Sociology Unpolished Papers

A series of “unpolished papers” begins Wednesday 11^th November. These sessions, organised by Gareth Millington, allow staff, visiting staff and postgrad students the opportunity to present research ideas, unfinished or unpolished papers to a friendly and encouraging audience. Open minds and constructive criticism have been essential in making this termly series a success. Since the series started in 2013, at least three unpolished papers  have gone on to be published in leading journals.

Gareth Millington, Unpolished Papers Series Convenor

Our first paper this term (11/11) is ‘Showing Pain, Violence and Death: Reflections on the use of graphic content in academic presentations’ by Holly Steel and Anaïs Duong-Pedica. 

On 18/11 visiting scholar Ryan Du Toit will give a paper titled ‘Reproductive justice? A critical examination of pre-termination of pregnancy consultations in the public health sector in South Africa and in Great Britain’ . 

Finally on 25/11 Matt Spokes and Paul Chappell will present a paper titled ‘Dealing with dirty data: five years in beers’. All talks are in w/243 and start at 3pm.

Jack Denham - Overseas Fieldwork Funding Success

Jack Denham (PhD student) has been awarded £1900.00 by the White Rose DTC on behalf of the AQC in order to undertake fieldwork in the USA.

The trip will start with a visit to America's biggest crime museum in Washington DC. Two days are set-aside for an ethnography of the museum and another for follow up interviews. The middle part of the trip is the longest accommodating a visit to America's biggest murderabilia convention, followed by one week set aside for interviews with contacts made at the event.

During this week, a trip to the 'Dime Museum', a popular murderabilia collection in Indianapolis, will also be made. Finally, the trip accommodates a visit to a crime museum in Hollywood boasting the largest murderabilia collection in the world over two days again. This trip has been arranged with the assistance of a gatekeeper with access to many interviewees during the week stopover in Indianapolis.

This trip will contribute a physical dimension to the networks addressed in Jack's proposal, providing valuable first-hand visual data as well as invaluable contacts in this industry. This exposure will also help with an understanding of the value of criminal culture to the consumer - data collected here will form the bulk of the research for his PhD.

Congratulations Jack!