Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - health in art : art in health

I arrived in Amsterdam last night and spent today, 8 hours in the Rijksmuseum. It is an amazing experience, even to just scratch the surface. Early on it was not busy! Entering the building, is as publicised, to discover a remarkable series of spaces.

There are so many highlights of a rewarding day. One must be within the final hour 1610 finding one of Van Gogh's self portraits. Van Gogh finds himself placed in the interpersonal domain not just by virtue of this self portrait, but his struggle with mental health and  hospitalisations.

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

There were many other (ill-)health related examples (and many that are also bright and humorous).

The sick child. The Sick Woman....

When initially viewing Visiting the Sick you have some searching to do. The sick individual themselves and the doctor are rather lost in the background. The painting stresses the sociological, domestic aspects of health past and present.

In Visiting the Sick and The Anemic Woman we get a view of the way outside (possibly of spiritual significance?) and another room through doorways. From TV, reading and my visit today, this is a common device within Dutch genre painting. If we have a diagnosis now in the 21st century, we still need to look through the windows and doors that relate to the individual and their social situation. In the age of the interface and partitions we still need to negotiate them.  Doorways, windows and portals as changes in knowledge content, can in the form of care domains illuminate the boundary of what is objective and subjective. This is central in health and social care.


Van Gogh self portrait source:
http://historiek.net/chinezen-zeer-geinteresseerd-in-van-gogh/13217/#.VCb5mRbivTo

The Anemic Woman image source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_van_Hoogstraten_-_The_Anaemic_Lady_-_WGA11719.jpg

Technologies for Development: Project - founding ideas

Reading the website of the project (posted yesterday) I noticed that their founding ideas can be mapped to Hodges' model. As depicted below some are pretty obvious, notably the POLITICAL domain and the SOCIOLOGICAL.

Their first founding idea is placed in the interpersonal domain. This is very subjective exercise - literally playing with words - but here I am prioritizing individual cognitive access above physical access. I am thinking of individual participants. As Nanotechnologies for Development state the first idea also focuses on countries - the group. So maybe I am wrong, if there is a wrong when using models - idealisations - in this way?

Staying with the group, access and participation are also a crucial matter of human rights - education, health information, health and social care, employment, freedoms, and security - freedom from violence, unlawful imprisonment...

These founding ideas clearly denote underpinning values, note in-particular the way risks and benefits are included at the individual and the group level.

In the SCIENCES domain from the beginning acknowledges time, process, project management. Nanotechnology needs to be understood in terms of the environments we inhabit. Not just us, now; but grandchildren... too. Not just the physical environment, but that embodied under and within this other divide: skin.

Within the mechanistic domains how will consultation about benefits and risks be negotiated and communicated to the humanistic domains?

How will the individual - group : community - commercial enterprise and innovation be squared?
 
This individual-group distinction is becoming ever more significant - of which more to follow.

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

The first founding idea of this project is that developing countries should not be denied participation in advanced modern technologies.	The third core idea is that such developments entail risks and benefits that need to be addressed from the beginning.
The second that they should do that in their own culturally-specific ways. Our approach rejects any a priori distinction between traditional and modern technologies, but rather seeks innovative ways to connect indigenous and globalized knowledge and practices.	The fourth founding idea is that choices about those benefits and risks need to be made in a democratic way.

Source: Technologies for Development: Project Founding ideas

Technologies for Development: Project Closing Conference - Nanotechnologies for Development in India, Kenya, and the Netherlands

[ This is a small but interesting interdisciplinary conference - pj ]

December 15-17, 2014. Maastricht University Brussels Campus

What is the challenge of development today? What is the role of science and technology in development? What are the problems and possibilities that emerging technosciences—such as nano-bio-technoscience—pose for development? What institutional and organizational configurations enable development? How can interdisciplinary inquiries into the social studies of science, technology, and innovation contribute to developmental agendas?

The closing conference of the NWO-WOTRO http://www.nwo.nl/en/about-nwo/organisation/nwo-divisions/wotro sponsored project, *Nanotechnologies for Development* http://fasos-research.nl/nano-dev/, invites proposals that reflect on the relationship between science, technology, development, and innovation.

We are interested in contributions that offer insights into the historical and contemporary principles and practices of development and the role of science and technology therein. These reflections can be empirical, conceptual, or methodological. We also welcome contributions that reflect on collaboration between researchers and development practitioners. We thus invite proposals from a broad range of participants: activists, academics, development practitioners, and beyond.

The conference programme will strive to strike a balance between various approaches and perspectives and consist of keynotes, panel presentations, and a closing roundtable discussion.

The conference will be held at the Brussels campus of Maastricht University (Avenue de l’Armée / Legerlaan 10, 1040 Brussels, Belgium) on December 15-17, 2014. Participation is limited to 50 participants.

To participate, please submit a title, 500-word abstract, a list of 5 keywords, and your CV (max. 400 words) to techdev-conf-fasos AT maastrichtuniversity.nl. The deadline for sending your abstract is September 14, 2014. The conference committee will notify their decision by September 30, 2014.

