Resilience, moorings and international student mobilities - exploring biographical narratives of social science students in the UK

Whilst research into the changing landscape of the UK Higher Education (HE) has produced a burgeoning literature on ‘internationalisation’ and ‘transnational student mobility’ over the past few years, still fairly little is known about international students’ experiences on their way to and through the UK higher and further education. Frequently approaching inter- and transnational education as ‘neutral’ by-products of neoliberal globalisation, elitism and power flows, much HE policy and scholarly debate tend to operate with simplistic classifications of ‘international students’ and therefore fail to account for the multifaceted nature of students’ aspirations, mobilities and life experiences. Drawing on the notion of ‘resilience’ and insights from the ‘new mobilities paradigm’, this paper envisages alternative student mobilities which run parallel or counter to the dominant flows of power, financial and human capital commonly associated with an emerging global knowledge economy. Engaging with ‘resilient’ biographies of social science students studying at three UK HE institutions, the paper challenges narrow student classification regimes and calls for a critical re-evaluation of the relationship between international student mobility and other contemporary forms of migration, displacement and diaspora

Tourism, conflict and contested heritage in former Yugoslavia

Although, historically, there have always been travellers crossing the Balkan Peninsula, Todorova (1994 Todorova, M. (1994). The Balkans: From discovery to invention. Slavic Review, 53, 453–482. doi: 10.2307/2501301) notes that early travellers were usually heading for important centres such as Constantinople or Jerusalem, and considered South-East Europe as a peripheral place where people were just passing through. The region is only really discovered in the eighteenth century along with an increasing interest in the East. More organised forms of tourism appear at the beginning of the nineteenth century, emerging first around railway lines and thermal therapy resources, and then expanding towards the coastlines. A large part of these developments took place in Croatia and the ‘Dalmatian Riviera’, but other regions also experienced the arrival of visitors and the first organised trip in Bosnia was proposed by Thomas Cook & Sons in 1898. It is only after the Second World War, during the rule of Marshall Tito, that tourism really flourished particularly in the period between the 1960s and the 1980s, when the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) followed an alternative way of development as the rest of the Eastern Bloc. A relative openness to the West allowed the arrival of European tourists and led to forms of mass tourism in some parts of the region (Grandits & Taylor, 2010 Grandits, H., & Taylor, K. (Eds.). (2010). Yugoslavia’s sunny side: A history of tourism and socialism (1950s–1980s). Budapest: CEU Press.). While communist regimes such as Bulgaria and Romania mainly hosted eastern ‘apparatchiks’ on the Black Sea resorts, Yugoslavia and Greece focused on attracting seaside tourists from Western Europe (Cattaruzza & Sintès, 2012 Cattaruzza, A., & Sintès, P. (2012). Atlas géopolitique des Balkans. Un autre visage de l'Europe. Paris: Autrement.)

(Im)mobility, 'hard to reach communities' and the practice of citizenship education

Our aim in this short conceptual chapter is to explore current understandings of the designation Hard to Reach when applied to communities, and issues arising from the development of interventions targeting such groups. By exploring the meanings attributed to the term in relevant literature, we will attempt to identify the ambiguities present in the definitions and understandings of Hard to Reach, also seeking to summarise those ambiguities that raise key questions about the designation. We will then associate these questions with conceptualisations of citizenship and citizenship education, and explore their implications for our understanding of the relationship between Hard to Reach spaces and the mainstream, and for the implementation of citizenship education interventions designed within the mainstream, intended for Hard to Reach groups

International students' transitions to UK higher education - revisiting the concept and practice of academic hospitality

With the increasing mobility of international students to UK universities, the appropriate facilitation of their transition remains a critical issue in terms of higher education practice and research. Much existing research and practice is characterised by assimilationist approaches to transition where international students are seen to ‘adapt to’ and ‘fit in’ seemingly uniform host environments. This study however draws on the concept of ‘academic hospitality’ (Bennett, 2000; Phipps & Barnett, 2007) to develop a more nuanced stance which emphasises reciprocity between academic ‘hosts’ and ‘guests’. The findings presented here emerge from semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of international students who spent their first year abroad at a well-established UK university. Elaborating on different experiences and forms of academic hospitality (material, virtual, epistemological, linguistic and touristic), the paper contributes to a refined theorisation of international student transition. It also offers valuable insights for academic practitioners and policy makers who seek sensible approaches to internationalisation

The influence of cultural capital and mianzi (face) on mature students’ orientation towards higher education in China

