Talking Stories:

pattern, power
and
place

6th Annual Postgraduate

Arts & Humanities
Centre Symposium
Conten Arts & Humanities
Research Centres
pag. 04

Symposium Overview
pag. 10

Programme
pag. 16

Extended Abstracts
pag. 20

Presenter Biographies
pag. 74

Planfloor
pag. 82
 Arts &
Humanities
Research
Centres
4
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities was created in
September 2016 when the School of Art, the Facul-
ty of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, and
Manchester Fashion Institute merged into a single
entity. As such, it is the home to researchers and re-
search scholars in a wide range of different disciplines.
Research in the Faculty is grouped into five Research
Centres.

The Manchester School of Art Research Centre

(MSARC) embraces public and outward facing re-
search and recognises the importance of multidis-
ciplinary, collaborative, applied and practice-based
research methods, alongside traditional disciplinary
approaches. We work in partnership with many cultu-
ral, social and industrial organisations in Manchester
and beyond. The Centre provides the home for units
which display research excellence in Apparel, Archi-
tecture, Art, Art and Pedagogy, Arts for Health, Asian
Cultures, Crafts, Design, Future Ecology, Future Living,
Future Technologies, Media and Visual Culture. Throu-
gh the Postgraduate Arts and Humanities Centre with
its thriving community of postgraduate researchers
MSARC offers supervisory capacity for research pro-
jects in the practices, professions, histories and theo-
ries of Art & Design and encourages interdisciplinary
approaches from across the faculty.

The Research Centre in Applied Social Sciences

(RCASS) brings together researchers from the De-

5
partments of Sociology, Languages, Information &
Communications, History, Politics and Philosophy, and
Human Geography. RCASS seeks to produce critically
engaged, high quality research that challenges com-
mon-sense ways about how we think about the world
and our place in it. The Centre aims to provide an in-
ter-disciplinary home for critical research that contri-
butes to policy-making debates and decision-making,
while genuinely impacting upon the work and strate-
gies of local organisations and communities.

The History Research Centre (HRC) brings together

researchers from the Departments of History, Politics
and Philosophy, and Languages, Information and Com-
munications. The Centre works in partnership with
many cultural institutions, from theatre companies,
museums to libraries, archives and galleries and places
great emphasis on communicating research beyond
the University to local, regional and international au-
diences.

The Centre for Research in English, Languages and

Linguistics (CELL) was established in 2014 as part of
the Faculty’s new Humanities Research Centre (HRC)
bringing together staff and research students from
the Departments of English, Languages, Information
and Communications, all based on the Manchester All
Saints Campus, and the Department of Interdiscipli-
nary Studies at the MMU Cheshire campus. Research
in CELL encompasses literary criticism, creative wri-

6
ting, film studies, languages and linguistics. Our work is
characterised by a commitment to deliver world-class
research that supports the economic and social deve-
lopment on a regional, national and global scale.

All of the above Centres have large communities of re-

search students. The newly established Postgraduate
Arts and Humanities Centre (PAHC) aims to bring to-
gether both these research students and taught scho-
lars engaged in graduate studies to develop a thriving
and multi-disciplinary student research community. It
offers an ambitious and informative Researcher Deve-
lopment Programmes delivering research training and
skills development opportunities, alongside other acti-
vities to meet with other students.

7
Key Cont
Professor Berthold Schoene
Faculty Head, Research and
Knowledge Exchange

Professor Jim Aulich

Head of PAHC

Professor Martyn Evans

Head, Manchester School of Art
Research Centre

Professor Steve Miles

Head, Research Centre in Applied
Social Sciences
8
tacts
Professor Jon Stobart
Head, Humanities Research Centre

Professor Antony Rowland

Head, Centre for English, Languages
and Linguistics

9
 What
is the
purpose
of the
Symposium?
10
The Annual Arts & Humanities Research Student Sym-
posium is an opportunity for research students across
the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, to meet and discuss
their research with their peers, and to receive comment
and feedback from more experienced researchers.

The Symposium has been designed to be supportive,

but critical. The abstract submission and review pro-
cess is straightforward, and offers constructive feed-
back, and the atmosphere at the Symposium is colle-
gial and supportive, whilst challenging all participants
to improve and advance their research.

5th Annual PAHC Symposium, 2017.

11
Who should
participate?
All research students in PAHC have been invited to at-
tend and to submit papers. It was anticipated that first
year students (or the equivalent part-time) might wish
to present a poster paper, and learn about the research
approaches and experience of students further into
their studies. Second and third year students could
choose to present a poster paper, but were encoura-
ged to take the opportunity to submit to present a full
paper. The extended abstracts of all accepted papers
are included in these Symposium Proceedings.

12
 Symposium
Organising
Committee

Professor Jim Aulich

Chair, 6th Annual PAHC Symposium

Elizabeth Atherton, Candice

Buchanan, Chun-yu Liu
(Clare), Gina Nadal, Sumaira
Naseem
Organising committee, 6th Annual
PAHC Symosium

Kate Johnson
Co-ordinator, 6th Annual PAHC
Symposium
13
 Talk
pa

6th Annual
Postgraduate Arts
& Humanities
Centre
 king Stories:
attern, power
and
place
Friday 18th May 2018

Geoffrey Manton Building

Room15306
Programm
09:15 – 09:30 Registration Room GM 306

09:30 – 09:35 Welcome Room GM 307

Professor Jim Aulich
Chair, PAHC Symposium

09:35 – 10:00 Keynote Address Room GM 307

Professor Steve Miles
Head, Research Centre in Applied Social Sciences

10:00 – 11:30 Panel 01 Room GM 307

Chair, Sumaira Naseem
Student Organising Committee

Gina Nadal
(Department of Design)

‘Weaving with Code: How can emotional

attachment be designed into digital jacquard
textiles using coding?’

Owen Rees
(Department of History, Politics and Philosophy)

‘Incompatible Inking Ideologies: Tattoos in

the Ancient Greek World’

16
me
Halima Benzdira
(Department of Languages, Information and
Communications)
‘Investigation of Politeness Patterns in Email
Requests: Case Study of Algerian Ph.D.
Female Students at UK Universities’

11:30 – 11:45 Refreshment break Room GM 306

11:45 – 12:45 Panel 02 Room GM 307

Chair, Chun-Yu Liu (Clare)
Student Organising Committee

Teresa Fitzpatrick
(Department of English)

‘ecoGothic Hybrids: Plant Monster Fiction’

Daniel Bennett
(Department of History, Politics and Philosophy)

‘US-Russia relations’

12:45 – 13:45 Lunch Room GM 306

conversation around poster presentations
Posters will be presented by:

17
 Sumayah Bayounis
(Department of Languages, Information and
Communications)
‘The Role of Social Media and community-
based information seeking in the context
of Cultural Adaptation for International
Students in the UK: A Case study of Saudi
students’

Michael Orr
(Department of Design)

‘Redefining the Poster: An evaluation with

materials, colour and space’

13:45 – 14:45 Panel 03 Room GM 307

Chair, Gina Nadal
Student Organising Committee

Andrew Forster
(Department of English)

‘Beyond Dwelling: Environmental Activism in

Contemporary Lyric Poetry’

Paul Proctor
(Department of Media)

‘Actually Virtual; Light on Surface in a 3D

Digital Photographic Space’

14:45 – 15:00 Judging Room GM 306

18
15:00 – 15:30 Presentation of prizes Room GM 306
and certificates
Professor Jim Aulich

19
 Abstracts
of Papers
Presented

20
 Weaving with Code: How can emotional
attachment be designed into digital jacquard
textiles using coding?
Gina Nadal
Department of Design

In the contemporary design debate, the role of emo-

tional attachment has become an important discour-
se (Chapman, 2005; Norman, 2005). The connections
between design and the emotional attachment elicited
through the emotional bond between an object and a
person has acquired an increasing focus across fields
of psychology, consumer behaviour and in design.
(Schifferstein and Zwartkruis-Pelegrim, 2008). The
design researcher Stuart Walker (2006) states that
when a person respects and values an object as a con-
sequence of their emotional attachment, an object ac-
quires value and meaning beyond its own material pre-
sence. While there has been a great deal of research
on clothes and their emotional meaning, for example
the associations between buying and wearing a gar-
ment for a specific occasion, there is less research on
the connection between textiles, the actual cloth and
the emotional attachment that we have with it as a fa-
bric (Moody et al., 2001).