Four domain link pages updated

The four links pages are still out there and recent interest prompted a review. Given the total number of links included, it is no surprise how url domains are taken over - vape, fitness... It felt good using a links checker and finding and deleting these 'broken' sites and some that are plain dead-ends: the 'domain for sale'. There may be a few more to sort in there...

The pages are archaic in terms of approach - they are not responsive but the format is fine on a desktop and should work on a tablet. The pages started in 1997-98, you don't do this now! People search in real-time for what they need. Besides not everyone may agree with the subjects I have included and the domain in which I have placed them? What is missing?

The intention is to indicate as with another resource the potential scope of Hodges' model in the knowledge and subjects that can be encompassed. I'm not sure of the longer term future of these pages, as I look to new hosting for Drupal.

Over the coming months I will emphasise research, TEL - technology enhanced learning, e-learning and Drupal resources.

Keen to reduce the maintenance overhead, two rows have been removed and categories moved about. As a result there are a couple of 'vacant' columns in there.

In the future I need to investigate the full ramifications of SEO search engine optimization. I receive many requests offering SEO services, and to add links. Given the demanding update task if I can add a few paid links this will help me fund conference travels and studies. ...

As I return to revising my latest essay I'll let you grab a drink and browse, enjoy...(?)

Intra-Interpersonal	Sciences
Sociology	Political

Health and Social Care Policy: Always - from a distance

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

"Cura te ipsum." - "Take care of your own self."

mental health	physical
social	policy

Additional link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cura_te_ipsum


Latin source: Mediawatch, tpm the philosophers' magazine, 2nd quarter 2014, p.14.

(which cites: http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/cura-te-ipsum/ )

Workshop: Re-imagining Commonly Used Mobile Interfaces for Older Adults

We are delighted to announce that Professor Jutta Trevarinus of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University, Toronto will deliver a keynote talk at this workshop. We hope you can join us.

Re-imagining Commonly Used Mobile Interfaces for Older Adults

http://www.olderadults.mobi
workshop AT olderadults.mobi

September 23, 2014, Toronto, Canada

Call for Papers

Many countries have an increasingly ageing population. In recent years, mobile technologies have had a massive impact on social and working life. As the older adult population rises, many people will want to continue professional, social and lifestyle usage of mobiles into their 70s and beyond. Mobiles support community involvement and personal independence, but the ageing process can interfere considerably with their usage, e.g. through changes in vision, attention, and motor control. This workshop will bring together researchers who are re-imagining mobile interfaces so that they are more suited for use by older adults.

Position papers are sought related to topics including, but not limited to:

• Multimodal interaction with older adults
• Mobile input and visual interaction with older adults
• Older adults and ubiquitous computing
• Participatory design process for older adults
• Mobile interface evaluation with older adults
• Novel physical interaction for older adults
• The effect and implications for mobile design of the ageing process
• Interdisciplinary perspectives on mobile design for older adults

Position papers should be 4 pages in CHI extended abstract format. Accepted papers will be presented as posters or short talks, with plenty of time for discussion and demos. Authors will be invited to extend for a special issue of the International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction.

Abstract Submission Deadline: July 11th 2014
Notification of Acceptance: 24th July 2014
Workshop: 23rd September 2014

Submissions should be made to: submissions AT olderadults.mobi

Questions or queries may be sent to: workshop AT olderadults.mobi

Organisers:
Emma Nicol (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK)
Mark Dunlop (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK)
Marilyn McGee-Lennon (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK)
Lynne Baillie (Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK)
Lilit Hakobyan (Aston University, Birmingham, UK)
Katie Siek (Indiana University, USA)

Emma Nicol
Research Associate
Room 14.05 Livingstone Tower
Dept of Computer and Information Sciences
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow, G1 1XH
Scotland, UK

emma.nicol@strath.ac.uk
http://www.cis.strath.ac.uk/cis/staff/index.php?uid=emma

My source: Caring Technology Research Announcement List
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/caring-tec-research

Two-day symposium ‘Concerning Relations: Sociologies of Conduct, Care and Affect’ 28-29 Nov. 2014

We are pleased to announce a two-day symposium ‘Concerning Relations: Sociologies of Conduct, Care and Affect’, 28/29 Nov. 2014, University of Exeter. The aim of this exciting international workshop is to bring together leading researchers, practitioners and scholars from care studies, sociology of health and illness, science and technology studies, humanities and philosophy to rethink care. We also plan to publish the results of the workshop.

This interdisciplinary symposium, funded by Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness (FSHI) and Exeter University, aims to interrogate the implications of shifting the focus of health care away from ‘delivery’ towards care as an ongoing everyday accomplishment. The situatedness of care relations and how situated care relations are practiced and experienced are vital to understanding the impacts care has upon patients, families and healthcare staff. This shift represents a contrasting view on care, from one that is predicated upon a discourse of absence (of care) or lack (of dignity) to the affective interactional relations between social actors. Such shifts of focus are of prime concern as care may be viewed less as a commodity which can be lost, saved, traded or withheld, but as a relation that is deeply embedded within institutional contexts, of individuals and the social worlds they inhabit.

