Research Project Showcase 2024

A collection of the best Film, Media, and Journalism undergraduate Research Projects (Dissertations

Imagining brotherhood: the comics of the American Jewish Committee, 1941 - 1948

This thesis argues that the comics produced by the American Jewish Committee during and immediately after the Second World War are significant cultural artifacts that visualized complex political messages to millions of American workers and soldiers. The comics Three Pals and Extra Effort claimed patriotic citizenship for American Jewish men participating in the war effort at home and on the front. They formulated a powerful American individual and social body, a brotherhood, capable of winning the war. The comics There Are No Master Races! and They Got the Blame employed scientific advances in the understandings of cultural development and race to argue that racial and religious brotherhood was the natural way of human existence. Simultaneously, they defined those who opposed racial and religious brotherhood as psychologically disturbed individuals who threatened the stability of the American social mind and American democracy. The comics The Story of Labor and Joe Worker labored the fight for brotherhood by unifying it with the post-war goals of the national labor unions. Ultimately, in these comics the AJC defined the meaning of Americanism, claimed a place for American Jews in national culture and politics, and constructed American capitalist democracy as the only system capable of securing domestic economic stability and world peace

Becoming "another brick in the wall": A thematic analysis of Central and Eastern European immigrants' experiences of psychological distress and help-seeking

Background: Since 2004, a large number of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have taken up residence in the UK. This study explored how the experience of immigration impacted on the wellbeing of sixteen participants of Central and Eastern European origin and whether they sought help for psychological distress. Despite the increased knowledge and understanding of help-seeking attitudes towards mental health issues of various minority groups in the UK, the experiences of the Central and Eastern European communities remain understudied. It is this gap, which this current study aimed to fill. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four male and twelve female immigrants from Central and Eastern European countries living in the UK. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis following the seven steps outlined by Braun and Clarke (2013), within a qualitative paradigm and a critical realist framework. Results: Four overarching themes were identified in the analysis: immigration experience; views and meanings of mental health; help-seeking experience and addressing immigrants’ needs. Participants in the study reported having good mental health and the ability to deal with distress, but highlighted that a lack of English proficiency, low job attainment and experiences of prejudice and discrimination negatively affected their wellbeing. Most participants proposed that the best way to address their needs was to engage with their communities first, rather than to seek help from formal services.Discussion: The results provide a thorough description and facilitate understanding of the participants’ experiences, meanings and needs concerning their wellbeing. Possible practical implications for working therapeutically with this minority group are discussed from a social justice perspective. Importantly, this includes the recommendation to apply contextual approaches such as relational cultural theory to current ways of working. Conclusion: For most participants it was clear that settling in the UK was a stressful process influenced by cultural and socioeconomic factors that affected negatively their experience in the host country. Protective factors such as a good social network, English proficiency and equal economic opportunities contributed to positive experiences, whilst prejudice, discrimination and a lack of a culturally sensitive service provision had negative implications on their wellbeing. Addressing immigrants’ needs requires active engagement with these minority communities, which ideally would include acknowledging contextual factors affecting their wellbeing, highlighting discriminatory practices and policies, and building intrinsic forms of resilience

Residual strength of corroded reinforced concrete beams.

Currently, much research is focused on the corrosion of reinforcement in concrete members. However, none addresses the problems associated with the residual strength of reinforced concrete beams exhibiting both main and shear reinforcement corrosion simultaneously. The aim of this research, therefore, was to determine the residual strength of corroded reinforced concrete beams where various degrees of reinforcement corrosion is present in both the main and shear reinforcement. This may provide a better understanding of the performance of deteriorated reinforced concrete beams in service.One of the main causes of concrete deterioration is corrosion of the steel reinforcement and thus a reduction of the residual service life. In general, corrosion of reinforcement is believed to affect the structural performance of concrete elements in two ways. Firstly, by reducing the rebar cross sectional area, and secondly, by loss of bond strength between the concrete and steel reinforcement and resulting growth of cracks due to the formation of corrosion products at concrete/reinforcement interface.The experimental programme was carried out to provide information on the loss of strength resulting from corrosion to the main and shear reinforcement. Corrosion was induced by means of external power supplies. The test programme was divided into three series. Series I was devised to determine the residual flexural strength of reinforced concrete beams where different diameters of main (high yield) reinforcement were subjected to varying degrees of accelerated corrosion (shear strength was provided by mild steel shear reinforcement which remained unaffected by corrosion). Series II was devised to determine the residual shear strength of reinforced concrete beams where the shear (mild steel) reinforcement was subjected to varying degrees of accelerated corrosion (flexural strength was provided by high yield steel which was protected from corrosion). Finally, Series III was devised to determine the residual strength of reinforced concrete beams where both the main (high yield) and shear (mild steel) reinforcement were simultaneously corroded and the effect of this on the performance of the beam was determined. In total, 116 beams were subjected to accelerated corrosion using an impressed current imposed on the reinforcement. Each beam was loaded to failure to determine the strength loss. Four degrees of corrosion were targeted, ranging from 0% (control) to 15%, in increments of 5%.The results of the laboratory tests determined the significance of both main and shear reinforcement corrosion on the performance of deteriorated reinforced concrete beams. In addition, simplified analytical equations were developed which may assist the engineer in assessing the residual strength of corroded reinforced concrete beams

Towards Better Understanding of the Interactions and Efficient Application of Plant Beneficial Prebiotics, Probiotics, Postbiotics and Synbiotics

Project EXCALIBUR from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme 81794