Bang et al. (2016) states that the textile practice has to

benefit from both worlds, physical material and digital
‘bits and bytes’, creating more hybrid design methodo-
logies, “breaking through the mindset of either hand or
21
machine made” (Ryall & Macbeth, 2016: 78). A number
of woven textile projects, such as ‘Générative’ (2014),
‘Abstract_’ (2015) and ‘Woven Memories’ (2016), have
introduced digital coding, as an interactive tool, to the
process of creation in order to co-design with the con-
sumer. The scope of this research is in the practice of
digital jacquard textiles due to being the precedent of
computer programming and coding, and as such, share
the same basis. Coding is understood as the executed
instructions by a computer and is written in a program-
ming language; being a ‘contract between two parties’,
the programmer and the compiler (Noble, 2009). This
research seeks to establish whether using digital co-
ding as an interactive tool in the practice of digital ja-
cquard textiles could allow emotional attachment to
be designed into the fabric through the translation of
pattern and code.

The investigation is practice-led, where the practice

informs the research (Candy, 2006; Muratovski, 2016).
It refers to Schifferstein and Zwartkruis-Pelgrim’s
(2008) definition of emotional attachment based on
seven determinants of product attachments: Enjoy-
ment, memories, support of self-identity, life vision,
utility, reliability and market value, where only memo-
ries and enjoyment contribute with any certainty to the
degree of attachment. This definition will contribute to
the theoretical framework of my study and is a basis
to develop the practical research applied to the design
and production of textile woven cloth.

22
The research is divided in two stages: the making sta-
ge where an iterative and participatory practice, using
digital coding as an interactive tool, informs the pro-
duction of the digital jacquard textiles; and, the evalua-
tion stage where the factors underlying the perception
of digital jacquard textile, alongside tactile and visual
sensing and emotional attachment are analysed to
determine which aspects stimulate memories and en-
joyment. Young adults ages 20-35; have been chosen
as they are digital natives, where they “communicate
their identities simultaneously in the physical and digi-
tal worlds” (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008: 5). To gather and
analyse the data, a qualitative method is used, unders-
tood as the exploration and construction of a deeper
and meaningful picture of the individuals’ experience
and vision of the world (Given, 2008; Muratovski, 2016).

Moody et al. (2001), Homlong (2006) and Bang (2010)

used the Repertory Grid Test to evaluate fabric-perso-
nal relationships. For parity, it is proposed at this stage
that the research uses this methodological tool. Geor-
ge A. Kelly, an American psychologist, therapist, edu-
cator and personality theorist, invented the Repertory
Grid Test in 1955 to be used by psychologists to elicit
constructs when investigating patients’ personal re-
lationships and situations in life under the umbrella of
the ‘Personal Construct Theory’. Kelly introduced the
idea that all individuals are experts in matters concer-
ning themselves, acting on the basis of specific expec-
tations (Baber, 1996; Bang, 2007). The research uses

23
the Repertory Grid Test in four participatory tests: (i)
Material perception under visual and tactile senses, to
identify and define which materials create an emotio-
nal attachment. (ii) Colour perception under visual and
tactile senses, focusing on the connections between
digital jacquard colour perception and emotional at-
tachment. (iii) Structure perception under visual and
tactile senses, testing and creating digital jacquard
structures in relation to emotional responses. Finally,
(iv) interactive digital tool, introducing a digital coding
participatory procedure to increase the emotional at-
tachment of the digital jacquard textile.

As this research is in an early stage of the investiga-

tion, it cannot draw final conclusions. Nonetheless,
the key parts of the research that will make contribu-
tions to the field are: (i) Informing the practice of digi-
tal jacquard textiles by identifying strategic factors of
emotional attachment, tactile/visual sensing and ma-
teriality within the field. (ii) Developing an academic
framework for digital jacquard design, in which data
gathered from participatory research is incorporated
into the design and production of digital jacquard. And
finally, (iii) a contribution to the development of multi-
disciplinary and hybrid design methodology to weave
design by incorporating psychological methods and
digital coding into textile practice.

24
References

Baber C. (1996). Repertory grid and its application to product eva-

luation. In: Jordan P.W., Thomas B., Weerdmeester B.A., & McCle-
lland I. (eds.) Usability Evaluation in Industry, pp. 157-166. London:
Taylor & Francis.

Bang, A.L. (2007). Fabrics in Function- Emotional Utility Values.

No 2 Nordes 2007. Stockholm: Design Inquiries. Retrieved on 17
November 2017 from www.nordes.org/opj/index.php/n13/search/
results.

Bang, A.L. (2010). Emotional Value of Applied Textiles – Dialo-

gue-oriented and participatory approaches to textile design (Doc-
toral Dissertation).

Bang, A.L., Trolle, H., Larsen, A.M. (2016). Textile Illusions – Patter-
ns of Light and the Woven White Screen, in Crafting textiles in the
digital age, Bloomsbury Academic, New York, p. 47-60
Chapman, J. (2005). Design for empathy. 1st ed. Sterling, VA: Ear-
thscan.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Halton, E. (1981). The meaning of things:
domestic symbols and the self, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Eriksen, J. (2015). Abstract_ customized fashion. [online] Available
at: http://www.juliehelleseriksen. com/abstract/ [Accessed 17 No-
vember 2017].

Given, L.M. (2008). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Re-

search Methods. Thousand Oak, CA: SAGE.

25
Hart, C.W. (1996). Made to Order. Marketing Management Sum-
mer 1996, 5(2), pp.10-23.

Homlong, S. (2006). The Language of Textiles. Description and Ju-

dgement on Textile Pattern Composition. Uppsala: Acta Universi-
tatis Upsaliensis Uppsala. (Doctoral Dissertation).

Moody, W. & Morgan, R. & Dillon, P. & Baber, C. & Wing, A. &
Centre, S. (2001). Factors underlying fabric perception. Retrie-
ved on 17 November 2017 from www.researchgate.net/publica-
tion/229027048_Factors_underlying_fabric_perception.

Muratovski, G. (2016). Research for designers: a guide to methods

and practice. London: Sage Publications.

Nadal, G. (2016). Woven Memories. [online] Available at https://

www.wovenmemories.co.uk/ [Accessed 16 April 2018].

Noble, J. (2009). Programming Interactivity: A Designer’s Guide to
Processing, Arduino, and Openframework. 1st ed., the United Sta-
tes of America: O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Norman, D. (2005). Emotional design: Why we love (or hate) every-

day things. 1st ed. New York: Basic Book.

Palfrey, J. & Gasser, U. (2008). Born Digital: Understanding the

First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books.

Pixtil (2014). Générative. [online] Available at: http://www.pixtil.fr

[Accessed 4 March 2018]

26
Ryall, H. & Macbeth, P. (2016). The Digital Print Room – A Bespoke
Approach to Print Technology, in Crafting textiles in the digital
age, Bloomsbury Academic, New York, p. 77-90

Schifferstein, H. & Zwartkruis-Pelgrim, E. (2008). Consumerpro-

duct attachment: measurement and design implications. Interna-
tional Journal of Design, 2(3), 1–13.

Stearns, P.D. (2012). Glitch Textiles. [online] Available at: https://

www.glitchtextiles.com [Accessed 4 March 2018]

Walker, S. (2006). Sustainable by Design: Explorations in Theory

and Practice. London: Earthscan.

27
Incompatible Inking Ideologies: Tattoos in
the Ancient Greek World

Owen Rees
Department of History, Politics and Philosophy

In the minds of the ancient Greeks, the presence of a

tattoo on the human body meant one simple thing –
slavery (Jones 1987, with further development Jones
2000; Du Bois 2003). To allow another human being
to take full control of your body, and permanently mark
it, was tantamount to a loss of personal sovereign-
ty, something to be resisted at all costs. An extreme
example of this can be seen on the funerary inscription
of one Megarian warrior called Pollis, who died while
a captive in war (SEG 41 403); it defiantly states that
he was no base man, and that he died at the hands of
the ‘tattooers’, rather than accept his new slavish fate
(Corcella 1995; Grossman 2001). Nevertheless, this
Greek ideology did not permeate outside of its own
cultural sphere of influence, and it came into contact
with many cultures which held a very different views of
tattooing.