This symposium examines spaces of collisions, elisions or alignments of social worlds, within which the affective dimension of social life in healthcare may be fruitfully examined. Drawing upon relational concerns as a distinct and distinctive mode of sociological inquiry, the symposium seeks to develop an understanding of care and its consequences that help us get beyond the economics of care as a commodified and managed form of engagement with the ‘other’. Making this shift has huge potential for addressing long-standing, global concerns around ‘cultures of poor care’ or ‘care as absence’, the seemingly intractable problems that are not readily amenable to a quick or even a slow fix.

The symposium examines how the fix, the cure, remains an issue of perspective. Central questions include:

• What if the ‘problem’ of caring in health care settings was viewed differently, how would the issues be seen through an affective, situated relational perspective, how would an affective orientation resolve or heighten long standing and seemingly intractable problems of institutional care?
• Is the demand for a cure (the fix) a manifestation of a broader political economy at work, is it a question of the mundane interaction order where contemporary modes of conduct reinforces distance, or is the organisational ‘cure’ simply a manifestation of organisational disease?
• Can materials, economies, institutional practices and modes of accounting contribute to poor clinical and managerial conduct and do such devices legitimate a focus away from the patient?

Rather than provide a critique with no visible solution, or provide a simplification of institutional mores, a more cogent question may be what or who is now being cared for. Once such questions of central importance to a relational sociology have been attended to, the case for re-imagining the organization of care as a situated accomplishment can be made, a case based upon sound sociological reasoning. This symposium challenges what it means to care.

The organizers would appreciate general information about your possible participation before 15.07.2014. Please reply to: m.schillmeier AT exeter.ac.uk

Kind regards

Michael Schillmeier (Exeter)
Joanna Latimer (Cardiff)
Paul White (Swansea)
Alexandra Hillman (Cardiff)
----------------------
Professor Michael Schillmeier
Schumpeter Fellow / VolkswagenStiftung
Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology
Centre for the Studies of Life Sciences
Byrne House
University of Exeter
Exeter EX4 4PJ

New Nuevo Neu
Eventful Bodies: The Cosmopolitics of Illness. Ashgate (forthcoming)

http://www.nanomedizin.soziologie.uni-muenchen.de

Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide

Several years ago well-being was everywhere so it seemed. I even blogged about this wondering about the professional side of caring and the care professions:

Well-being and the dilution of 'caring'

What triggered the reflections above in 2010 was the appearance of the British Journal of Wellbeing (BJW). I subsequently learned that the journal launched in April 2010 was published until the end of 2011; the publisher (MA Healthcare) then launched a new journal the British Journal of Mental Health Nursing (BJMHN). I was also advised that although BJMHN has some similarities to BJW, it has more of a nursing focus. 

So, perhaps there was some merit in my thoughts back in 2010 and yet well-being (or wellbeing) is a central discussion point. It has to be if we are to conjoin:

health education : health care 

'being' - 'well' (physically, mentally, ....)

self care : care services

health literate - health 'expert' / professional
.....

I now wonder if the scope of the volumes in a complete reference guide on wellbeing as indicated below, might benefit from an overarching conceptual framework?

This reference set comprises six volumes that focus on the ways wellbeing has been studied and can be applied across different aspects of the life course.

• The first multi-volume examination of all elements of wellbeing.
• Volumes cover children and families; the workplace; the environment; aging and later life; economics; and policies of wellbeing
• Each volume brings together leaders of their respective fields in an edited volume of original articles
• Presents a synthesis of the latest research on this growing and interdisciplinary area of study

Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide
Edited by Cary L. Cooper, CBE
Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University, UK
Now available in print and online
6 volumes • 3,000 pages • Hardcover
Print Edition ISBN: 978-1-118-53882-1

* 
Personal communication: Sam Gournay
Sent: Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 11:30
Subject: FW: Message from MA Healthcare website

From local field to global arena: the rough and tumble of conceptual sport

Jo hit the deck. it was a foul tackle, an apt description for a move that Jo did not see coming.

Talk about a change of perspective!! Sheesh! Was it bone crunching, did I hear something?

It could have been worse. At least the ground knows it’s March and not January.

There was no anticipation, no reflex adjustment, no ability to shift, just in time, no poetry in motion this time.

The coach and physio dashed on to the field. Jo looked up and said “OK, tell me straight, what’s the damage?”

Coach looked down. "Well you're talking that's a start." Assessing rapidly though and through gritted teeth he replied:

“It’s not looking good Jo.”
“Wha?

[Silence]

Oh come on tell me…”

“Well, kid it’s bad, yes, really bad.

You’ve got an academic detachment.”

Jo groaned, "Oh no, not that! What about the future!!"

