While we live in a world dominated by global commodities, their significance regarding the formation of global economy and globalisation is often overlooked. The spread of commodities drastically has changed the world and the commodity chain both in past periods and today is characterised by vast inequities between suppliers and consumers.

My research focuses on the ivory trade. Ivory has been an important global commodity for centuries. In this paper, I argue that the same patterns of exploitation are visible across this long period although the centre of gravity has shifted from Europe to China.

My research explores the ivory trade in East Central Africa from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Following Portuguese intervention in East Africa, the region emerged at the centre of ivory trade, which drew in multiple actors. In the early modern period, African ivory was traded but the bulk of profits flowed out of Africa. London acquired vast sums of Mozambique ivory from both Africa and Goa via the redistribution centre of ivory in India.

The similar situation applies today, yet to a different destination: China. China has become one of the world’s largest consumers of ivory, shipping in vast quantities from Africa. Using historical and contemporary records in English and Chinese, my research demonstrates how the global trade in ivory causes economic damage to Africa today, especially from the Chinese side. It shows how multiple drivers of the trade intensify the ivory demand in China, which facilitates the profitability and incentives for elephant poaching as evidenced by the skyrocketing ivory price. This research connects to a wider question: whether China has replaced the Western powers in a semi-colonial relationship with Africa. Ivory provides an important site to consider the continuities across a long period.

In the discipline of historical research the wool trade during the medieval era has been broadly studied but a few ideas are missing. This paper explores the possibility that as well as providing an income for many aristocrats of the time, the wool trade also helped small and large monasteries stay above the line of poverty. Not only that, it also considers the suggestion that the wool trade also financed some, if not more than some, wars of the period. It connects the ideas of financing monastic houses and financing wars of the period together. Using some important secondary sources which reference primary sources within them, that of Lloyd's The English Wool Trade in the Middle Ages and that of Heale's The Dependent Priories of Medieval English Monasteries; and some influential journal articles, this paper explores how this commodity was highly likely to be able to finance both the English monasteries and the wars of the middle ages. It demonstrates the possibility that the wool trade was more vital to the medieval English economy than originally believed. This paper attempts to solve the questions regarding the importance of the wool trade on the economics of medieval monasteries and of how some of the wars in that time may have been financed. It explores how the wool trade was essential to the economics of the medieval monasteries but also significant when related to the wars of the middle ages.

"Remember gentlemen, it is not just France we are fighting for&helip;It is Champagne!", Winston Churchill.

Cultivated for almost 10,000 years, and generally regarded as something of a luxury item, the history of wine and its production can help chart the expansion of Europeans into the new world.

For many centuries wine, whilst generally the preserve of the wealthy, was less of an extravagance and, indeed in some cases formed a vital part of day-to-day living.

Whether as a source of calories, an alternative to polluted local water, an antiseptic, an aesthetic, a preservative or a ceremonial imperative, wine has pervasive in Europe, and beyond, since antiquity. When the new world beckoned to European exploration and expansion, wine was often taken on the journey, and the Vitis viniferia vine was often among the first things to be brought by the Europeans to their destination.

As such the spread of wine production can be seen as a lens through which to examine European colonial expansion, class and the economic structure of nation-states through history, the idea of identity in a global, cultural and regional sense, appetite and consumption and cultural cache, global markets and marketing.

Wine may not, quite, permeate our lives to the degree that it has in the past, however it does offer an interesting perspective on how to view our present and future.