The ‘barbarian’ cultures of Thrace and Scythia to the

north, and even the more ‘civilised’ culture of Egypt,
had different relationships with tattoos (Rolle 1989;
Tassie 2003). This difference reinforced Greek no-
tions of ‘otherness’ (Lee 2009; Osborne 2011; Mayor
2014), certainly, but this does not explain the whole

28
picture. The Scythians, for instance, were a common
presence in classical Athens, due to their role as a rudi-
mentary police force. So this tattoo culture was not an
alien abstraction, at the farthest depths of the known
world, it was a constant day-to-day presence. This clo-
se contact is most evident in classical Greek artwork,
where many delicate tattoos adorn eastern, or ‘bar-
barian’, figures. This tattoo imagery permeated into
Greek mythological scenes, which witnessed tattooed
warrior women, originating from Thrace and Scythia
(the Amazons), fighting their Greek counterparts (Ma-
yor 2014). Therefore, while the tattoo may have meant
slavery to the Greeks, this did not prevent them from
adorning their own artwork with them.

What this paper will set out is the ancient Greek view
on tattoos, using literary and archaeological evidence
to give a well-rounded assessment of the issue. It shall
first set out the traditional line on Greek attitudes to ta-
ttoos, explaining the link between body ink and servility.
It shall then evaluate the Greek portrayal of other cul-
tures who used tattooing for different purposes, focu-
sing on the Thraco-Scythian tribes, and the Egyptians.
Finally, this paper will show how the ‘foreign’ notion of
tattoos-as-art found its way into the classical Greek ar-
tistic framework. This paper shall argue for a nuanced
assessment of the Greek view of tattooing, showing
that they bore an understanding that different cultures
shared a varied relationship with the practice.

29
While on the surface, the Greeks’ own views of tat-
tooing as a mark of servility was at the forefront of
their interpretation of ‘barbarian’ tattoos, there is evi-
dence to suggest that the Greeks understood tattoos
within an artistic framework. The terminology used to
describe tattoos is often decorative and presents the
ink work as being like a tapestry (Xen. Anab. 5.4.32).
Furthermore, the presence of the tattoo in Greek vase
paintings shows that it was a valid aesthetic within the
Greek artistic framework (see figure 1 below). As this
paper will show, the literary and artistic evidence re-
veal a nuanced relationship between the Greeks and
tattoos: they could appreciate the artistry of a tattoo,
as long as it was on somebody else.

Figure 1. Red-figure krater attributed to the Black Fury

Group, details of tattooed Thracian women killing Orpheus.
Early-fourth century B.C. Allard Pierson Museum, Amster-
dam APM 2581
30
References

Corcella, A. (1995) “Pollis and the Tattooers.” Zeitschrift für Pa-

pyrologie und Epigraphik, Bd. 109, pp. 47-48.

Du Bois, P. (2003) Slaves and Other Objects. Chicago: The Univer-

sity of Chicago Press.

Grossman, J. G. (2001) Greek Funerary Sculpture: Catalogue of the

Collections at the Getty Villa. Los Angeles: Getty Publications.
Jones, C. P. (1987) “Stigma: Tattooing and Branding in Graeco-Ro-
man Antiquity.” The Journal of Roman Studies, 77 pp. 139-155.

- (2000) “Stigma and Tattoo.” In Caplan, J. (ed.) Written on the

Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. London:
Reaktion Books.

Lee, M. M. (2009) “Body-Modification in Classical Greece.” In Fa-

gen, T. & Lee, M. M. (eds) Bodies and Boundaries in Graeco-Roman
Antiquity. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 155-180.

Figure 1. Red-figure krater attributed to the Black Fury Group,

details of tattooed Thracian women killing Orpheus. Early-fourth
century B.C. Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam APM 2581

Mayor, A. (2014) The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Wo-

men across the Ancient World. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univer-
sity Press.

Rolle, R. (1989) The World of the Scythians. Berkeley: University of

31
California Press.

Tassie, G. (2003) “Identifying the Practice of Tattooing in Ancient

Egypt and Nubia.” Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 14:
85-101

32
 Investigation of Politeness Patterns in Email
Requests: Case Study of Algerian Ph.D.
Female Students at UK Universities
Halima Benzdira
Department of Languages, Information and
Communications

Over the years, a growing number of research have

been investigating linguistic politeness making it one
of the main areas in pragmatics (Brown & Levinson,
1987; Kasper, 1990: 1; Song, 2017). Politeness was re-
garded as a way for avoiding frictions (Lakoff, 1975;
Leech, 1980); it is also about behaving in a good man-
ner and showing respect to others (Leech, 2014). Po-
liteness theory by Brown and Levinson ([1978] 1987)
claims that the speaker needs to lessen threats carried
by speech acts to save the hearer’s face. Consequently,
they introduced politeness strategies to reduce the im-
position by considering three social factors influencing
strategies’ use (Terkourafi, 2005: 239; Yus, 2011: 272).
According to Brown and Levinson (1987: 319), ‘social
distance’, ‘power’, and ‘rank of the imposition should
be considered when interacting. However, as those
factors are parameters subject to cognition (Brown
and Levinson, 1987: 81), they are not always observa-
ble (e.g. Yoshihiko, 2005:15). In other words, interlo-
cutors estimate those variables; as knowing which of
them is responsible for the weight of the imposition is
ambiguous (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 228). Hence, a
need to identify those variables along with others such
33
as age, Language proficiency, gender and what effect
they have on language choice becomes apparent (Har-
low, 1990: 348). Hence, the initiation of the Cross-Cul-
tural Speech Act Realization Project (Blum-Kulka,
House, and Kasper, 1989) has led a number of resear-
chers to investigate the effect of other social/situatio-
nal factors. Consequently, Kasper (1990:13) classifies
them into social variables, and psychological variables.
While the former are context-external variables rela-
ted to the interlocutors, the latter are context-internal
variables related to the situation and similar to the rank
of imposition. While, Cross cultural research has been
studying the different factors -influencing language
choice- in the light of comparing requests (e.g. Johns
and Felix-Brasdefer, 2015); and apologies (e.g. Alsu-
layyni, 2016) among other speech acts across cultures.
Interlanguage pragmatic research, where the current
study falls, focused on different speech acts perfor-
med by Second/ Foreign language speakers (e.g. Eco-
nomidou-Kogetsidis, 2016; Al Sobh, 2013).

Pragmatics, and in relation to politeness, has documen-

ted plenty of research on requests (Fukushima, 2003,
cited in Chen, 2015); considering them potential face
threatening acts (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 72) that
hinder the recipient’s freedom (Blum-Kulka and Olsh-
tain, 1984: 201), and create an imposition to which the
addressee is expected to react/do something (Searle,
1976: 11). Furthermore, requests are believed to be cha-
llenging, requiring levels of politeness; hence, one of

34
the techniques to minimize their impositions is the use
of indirect politeness strategies (Brown, 2015: 326).
Nonetheless, research into speech act realization and
politeness strategies revealed that using politeness
in requests is influenced by factors like: addressees’
gender (e.g. Kuriscak, 2015), power (Song, 2017), and
other variables like: regional dialects (e.g. Felix-Brasde-
fer, 2010), language proficiency level (Felix-Brasdefer,
2007; Bella, 2012), L1 transfer (Zarepour and Saidloo
2016). Thus, taking the limitations of some studies (e.g
Al-Sobh 2013; Alsulayyni 2016; Bataineh and Bataineh
2006; Thomas-Tate, Daugherty, Bartkoski, 2017), the
focus will be on requests and how gender and ‘power
expert’ are directing the use of politeness strategies.