<->

OK, sorry about that and I do realise that a great many world class athletes are very well educated people.

The tendency of young and promising athletes to relinquish contact with their academic side and really be the best they can be - remains a challenge for some, but this post concerns academic detachment as in - educational institutions and students with the world.

Call it a paradox, a contradiction in this hyper-connected world, what with gap years, travel opportunities.... that there seem so many examples of a lack of awareness of the bigger picture that is the international stage. Not just in students, in education, but the wider citizenry.

Does this matter. Well it does, at least according to the 2012 Conference of The Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) which included:

Academic detachment is not an option in the 21st Century

on the theme “Building a Secure World through International Education.”

The point I’d like to make is that Hodges’ model is fit to assist in some of the objectives that the AIEA outlines in this context:

Keynote speaker Abiodan Williams, Senior Vice ‐ President of the US Institute for Peace, offered remarks at the opening plenary. Mr. Williams said that his own international education began with post ‐ secondary level study at the Lester B. Pearson College, United World College of the Pacific, in Victoria, BC. To develop graduates committed to peace and security, he urged educational institutions to teach:

• Knowledge – including greater interdisciplinarity and learning about conflict prevention
• International outlook – to shape the attitudes and outlook of a new generation, encourage all students to spend at least six months studying abroad, learn at least one new language and take at least one course about another country
• Sensibility – alluding to Fielding’s definition of ‘good nature’, developing people of benevolent and amiable temper of mind, who sympathize with the problems of others and who enjoy the happiness of others

“Academic detachment from the world is not an option in the 21st Century,” he said. Globalization is here to stay, and international education is playing a key role in contributing positive answers to many of the challenges that it presents.

Many institutions are actively engaged in programs that further environmental and energy sustainability, broader access to health care and education, resolution of conflicts, pursuit of fundamental human rights, economic development, and greater cross‐cultural understanding around the world. Harnessing the collective effort, and lessons learned, from each of these individual initiatives is important in moving internationalization forward. [AIEA conference website]

With thanks to Katy Rosenbaum:

27 March 2014:
Good morning,
Thank you for your email. I will check with my colleagues to see if they have any suggestions for someone who might be able to provide more information on work within this theme, and if they have any insights on this, I will certainly forward these on to you.
In the meantime, all conference session materials that presenters made available to download are available at the link below. The zip files include multiple presentations and handouts; underneath are links to these materials hosted on other websites: http://www.aieaworld.org/2012-conference#Presentations
The article you referred to mentioned Abiodan Williams' keynote address, which is available here: http://www.aieaworld.org/assets/docs/Conference_Materials/2012/abiodunwilliamsspeech2012.pdf
Thank you for your interest; I hope this information is useful. If my colleagues have other suggestions, I will certainly pass them on.

Best,
Katy Rosenbaum
Program Associate - AIEA
Association of International Education Administrators
www.aieaworld.org
kathryn.rosenbaum AT duke.edu

Additional link:
http://www.ruthnestvold.com/tomjones.htm
Thanks Dad.

CfP Visual In-Sights Conference, Newcastle University, June 2014

To: EUROPEAN-SOCIOLOGIST AT JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Sent: Monday, 30 December 2013, 10:24
Subject: CfP Visual In-Sights Conference, Newcastle University, June 2014

Call for Papers/Proposals
Visual In-Sights: Theory, Method, Practice 26-27 June 2014
Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Deadline for Abstracts/Proposals: 31 January 2014

Keynote Speakers:
Marcus Banks (Oxford University)
David Campbell (http://www.david-campbell.org/ )
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (Amber Collective)

Organised by the Visualities Research Group at Newcastle University, this interdisciplinary conference aims to bring together an international community of established and emerging scholars, creative practitioners, visual artists and arts-based, community project leaders who research, use and work with visual materials and visual methods. Contributions are invited that demonstrate the cutting edge in research and practice around the multiple spaces of the visual, and which explore the porous boundary between the theory, method and practice of the visual.

We seek academic papers and/or proposals for multi-media presentations, break-out sessions using arts/performance/installation, contemporaneous fieldwork exercises and workshops, and exhibitive displays. Contributions may speak, but are not limited, to the themes of:

• Art and Aesthetics
• Visual Cultures
• Visualities and Ethics
• Visual Communication and Visual Practice

Please submit an abstract or artist proposal of up to 250 words to visual.insights AT ncl.ac.uk
by 31 January 2014.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out on or before 28 February 2014.

Registration http://www.ncl.ac.uk/gps/research/groups/visualities/visual-insights/registration.htm will open on 31 March 2014. The conference fee is £80 (academics), £50 (artists), and £30 (students and unwaged)

For more information please visit:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/visual-insights/
Enquiries: visual.insights AT ncl.ac.uk

Cognitive Informatics and other forms?

