The Sporting Image: A Personal Journey Utilising History to Develop Academic Inquiry and Creativity

In 1997, an optional third year undergraduate module, The Sporting Image, was developed for sports studies students in which they scrutinized the portrayal of sport in popular and high culture; including literature, film, TV, art and music. Fifteen years later, this module, now compulsory for Sports Journalism students, continues to examine the portrayal of sport and ways in which it has become an integral part of popular culture and resonates with values and standards specific in time and place. This paper describes the evolution of the module and its successes and failures in obliging both the lecturers and students to move outside of their comfort zones and engage with creative writing, poetry, music and the visual arts

Slice sampling covariance hyperparameters of latent Gaussian models

The Gaussian process (GP) is a popular way to specify dependencies between random variables in a probabilistic model. In the Bayesian framework the covariance structure can be specified using unknown hyperparameters. Integrating over these hyperparameters considers different possible explanations for the data when making predictions. This integration is often performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. However, with non-Gaussian observations standard hyperparameter sampling approaches require careful tuning and may converge slowly. In this paper we present a slice sampling approach that requires little tuning while mixing well in both strong- and weak-data regimes.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 4 algorithms. Minor corrections to previous version. This version to appear in Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) 23, 201

Incorporating Side Information in Probabilistic Matrix Factorization with Gaussian Processes

Probabilistic matrix factorization (PMF) is a powerful method for modeling data associated with pairwise relationships, finding use in collaborative filtering, computational biology, and document analysis, among other areas. In many domains, there is additional information that can assist in prediction. For example, when modeling movie ratings, we might know when the rating occurred, where the user lives, or what actors appear in the movie. It is difficult, however, to incorporate this side information into the PMF model. We propose a framework for incorporating side information by coupling together multiple PMF problems via Gaussian process priors. We replace scalar latent features with functions that vary over the space of side information. The GP priors on these functions require them to vary smoothly and share information. We successfully use this new method to predict the scores of professional basketball games, where side information about the venue and date of the game are relevant for the outcome.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to UAI 201

Early diversion and empowerment policing : evaluating an adult female offender triage project

This paper provides an evaluation of a police pilot early-diversion scheme for adult females who were arrested for low-severity offences using a natural experiment design. The intervention is novel in that it diverts arrestees to a women’s centre for assistance to address their criminogenic needs rather than process them through the criminal justice system. The intervention is timely and attractive given its rehabilitative features and its potential for reducing demand on the criminal justice system through community resolution. The study found a promising effect of the intervention on rates of rearrest and daily risk of rearrest over a twelve month follow-up period, but a higher frequency of rearrest among those of the intervention group who were rearrested. The findings are discussed in relation to the political context, theoretical background and police performance and the gendered dynamics of offending

A Game for Christmas? The Argylls, Saxons and Football on the Western Front, December 1914

Historians know that any mention of football and World War I will involve discussions of the Christmas truces of 1914 and the mythical football match between British and German troops. Many British soldiers denied that any truce had occurred let alone a football match. However there is indisputable evidence of truces, but triangulating proof of football has been elusive. In this paper a case study of the British 2/Argylls and the German 133/Saxons is developed. The underlying reasons behind the truce are discussed and why some combatants, in the short break from trying to kill each other, probably played football, even though certainly not as the formal match of popular imagination. It is argued that the truce was a result of unique circumstances and was not an overwhelmingly inspirational moment for the majority of troops involved; they all returned to the fighting. Most participants on both sides of the truce probably regarded it as an unexpected holiday and some availed themselves of the opportunity to play their favourite game. The paper concludes by examining recent commemorative events of Christmas 1914 and how they may have contributed to the myth of ‘The Football Match’

The Function of Physical Education in the Educational Structure of Plato\u27s Republic