Since the latter half of the twentieth century, historians have debated the social, political and economic significance that commodities exerted upon occurrences of anti-colonial resistance following the Second World War. In this paper, I demonstrate how commodities, as key resources for human development, deserve due recognition as powerful motivators that inspired and facilitated the creation of independence movements in imperial colonies. I take as my case study the British colonial regime in India, in particular the relationship between British commodity monopolies over salt (which ensured that only British-approved manufacturers could produce salt) and Mahatma Gandhi's rise to prominence as the focal point of Indian nationalism in the 1930s. Beginning with an analysis of the social influence of salt as a central pillar of Indian society from 1800 until 1930, I demonstrate how British salt taxes often fatally restricted the ability of most Indians to purchase salt, creating a groundswell of resentment that Gandhi capitalised on to capture the imagination of the nation and propel himself to fame. I thus consider the impact of commodities as political agitators, delving into how social circumstances linked commodities to new political movements in colonial societies. Ultimately, this paper encourages historians to view commodities as key agents for change rather than simply objects of consumption; by restoring historiographical recognition of the cultural necessity of commodities in the colonial era, it draws a new and insightful link between these items and the nationalistic drive to end colonialism which characterised the latter half of the twentieth century.

This research looks at Richard Jackson's analysis of language surrounding the War on Terror, comparing these dialectical trends to past British counter-insurgencies. For example, there are clear rhetorical resemblances between the Mau Mau Rebellion and the War on Terror. In both cases, terrorists were presented as barbaric, atavistic and uncivilised. In both cases, this allowed for a brutal counter-insurgency where human rights were on the whole, disregarded. As Jackson puts it, once a group 'has been reduced' to this level, 'it is relatively easy to treat them in an unconscionable manner'. Certainly, the Kenyan counter-insurgency is similar to the War on Terror campaigns; can we see this process of dehumanisation throughout historical counter-insurgencies? Is this process a very core part of liberal counter-insurgencies and can we expect to see this change in the future? Whilst the research is primarily focused on the similarities between a brutal decolonisation and the most recent counter-insurgency, I will look to answer these broader questions in the presentation.

The love and rave for cow milk has been going on since 7,500 years ago in the late Neolithic era, when the dairy-based farm started (Itan et al. 2009). Connected to the fact that weaned human babies drink milk from their mothers, cow milk is then viewed as life-giver itself. In India, cow is a highly worshipped and sacred being, since Hindu people think of the cow as a nourishing, undemanding, and giving ‘mother’. According to Curry (2013), during ancient times adults did not have lactase enzyme to digest milk. As a mean of ingesting milk, they made yogurt and cheese out of it. Interestingly, milk consumption started due to massive spread of genetic mutation in Europe that enabled humans to digest the lactose composition in milk. Since then milk has been taken in daily and viewed as a good calcium source. Further promoted by advertisements, milk has been used worldwide in any food, such as cheese, confectionaries, and other dairy products. However, corresponding to the increasing rate of consumption, several problems related to dairy consumption rose. Cancer, lactose intolerance, several digestive problems, allergy, and other diseases unknown to human ancestors had lead many researches about the truth of milk itself.

By observing the artefacts and analysing the development and change of Buddhist art in the British Museum and researching with the resources in the British Library, I will begin to develop a deeper insight on how the architecture impacted the lives of the Buddhists and in general those who were affected by the Hellenistic trends. It is important to be aware of the basis of one’s surroundings because it is a reflection of how the people lived and their mentality at the time. By completing this project I will reach my personal goal to educate others about eastern civilisations. I want to be able to prove to society that we all impact each other in different ways which will encourage others to celebrate our dynamic global culture.

Oscillations in the Sun's interior allow us to probe its internal conditions, and the field of helioseismology is emerging to embrace this tool. The internal mechanisms of the Sun remain relatively poorly understood; namely the Sun's magnetic field. This field's influence extends far beyond the Sun itself and determines space weather across the solar system. We looked particularly at the second helium ionisation zone, close to the surface but within the oscillatory region. We have used several large datasets to study these oscillations and their underlying mechanisms to contribute to the knowledge base of the field of helioseismology. Power outages, GPS and telecommunications disruptions are all caused by the interaction of the Sun with the Earth. A deeper understanding of the internal dynamics of the Sun could improve our ability to predict worldwide weather patterns, prevent power grid failures, and safeguard communications networks.