Evidently, requests have generated considerable at-

tention, whereas, email requests have received a litt-
le. The current research is motivated by the fact that
no one studied requests produced by Algerian Foreign
language speakers of English in the UK. It seeks to ex-
plore how forty Algerian, Ph.D., female students use
politeness strategies in relation to the addressees’
gender and expert power; while sending requests to
supervisors. In addition to how the way they formula-
te their emails might affect the response they might
have from their supervisors. The primary objective of
this study is then to elucidate the students’ perception
of ‘politeness’ in emails coupled with how they employ
it in relation to the supervisor’s gender and ‘power ex-
pert’. The study will pertain to the body of data in in-

35
terlanguage pragmatics (Aliakbari, & Moalemi, 2015;
Thomas-Tate, Daugherty, and Bartkoski, 2017); by exa-
mining the simultaneous effect of addressees’ gender
and other factors (Kuriscak, 2015) like the addressees’
role. Though its results might not provide generaliza-
tion to the whole population, it can pace the ground
for further studies to improve relationships in asym-
metrical situations between overseas students and
their teachers/supervisors. Thus, its Results might be
beneficial to researchers interested in the classroom
teaching of foreign language pragmatics, as they mi-
ght be useful to universities’ international offices and
international partnership development offices. Data
collection tools (triangulation) are threefold: first, on-
line surveys to trigger their perception of what is an
appropriate email behaviour. Second, Written Discour-
se completion tasks (DCTs) along with real request
emails collection. Finally, unstructured interviews to
see the underpinning reasons behind the use of cer-
tain strategies within a certain situation; and according
to the two tested dimensions (gender of the addres-
sees, their expert power).

1. Focus on gender and power:

While some studies (e.g. Harlow, 1990) find that gender

is negligible; establishing a lack of effects pertaining to
gender (Sanjaya & Sitawati, 2017). Other studies deli-
neate gender differences on requesting patterns (e.g.
Ning, Dai & Zhang, 2010). Furthermore, while in some

36
research (e.g. Sobhani et al., 2014) the gender of the
sender influences the communicative strategies to be
used; in other studies (e.g. Kuriscak, 2015) the addres-
see’s gender is found to influence the speech act choi-
ce. Moreover, in a study conducted by Ziman (1981),
the addressee’s gender is found to affect politeness
strategies; where more polite requests are found to be
sent to female addressees.

According to Song (2017) ‘power’ is seen as the most

influential factor that directs politeness use (Song,
2017: 74). In asymmetrical relationships, persons with
low power usually use indirectness to minimize the
threat and show respect (Johns and Felix-Brasdefer,
2015:135). Nevertheless, as the factors causing lin-
guistic variation of expressions are open ended (Yos-
hihiko, 2005); thus power can refer to the role of the
addressees (Fukushima, 2000), or their ‘expert power’
(French and, 1958; Spencer-Oatey, 1992, cited in Yos-
hihiko, 2005).

37
References

Al Masaeed, K. (2017) ‘Interlanguage Pragmatic Development: In-

ternal and External Modification in L2 Arabic Requests.’ Foreign
Language Annals, 50(4) pp. 808-820.

Bella, S. (2012) ‘Pragmatic development in a foreign language:

A study of Greek FL requests.’ Journal of Pragmatics, 44(13) pp.
1917-1947.

Kuriscak, L. (2015) ‘Examination of Learner and Situation Level

Variables: Choice of Speech Act and Request Strategy by Spanish
L2 Learners.’ Hispania, 98(2) pp. 300-318.

Zarepour, F. and Saidloo, M. I. (2016) ‘An Analysis of Iranian EFL

Learners’ English Written Requestive E-mails.’ Journal of Langua-
ge Teaching and Research, 7(3) p. 579.

Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., Kasper, G. and Freedle, R. O. (1989)

‘Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies.’ In
Brown, P. and Levinson, S. C. (1987) Politeness: some universals in
language usage. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Economidou-Kogetsidis, M. (2016) ‘Variation in evaluations of the

(im)politeness of emails from L2 learners and perceptions of the
personality of their senders.’ JOURNAL OF PRAGMATICS, 106 pp.
1-19.

Félix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2010) ‘Intra-lingual pragmatic variation in

Mexico City and San José, Costa Rica: A focus on regional di-

38
fferences in female requests.’ Journal of Pragmatics, 42(11) pp.
2992-3011.

Johns, A. and Felix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2015) ‘Linguistic politeness and

pragmatic variation in request production in Dakar French.’ JOUR-
NAL OF POLITENESS RESEARCH-LANGUAGE BEHAVIOUR
CULTURE, 11(1) pp. 131-164.

Kasper, G. (1990) ‘Linguistic politeness:. Current research issues.’

Journal of Pragmatics, 14(2) pp. 193-218.

Kuriscak, L. (2015) ‘Examination of Learner and Situation Level

Variables: Choice of Speech Act and Request Strategy by Spanish
L2 Learners.’ Hispania, 98(2) pp. 300-318.

Lakoff, R. T. (1975) Language and woman’s place. London;New

York (etc.);: Harper and Row.

Leech, G. N. (2014) The pragmatics of politeness. New York, NY:

Oxford University Press.

Raven, B. H. and French, J. R. P. (1958) ‘Group support, legitima-

te power, and social influence1.’ Journal of Personality, 26(3) pp.
400-409.

Sanjaya, I. N. S. and Sitawati, A. A. R. (2017) ‘The Effect of Gram-

matical Accuracy and Gender on Interlanguage Request Strate-
gy.’ TEFLIN Journal: A publication on the teaching and learning of
English, 28(2) p. 212.

39
Song, S. H. (2017) ‘The Brown and Levinson theory revisited: A
statistical analysis.’ LANGUAGE SCIENCES, 62 pp. 66-75.

Terkourafi, M. (2005) ‘Beyond the micro-level in politeness re-

search.’ Journal of Politeness Research, 1(2) pp. 237-262.

40
 ecoGothic Hybrids: Plant Monster Fiction

Teresa Fitzpatrick
Department of English

In A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia,

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari challenge traditional
dichotomies of Western philosophy which they descri-
be as arboreal, reducing our view of the world to binary
linear logics inherent in patriarchal hierarchies.1 Sug-
gesting that an alternative perspective of multiplicities
is key to understanding our world, their rhizome theory:
an ‘acentered, nonhierarchical, nonsignifying system’
can be drawn on to analyse ceaseless ‘connections
between semiotic chains, organizations of power, and
circumstances relative to the arts, sciences, and social
struggles’.2 Using the reproductive and regenerative
nature of a plant rhizome (bulbs and tubers) to illus-
trate the interactions between semiotic, material and
social flows, they suggest that plants, ‘even when they
have roots, … always … form a rhizome with something
else—with the wind, an animal, human beings’.3 This no-
tion of interconnectedness underlines recent develop-
ments in both ecofeminism and material ecocriticism
in analysing the intermingling of agencies, material for-
ms and forces, of both human and non-human life, in a
‘constant process of shared becoming’ that informs us
about ourselves and the world we live in.4

41
Blossoming in that liminal space of Weird-Go-
thic-Science Fiction, plant monster fiction is equally
rhizomatic. Rooted as they are across several genres,
not only are these narratives themselves literary hy-
brids but the vegetable monsters they feature embody
the human fascination with the grotesque and mons-
trosity. Although monster theory is based on dichoto-
mous notions of ‘Other’ - an ‘other’ often aligned with
the female body in gothic texts – an ecofeminist lens
can provide an alternative perspective through the in-
terconnected, rhizomatic nature of the hybrid. From
tentacled blood-suckers, to carnivorous exotics with
a desire for human flesh to human-plant hybrids, plant
monster fiction has received little attention within a
Gothic context or from an ecofeminist perspective.

My research aims to establish plant monsters as eco-

Gothic tropes and in this paper, I consider ways in
which John Wyndham’s Cold War triffids5 and Stephen
King’s alien weeds6 become ecoGothic hybrid mons-
ters through their consumption of humans. Emerging
ecoGothic criticism has, so far, largely focused on
bleak landscapes, dark forests and spectral settings,
exploring nature in the Gothic genre with an ecocriti-
cal eye. Analysing plant monsters as hybrid tropes, I
would argue, provides a concrete hybridization of eco-
criticism and gothic theories as ecoGothic. Drawing on
ecofeminist concepts of interconnectedness, such as
Stacy Alaimo’s material trans-corporeality7 and Nan-
cy Tuana’s viscous porosity8 alongside Female Gothic

42
theories of monstrosity and the grotesque,9 this paper
aims to demonstrate how the hybrid nature of the plant
monster not only challenges androcentric socio-cul-
tural interpretations (particularly the gender associa-
tions) but also presents a case for the (hu)man-eating
plant as an ecoGothic monster.

