An analysis of purple truths: an alternative history of the school of journalism and media studies at Rhodes University. Exploring the possibilities of digital media for telling history through multiple voices

In theory, notions of public history and participatory journalism signal the ability of users to become active collaborators in the journalistic process with a degree of agency and authority over media content. Similarities in public history and participatory journalism are manifested in audience participation where the traditional and hegemonic boundaries between readers and journalists/historians are challenged. In this thesis, I present Purple Truths, a digital public history website about the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, that highlights multivocality and plurality. It allowed for democratisation of the historical narrative by inviting audience participation to historical inquiry on a digital platform. It was constructed as a case study for the thesis to investigate participatory processes. Using a five-dimensional model developed by Netzer et al. (2014) for the construction of participation on news websites, I identified five major participation features that revealed how and where participation was happening on the website. The features were mapped and tabulated according to Carpentier’s (2011) maximalist/minimalist dimensions of participation (access, interaction and ‘real’) to determine the degrees of participation in this study towards the aim of using the Purple Truths website to democratise the historical narrative. My findings suggest that despite a diversity of strategies, the study did have to rely on existing norms and practices of editorial decision-making, even in the context of digital media, and significant stages of the news-production process (selection/filtering) remained in the hands of researcher/editor. Maximalist participation, demonstrated as equalised power relations in decision-making, has a utopian dimension and is difficult to translate into practice. However, participation research requires further investigation in the digital humanities in South Africa to explore notions of democratisation of the narrative in academic and social praxis as sites of interdisciplinary democratic renewa

#MDXPD Product Design 2020

MDXPD Magazine 2019-20 details the student, staff and collaborative partner research and practice work across Middlesex University Department of Design Engineering and Mathematics and Programmes BA(Hons) Product Design and BEng (Hons) Product Design Engineering

Novel monitoring techniques and biological control of invasive insect pests

Invasive species are alien to the ecosystem under consideration and cause economic or environmental damage or harm to human health. Two alien insects that fit this description are the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys and the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula. Both invaders are polyphagous pests that feed on a myriad of plant species and inflict severe crop losses. As sustainable control methods depend on the accurate monitoring of species’ invasion and involve the use of natural enemies, we addressed these two facets by exploring novel monitoring techniques and deciphering host-parasitoid interactions for improved integrated pest management. Thus, we adopted ‘BugMap’, a citizen science initiative that enables students, farmers and everyday citizens to report sightings of H. halys from Italy, with emphasis on Trentino-Alto Adige. Aside from fostering citizen participation in scientific endeavors and the enhanced literacy that ensues, BugMap helped uncover the invasion dynamics of H. halys and forecast its potential distribution in Trentino, all while coordinating technical monitoring and informing management strategies. The most promising agent currently under study for the classical biological control of H. halys is the Asian egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus. To assess the wasp’s potential non-target impacts, we investigated its foraging behavior in response to chemical traces ‘footprints’ deposited by its main host H. halys and by a suboptimal predatory species, the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris. Wasps exhibited a ‘motivated searching’ when in contact with footprints originating from both species. However, T. japonicus arrestment was significantly stronger in response to H. halys footprints, compared with P. maculiventris, implying the presence of underlying chemical cues that shape its natural preferences. A series of GC-MS chemical analyses revealed that n-tridecane and (E)-2-decenal were more abundant in H. halys footprints and are probably the key components utilized by the wasp for short range host location. The function of the aforementioned compounds was studied, ntridecane acted as an arrestant, prolonging T. japonicus residence time, whereas (E)- 2-decenal fulfilled its presumed defensive role and repelled the wasp. These results shed new light on the chemical ecology of T. japonicus and help expand the understanding of parasitoid foraging and its implications for classical biological control. Moving to the other invader L. delicatula, an egg parasitoid Anastatus orientalis was reported attacking it at high rates in its native range in Eastern Asia and may play a key role in reducing its populations there. A series of bioassays revealed that wasps responded to footprints deposited by L. delicatula gravid females by initiating a strong searching behavior. Moreover, A. orientalis preferred to oviposit in egg masses with intact oothecae, suggesting that the host’s egg covering functions as a trigger for A. orientalis probing and oviposition. Thus, A. orientalis not only overcomes, but also reverses an important line of host structural defense for its own fitness gains. This dissertation discusses the benefits of combining citizen science with traditional monitoring, and the usefulness of decoding host-parasitoid interactions to design more efficacious management strategies of invasive insect pest

