Beastly encounters, human-animal relations in the illustrated police news and victorian literature and culture, 1864-1901

This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 19/11/19 to 19/11/21This thesis examines the sensational Victorian newspaper the Illustrated Police News and its representation of human-animal relations from its inception in 1864 to the end of the Victorian era in 1901. It proposes that this critically-overlooked paper can illuminate our understanding of contemporary attitudes towards animals, providing, as it does, a popular perspective not often discussed in academic studies. Drawing on scholarship from animal studies, urban studies, periodical studies and literary studies, this thesis suggests the significance of this newspaper’s representation of animals and explores how this representation relates to contemporary anxieties surrounding, for example, urbanisation, criminality, degeneration, order and civility. The analysis is comprised of case studies, with each chapter examining the representation of human-animal relations in a different set of urban and rural spaces. The thesis moves from the private space of the home to public settings such as the street, the menagerie, the zoo and the courtroom, and finally to the controversial Victorian laboratory. In each case, the paper made important contributions to, for example, discussions of the legal status of animals, and conceptions of their potential agency and of their position in Victorian society. The paper’s use of genre in its dissemination of ideas is also explored, and it is situated in its literary and cultural contexts through comparisons with other contemporary periodicals and with Victorian fiction, examining particularly its use of Gothic and sensational modes. The thesis thus contributes to scholarly work on the representation of animals in nineteenth-century periodicals, which until now has largely focused on titles produced and read by the social elite. Often viewed as only a low and lurid title, this thesis provides the first sustained critical study of the Illustrated Police News and argues that it is a valuable resource for the study of Victorian culture.This thesis examines the sensational Victorian newspaper the Illustrated Police News and its representation of human-animal relations from its inception in 1864 to the end of the Victorian era in 1901. It proposes that this critically-overlooked paper can illuminate our understanding of contemporary attitudes towards animals, providing, as it does, a popular perspective not often discussed in academic studies. Drawing on scholarship from animal studies, urban studies, periodical studies and literary studies, this thesis suggests the significance of this newspaper’s representation of animals and explores how this representation relates to contemporary anxieties surrounding, for example, urbanisation, criminality, degeneration, order and civility. The analysis is comprised of case studies, with each chapter examining the representation of human-animal relations in a different set of urban and rural spaces. The thesis moves from the private space of the home to public settings such as the street, the menagerie, the zoo and the courtroom, and finally to the controversial Victorian laboratory. In each case, the paper made important contributions to, for example, discussions of the legal status of animals, and conceptions of their potential agency and of their position in Victorian society. The paper’s use of genre in its dissemination of ideas is also explored, and it is situated in its literary and cultural contexts through comparisons with other contemporary periodicals and with Victorian fiction, examining particularly its use of Gothic and sensational modes. The thesis thus contributes to scholarly work on the representation of animals in nineteenth-century periodicals, which until now has largely focused on titles produced and read by the social elite. Often viewed as only a low and lurid title, this thesis provides the first sustained critical study of the Illustrated Police News and argues that it is a valuable resource for the study of Victorian culture

What is normal anyway? Exploring the Effect of Social Norms on Grief Expectations, Expressions, and Social Support

Social support is a significant predictor of psychosocial outcomes following bereavement. Focused on advancing the community’s capacity to support, this thesis presents a mixed methods investigation of the nature and scope of grief-related norms and their influence on experiences of grief and being supported. This research offers a valuable contribution to the literature through advancing the research field, informing clinical practice with bereaved people, and directing best practice grief education for the general public

Exercising UNESCO Competencies In Students Through Research-Based Education For Sustainable Development

Today’s complex global challenges call upon a different pedagogical approach to Higher Education (HE) that is fit for the purpose of preparing our students – to paraphrase the words of Sir Jonathan Porritt - not only for the world of work, but the work of the world. Indeed, we can and should be preparing students for both, as it is through their professional lives and activities that they will arguably be able to have the most positive impact on these global challenges. Consequently, re-focusing teaching on ways of thinking, being and practicing, the so-called ‘head, heart and hands’ framework, should be done in a way that actively stretches students beyond the comfort of their disciplinary boundaries, knowledge and skill sets. This paper will present the University of Strathclyde’s practice and experience of establishing their award winning Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development (VIP4SD) programme, as an exemplar of how to embed ResearchBased Education for Sustainable Development in undergraduate curricula. This paper will show how VIP4SD provides students with the time and space in their curriculum to develop demonstrable levels of domain expertise and exercise key UNESCO sustainability (and ergo employability) competences. We then discuss how we have sought to evidence this by supporting students to recognise and articulate their competency development, achieved through the experiential and transformational learning provided by the VIP4SD programme

The mouse genetics toolkit: revealing function and mechanism

Large-scale projects are providing rapid global access to a wealth of mouse genetic resources to help discover disease genes and to manipulate their function

Embedding research-based education for sustainable development and climate education in HE curricula

The University of Strathclyde are embedding Research-Based Education (RBE) for Sustainable Development into undergraduate curricula using an innovative pedagogy called Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) and aligning this with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG)-focused research. The development of student-centred Climate Education workshops is being used to ensure students are offered joined-up Climate Education activity that can support Strathclyde's broader Education for Sustainable Development agenda

A Handbook for Monitoring and Evaluating Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education : Competency reflections and assessment In University of Strathclyde

The Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development programme sought to embed competency development in the core learning experience, and enable students to articulate their competencies in relation to their professional development. Staff collaborated with Practera, an ed-tech provider that supports experiential learning experiences via its online platform. Measures adopted included Baseline Competency Self-Assessment, biweekly individual reflections, Team 360s and Post-Team 360 Reflections, and a Final Reflection and Skills ePortfolio (graded). This approach has worked well, although adaptations have been required to support understanding and the quality of evidence and outputs. Read a more detailed report about the projects her

Jeff Kennett\u27s Melbourne : postmodern city, planning and politics

The paper outlines the shift of planning policy in Victoria under Premier Jeff Kennett and canvasses some related theoretical issues

Vertically integrated projects for sustainable development : achieving transformational action by embedding research-based ESD in curricula

The University of Strathclyde’s flagship Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development (VIP4SD) program is embedded in the formal and informal curriculum and encourages students to work in partnership with experienced researchers and academics, and with their peers from different disciplines and across all year groups to create student-centered, SDG-focused research projects. The program is designed to develop the core competencies of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through an immersive ‘real-world’ educational experience that aims to provide a “transformative learning environment” that enable students to engage in “transformative action” through ESD , and so not only “prepare our students for the world of work, but to tackle the work of the world” . It does this by embedding ESD in curricula through the use of Research (or Inquiry)-Based Education (RBE or IBE). The paper will explore Strathclyde’s experience, and the challenges it has encountered, in taking the program from pilot to mainstream and how this has inspired a whole institution approach to embedding ESD more generally in Strathclyde curricul

Segmentation of Exercise Repetitions Enabling Real-Time Patient Analysis and Feedback Using a Single Exemplar

We present a segmentation algorithm capable of segmenting exercise repetitions in real-time. This approach uses subsequence dynamic time warping and requires only a single exemplar repetition of an exercise to correctly segment repetitions from other subjects, including those with limited mobility. This approach is invariant to low range of motion, instability in movements and sensor noise while remaining selective to different exercises. This algorithm enables responsive feedback for technology-assisted physical rehabilitation systems. We evaluated the algorithm against a publicly available dataset (CMU) and against a healthy population and stroke patient population performing rehabilitation exercises captured on a consumer-level depth sensor. We show the algorithm can consistently achieve correct segmentation in real-time