References

1
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Ca-
pitalism and Schizophrenia, trans. B. Massumi, (London: Con-
tinuum, 1987), eBook: https://www.dawsonera.com/readonli-
ne/9780567258007 [last accessed: 04/04/2018.

2
Deleuze and Guattari, pp.7, 21.

3
Deleuze and Guattari, p.11.

4
Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann, ‘Introduction: Stories
Come to Matter’ in S. Iovino and S. Oppermann, eds., Material eco-
criticism, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014), p.1.

5
John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, (London: Michael Joseph
Ltd., 1951).

6
Stephen King, ‘Weeds’, Cavalier magazine, 1976 reprinted in B.

43
J. Freeman and R. Chizmar, eds., Dark Screams Volume One, (New
York: Hydra eBook Original, 2014), pp.10-104.

7
Stacy Alaimo, Bodily Natures: Science, Environment, and the Ma-
terial Self, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010)

8
Nancy Tuana, ‘Viscous Porosity: Witnessing Katrina’ in S. Alaimo
and S. Hekman, eds., Material Feminisms, (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 2008), pp.188-213.

9
Kelly Hurley, The Gothic Body: Sexuality, Materialism, and Dege-
neration at the Fin de Siècle, (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1996)

44
 US-Russia relations’

Daniel Bennett
Department of History, Politics & Philosophy

This study will be an in-depth analysis of US-Russia

relations post-Cold War. It will assess the key reasons
relations failed to improve. This will allow one to de-
termine why and how the US-Russia relationship re-
mains poor. This is an extremely relevant and contem-
porary topic. The relationship between the two states
may be more dangerous than ever. The most recent
breakdown in communications being the US led mis-
sile attack on Syrian chemical weapon sites. Additio-
nally, the Skripal affair and the US response to this of
expelling diplomats and threatening further sanctions.
Meanwhile, the investigation in to possible collusion
between Russia and the Trump campaign is still on-
going, as is claims that Russia hacked the 2016 US Pre-
sidential election.

It was hoped that post-Cold War, years of deep mistrust

and resentment between the US and Russia would be
replaced by a new era of diplomacy in a united Europe.
President Gorbachev spoke of a ‘European common
home’ whilst President Bush pictured a ‘Europe whole
and free’ (Hoagl, 1991). However, for reasons that will
be discussed, this did not turn out to be the case. By
April 2017, President Trump described relations be-

45
tween the US and Russia as ‘at an all-time low’ (BBC
News, 2017). Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Petrov said that relations were at their ‘lowest possi-
ble point’ and ‘worse’ than those during the Cold War
(Rhodan, 2017).

Key issues that will be discussed include the nuclear

arms threat. The threat of nuclear warfare and mu-
tual destruction is still very real. Today, Russia has nu-
clear-capable ballistic missiles stationed in Kalingrad
Oblast which borders NATO member’s Poland and
Lithuania (Sims, 2016). Additionally, both sides have
troops stationed along the Russian border with the US
and UK offering increased military support to Baltic sta-
tes (Harding, 2016). Under Article 5 of NATO’s Washin-
gton Treaty, an attack on one NATO state is considered
an attack on all (NATO, 2016). Thus a NATO-Russian war
is a real possibility should Russia attack a NATO state
such as Poland or Latvia. As a result, Sakwa (2015, p.
5) suggests a new iron curtain is in danger of forming,
running from Narva in Estonia to Mariupol in Ukraine.
Overall, this has led to many academics to suggest that
the current times are an extension of the Cold War, a
new Cold War, or as Sakwa (2013, p. 203) describes, a
‘Cold Peace’.

Other factors that will be looked at include NATO ex-

pansion, the Ukraine Crisis and intervention in the
Syrian Civil War. Taking the example of the issue of
NATO expansion, this study will look at both perspec-

46
tives on the issue, explaining the nuance and conten-
tion onthe issue. On one side is the pro-US perspective
which argues that NATO expansion increases security
and reduces the threat of war. On the other side is the
pro-Russian perspective, arguing that NATO’s conti-
nued existence and expansion threatens Russian se-
curity, its sphere of interest and increases the risk of
war/military intervention. Both sides of the argument
favour a realist perspective, whereby in an anarchical
world, the US and Russia can not trust each other and
must fight to survive. In turn, the study will attempt to
convey the complexity of the issue and given a small
example of one the reasons why relations have dete-
riorated to their current state.

Therefore, through analysing key issues, this study will

look at why US-Russia relations may have failed to im-
prove post-Cold War.

47
References

BBC News. (2017) Trump says Nato ‘No Longer Obsolete’. BBC
News. [Online] 12th April. [Accessed 5th April 2018] http://www.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39585029

Harding, L. (2016) Nato and Russia Playing Dangerous Game with

Military Build-up. Guardian. [Online] 27th October. [Accessed 5th
April 2018] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/27/mi-
litary-build-up-along-russias-border-no-cause-for-alarm

Hoagl, J. (1991) Old World, New Maps. Washington Post. [Onli-

ne] 23rd June. [Accessed 5th April 2018] https://www.washin-
gtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/06/23/old-worlds-new-
maps/c769e6fc-1eea-448e-953e-d6339e116443/?utm_term=.
b198b90aecf2

NATO. (2016) Collective defence - Article 5. NATO. [Online] 22nd

March. [Accessed 5th April 2018] https://www.nato.int/cps/en/na-
tohq/topics_110496.htm

Rhodan, M. (2017) U.S.-Russia Relations are ‘Worse’ than During

the Cold War, Kremlin Spokesman says. TIME. [Online], 3rd April.
[Accessed 5th April 2018] http://time.com/4722615/donald-
trump-russia-cold-war-putin-kremlin/

Sakwa, R. (2013) The Cold Peace: Russo-Western Relations as a

Mimetic Cold War.

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 23(1), pp. 203-224.

48
[Online] [Accessed 5th April 2018] Available from: https://doi.org/
10.1080/09557571.2012.710584

Sakwa, R. (2015) Reflections on Post-Cold War Order. Euro-

pean Leadership Network. [Online]. [Accessed 5th April 2018]
https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/wp-content/
uploads/2017/10/ELN-Narratives-Conference-Sakwa.pdf

Sims, A. (2016) Poland ‘highly concerned’ after Russia moves nu-

clear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad. Independent. [Online] 8th
October. [Accessed 5th April 2018] https://www.independent.
co.uk/news/world/europe/poland-highly-concerned-after-rus-
sia-movesnuclear-capable-missiles-into-kaliningrad-a7352151.
html

49
Beyond Dwelling: Environmental Activism in
Contemporary Lyric Poetry

Andrew Forster
Department of English

The earth is in a state of ecological crisis so vast and

disparate that it becomes bewildering, with the term
‘Anthropocene’ now in common use in the Humanities
to represent the effect of human intervention on
the planet. Jonathan Bate’s “The Song of the Earth”1,
published in 2000, a book which became the focal point
for poetry addressing this crisis, argues that poetry
attunes readers to the earth, making them better
able to care for it. He calls for a return to the ideals of
Romanticism, for poets to recreate the experience
of dwelling with the earth in a meaningful way. More
recent ecocriticism, however,such as Timothy Clark’s
“Ecocriticism on the Edge”2 and Timothy Morton’s
“Ecology without Nature”3, has tended to focus on the
ways we as humans are implicated in the crisis, and the
ways that any individual agency is diluted by the global
scale of it. Sam Solnick, in his recent work “Poetry and
the Anthropocene”4, points to the ways that, for poets,
this can lead to a paralysing fatalism which may result
in the very effects it’s afraid of. My primary question
is: can lyric poetry go beyond ‘dwelling’ to address the
ecological crisis in a significant way? This creative/
critical presentation will address this through a talk and
a reading of some of my poems.