Technology Enabled Social Responsibility Projects and an Empirical Test of CSR\u27s Impact on Firm Performance

Multinational firms publish annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to signal to stakeholders they are ‘doing better by doing good.’ However, many firms have not effectively integrated technology with CSR to generate impactful long-term solutions. The era of mindful consumption is about creating hi-tech opportunities to satisfy consumers as well as limit resource use. In this research we examine how CSR is revolutionized by technology. We present research based on in-depth conversations with experts and illustrative case studies on how AI is disrupting the world of CSR. Specifically, we examine how the latest technologies in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are changing perspectives on CSR for countries, industries, firms, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We present an extended stakeholder framework to display the way technology is fundamentally changing how international business is conducted. This research also quantitatively examines the financial impact that CSR has on tangible returns for multinational enterprises (MNEs). Through the lens of institutional theory, we examine which industries CSR and sustainability yield the most beneficial returns over time

New-age technologies-driven social innovation : what, how, where, and why?

Social innovation (SI) offers a sustainable solution to prevalent social issues/problems and is typically developed and deployed by a varied set of people from the society adopting a top-down and/or bottom-up approach. The disruption of new-age technologies (NATs) is immensely impacting the space of SIs, providing a resource-efficient solution, and bringing multiple outcome benefits. In this study, we discuss the SIs driven by new-age technologies and attempt to address a few critical questions around such SIs to better understand the construct, such as – What is SI? How are NATs playing a role in providing an innovative offering for the social good? Where does it take place in society? How can SI be deployed in society to reach out to the populace? and, Why SI is required for society? By employing the triangulation approach, we provide a comprehensive framework recognizing the different contexts under which SI takes place in society, explaining the possible outcomes and suggesting the boundary conditions. We then provide the generalized propositions on the proposed relationship in the SI framework. Further, this study identifies directions for future research and provides implications for firms, policymakers, and social entrepreneurs

The NMC Horizon Report : 2014 Library Edition

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Audience engagement and monetisation of creative content in digital environments: a creative SME perspective.

Creative SMEs face a number of limitations that can hamper their ability to develop and establish original content in digital environments. These limitations include a lack of resources, struggles for visibility, limits of engagement, audience pressures and free culture. The constant pressures from growing competition and fragmented audiences across digital environments amplify these limitations, which means SMEs can struggle in these highly competitive, information rich platforms. Research sought to explore how creative SMEs may circumvent these limitations to strengthen their positioning in digital environments. Two areas of focus are proposed to address these issues; firstly a study and development of audience engagement, and secondly an analysis of the monetisation options available for digital content and their links to engagement. With a focus on audience engagement the theoretical grounding of this work is based within the engagement literature. Through this work a new Dynamic Shaping of Engagement is developed and used as a foundation of analysis, which informs the development of practical work in this study. Findings present insight into the methods and practices that can help creative SMEs circumvent their limitations and strengthen their positioning within digital environments. However, the findings continue to emphasise the difficulties faced by creative SMEs. These companies are hampered by paradoxes that arise due to their resource limitations that limit their ability to gain finances, develop audiences and produce content. It is shown that those with the ‘key’ to audience attention are the ones best positioned to succeed in these environments, often at the expense of the original content creators themselves. Therefore, visions of a democratic environment, which levels the playing field for SMEs to compete, are diminished and it is argued digital environments may act to amplify the positioning of established media. Therefore, greater support is required to aid these companies, which must look beyond short-term solutions that focus on one-off projects, towards broader, more long-term support. This support can then enhance creative SMEs ability to not only deliver, but also establish and potentially monetise content in digital environments, which in turn can make continued production more sustainable