• Why Ukraine? Why Now?

    Professor Jo Crotty In the last 24 hours I have received a number of messages asking ‘Why Ukraine?; and why now?’ Although media commentary has focused on Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, and Russia’s unwillingness to acquiesce to NATO forces on its border; the answer is more complex. First, since the end of the Soviet Union 30…

  • Ukraine Replay?: Re-navigating Work in Professional Basketball in Conflict Spaces

    Laura Purdy (Edge Hill University) and Geoff Kohe (University of Kent) The increasing attention on Ukraine jogged memories of the Euromaidan upheaval in 2013/14 and parallel regional uncertainties over Ukraine-Russia relations. At this time, civil unrest arose over the government decision to halt signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union. Within Ukraine, pro-EU…

  • Walking the Walk: Including Ethnic Minorities in Green Initiatives

    Dr Zana Vathi As the press has recently highlighted, walking is both an expression as well as a means to develop positive relationships with the outdoors. But is the ‘outdoors’ a flat realm within the Anthropocene? The inequalities of urban inhabitation are widely known and talked about. Since COVID-19 blurred the boundaries of the private…

  • How Writing Retreats Can Support You as a PhD Student

    Angel Tan Writing up a PhD can be both exciting and challenging. After all, it might be one of the most significant pieces of written work after years of study and research. Alongside the excitement of embarking on this (final) step of completing a PhD, here come the pressures to write an ‘acceptable’ thesis that…

  • Singing Through a Pandemic: Thoughts from the Field

    Dr Jennifer Daniel Singing has long been shown to have significant psychological and physiological benefits to health. Choral singing in particular has the additional benefit of bringing people together in groups. But what happens when that same activity that brings people together, comes with the risk of Covid19? What does this mean for those of…

  • Why a Blanket Macro Approach to Health Communication Won’t Cut it Anymore!

    Dr Ruxandra Trandafoiu The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed a number of health inequalities, particularly when it comes to ethnic minority groups. The Office for National Statistics reports that before the vaccine rollout, men and women of black ethnicity were more than four times likely to die from COVID-19 compared to people of white ethnicity. The…

  • How Should We Pay for the BBC?

    Dr Elke Weissmann It is unlikely that you will have missed the announcement by Nadine Dorries, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who suggested that the licence fee, in addition of being frozen again for the next two years, will not be renewed in 2027. This, of course, is (partially) contingent…

  • When is a Party not a Party?…and how should The Party respond?

    Paula Keaveney “The piglet has wriggled free many times before; but he is cornered in a cul-de-sac and the butchers are whetting their knives.” If you want to get a sense of mood among Conservatives, the Conservative Home website – the source of this porcine image – is the place to go.  Johnson’s butchers are…

  • A New Year’s Resolution: Education for the UN Sustainable Development Goals

    Professor John Sandars Everyone is aware of the local, national and global challenges that face our lives and our planet.  These challenges do not only include the ravages of climate and environmental change but also the need for social justice and universal health coverage.   The recent COP 26 summit highlighted that we may have…

  • COP26, Local Climate Action and TV: What can be done in Liverpool?

    Dr Elke Weissmann Many people concerned about climate change will say that COP26 ended up being a bit of a disappointment. We do want to do something. The problem is that we do not always know what we need to do, or perhaps how simple it is to do something, not just as individuals, but…

  • Abuse in Sport: An Academic Forum

    Dr Melanie Lang The Centre for Child Protection and Safeguarding in Sport (CPSS) launched its own seminar series on 10th November with the support of the Institute for Social Responsibility (ISR). The special 2-hour online event was opened by Professor Jo Crotty, Director of ISR, and Dr Melanie Lang, CPSS assistant director and convenor of…

  • Can Poetry Help us Articulate the Universal as Personal?

    Victoria Inyang-Talbot As the spotlight lands firmly on the upcoming COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, I have reached into my poetry collection and dwelt a little on the poems that tell stories of my relationship with the world around me. John Clare’s All Nature Has A Feeling could not resonate more. We are grappling with…

  • Sustainability, Climate Change and ‘Disruption’

    Prof Christopher Dent Disruption. It can take many forms. It can come suddenly and unexpectedly, like an un-forecasted storm or major crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic. We may see it is coming, such as the planned transport workers strike in Glasgow during the COP26 Climate Summit. Or it may be a gradual process, like the…

  • The Coup that Overthrew Democracy: The Black History Month Screening of ‘Wilmington on Fire’

    Dr Jenny Barrett If Black History Month seems like a recent American phenomenon, it may surprise you to know that Black History Month has its roots in a public history event in the US in February 1926 called “Negro History Week” which sought to endorse equality and celebrate Black achievement. Fifty years later it was…

  • The Sustainability Festival is coming… be prepared to connect, engage and be inspired.

    Prof Christopher Dent The University’s Sustainability Festival – taking place Monday 1 to Friday 5 November – is a chance for everyone at Edge Hill and beyond to come together to feel part of a collective of people that want to make our world a better, more sustainable place. It coincides with the first week…

  • Is there Value in Television?

    Dr Elke Weissmann On the 27 September, we celebrated the Critical Awards in Television for the first time. The awards are part of larger attempts by researchers and scholars in television to question what we accept as ‘good’ when we talk about television. The awards – which are a collaboration between the EHU Television Studies…

  • As Black History Month Begins, what is the Reality of ‘Blackness’?

    Dr Joy Gana-Inatimi Today marks the launch of Black History Month 2021. As a black woman in 21st century, BHM is a bittersweet period of time of year.  Yes, it is great to be able to celebrate Black culture and history; but what happens before and after October each year?  Does Britain celebrate my “Blackness”? …

  • Blow the Whistle: Referee Shortages in Grassroots Football

    Dr Jimmy O’Gorman As my 17-year-old son prepares to referee a local Under 15s football fixture his phone begins to incessantly ping. There is a shortage of referees to fulfil all local junior football fixtures again this weekend. This has not come without warning, nor is it a surprise. An open letter by the referee…

  • The Show Still Went on – Despite the Risk Assessments!

    Perelandra Beedles The spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) had a profound impact on many industries, and the broadcast sector was no exception. As governments around the world imposed various restrictions to try to limit the further spread of the virus, the impact on film and TV production was immediate. I followed the progress of the UK…

  • It’s Official: It’s Not Television That Makes You Stupid

    Dr Elke Weissmann On Monday, 13 September, The Guardian ran a story with the subtitle ‘TV really does rot your brain’. It was based on research by different American health scientists who looked into the relationship between (self-reported) television consumption and decline in grey matter in later life. The great aspect was that these were…