Over the past couple of months I've posted on topics that include an example of Hodges' model related to the post's particular theme. In McGonigle and Mastrian's Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge, Second Edition (2012) on page 63 the editors cite Wang (2003):

Cognitive informatics attempts to solve problems in two connected areas in a bidirectional and multidisciplinary approach. In one direction, CI uses informatics and computing techniques to investigate cognitive science problems, such as memory, learning and reasoning; in the other direction, CI uses cognitive theories to investigate problems in informatics, computing and software engineering (p.120). 

I will leave it to you to consider the INTRA-INTERPERSONAL and SCIENCES domains, and not (just) how Wang's cognitive informatics 'fits' within Hodges' model, but what of the many other informatics fields. Here they seem like stepping stones, but taken together where do they lead to, from, ... about ...?


Wang, Y. (2003), Cognitive Informatics: A New Transdisciplinary Research Field, Brain and Mind: A Transdisciplinary Journal of Neuroscience and Neurophilosophy, Vol.4, No.2. pp.115-127.  

Call for Papers Springer Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Journal: Issue Topic; Behaviour and Health

Mobile and wearable sensors are increasingly permeating everyday life and becoming an integral part of it. Information gathered from these sensors can provide unprecedented insights into diverse aspects of human behaviour. Analysis of human behaviour is of special interest in healthcare, since the health state of a person depends on behaviour aspects, including physical activity levels, amount of social activity, work-life balance and other aspects that are relevant for specific health conditions.

The main goal of this special issue is to explore the link between human behaviour and health. In particular, sensing modalities, data processing methods and behaviour capturing techniques that facilitate this exploration are of interest. Considering the interdisciplinary nature of the work in this area, papers are invited from both technical and medical perspectives that provide new understandings of the link between behaviour and health.

For this special issue topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1. Technology for behaviour sensing:

- Exploitation of pervasive sensors: Activity sensors,
- connectivity sensors, microphones and webcams as included in smart phones, tablets, game consoles, etc.
- Development of new mobile medical sensor systems for outpatient use
- Unobtrusive sensor systems for long-term behaviour monitoring
- Sensors and actuators for wellness, fitness and rehabilitation
- Bio and physiological measurement technology
- Sensor systems for specific pathologic behaviour, illnesses or mental disorders
- Wearable sensors and brain computer interfaces
- Solutions for usability issues (textile sensors, unobtrusive power supply, data storage and communication, etc.)

2. Application of behaviour sensors in health domain:

- Feasibility studies on new behaviour sensor modalities
- Cross-section studies on the usability
- Longitudinal studies / medical trials on accuracy / effectiveness of applied behaviour sensors
- Ethical and legal requirements concerning sensor systems
- Health monitoring in clinical and daily life environment
- Games in assessment and therapy
- Cognitive behavioural therapy, speech therapy, music therapy and experiences with new therapies
- Supporting maintenance of mental wellness

3. Signal processing of behaviour data:

- Innovative algorithms for assessment of long-term physiological and behavioural data
- Identification of clinical meaningful features based on measured sensor data
- Approaches for data fusion of different sensor modalities
- Activity recognition for health applications
- Machine-learning and classification problems
- Handling missing or untrusted data
- Models for interpreting medical sensor data
- HCI for patients, caregivers and health insurance
- Prediction of disease or episode onset
- Decision support for therapy planning
- Virtual reality systems for therapy
- Support for preventative measures

4. Organizational and legal aspects:

- Inclusion of behaviour data in electronic health records
- Privacy/security issues of extensive behaviour data collections
- Business cases / market analysis for behaviour based health applications in home and clinical environments
- Tele health and mobile technology
- Interaction Designs and Applications for patient self-care
- Persuasive technologies and approaches for behaviour shaping
- Practical inclusion of behaviour data recording and analysis in daily clinical work, regarding prevention, monitoring and treatment of diseases

Submissions:

Deadline for manuscript submission: (EXTENDED) March 14th, 2014
Notification: April 30th, 2014
Tentative publication: Summer 2014

Papers should be around 10-15 pages (soft limit) using the journal
Instructions for Authors.

Please submit the initial manuscript to:
https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=puchealth2014

Submissions should be blind, with no author identifying information.
With your submission, please also suggest three potential reviewers.

Guest Editors:
Franz Gravenhorst (gravenhorst AT ife.ee.ethz.ch), ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Venet Osmani, CREATE-NET, Italy
Bert Arnrich, Bogazici University, Turkey
Amir Muaremi, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Graduate Study in Philosophy/Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford

From: Luciano Floridi - lfloridi at gmail.com

Please circulate

If you are interested in pursuing interdisciplinary graduate study at the University of Oxford in philosophy and/or ethics of information in connection with digital technologies, the Oxford Internet Institute offers:

1. The eleven-month residential MSc in Social Science of the Internet.
Students from a wide variety of backgrounds can combine their interests in philosophical/ethical issues with Internet-related courses in law, policy and other social sciences.
  2. This is for students wishing to undertake groundbreaking, detailed research.
Students are encouraged to ask original, concrete questions and to adopt incisive methodologies for exploring them, in order to help to shape the development of digital realities.
  3. The Summer Doctoral Programme.
This provides top doctoral students from around the world with the opportunity to work for a few intensive weeks with leading figures in Internet/digital research.

