Posted on 25 June, 2020 by Olivia

Public Engagement Awards: Professor Sanjib Bhakta – ‘Joi Hok!’

This is the third in a series of blogs showcasing the Birkbeck 2020 Public Engagement Awards winners and highly commended participants. This project was announced a winner in the category ‘Community Engagement’.

A recent study exploring tuberculosis-related stigma in Kolkata, India, concluded that there is a need for more community awareness programs to dispel misconceptions on tuberculosis (TB). In spite of the presence of various awareness campaigns at local and national level in many of the high-TB prevalent countries in the world, the spread of misconception and TB related stigma are still prevalent in the community. Many are not aware of the dangers of drug resistant TB for which patients fail to comply with doctor’s advice and do not adhere to given medication.

Professor Sanjib Bhakta and Ms Sreyashi Basu, a graduate of University College London and founder of the ‘Joi Hok!’ initiative, envisaged a project to bridge the gap between laboratory science and public health research, with the goal to train and educate communities. The goal of Joi Hok! is to alter perception of TB amongst the local community through a network of local artists, musicians and health professionals. The initiative centres on educating the youth of today’s generation, through a series of routine workshops which take place in semi urban and rural schools. These workshops encourage children from underprivileged families who are disproportionately affected with disease – to engage, learn, discuss and respond to the health issues related to TB through a process of creative inquiry. Students are encouraged to be more comfortable to talk about TB within their household and become proactive in addressing concerns and misconceptions related to TB among their peers. They will then presumably transfer this knowledge to household members, which in turn could encourage completion of treatment over a stipulated time. Until the lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak was declared in India, Joi Hok! workshops were being carried out at rural and semi-urban schools in and around Kolkata, West Bengal, and they consist of the following:

A Puppet show: ‘Putul naach’ is the traditional string Puppet show which usually narrates an everyday story. This is a very common method of mass education in villages of Bengal, and is native to Tripura. A puppet show audio-visual is shown depicting the story of a young family man with the disease who is outcast by the village people. This will encourage students to discuss the social issues of neglect and discrimination TB patients face through the interactive quiz which follows after.

Presentation: A short informative animated powerpoint presentation on the basics of tuberculosis infection, transmission, treatment and antimicrobial resistance is shown to the students. Interaction is encouraged throughout.

Games: A picture card game was designed with images of TB symptoms and other attributes such as, Microscope, MDR-TB etc – helping the children to remember key terminology from the presentation.

Patachitra: Patachitra is traditional paintings from Mednipur done with organic dyes, and is constructed on handmade paper in a scroll format. Every Patachitra has a song related to it called ‘patua sangeet’ which is sung while unfurling these scrolls. Instruments and lyric sheets are distributed and the children sing along as a patachitra scroll on TB is presented. Following the music session, students will be encouraged to attempt patachitra sketching on paper to express their understanding of TB.

Birkbeck’s Public Engagement network commends Prof. Bhakta and Ms Basu on this outstanding public engagement project. They are the winners in the category ‘Community Engagement’.

Further information:

. Reply . Category: Science . Tags: awards, community awareness programs, public engagement, research, Tuberculosis

Posted on 18 June, 2020 by Olivia

Public Engagement Awards: Professor Matthew Davies – Layers of London

This is the second in a series of blogs showcasing the Birkbeck 2020 Public Engagement Awards winners and highly commended participants. This project was announced a winner in the category ‘Collaboration’.

Senate House Library 1932 to 1937 by Nathaniel Telemaque, available on Layers of London

Layers of London is an online digital mapping project which is engaging thousands of people across London and beyond with the history and heritage of the city, creating valuable heritage assets, and facilitating via public engagement and crowdsourcing the creation of significant new digital heritage content. Layers of London has sought to engage with many different audiences across London, with the overriding objective to make a difference to the engagement with – as well as the understanding of – heritage via their active participation in projects and content-creation. Audiences have included school pupils; institutions – such as borough archives and libraries who have significant heritage assets as well as deep roots into their communities via engagement and participation; – and different and varied individuals, communities, and groups across the 32 boroughs, reflecting London’s rich ethnic, linguistic, social and economic mix. This project specifically targeted those areas where engagement with heritage has been limited, restricted, or underrepresented in narratives of London’s history.

