New Research Centre!

Nisha Kapoor, Brian Loader and Nathan Manning are Co-Directors of the new Centre for Political Youth Culture and Communication (CPAC). The Centre is dedicated to exploring the socio-cultural factors influencing the civic engagement of young people and its means of communicative expression. Young networking citizens in many parts of the world today play a crucial role in shaping the future prospects for democratic societies. The styles, nature and means of their political engagement is therefore of increasing importance to policy-makers and academics alike. The Centre’s research is focused upon the communicative, emotional, embodied, and aesthetical modes of youth citizenship. Researchers examine the social construction of young people’s political identities within the context of widening social inequality, climate change, reflexive individualism and a networked media ecology. Find out more about the Centre by following this link - http://www.york.ac.uk/sociology/research/groups/cpac/

You can also follow CPAC on Twitter - @PoliticalYouth2

Doing Research on Gender and Farming

Part of coming an undergraduate degree in the Sociology department involves conducting a 10,000 word dissertation in the final year.

Third year Bethany Robertson who has just started her own sociology blog - Snippets of a Smiling Sociologist - reflects on her research and what she has learnt:

My topic of 'Gender in the Field of Farming' seems quite wacky to most but was a natural choice for me given that I have grown up on a farm, exposed to the social issues and witnessed the increase in women in farming. I have always questioned what it means to be a farmer since the nursery rhyme ‘Old Macdonald Had a Farm’ struck me as stereotypical for seeing women as inferior in farming. My advice for anyone deciding on a topic is that working with a personal interest or thinking outside of module work to research something you are passionate about, will give you the motivation to succeed and jump through the barriers you will inevitably face along the way!

I was supervised by Ellen Annandale, and expored the role of women in farming which has traditionally been understated in academic literature due to the predominance of men numerically and normatively in farming. Therefore, sociological research in the area has focused on farm wives and their role on farm, failing to acknowledge the increasing number of women farming in their own right, challenging the image that farming is unsuitable for women.

I conducted interviews with eight women in farming across Norfolk to determine whether women feel gender is made relevant in their work, in order to assess how far experiences and the way gender is ‘done’ reflect inequality between the sexes. Drawing on thematic analysis, my dissertation suggested that women accentuate their femininity to construct difference and position themselves as viable farmers. Instances of marginalisation were tolerated but such gender performance does little to challenge the gendered culture of farming and may contribute to maintaining an environment which undervalues women. 

I enjoyed my research and was so inspired that I was keen to engage other students and staff  with my work. Consequently I took part in the inaugural student-led lectures a couple of weeks ago as a personal challenge to increase my confidence and to share my passion for gender equality in the context of farming. This proved to be a great opportunity to attempt to curb my fear of public speaking because it felt like I was the expert in the room, as well as allowing me to gain feedback on my work and presenting style in an informal way.

I have learnt a lot about project management in organising my primary research which I can take on board in the future. This is going to be particularly useful as I am staying on within the department to embark on the Masters in Social Research to continue to develop my methodological skills which I can culminate in a project, less constrained than my undergraduate dissertation in terms of doing justice to the practical application of research methods. Perhaps I may like to adapt and broaden the scope of my current project in light of honing and reviewing my approach. Post-Masters I am keen to fulfil my passion for contributing to social understanding via empirical research and analysis in the context of a charity or research organization.

Celia Kitzinger - Why are patients in permanent comas routinely kept alive?

An article has been published in "The Conversation Today" about Celia and Jenny Kitzinger's research in the area of patients who are in a permanent coma.

• The article is available on line at http://theconversation.com/why-are-patients-in-permanent-comas-routinely-kept-alive-43365
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• The video outlining their work is available on YouTube

Sociology - Best Uni YUSU Course Reps

Congratulations to the Sociology Course Reps for getting the YUSU 'Best Course Rep Team' award at the YUSU Awards Night! Someone said about the Sociology Course Reps: "The team have worked tirelessly to form a strong team headed by the sociology department rep. They provided more events, ports of call, support for students and student engagement in the department in two terms than any other previous set of reps or society have managed, through their positive team ethic and putting the student needs first".'

Green Impact Award 2015

We're delighted to announce that Sociology has achieved a Bronze Award from Green Impact for our efforts at greening the department.  At the awards ceremony, the Sociology team were complimented particularly on their staff induction materials, which introduce new staff members to Green Impact and the kinds of sustainability-related practices expected of all in Sociology at York.  We couldn't have achieved the award without our fantastic student helper - Ben Wright - who was trained and allocated to help us by the central Green Impact organisers.  We are excited to have two Sociology students joining the team for the next round and are aiming for silver!  For more information on Green Impact, see: http://www.green-impact.org.uk/

For more information on sustainability at York, see: http://www.york.ac.uk/about/sustainability/

Dying Awareness Week

It's Dying Awareness Week this week and as in previous years we have a Before I Die Festival which is being held this Saturday (23 May) in central York at the Quaker Meeting House on Friargate.   

Dying Awareness Week is part of a new social movement to reflect on how we manage death and dying.  It provides the space and opportunities to talk about end of life issues.  Our Festival is part of a network of events organised across the UK.    Watch our our new short film here:

http://cdoc.org.uk/public-dialogue/

This year events run from 10.30 until 4pm and include a workshop on Advance Decisions (Living Wills)  - Your Choices at the End of Life  (2-4pm).  The programme is available using this link.

Museums, Migration and Identity

A chapter co-authored by Gonul Bozoglu (2nd-year PhD) features in a new book called 'Museums Migration and Identity in Europe' (Ashgate 2015).

The chapter is entitled 'Constitutive others and the management of difference: museum representations of Turkish identities' and is co-researched and co-authored with one of the book editors, Prof Chris Whitehead from Newcastle University. It looks at museum displays in Turkey and Western Europe - particularly the Netherlands and Germany where there are large Turkish populations in relation to issues of identity, migration and alterity. 

With ever-increasing attention to migration both in political and cultural spheres, the book is a landmark contribution to a critical field of study and practice.

 

The imperatives surrounding museum representations of place have shifted from the late eighteenth century to today. The political significance of place itself has changed and continues to change at all scales, from local, civic, regional to national and supranational. At the same time, changes in population flows, migration patterns and demographic movement now underscore both cultural and political practice, be it in the accommodation of ‘diversity’ in cultural and social policy, scholarly explorations of hybridity or in state immigration controls. 



The book investigates the historical and contemporary relationships between museums, places and identities. It brings together contributions from international scholars, academics, practitioners from museums and public institutions, policymakers, and representatives of associations and migrant communities to explore all these issues.

Click here for more details about the book. 

If you are interested in buying the book with a 50% discount then drop Gonul a line on gb784@york.ac.uk to get a discount code