50
As a practising poet, my interest in this area began
with my second and third books, “Territory”5 and
“Homecoming”6, which were both concerned with
mapping geographical areas where I lived and worked,
through poems exploring landscape, history, natural
history and literature. While working on these, I
became aware of the rapid rise in ecopoetry and ‘new
nature writing’, and gained a critical context for my
work, which was largely a poetry of ‘dwelling’. At the
same time, as my awareness of the environmental
crisis developed, I felt the limitations of this approach
and wanted, both as poet and reader, an ecologically-
aware nature poetry, and criticism, that went beyond
‘dwelling’.

A major issue here is that British ‘ecopoetry’, to use

one of its labels, is still largely dominated by the lyric
tradition. For Bate, an ecopoem works by:

“transforming into language an experience of

dwelling upon the earth.”7

This centrality of language in lyric poetry seems to pla-

ce the role of ideas into a secondary position. For Jay
Parini:

“Poetry is not sloganeering, and when poets

directly confront a particular political crisis they
need to do so carefully, even warily. They rarely
put forward direct solutions to problems.”8

51
Ted Hughes, considered by many critics to be
the foremost British ecologically-aware poet, in
correspondence with Terry Gifford, admitted that
when he tried to address ecological issues directly in
his poetry, the poetry tended to suffer.9

Tom Bristow’s “The Anthropocene Lyric”10, explores

lyric poetry that considers “the human subject within
the context of biodiversity loss, species extinction,
and human-induced climate change”11. This highlights
a hugely important contribution that poetry can make
to our understanding of the environmental crisis,
by giving us “emotionally sensitive reports from the
natural world”12 which help us see it in a much fuller
way.

He goes on to say however, that in the poetry he focu-

ses on:

“….crisis is only implicitly evoked. It is for us to

take the insight into the contradictions and
ethical implications of the turns of consciousness
in these poems, towards the question of the
anthropocene. Our poets have but placed us on
the cusp of this move.”13

Within the British lyric tradition then, activism is often

implicit in poetry, leaving the reader to do much of the
work. This tends to imply a qualitative judgement on
poetry which sets out to address an environmental is-

52
sue. It also touches on a broad difference in approach
between the British and US traditions of ecologica-
lly-aware poetry. The British lyric tradition emphasises
the working out of meaning through the writing of a
poem but in the US there is recognition of a much lon-
ger tradition of ecopoetry in the work of poets such
as Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver, and it
tends to be both more direct and more ideas- or opi-
nion-driven. My own poetry is attempting a line be-
tween these approaches, working within the British
lyric tradition but pushing it to:

• draw on personal experience to engage with

clear, recognisable environmental issues

• find a new language for ecological ideas and

possible solutions to problems

• embrace multiple layers of meaning to explore

ambiguities and dilemmas around the environmental
crisis.

These will be illustrated by a reading of new poems.

53
References

1
Jonathan Bate and Ddc, The Song of the Earth, (London: Picador,
2000).

2
Timothy Clark, Ecocriticism on the Edge: The Anthropocene as a
Threshold Concept, (London: Bloomsbury, 2015).

3
Timothy Morton, Ecology without Nature : Rethinking Environ-
mental Aesthetics, (2009).

4
Sam Solnick, Poetry and the Anthropocene : Ecology, Biology
and Technology in Contemporary British and Irish Poetry, (2017).

5
Andrew Forster, Territory, (Newcastle upon Tyne: Flambard,
2010).

6
Andrew Forster, Homecoming (Smith Doorstop, 2015).

7
Bate and Ddc, The Song of the Earth.

8
Jay Parini, Why Poetry Matters, (Cumberland: Yale University
Press, 2014).

9
Terry Gifford, ‘Gary Snyder and the Post-Pastoral’, in Ecopoetry.
A Critical Introduction, ed. by J Scott-Bryson (Salt Lake City: Uni-
versity of Utah, 2002).

10
Tom Bristow, Anthropocene Lyric, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

54
11
Ibid.

12
Ibid.

13
Ibid.

55
Actually Virtual; Light on Surface in a 3D
Digital Photographic Space

Paul Proctor
Department of Media

My photographic work is created in 3D computer sof-

tware. This digital environment allows me to work with
infinite perspectival views of algorithmically determi-
ned objects that are created entirely within the digital
system itself and therefore do not claim a direct refe-
rence to the external world. The 3D digital space com-
prises a matrix on which simulated geometric forms
can be made. These basic forms can be manipulated
to create any object shape desired. The working spa-
ce of the software is known as the ‘scene’ and offers a
low-resolution representation of the objects and ligh-
ting effect in the space as one is working with the di-
gital objects in real time. The properties of the objects
and quality of light in the space are selected from a
range of menus available in the software. This is sof-
tware that is traditionally used by animators and film-
makers to generate moving computer generated ima-
ges (CGI) however, within the confines of this digital
space, I bring to bare my experience as a photographer
and utilise its potential to create still images.

The work is driven by an investigation into how simu-

lated light particles within this software transform mo-
delled surfaces. More specifically I want to interroga-

56
te how light and surface generate images within the
computer apparatus. I am working in a reflexive way
with the system to create what could be seen as digi-
tal photograms. These are images that are traditionally
formed by placing objects on photographic paper and
exposing them to light to create photographic images.
This is a process that dates back to the very begin-
nings of photography itself. The image as concrete ob-
ject is analysed in 1960s art practice as a self-reflexive
process and was further developed in the 1990s as a
distinct area of photographic practice now known as
Concrete Photography. Concrete Photography is the
practice of recording fleeting interactions of light and
objects onto photographic paper. The resulting images
constitute direct and unique productions of this pro-
cess. These images have been described as ‘photogra-
phs about photography’ (Jaeger 2005).

When objects placed on the light sensitive surface are

exposed to light an immediate latent image is created,
the latent image can be said to be an image that is in a
liminal state, in that it holds within it the visual informa-
tion of a photograph that has not yet become visible
to us. In the system of the computer-generated image,
the coming together of simulated light and surface in
the working environment (or scene) generates a simu-
lated latent state in the system. The digital information
is present but not visible, the image is contained within
the virtualities of the system but not yet fully formed or
actualised. It is this notion of the virtual/actual that for-

57
ms a methodology for articulating my thinking around
light, surface and image. In his book Matter and Me-
mory, Henri Bergson elucidates on his interpretation of
the virtual and actual. According to Bergson, the virtual
is pure time, a dynamic field of potentiality that is de-
void of space and dimensionality. The virtual is always
in a state of wanting to be brought into the actual; into
dimensionality. It could be likened to how a distant me-
mory is brought forth as image into conscious thought.
In an algorithmically determined digital space, it is the
potentiality of the system that determines the virtual,
and the formed image that inhabits the actuality of
geometric space.

The ‘virtual’ that Bergson describes might be unders-

tood as a kind of dynamic field of potentialities that
find their actual dimensional form in the world we in-
habit. Though the virtual and actual are presented as
dualities, they are in fact intra-dependent entities that
intra-act to form a singular event. In this way, light and
surfaces in the software can be seen as homogenous
concretions of an algorithmically determined space;
objects and light share the same digital identity for-
med within the image space of the software.

The exchange between light and surface has become

a key feature of my photographic work in this space.
Both natural and simulated light needs a recipient to
reveal its potential to illuminate, and a surface needs
light to allow it to enter the visual field. Light on its own

58
is not generally perceived as an object but more usua-
lly a property or quality of the object it illuminates. In
the visual field it is light that provides an object with
what we might term ‘thereness’, its concrete nature.
My work, however, explores how light might be percei-
ved as an object in and of itself within the specificity of
the digital system in which it is created.

59
 Abstracts
of Posters
Presented

60
 The Role of Social Media and community-
based information seeking in the context
of Cultural Adaptation for International
Students in the UK: A Case study of Saudi
students

Sumayah Bayounis
Department of Languages, Information and
Communications

Introduction

Social media is playing an important role in our life, hel-

ping users to find ‘‘what they need’’ from a great num-
ber of supporting people in making decisions in several
contexts. In some stressful situations, such as moving
to a new country, many are using social media platfor-
ms in order to reach specific shared-interest commu-
nities. Speed of other individuals’ response, accuracy,
shared common-interests or characteristics and expe-
rience can be important factors in such situations, and
results in the formation of clusters of online support mi-
micking the traditional support communities. Studying
abroad is one of those situations where international
students might seek information for their everyday-li-
fe from experienced peers. International students who
come from cultures that are distinctly different from
the host culture, mostly experience higher level of ac-
culturative stress and homesickness than others (Ye,
2005; Kegel, 2009 cited in (Alyami, 2016).