The recent controversial government white paper, entitled “Success as a Knowledge Economy”, demonstrates the growing discourse between the government, the public and academics regarding the potential merits and purpose of innovation in Higher Education (HE). Innovation can be described as a miracle tool: to improve teaching practice, heighten student satisfaction, increase accessibility, benefit the UK economy, develop the skills and employability of students, and maintain the world-class reputation of UK universities. This discussion makes it increasingly imperative for participants in HE to understand what innovation is, and how it can be used constructively. The IATL research project ‘Warwick Handbook of Innovative Teaching’ (WHIT) works to meet this need. Advancing the existing literature on innovative practice, which tends to reflect on specific case studies, WHIT aims at an institution-wide collection of insights and examples. The project’s purpose is to create a practical resource for staff members interested in integrating innovative practice within their teaching, including activities, tasks and reflections, encompassed within a theoretical framework.

To understand how innovation in teaching and learning is currently conceived by academics and students, we utilised a variety of methods: interviewing staff from a range of disciplines, recording lesson observations, conducting an online poll with over 600 student responses and participating in teaching reflections. This led us to our current working definition of innovation, as a teaching practice or resource created in response to existing practice and experiences, with at least one element that does not already exist within its context.

In our ICUR presentation we hope to supplement this definition with updated findings to share how innovative teaching can be structured, enacted and reflected upon.

Brand extension is the use of an established brand name to enter a new product category into the market. It is important because companies are increasingly using extensions as it can lower their costs, improve their efficiency of promotional expenditures and capitalizes on their strong brand name. However failure rates of extensions are large and can be disastrous for a brand. This review therefore examines the various factors that affect a brand extension’s success. It is generally accepted that perceived fit affects an extension’s success. However there are many measures of fit, such as similarity, associations, information-cues and more. This review by using the works of Aaker and Keller and others respected in the field, analyzes the many definitions of fit. By assessing the different definitions of fit and how ones thinking as suggested by categorization, construal level and accessibility theories can affect one’s perceived fit and attitudes towards a brand; this review determines which definitions suit particular extensions. This review demonstrates that perceived fit is crucial to a brand extension’s success, however the definition used is contingent upon a consumer target’s thought processing style and their environment. Furthermore findings suggest that factors such as mood, visual-images, competitor products and advertisements may play a greater role than fit in an extension’s success. This review proposes that taking a blanket-approach to fit, as much existing research has done is misleading. Therefore companies should determine the definition of fit that bests suits their consumers in conjunction with additional factors.

In today's global society, it is not an uncommon phenomenon for romantic couples to be separated geographically, whether caused by the rise of internet dating or by movement in search of job or scholastic opportunities. What we perceive as separation and presence is distorted as technology bridges our communicative experiences. We are able to form bonds and connections with people even with a cultural, language and lifestyle difference. The project explores geographically separated relationships in order to curate experiences that may bring the separated couples closer together while promoting cross-cultural understanding.

Thus, Face Value is expressed through a time-lapse film that ceaselessly reminds viewers of absence and persistent longing, while a care gift-package manual, derived and customized from the intricacies of a long distance relationship attempts to create sensorial experiences to overcome it. Examples inspired by my own experiences in a long distance relationship will be displayed; elements from Singapore as well as France will be used to demonstrate how the manual can be used.

This project involves developing reliable device drivers, in a way that is less computationally expensive and does not require expert knowledge, using a machine learning based approach. When a device driver is running, information about its state and behaviour will be stored, and machine learning techniques such as association rule mining will be applied to identify execution conditions. These conditions will then be compared with the device driver specification and any discrepancies will indicate the presence of a bug. The device driver can then be patched using existing execution conditions to make the driver reliable. All the software in big companies and places, for example smart cities, has to be supported by reliable operating systems. The ability to interface peripherals with these systems will require device drivers, which are notoriously buggy. By looking at this novel approach of using data analytics and machine learning to develop reliable device drivers, these device drivers can be made reliable to match their reliable operating system counterparts, and the software systems will benefit as a whole. Device drivers are so widely used that reliable device drivers will certainly have a use in anywhere from smart cities, to a home computer.