Running with the ball? Making a play for sport heritage archives in Higher Education contexts

For considerable time, academia (in particular, the Humanities) has been in an intellectual, economic and pragmatic par des deux with the culture and arts sector (in this case, heritage, museums and archives). In many ways, given their respective pursuits of scientific enquiry and learning, valuable contribution to a knowledge economy, commitment to public enlightenment, and exploration of critical and creative endeavour, a relationship between the sectors makes sense. Unity notwithstanding, the relationships have become increasingly now influenced by (en)forced contextual constraints (e.g. government policy development and intervention, neoliberal market forces, structural and ideological shifts in funding acquisition and allocation, patronage changes and demands, and/or individual political priorities). Drawing on education and heritage scholarship, and theoretical frameworks of sport culture spaces, this paper examines efforts undertaken at one specific Higher Education establishment in the United Kingdom in which institutional agendas (vis-à-vis historical and cultural foci, encouraging ‘impactful’ academic activity, brand exposure, economic efficiency, and community engagement) have contoured, and become entwined with, an embryonic sport heritage and archive project. Recalling similar arrangements elsewhere, the aim of this case study is to explore how the wider education and cultural policy context have precipitated an increasingly symbiotic and dependent relationship between university and cultural/arts initiatives. The paper considers how the impetus to develop a sports-based (basketball) heritage archive and study centre reflects the current fragilities of the two sectors, yet, concomitantly, reveals the potentials that might be developed from fostering greater intellectual and pragmatic alliances. The paper concludes by advocating the practical, political and ideological usefulness of network formation, sustainability measures and continued cross-sector dialogue.     

Capacity Design of Coupled RC Walls

Capacity design aims to ensure controlled ductile response of structures when subjected to earthquakes. This article investigates the performance of existing capacity design equations for reinforced concrete coupled walls and then proposes a new simplified capacity design method based on state-of-the-art knowledge. The new method is verified through a case study in which a set of 15 coupled walls are subject to nonlinear time-history analyses. The article includes examination of the maximum shear force in individual walls in relation to the total maximum shear force in the coupled wall system, and subsequently provides recommendations for design.     

The spaces of UK students’ unions: extending the critical geographies of the university campus

This article seeks to further our knowledge of the university campus by focusing on one particular aspect of most UK campuses: the students’ union. UK students’ unions have rarely been the subject of scholarly attention, despite them now occupying an important place within the higher education landscape. Nevertheless, in this paper we draw on a UK-wide study of students’ unions to explore, firstly, the role played by the buildings of the students’ union and, secondly, the ways in which aspects of the university’s campus influence union activity. We pay particular attention to the expansion of the university campus, in many institutions, from a single site to multiple sites, both within the UK and overseas. We contend that a focus on the materiality of the students’ union and the level of union activity (or inactivity) across various campus spaces can illustrate the values, ideologies and power relations that dominate contemporary British higher education.     

高校旅游教育发展研究

随着我国全面建设小康社会的现代化进程的加快,以及国际旅游业的蓬勃发展,我国高校旅游教育发展的重要性进一步凸显出来。本文就培养目标的定位、课程设置的确定、科学研究的支撑和高端教育的学科依托等几个当前中国高校旅游教育发展面临的紧迫问题进行了分析,并提出了相应的对策。     

From Hawaii to Glasgow: The International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT) Five Years On

This paper examines and reflects on the activities of the International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography in Higher Education (INLT) from its founding at the Association of American Geographers' Annual Conference in Hawaii in 1999 to the post-International Geographical Congress workshop in Glasgow five years later. It provides a context and introduction to the following six papers, which resulted from the Glasgow workshop. It is suggested that, despite some of the proposals in Hawaii proving over-ambitious, several other projects have emerged and the INLT continues largely to meet the goals and purposes set out in 1999. Although the desire of the INLT to move beyond its Anglo-American and Australasian origins largely remains a challenge to be met, the INLT has established itself as a valuable forum for the geography higher education community to identify and reflect on similarities and differences in national practices, to engage in debate virtually and face-to-face on issues concerned with learning and teaching, and to bring geographers from different countries to work together on educational projects.     

Seismic Evaluation of Tall Buildings Using a Simplified but Accurate Analysis Procedure

A simplified analysis procedure for evaluating the nonlinear seismic responses of tall reinforced concrete (RC) buildings is examined in this study. It is called the Uncoupled Modal Response History Analysis (UMRHA) procedure. It can be viewed as an extended version of the classical modal analysis procedure, where the nonlinear response of each vibration mode is first computed, and they are later on combined into the total response of the structure. The procedure requires the knowledge of the modal hysteretic behavior, which can be obtained from a cyclic modal pushover analysis. The responses of four tall buildings in Bangkok to distant large earthquakes are computed by this procedure and compared with those obtained from the Nonlinear Response History Analysis (NLRHA) procedure. These four buildings have different heights—varying from 20 to 44 stories, different configurations of floor plan, and different arrangement of RC walls. The comparison shows that the UMRHA procedure is able to accurately compute the story shears and story overturning moments, floor accelerations, and inter-story drifts of all these tall buildings. The required computational effort is also extremely low compared to that of the NLRHA procedure. Moreover, since the UMRHA procedure computes the response of each individual vibration mode, it provides more understanding and insight into the complex nonlinear seismic responses of these tall buildings.     

严复的教育生涯

1880年起,严复总办北洋水师学堂凡20年,培养了一大批海军人才,为中国海军的近代化作出了贡献。1906-1912年间,严复还先后出任安徽高等学堂、复旦公学、北京大学等校校长,对旧式教育体系进行改革,按自己的思想主张组织教学和管理,为这三所学校以至中国近代教育的发展作出了重要贡献。严复的办学经历,反映了近代中国社会关系的复杂及教育救国之路的艰难与曲折。     

High-Tech Centre in the Periphery: The Political,Economic and Cultural Factors behind the Emergence and Development of the Oulu ICT Phenomenon in Northern Finland

The Oulu region in Northern Finland has witnessed a remarkable growth of ICT industries since the 1980s. A town near the Arctic Circle with only 140,000 people (2012) created a high-tech business that employed at its best nearly 16,000 people in the region at the millennium. This article investigates the historical background of this phenomenon, which is not so much an imitation of Silicon Valley, but rather a result of special Finnish and northern characteristics. The most important contributing factors were the University of Oulu, governmental support and the success of the Nokia Corporation. Oulu's strength was the early clustering of the focal actors. Oulu established the first Technology Park in the Nordic countries in 1982. The northern mental environment, Oulu's traditions and many exceptionally active persons also contributed to the phenomenon. The case of Oulu is presented in a larger international context with the help of studies on regional high-tech clusters and the development of the information society. Present and future challenges are also addressed.     

An Ideological Dispute: Accusations of Marxist Bias in the Sociology of Education During the 1970s

This article is concerned with a national dispute that took place in Britain in the second half of the 1970s, concerned with ‘Marxist bias’ in an Open University sociology of education course. The background to the dispute is outlined in terms of generational changes in political perspectives and the clashes produced. The events of the dispute are described, along with the arguments on both sides. The conclusion considers the broader implications of this dispute in the light of subsequent events.     

Moving with the Times: An oral history of a geography department

The 30-year story of the geography department at Oxford Brookes University is presented as an oral history in the words of the experienced full-time staff. The department has gained a reputation in the UK and beyond for innovative active-learning methods and its story is an example of how a pedagogic culture can develop in a geography department. The story can also be read as a case study of a workplace in higher education, or as a contribution to the history of education. Most importantly, though, it offers insight into the key factors concerning the development of innovative teaching practice.