61
Aim

The aim of the proposed research is to survey the

everyday life information seeking behaviour of Saudi
students in the UK and to investigate the impact and
influence of Online Shared-interest Communities and
the use of social technologies in their quest for useful
and reliable information.

Research Questions

RQ1: What challenges do Saudi students face abroad

regarding cultural adaptation and what are their infor-
mation needs?

RQ2: Why do Saudi students seek information before

coming to and during their stay in the UK via Social Ne-
tworking Sites ‘SNS’ and what is the influence for that
to their decision making?

RQ3: How does the context of cultural adaptation in-

fluence and impact on the information seeking model
to address these information needs through ‘SNS’?

RQ4: To what extent do information needs and the

use of social media in cultural adaptation change over
time/ duration of time spent in the UK?

62
Background Context

According to Sawyer and Chen (2012), increasing num-

bers of users will use social media in their everyday
life and that “during intercultural adaptation to a host
country environment, people use social media to learn
about their host countries, establish and maintain rela-
tionships, and stay informed with events in their home
countries.” (p.151). The use of social media as an infor-
mation resource has the potential to meet a demand
for information that is characterised by differences
such as cultural, language and ethnic identity. Specific
group information seeking behaviour can be investiga-
ted in the longitudinal collection and analysis of infor-
mation needs from Twitter posts (Zhao and Mei, 2013).
Similarly, the proposed research will reveal the infor-
mation needs and also the information behaviour of a
community in a specific situational context and over
the time. The study of information seeking however
is complex. Savolainen’s (1995) seminal study recom-
mended longitudinal research to focus the investiga-
tion on people’s habits, beliefs, attitudes and values
that affect their information seeking and choice of in-
formation resources. As Weber (2010) explains there
are social implications in the decision to use Twitter
in that “individuals are likely to become familiarised
[…] and attached to a community in this environment”
(p.8). Such deeper analysis of information behaviour is
necessary to understand the use of information chan-
nels. Dani et al., (2015) found that information seekers

63
tend to utilise different social media platforms for as-
king different queries. Based on models, such as Kuhl-
thau’s Information Search Process (ISP) developed for
investigating scholarly information behaviour (Leeder
and Shah, 2016), the proposed research will provide
insight into the information behaviour of International
students and their use of Twitter beyond its informa-
tional content alone.

Research Design

A review of literature concerning community based

and collaborative information retrieval and informa-
tion seeking behaviour will be conducted. The review
will draw out the relationship between these areas and
identify and analyse the potential factors that have
motivated a higher usage of social networking sites
‘SNS’ amongst the study population.

To develop the investigation undertaken for mas-

ter’s dissertation (Bayounis, 2016) on the information
needs for a similar community, the proposed research
will employ longitudinal mixed methods to justify and
strengthen the preliminary study outcomes. The first
stage will involve observation method to identify and
track Saudi international students’ information sharing
behaviour and needs via their ‘SNS’ posts. The use
of the social networking sites (Twitter and Facebook)
will be collected for a week on three different period
of academic term in 2018; beginning, middle and end

64
of term. Content analysis of this data focusing on both
topic and intention (with translation from Arabic lan-
guage to English where necessary) will identify the in-
formation needs and behaviour.

Following and complimentary to the observation study,

qualitative methods of interview will be employed to
model the concept of cultural adaptation and its im-
pact on and relationship with information behaviour.
The participants will be identified from the longitudi-
nal observation study as active members in the online
community. It is anticipated that 5-7 participants will
be interviewed from each of the contextual factors
identified as important, such as those who are planning
to move or those who have spent time in the UK. This
target groups would share certain commonalties such
as language, sojourn place, background and culture.

The final stage will develop a questionnaire, drawing

on the previous findings, to examine the role of social
media and online communities in information seeking.
The questionnaire will aim to collect data on usage of
social media for types of information needs in cultu-
ral adaption contexts and in particular on the respon-
dents’ underlying attitudes and strategies (drawing on
influences and behaviour as identified in the qualitati-
ve study). The questionnaire will be distributed to a re-
presentative sample of the target population and will
further explore possible changes to model information
behaviour in cultural adaptation contexts over time.

65
Contribution to knowledge

This research will investigate the influence of Social ne-

tworking sites in online question-answering communi-
ties. It will explain the role and factors behind certain
ethnicity users who use social networking platforms in
order to gain adequate, brief, easy, fast and specific in-
formation. The study findings will help the community
members as well as the Social Media providers to ad-
just their services for targeting the subject population.

66
References

Alyami, A. (2016) Cross-cultural studies among Saudi students in

the United Kingdom. Ph.D. Brunel University.

Dani, H., Morstatter, F., Hu, X., Yang, Z. and Liu, H. (2015) ‘Social
Answer: A System for Finding Appropriate Sites for Questions
in Social Media.’ 2015 IEEE International Conference on Data
Mining Workshop (ICDMW), pp. 1632-1635.

Savolainen, R. (1995) ‘Everyday life information seeking:

Approaching information seeking in the context of “way of life”.’
Library & information science research, 17(3) pp. 259-294.

Sawyer, R. and Chen, G. M. (2012) ‘The impact of social media on

intercultural adaptation.’ Intercultural Communication Studies,
21(2) pp. 151-169.

Leeder, C. and Shah, C. (2016) ‘Library research as collaborative

information seeking’. Library & Information Science Research,
38(3) pp.202-211.

Weber, J. L. (2010) The Use of Twitter in Everyday Life

Information Seeking. Master of Science in Information Science.
University of North Carolina.

Zhao, Z. and Mei, Q. (2013) Questions about questions: An

empirical analysis of information needs on Twitter. ACM.

67
Redefining the Poster: An evaluation with
materials, colour and space.

Michael Orr
Department of Design

Introductıon

Can a combined audio and digital method enhance

creative thinking?
Can such a method be applied to other creative disci-
plines to improve the overall aesthetic?

The aims of this research are formed from two dis-

tinct perspectives. The first is to initiate, the building
of an audio-visual methodology. The second, is in the
application of this method to redefine the poster. The
theoretical approaches of Constructivism and New Ur-
banism (Letterism & Situationalist theory) have been
adopted and restricted to provide additional meaning.
Designers such as Mondriaan (Purvis, 1992) and Gabo
(Sidlina, 2011) assisted in my visual thinking, especially
in respect of geometric shape and acrylic form.

Methodology

The methodology begins by combining the exisiting

protocols of mapping, data gathering, researching,
mood boards together with the introduction of audio
material, whether it be sampled, recorded, synthesized

68
or MIDI based (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
What is unique about this approach is that the audio
will be purposely used to drive the creative aesthetic
in specific, predetermined ways. The main thrust is to
insist upon a sound being used to describe a cognitive
experience.

The sounds are then converted to data using the Open

Sound Code (OSC) protocol and the LiveGrabber suite
of plugins (Kneppers, 2018) which changes audio sig-
nals into discrete numerical data; this can be exported
in real time to any other application which is capable
of deciphering such conventions and data streams.
My initial work was created by exporting to Processing
(Reas, 2018). Using ‘java’ code, various generative de-
signs were initiated through this method. The designs
were captured and saved as jpeg images.

The exported images are used as the second element

to this research; this is where the ‘redefining’ of the
poster becomes the main focus. Using a restricted co-
lour base to blue, red and ‘clear’ unwittingly exposed
my ideas about space. Sample experiments with la-
yered acrylic and kiln formed glass, produced the first
stages of sculptured designs. Creative imagery was
captured using photography to assess the aesthetic.