The huge scale and scope of Layers of London, as well as its unique methodologies, meant that new approaches had to be developed. Of course, the engaging, interactive website played a key role is fostering engagement: it was specifically developed in such a way as to allow heritage content to be created and added easily, with straightforward guides for volunteers and users. Promotion via social media, workshops and events likewise proved highly successful, with Layers of London now counting over 11,000 contributions from the public. Direct engagement activities were also essential, as they allowed the project to recruit volunteers, discover new community groups to work with, and to empower and equip individuals and communities alike to research and curate their own histories. Ad hoc events targeted specific areas, themes, or communities that Professor Davies and the project team felt were underrepresented, such as some of the outer boroughs, LGBTQIA+ groups, migrant communities, or groups involved in recording particular kinds of heritage (such as pubs, housing estates).

The tremendous effort and skill needed to establish and run such a valuable and successful platform was commended by the Birkbeck Public Engagement network, that was proud to recognise Professor Davies’s work with an Award in the category ‘Collaboration’. We warmly congratulate Professor Davies and the Layers of London team, and we thank them this outstanding contribution, in the area of Public Engagement and beyond.

Further information:

. Reply . Category: Social Sciences History and Philosophy . Tags: city, digital mapping, heritage, history, london, public engagement

Posted on 15 June, 2020 by Olivia

Public Engagement Awards: Dr Gillian Forrester – Psyched! and Me, Human

This is the first in a series of blogs showcasing the Birkbeck 2020 Public Engagement Awards winners and highly commended participants. Each week, learn about a new project!

The Birkbeck Public Engagement Awards recognise and celebrate researchers undertaking innovative and exemplary public engagement activities. Dr Gillian Forrester and her team were doubly recognized for their efforts: they both won and were highly commended for Psyched! and Me, Human, two outstanding projects.

Pysched! is an interactive science evening aimed at exploring how our ancient brains cope in the modern world. This collaboration between new City Lit and Birkbeck brought to the public lively evenings of interactive discussions on the psychology of human behaviour, featuring cutting-edge science, experimentation and practical advice. Psyched! was aimed at offering an insider’s look at how the brain works, and at how evolution affects the way we think, feel, and behave. The topics featured in the current series included disgust, language, lust and sex differences. This project was developed as a fun and exciting vehicle to share science with the general public. Specifically, Psyched!, which was open to participants aged 18+, allowed for more adult content, for a ‘night out’ that would compete the likes of theatre, gigs, a cinema trip or a night out in the pub with friends.

Dr Forrester’s second project, Me, Human @ Live Science is, on the other hand, an inclusive, informative and enjoyable exhibit that is suitable for all ages, individuals, families and groups. Me, Human was in residence at the London Science Museum for 3 months, as part of the Live Science Scheme to investigate the relationships between brain and behaviour asymmetries and cognitive skills. Through a set of carefully designed experiments and video experiences, Me, Human @ Live Science enabled visitors to explore the connections between their own motor actions and the different sides of their brain. Visitors to the exhibit could choose from a range of experimental experiences – each ranging in length of time (5-15 min). At each station, the visitors engaged with a knowledgeable research assistant. The selection for activities included:

Information Station: testing non-verbal problem-solving skills
Manipulation Station: testing hand dominance using pegboards and puzzles
Speculation Station: testing self-compassion, holding biases for animate/inanimate objects
Get-A-Grip Station: testing grip strength using dyanometer and hand morphology via scans
Articulation Station: testing ear dominance for language stimuli using dichotic listening
Affectation Station: Testing visual biases for social/non-social stimuli (fNIRS, eye-tracking)

Through these experiences, Me, Human encouraged the audience to discover of cutting-edge research in a participatory manner, whilst also contributing to scientists’ understanding of human brain and behaviour. This project allowed for access to a large and diverse population of individuals to contribute to the developmental research at Birkbeck – a particularly exciting feature, since little is known about the variation of behavioural and associated brain biases within the wider population.

Both these projects excelled at engaging the wider public, and we warmly congratulate Dr Forrester and her team in being both Highly Commended and a Winner in the category Communicating Research.

Further information:

. Reply . Category: Science . Tags: awards, human brain, public engagement, research, science museum