In the wider context of national growth and investment in higher education in China, more mature students seek to gain access to university education. Considering the far-reaching socio-economic and political shifts in contemporary China and its higher education sector in particular, this study explores the experience of mature university students in this country and poses the seemingly simple question as to why these students did not pursue higher education when they were school-leavers, but chose to study at a mature age. Drawing on biographical interviews with 20 Chinese mature university students, the paper explores their aspirations, motivations and tribulations behind embarking on higher education. Revisiting Bourdieu’s ideas on ‘inherited’ and ‘acquired’ cultural capital and examining the related Chinese cultural notion of mianzi (‘face’), it is argued that family and social networks are decisive factors in mature students’ orientation towards higher education

Critical review of contemporary practice and educational research in internationalisation within the business education subject communities

This report critically reviews contemporary educational research and practice in the field of internationalisation within the business education subject communities in order to inform curriculum development and pedagogy geared towards the development of international perspectives and intercultural learning. Drawing on current pedagogical literatures as well as staff and student consultations, it identifies a number of key points which reflect good practice in business education curricula. Due to the broad disciplinary scope of the subject area in focus and the diversity of curricular activities across the UK, this critical review is selective rather than exhaustive and seeks to stimulate further discussion and research in the field. The report is structured as a reference text around key themes and issues emerging from the review,providing the reader who has a particular interest or issue in their practice with an outline of key texts which can be followed up as appropriate

Learning to belong? ‘culture’ and ‘place making’ among children and young people in Hull, UK City of Culture 2017

Despite the rise of ‘child-friendly cities’ internationally, and a growing interest in youth engagement in urban planning, the role of children and young people in culture-led regeneration and ‘place making’ schemes, remains under-researched. Notwithstanding the wealth of research into childhood and youth cultures, little is known about the ways in which the abstract (and perhaps predominantly ‘adult’) notions of ‘culture’ and ‘place’ are negotiated by younger citizens. Drawing on participative research with schools across Hull, the UK City of Culture 2017, this contribution explores children’s and young people’s understandings of culture and place within this cultural regeneration event. Although our findings suggest that the City of Culture designation has brought benefits to children and young people in a marginalised city, there is still much to be learned from their often personal and informal interpretations of ‘place’ and ‘culture’, as well as the role played by schools in this context

Pedagogic stratification and the shifting landscape of higher education

This report presents research funded by the Higher Education Academy as part of its open call that looks at ‘The impact of the shifting UK HE landscape on learning and teaching’

Comparison of cardiac, hepatic, and renal effects of arginine vasopressin and noradrenaline during porcine fecal peritonitis: a randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Infusing arginine vasopressin (AVP) in vasodilatory shock usually decreases cardiac output and thus systemic oxygen transport. It is still a matter of debate whether this vasoconstriction impedes visceral organ blood flow and thereby causes organ dysfunction and injury. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis whether low-dose AVP is safe with respect to liver, kidney, and heart function and organ injury during resuscitated septic shock. METHODS: After intraperitoneal inoculation of autologous feces, 24 anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and instrumented pigs were randomly assigned to noradrenaline alone (increments of 0.05 microg/kg/min until maximal heart rate of 160 beats/min; n = 12) or AVP (1 to 5 ng/kg/min; supplemented by noradrenaline if the maximal AVP dosage failed to maintain mean blood pressure; n = 12) to treat sepsis-associated hypotension. Parameters of systemic and regional hemodynamics (ultrasound flow probes on the portal vein and hepatic artery), oxygen transport, metabolism (endogenous glucose production and whole body glucose oxidation derived from blood glucose isotope and expiratory 13CO2/12CO2 enrichment during 1,2,3,4,5,6-13C6-glucose infusion), visceral organ function (blood transaminase activities, bilirubin and creatinine concentrations, creatinine clearance, fractional Na+ excretion), nitric oxide (exhaled NO and blood nitrate + nitrite levels) and cytokine production (interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha blood levels), and myocardial function (left ventricular dp/dtmax and dp/dtmin) and injury (troponin I blood levels) were measured before and 12, 18, and 24 hours after peritonitis induction. Immediate post mortem liver and kidney biopsies were analysed for histomorphology (hematoxylin eosin staining) and apoptosis (TUNEL staining). RESULTS: AVP decreased heart rate and cardiac output without otherwise affecting heart function and significantly decreased troponin I blood levels. AVP increased the rate of direct, aerobic glucose oxidation and reduced hyperlactatemia, which coincided with less severe kidney dysfunction and liver injury, attenuated systemic inflammation, and decreased kidney tubular apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: During well-resuscitated septic shock low-dose AVP appears to be safe with respect to myocardial function and heart injury and reduces kidney and liver damage. It remains to be elucidated whether this is due to the treatment per se and/or to the decreased exogenous catecholamine requirements