69
Discussion

This method was demonstrated at the Digital Futures

event held in February at The Shed facility within MMU.
The director of Digital Innovations, Paul Bason has
subsequently promoted the tool and entered it into the
Big Chip Northern 2018 awards. The feedback from
the event was very positive and it allowed very quickly
for new users to become acquinted with the process.
The current status is to begin using an alternate appli-
cation called Isadora in order to assess the projection
methods.

The theoretical influences of Constructivism and Let-

terism have been adopted because they helped to de-
fine modern day graphic design. Applying digital ideas
formed in sound against these styles is where the po-
tential enhancement of creative thinking will take pla-
ce.

The poster has a permenance, albeit for short period

of time. It is a sign which marks a territory, to either
advertise, communicate or object about something
(Boomgaard, 2012). Using different materials and pro-
jection, the communication of public information, is
elevated and redefined within that space. The poster
is in effect, re-negotiating its position within the urban
environment and changing its identity as a chameleon
would. Jim Northover (Northover, 2011) identifies that
constant adherence to a design can restrict its ability

70
to evolve. Thus, is this the moment the poster adopts
an alternate persona?

References

Daniels, M. (2014). Self-Discovery the Jungian Way (RLE: Jung):

The Watchword Technique. Volume 4. New York: Routledge
1992, pp.9-12.

Griffiths, J. (2017). Isadora software training workshops.

[online] Isadoraworkshops.com. Available at: http://www.
isadoraworkshops.com/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].

Gough, M. (2005). The Artist as Producer: Russian

Constructivism in Revolution. Berkeley: University of California
Press

Notbored.org. (2017). Lettrist International. [online] Available at:

http://www.notbored.org/LI.html [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Cddc.vt.edu. (2017). Situationist International Online. [online]

Available at: http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/presitu/formulary.
html [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Rickey, George (1967). “Constructivism: Origins & Evolution”,

Studio Vista, London.

71
Purvis, Alston (1992). “Dutch Graphic Design 1918 – 1945”, Van
Nostrand Reinhold, New York.

Sidlina, N. (2011). “Naum Gabo” Tate Publishing, London

Elam, K. (2011) “Geometry of Design” Princeton Architectural
Press, New York

Guffey, E. (2015) “Posters: A Global History”, Reaktion, New York

Lupton, E. (2015) “How Posters Work”, DAP, New York.

Kneppers, Mattijs (2018) “LiveGrabber Suite” [online] https://

forum.showsync.info/t/livegrabber-osc-with-processing/296
[Accessed Sun 8 Apr. 2018]

Boomgaard, J. (2012) “Permenant signs of Transience – Poster

No.524” Amsterdam, Valiz.

Northover, J. (2011) “Eye (0960779X). Autumn2011, Vol. 21 Issue

81, p62-69. 6p.

72
Presenter
biblio-
graphies

74
 Gina Nadal
Department of Design

georgina.nadal-fernandez@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Gina Nadal is a first year PhD practice-based student

at the Design Department at Manchester School of
Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. After she fi-
nished her undergraduate in Arts and Design in Barce-
lona, she moved to the UK to study and MA in Fashion
Graphics at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Me-
tropolitan University. During her postgraduate studies,
she looked at the relationship between digital jacquard
textile practice and the emotional value, which was the
predecessor of her Ph.D. Currently she is looking at the
factors that generate emotional attachment into the
practice of digital jacquard textiles, using digital coding
as an interactive and participatory tool.

Owen Rees
Department of History, Politics and Philosophy

o.rees@mmu.ac.uk

Owen Rees is a 3rd year PhD candidate in Ancient

History. His research focuses on the military to civilian
transitions undergone by ancient Athenian warriors.
Owen is the founding Editor of HIVE: The Postgradua-
te Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He is
also the author of Great Battles of the Classical Greek
75
World (2016) and Great Naval Battles of the Ancient
Greek World (2018). Other research interests include
ancient tattoos, dogs in the ancient world, and the lo-
gistical commitment involved in the repatriation for
the ancient war dead.

Halima Benzdira
Department of Languages, Information and
Communications

halima.benzdira@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Halima Benzdira, first year Ph.D. student at the depart-

ment of Languages, Linguistics and TESOL. Before co-
ming to the UK, she earned bachelor and master de-
grees in English language, literatures and civilizations.
She is interested in interactional sociolinguistics, prag-
matics, and politeness studies, thus her thesis investi-
gates the patterns of politeness within email exchan-
ges. She is enthusiastic about her work and eager to
spread it over politics, economy, and every domain that
necessitates social interaction, to avoid discrimination,
false stereotypes, impoliteness, and wars. She simply
desires to spread harmonious communication in a di-
gital world where social cues absence might result in
miscommunication.

76
 Teresa Fitzpatrick
Department of English

teresa.fitzpatrick@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Between completing a BA (Hons) in Humanities & Lite-

rature through The Open University and a Post-Gradua-
te Certificate in Academic Practice, Teresa completed
an MA in English Studies: The Gothic at Manchester
Metropolitan University in 2014. Sparked by an inte-
rest in the emerging ecoGothic, her MA dissertation
focused on poison gardens as a gendered trope in Go-
thic literature and Teresa’s doctoral research builds on
this to consider the role of plant monsters, gardeners
and greenhouse spaces in twentieth and twenty-first
century Gothic Science Fiction. Through a blend of
material ecocriticism, eco-feminism and Female Go-
thic theories, Teresa’s research investigates plant and
greenhouse monsters (both vegetable and human) wi-
thin the hybrid genres of Weird/Gothic/Science Fiction
and aims to establish them as ecoGothic motifs that
engage with continually changing gender debates.

Daniel Bennett
Department of History, Politics & Philosophy

daniel.bennett@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Daniel Bennett is a first year PhD student studying

Politics at Manchester Metropolitan University. His re-

77
search focuses on US-Russia relations post-Cold War.
His presentation will focus on why relations failed to
improve, analysing a few of the key reasons for this.

Andrew Forster
Department of English

andrew.m.forster@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Andrew Forster has published three collections of

poetry. Homecoming was shortlisted for the Lake-
land Book of the Year Award and Fear of Thunder was
shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collec-
tion. He worked in Literature Development for 19 years,
latterly as Literature Officer at the Wordsworth Trust.
He now works as an Associate Lecturer at MMU and
is involved in a number of freelance projects, including
the Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets and,
as co-editor, the online poetry magazine The Compass.
He is in the final year of a PhD is focused on poetry and
environmentalism.

Paul Proctor
Department of Media

p.proctor@mmu.ac.uk

Paul Proctor is a photographer, and academic at Man-

chester Metropolitan University. Paul’s photographic
practice uses digital technologies to make photogra-
78
phic images of objects that he creates through mo-
deling and simulation performed in a 3D computer
environment. Recent exhibitions of his work include
‘Beyond the Camera’ Pingyao International Photogra-
phy Festival 2016. Last year he presented a paper at
The Image Conference, Venice 2017. Paul is currently
studying for a PhD at MMU, his thesis asks ‘How is Pho-
tography Performed in a Virtual Digital Space?’ He has
developed a specialist interest in human and non-hu-
man agency as expressed through his practice and the
theories of New Materialisms, Virtuality and Technicity.

Sumayah Bayounis
Department of Languages, Information and
Communications

sumayah.bayounis@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Sumayah Bayounis is in her first year of her research

in the Information and Communications department at
Manchester Metropolitan University. She graduated in
information management and worked as a lecturer at
Umm Alqura University. She is interested in the field of
information seeking behaviour and knowledge sharing.
Particularly, she is looking into international students’
information, seeking to manage cultural adaptation in
a new country using social networking sites.

79
Michael Orr
Department of Design

michael.orr@stu.mmu.ac.uk

Michael Orr is currently following his MA in Graphic

Design and Art Direction at MMU. He is researching a
creative approach to design using digital audio, code
and other applications. He has been included in the
2018 submission for The Big Chip awards for Digital
Innovations. Michael is an experienced audio profes-
sional having studied electronic music productions
with SAE in Amsterdam and more recently in obtaining
a BSc. (Hons)(1st) in Media Technology & Production
from UCLAN. Michael’s background spans many dis-
ciplines including image manipulation, animation, web
and page layout, video and lighting applications.

80
Planfloor
306
307

Geoffrey Manton Building 3rd floor.

r Thank
you
for
coming
83