lucy Cramp in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, have been awarded a £1m grant from the AHRC to establish a new Centre for Chemical Characterisation in Heritage Science (C3HS). Bringing together expertise in Archaeology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, the Centre will help to determine the origin of heritage objects and materials, leading to informed conservation strategies and impactful discoveries about the past.

The University of Bristol have received a £1m capital investment grant to establish a world-leading facility that will welcome diverse research and researchers from across the heritage sector, enhancing its analytical capabilities in the process. New cutting-edge analytical instrumentation for high resolution organic molecular analysis will enable enhanced and reliable identification and structural characterisation of organic compounds in complex mixtures, such as pottery residues and organic components of pigments, binders and balms. A new preparative capillary gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer will facilitate the separation, collection and structural verification of individual archaeological compounds in sufficient quantities for radiocarbon dating, whilst newly refurbished lasers in the School of Earth Sciences will be used for the measurement of isotopic signals from different points during the formation of archaeological teeth at high temporal resolution.

These advancements will be made possible thanks to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) recently announcing a new funding programme to establish infrastructure for heritage science and conservation in the UK. The aim of this programme is to enhance the UK capability and capacity for heritage science, and in so doing, bring new knowledge on heritage collections, buildings, landscapes and data. As part of this programme, AHRC announced a major funding call for host facilities and equipment across the UK, to open up access to specialist knowledge, equipment and collections across the heritage sector.

Dr Mélanie Roffet-Salque (left) and Professor Richard Evershed (right) weigh out powdered pottery sherd for lipid extraction.

Here at the University of Bristol, we have a long history of driving forwards pioneering mass spectrometric methodologies, and have exceptional capabilities for molecular and isotope analyses, in the heritage sciences. We have expertise and infrastructure that spans and integrates three schools and two faculties: the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology in the School of Arts (ALSS), the Organic Geochemistry Unit in the School of Chemistry and the Bristol Isotope Group housed in the School of Earth Sciences (SEng). Facilities include an ultra-compact, high-precision radiocarbon accelerator. The Bristol Radiocarbon Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility (BRAMS) was established by the School of Chemistry as a UoB/NERC/BBSRC-funded national facility in 2016 and is housed in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology. This has led to major methodological developments, including the capability to radiocarbon date individual preserved fatty acids from food residues extracted from archaeological pottery.

Left: Bristol Radiocarbon Accelerator Mass Spectrometry facility (BRAMS), led by the School of Chemistry and housed in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology. Right: an archaeological potsherd being cleaned prior to extraction of ancient lipids for analysis.

Across the Schools of Chemistry, Arts and Earth Sciences, we have laboratories and instrumentation for highly sensitive analysis of molecular and isotopic signals held in archaeological materials, including ancient food residues preserved in pottery, climatic signals held in historical parchments, pigments and binders used in works of art and the composition of mummy balms from ancient Egypt. The Bristol Isotope Group uses world-leading mass spectrometric instrumentation to explore intra-lifetime patterns in human and animal diet and mobility from isotope signatures in biological remains. Recent major discoveries by the project team include establishing the palaeoecological range of honeybees exploited by the earliest farmers of Neolithic Europe, Near East and North Africa from beeswax residues in pottery, identifying the earliest-discovered lipid signatures for cereal use, along with milk, from 6000 year old Scottish ‘crannogs’ (artificial or semi-artificial ‘islets’) and the detailed analysis of milk use in prehistory to provide a new theory for its relationship with the evolution of the ability to digest milk (lactase persistence) that exists amongst modern-day populations.

‘There is a major demand for access to these approaches to characterise, provenance and date organic materials, and this new infrastructure will open-up access to advanced instrumentation that does not exist together elsewhere. The expertise within the Centre team will support the development of the highest quality projects and research excellence, drawing in the research potential from developer-funded archaeology and the wider heritage sector beyond academia’

Dr Jim Williams, Historic England (project partner)

We will shortly be appointing new staff to join the team and over the next 24 months, we will be installing, testing and verifying protocols on our new instruments installed in our laboratories and undertaking refurbishments to existing systems to enhance performance. From 2026 we will be ready to offer access to a facility for single- and multi-molecular and isotope mass spectrometry approaches that can be applied to heritage materials to further understand their composition, origins and age. In addition to the analytical facilities, we will provide access to the latest methods and protocols we develop, as well as providing training, analytical and interpretative support. The ability to coordinate these major types of mass spectrometry analysis will simplify the route to molecular and isotope analyses, unlocking new, ambitious and scientifically-rigorous research on heritage collections.

Dr Lucy Cramp is Associate Professor in Archaeology with research interests in ancient biomolecules, dietary traditions and prehistoric subsistence strategies. The AHRC Centre for Chemical Characterisation (C3HS) is part of the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) programme, funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council through the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. To find out more about it, please contact lucy.cramp@bristol.ac.uk. Read our press announcement to find out more about the AHRC investment.