For more information, please check: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/graduatestudy/

For an initial expression of interest, please send a short CV (max 1500 words) and a short outline of research interests or project (max 1500 words) to:

Mrs. Penny Driscoll, BA (Hons), MA
PA to Prof Luciano Floridi
Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information
Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
1 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3JS
penny.driscoll8 at gmail.com

Modeling Outside the Box (MOTB) Workshop

(co-located with MODELS'13 in Miami, Florida, USA, September 30, 2013)

http://cserg0.site.uottawa.ca/modelingoutsidethebox2013

WHAT IS IT?
-----------
Through a series of creativity, lateral thinking, and brainstorming activities, the Modeling Outside the Box (MOTB) workshop will ask participants to think outside the box and imagine different, radical, innovative forms of model-driven engineering (MDE). Participants will be asked to leave behind all their preconceived notions of MDE and to approach the issue of MDE from a different angle. This will be a highly interactive workshop in which facilitators will use tried-and-tested methods for fostering creativity to generate fresh new ideas for MDE. The aim is to avoid the blinkered thinking and tunnel vision that is a natural consequence of any mature discipline. The outcomes will be new connections between people and, hopefully, new ideas that may lead to future research collaborations.

SOUNDS FUN. BUT IS IT FOR ME?
-----------------------------
We are looking for people who are willing to step outside their particular areas of expertise or interest and join with other positive-thinking individuals to imagine alternative futures for MDE. If you have been frustrated with the current state of MDE practice and want to change, then we want you!

SOUNDS LIKE ME. WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
-----------------------------------
We are asking all potential participants to fill in a short 2 page application form
  http://cserg0.site.uottawa.ca/motb13/MOTB13application.doc
and submit it in pdf format via EasyChair
https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=motb2013.
The application form is just meant to ensure a diverse mix of people with a range of experiences are represented as creativity works best when there is diversity. In particular, we are aiming for a mix of senior people and junior people, including students. We encourage both academics and practitioners to join us. We will try our best to accept all applications.

SOUNDS INTERESTING. BUT WILL IT REALLY CHANGE ANYTHING?
-------------------------------------------------------
We cannot promise that the world will change if you come to this workshop.
We can promise that you will meet like-minded individuals, that you will get a chance to have proper conversations with them rather than just listening to presentations, and that your way of thinking will be challenged.

WHO IS BEHIND THIS?
-------------------
Your friendly organizers are Jon Whittle, Nelly Bencomo, and Gunter Mussbacher.
Feel free to contact them at modelingoutsidethebox2013-info@site.uottawa.ca
if you have any questions or just want more information.

PUBLICATION AND COMMITMENT
--------------------------
There will be no presentations or papers in workshop proceedings.
Furthermore, while MODELS’13 allows participants to move between workshops, this is not conducive to creative thinking. We therefore ask applicants to commit to spending the whole day with MOTB.

IMPORTANT DATES
---------------
Deadline for Application: Sunday, August 4, 2013, 23:59:59, Pago Pago, American Samoa time
Notification Sent to Participants: Monday, August 12, 2013
Workshop: Monday, September 30, 2013


I realise this is not models of nursing, and it is a workshop with a specific focus - MDE - it is also rather short notice. The appeal for me is the aims of the workshops and how it encourages a socio-technical approach. I'm sure that h2cm could inform proceedings. Thinking outside the box means you first must identify them.

“Social Media and Healthcare”: Postdoctoral Research Fellow Vacancy at University College Dublin

From: diane.payne at UCD.IE
Subject: Postdoctoral Research Fellow Vacancy at University College Dublin (Ref 006056)

The Dynamics Lab at University College Dublin seeks applications for a Post-doctoral position. The position will provide salary and benefits for 16 months, but potentially longer contingent upon performance and funding availability. This is an academic research role, where you will conduct a specified programme of research supported by research training and development under the supervision and direction of a Principal Investigator.

The postdoc will work primarily on the UCD Strategic and Major Initiative research project “Social Media and Healthcare”. The postdoc will be expected to be able to collect and analyse large scale data sets drawn from various social media platforms and including facebook, twitter, blogs and others. The postdoc joins an interdisciplinary project team to develop innovative and new insights in how communication and interaction on social media impacts on individual behavioural choices with regard to own healthcare management.

It is hoped that this position can commence on 23rd September 2013 or as soon as possible thereafter. For more information, please go to http://www.ucd.ie/hr/jobvacancies/ and look for Reference 006056

Closing date: 16th August 2013
--
Dr Diane Payne
Dynamics Lab, UCD
http://dl.ucd.ie

Review: Philosophical And Theoretical Perspectives For Advanced Nursing Practice

http://www.jblearning.com/catalog/9780763765705/

If you are a miner for insight, a pearl diver for knowledge or seeking blue sky wisdom this book can deliver and sign-post in plenty through its references. In summary: this book is a history book that nods at futurology.