The 1960s and 1970s have been periods of critical enquiry for education and the school curriculum. Physical education has been unable to provide a united front to its critics due to rival factions within the profession and the lack of established foci and a logical status of objectives. Seemingly to add weight to arguments and positions some of the factions of physical education have cited Plato as an ally. This has brought nothing but confusion and an appearance of contradiction to Plato\u27s ideas. The major problem is that the ideas of Plato that pertain to physical education have been artificially detached from his broader educational ideas leaving the underlying why of his theories unexamined. The purpose of this study is to examine Plato\u27s philosophy of physical education within his total philosophy to see if Plato is the major protagonist for physical education that many physical educators make him out to be. The values, if any, that Plato attributed to physical education will be compared and contrasted to the values attributed to physical education in Great Britain. The study was centred on three research questions: (1) What is education in The Republic? (2) What does physical education actualize in the overall concept of education in The Republic? (3) What are the implications of physical education in The Republic for current concepts of physical education in the United Kingdom? The Republic established that life should be a fully entwined harmony with all of its aspects interfacing with one another. Education should be more than a mere congeries of disciplines; it is a whole whose parts ultimately converge on and influence the whole man. The following points can be drawn from The Republic as having specific importance for physical education: (1) There should be a critical reexamination of aims and activities in the light of the Platonic view that a man can only live well if he knows the objectives of life and how to attain them. A philosophy of physical education or education has to evolve from a philosophy of life. (2) Physical activity is an important part of experience, being an integral part of the acquisition of intellectual, emotional, cultural, and social experience. This is of such importance that there should be physical educators in all schools, primary as well as secondary; and even kindergarten teachers should be knowledgeable of the theory and practice of physical education. (3) A sound body and good health are prerequisites for a well-adjusted and completely integrated life. The physical educator has to impart sufficient knowledge to the student to be able to assume responsibility for his own health and the realization of his maximal potential. (4) Emphasis should be placed upon an individual\u27s optimal performance for an activity rather than a hypothetical optimal performance of the activity. (5) The physical education programme has to include a spread of activities and an overlap of activities which reflect group and individual similarities and differences. (6) An effective social life depends upon education. Physical educators have to provide opportunities for development through socially relevant experience. (7) Physical education must provide opportunities for the individual to test himself and find and develop his own potential. (8) The physical education curriculum has to be designed with objectives related to those of society as it is and as it should be. The ultimate goal of physical education must be the same as that of education as a whole. Physical education is essentially a process, one of the family of processes which make up education. (9) The condition of the body is of great importance for optimal health and social and intellectual development. Physical education should be compulsory for all students

Elliptical slice sampling

Many probabilistic models introduce strong dependencies between variables using a latent multivariate Gaussian distribution or a Gaussian process. We present a new Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for performing inference in models with multivariate Gaussian priors. Its key properties are: 1) it has simple, generic code applicable to many models, 2) it has no free parameters, 3) it works well for a variety of Gaussian process based models. These properties make our method ideal for use while model building, removing the need to spend time deriving and tuning updates for more complex algorithms.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, appearing in AISTATS 2010 (JMLR: W&CP volume 6). Differences from first submission: some minor edits in response to feedback

Development networks and urban growth in small cities

Real estate development is an intensely social process dependent on rich networks of relations between public and private sector actors. Previous work has explored how far such relations are formalised in large cities through shared coalitions of interest intended to promote urban growth. Relatively little attention has been given to networks in smaller cities, which is the concern of this paper. Drawing on detailed research in a small Scottish city, the paper explores how its local network was characterised by strong reliance on network construction and reproduction through trust and reputation. Significantly, within such local networks, competition and collaboration can exist side by side, without subsuming normal tensions into consistent agendas or formally defined ‘partnerships’. Controlling land for urban expansion provides a particular focus for these tensions, since it can allow certain interests to gain network dominance. These findings raise important concerns around whether small cities should rely on informal networks to promote growth instead of constructing formal coalitions that may attract more externally based actors. Such choices have profound implications for the capacity and transparency of development networks, and thus for the accountability of the urban development process