The Knowledge

Laura Eastlake Sugar Bowl from abolitionist period (1820-1830) inscribed ‘East India Sugar. The Produce of Free Labour’. Image: Maritime Museum, Liverpool. MMM.1994.111 Sugar is in the bloodstream of modern Britain. Whether we enjoy it as a treat or worry about it as an increasingly urgent health risk, navigating our relationships with sugar is a national…

What images are conjured when we think of ‘research’? A scientist in a white coat and safety glasses experimenting with test tubes and Bunsen burners? A social scientist has no such apparatus; in my field, education, our lab is the classroom and the work we do does not necessarily have any such physical manifestation as…

Dr Linda K. Kaye Cyberpsychology is the scientific study of the psychology of technology use and online behaviour. I’ve been involved in this field throughout my academic career, but only recently more fully recognised the merits of cyberpsychology within commercial contexts. Psychology has always had relevance in respect of understanding consumer behaviour, but in an…

Keisha Ann Stewart In the past decade, a coalition of progressive educators have embarked on a transformative journey to make education more equitable and inclusive for students (Elhinnawy, 2023). The unexpected challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted traditional learning and highlighted increased inequalities in education. Widespread concern about learning loss for disadvantaged students resulted in…

Dr Shereen Shaw and Helena Knapton Changing professional identity is hard work.  It means going through a period when comfortable, known ways of working and a sense of expertise along with colleagues’ respect are at best challenged, but may be diminished as you become someone with new ways of working and new expertise and different…

Paula Keaveney Standing in the snow in Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan, listening to the national anthem, which is an odd way to start a day, but this was the ceremony on the steps of the polling station before opening for business in December 2019. Shakhrisabz was the centre of our ‘area of observation’, from where our small…

Dr Michelle Howarth The recent Covid Pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities, increased the number of people living with long term conditions (LTC) and highlighted the impact that socio economic, cultural, and other wider determinants have on our health and wellbeing. In a post covid era, (or are we?), the number of people living with LTC…

Dr Jennifer Daniel  On Friday 15 September 2023, Manchester was shaken by the knife murder of 14-year-old Nathaniel Shani in Harpurhey, an area of high social deprivation three miles north of the city centre.  By the following Friday the school attended by Nathaniel had launched a lunchtime concert with pupils and ex-pupils performing songs chosen for Nathaniel, facilitated and…

Dr Claire Blennerhassett, Dr Michael Richards and Dr Steve Clayton Food selectivity is considerably more prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to children who are not autistic. Food selectivity is an umbrella term which refers to an insufficient variety of food consumption, characterised by a range of feeding issues including food refusal,…

Christina Blakey, Head of Knowledge Exchange Office, Edge Hill University While Knowledge Exchange within the University sector in the UK is not exactly a new frontier, you’ll have seen in recent years an increase in the use of the term ‘knowledge exchange’ and a heightened focus on universities engaging with, and investing in, knowledge exchange…