I had high expectations for the text, also anticipating an exacting read. After all, as a 5th edition this is a well established text. The expectations were not wholly realized, however; many of the papers are quite dated being published originally in the 1990s.

The book is an important collection and can certainly be regarded as essential reading for advanced nursing practitioners and those pursuing post-graduate nursing studies. Several chapters hail from the same journal publisher and perhaps - as a positive - this contributes to the readable and accessible style throughout the book. The text format and size are also easy to read. I found one spelling mistake within the index entry for 'diagnosis' p.387. In addition to the historical development in part 1 the book's division into five parts - 31 chapters in total - acknowledges the reliance on the past and from it appears from a previous edition the arrival of the 21st century. Apart from the current date of issue 2013 I cannot accurately place the most recent additions to the volume. The contents listing and preface are limited in this respect. Judging from the references they are not that recent. 2010 is one of the most recent references I could find, and this, the 75ed of Toby & Mariner.

Many of the papers are seminal and include an overview of particular aspects of nursing thought - analysis and synthesis. Unsurprisingly, there is philosophy and ethics in great abundance, together with ecocentricism, several forms of feminism, aboriginal peoples and their world views, evidence, health, beliefs, art, professionalism, research, patterns, advanced practice, theory and much more. The distinction between evidence based theory and evidence based practice is something of which all nurse students should be aware.

There is specific reference to Advanced Nursing Practitioners. There could obviously be some variation in how this professional group are considered as opposed to Advanced Nursing Practice. Having just returned from Belfast and the University of Ulster there is ongoing currency in McCormack's chapter 17 A Conceptual Framework for Person Centered Practice with Older People. While dated 2003 McCormack's work was emphasized at a recent conference in Ulster I was able to attend (and there are plans for another). I am sure other chapters may be enlivened by such reviewer found co-incidences as this.

I wonder if the scope of the book and acknowledgement of the passing of time seems to shout for a two-volumed approach. As suggested above, the previous acknowledgement of the future seems to have hailed from the 20th century and got lost. We are now after all more than a 1/10 of the way into the 21st century.

Having started my nursing career in the RN, chapter 22 on military metaphor in nursing and the need for another. A researcher contacted me several years ago about using Hodges' model (a conceptual framework) in a study on bullying in nursing. I've never heard anything since, but Hodges' can help in such research in two respects. The inclusion of a political domain and the organization of groups of people, emphasizes process, procedure, protocol, routine, and may proceed to regimentation, discipline, hierarchy so to a degree language games will follow. As this chapter notes, several professions, including nursing are said to eat their young. A commentary after the chapter provides a useful balance and makes this point. The chapter is nonetheless a reminder of the role of language and how professionalism arises and is sustained (disciplines too?). The proposal of frontier as a new metaphor is fitting as Hodges' model identifies five conceptual fronts - frontiers that must be integrated. 

As a frontier - Chapter 21 on rapture and suffering with technology in nursing holds many lessons and insights. Heidegger's "standing reserve", the human-technology interface, what it means to live like a human being and the distinction of being a human being. Mobile technology, m-health, e-health are making a huge contribution to global health and need a place here. I found Macurdy's four principles 326-327 on what patients need to assume power and control over their care very illuminating, especially in highlighting information access and the importance of health literacy.

In the text and the index I could not find specific reference to capacity, as in mental capacity, informatics, global health, information (access), justice, law, legal, management, human rights, literacy, mental, political, psych-, long-term medical conditions and recovery. While the book would become incoherent if a disease/diagnosis-based approach was adopted, we might ask: does dementia deserve specific inclusion? This is an interesting (and potentially vociferous) debate in itself - to what extent should such a book record change through several decades? Of course the book is not an encyclopedia and it is easy to critique according to omission. These are pressing times demographically, however; while there is a population focus: global communities and aboriginal communities in chapter 23 and 24, this merely scratches the surface of very large world.

This book is a valuable asset and has stimulated many ideas here (and potential blog posts). I am very pleased to have read it and would recommend it to students and practitioners alike. I am grateful to the publishers for the review copy.

Learning theory: an A3 poster

Source: Richard Millwood - A new learning landscape

As the poster demonstrates and Millwood's notes explain learning theories are very varied and yet a constant in terms of teacher education. What is less permanent is the significance of learning styles, which are included above. I wonder if there is an A3 poster addressing that question? A different treatment would be needed, one that might for example show the ups and downs of the literature? What theoretical underpinning has been proposed for learning styles? What are the connections to forms of literacy? I had a brief search, but found nothing to compare with the above effort.

Richard Millwood has provided a great resource and is seeking feedback. The pdf version is very readable on my laptop in HD; plus there is a CMap tools version with links.

It seems blended learning really is the hybrid? It is traditional in face-to-face sense, but can be found in multiple combinations within Millwood's formulation. Is there a place for gestalt learning - a further link with learning styles?

I'm subscribed to a Vygotsky list that is very active; most of the posts pass like e-leaves in the wind-e, a case of info overload.

Vygotsky has a place above:
it is a small place.
So it looks like there really is a lot to take in. Oh joy!

Evidence Network Newsletter [II]

I posted about this over two years ago. Here is a revisit, prompted by the arrival of the April Evidence Network e-Newsletter c/o Alan Gomersall at the Centre for Evidence & Policy, King’s College London:

Founded in 2001 as part of an ESRC-funded initiative, the Evidence Network is an information resource aimed at anyone concerned with evidence-informed policy and practice (EBPP) in the broad field of social and public policy.

You have to join but it is very worthwhile for those as noted above.

This issue includes an invitation for submissions to the Research Synthesis Methods Journal:

... Papers may address any aspect of research synthesis, including information retrieval aspects such as searching for studies to incorporate into evidence syntheses such as systematic reviews, health technology assessments and guidelines.

Papers on topics in fields such as the health and social sciences are welcome if they can also demonstrate relevance to general research synthesis.  Papers reporting the results of a particular research synthesis are not, however, appropriate unless the focus is exclusively on an innovative or instructive methodological feature.  To promote widespread dissemination that will enhance methodological innovation and synthesis practice, the articles in this journal must be accessible to a broad and interdisciplinary audience. ...

In addition there's a new website for The Alliance for Useful Evidence, systematic reviews, information for practice and much more across seven-eight pages.

The Difference that Makes a Difference 2013 - Information: Space, Time, and Identity

You are invited to The Difference that Makes a Difference 2013, An interdisciplinary workshop on Information: Space, Time, and Identity.

Location: The Open University and the MK Gallery, Milton Keynes , UK
Dates: 8-10 April 2013
Website: http://www.dtmd.org.uk

Deadline for one page abstracts - 3rd January 2013.

Information has been conceptualised in many different ways in different disciplines, and the DTMD series of workshops is a forum for sharing of those insights . We are keen to involve as many different people, from as many different disciplines, as possible in presenting and participating in the workshop. We invite a wide range of participants to give short (10 minute) presentations on their work as it relates to an understanding of information.

There will be six sessions:

Over days 1 and 2 the first four sessions consist of a keynote speaker followed by six or seven short presentations (which will have been selected by referees from submitted abstracts) then a panel discussion.

1. Information and Space. The relationship between information and space, 'meaning' in our physical environment, and the information landscapes that go beyond physical space.
2. Information and Time. Both the historic framework of the notion of information, and time as a 'dimension' in information – physics, entropy, information and ‘the arrow of time’.
3. Information and Identity. Identity (race, gender, nationality, class and sexual orientation, for example) as information and, conversely, information as identity.
4. What is information? Why are so many disciplines using informational concepts in their narratives? Is a Universal Theory of Information (UTI) possible?

Sessions 5 and 6 on day 3 draw together the insights from the first two days in two ways. First, through art, when the results of the work of the Workshop artist’s collaboration with delegates is presented and discussed. Second, a final keynote speech from Luciano Floridi, Professor of the Philosophy of Information will lead in to a panel discussion with the keynote speakers from the earlier sessions.

For more details see the workshop programme: http://www.dtmd.org.uk/programme and the Call for Papers: http://www.dtmd.org.uk/call-for-papers

Accepted abstracts will be published in a Workshop Digest which will be made available online prior to the event, and, following the workshop, delegates will be invited to submit papers for special issue of Kybernetes, based on papers presented at the workshop.

We hope to see you in Milton Keynes in April.

Best wishes,

Magnus Ramage and David Chapman on behalf of the Programme Committee: http://www.dtmd.org.uk/committee

-- 
Dr. David A. Chapman CEng, FIET, FHEA
Senior Lecturer
Department of Communication and Systems
The Open University http://cands.open.ac.uk/
Intropy blog: http://www.intropy.co.uk/
T. +44 1908 652919  Twitter @dachapman

IPONS 2012 Leeds - presentation completed and 2013...

As planned I am in Leeds at the moment attending the International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS). The keynotes and other sessions so far have proved really thought provoking, as with talking to other people in the evening.

My presentation was well received and well attended given the total attendees and three concurrent streams.

Two interesting points were raised in questions:

1. the value of a practical example of h2cm in use even in this forum.
2. the most interesting aspect of my 30 minute presentation was the potential research directions I have identified and am trying to pursue. These may extend beyond the model in terms of finalizing a research question. Would Hodges' model need to feature in the question? A very interesting point.

This is a small community, very welcoming and supportive. The conference next year is in Atlanta. There is plenty more to follow at 0900 on the main conference day, so I will add to this post shortly, or post another.

With the IPONS talk 'sorted', one thing that has me preoccupied is the closing date for abstract submissions for the ICN Congress: the 14th! It looks like it will be an individual effort, which I knew was likely.