Professor Simon Williams appeared on Radio 4's 'Bringing Up Britain' on the politics of children's bedrooms. To listen to the full episode click on link below:

BBC 4 Radio - Bringing Up Britain

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ckgfv#synopsis

'Following the introduction of civil partnerships and statistics which indiacte half of all children in the UK are being born outside marriage, it appears that attitudes towards sexuality have greatly relaxed. However, there is one demographic who feel increasingly marginalised in our more openly sexual society; it is estimated that one per cent of people in this country describe themselves as asexual'.

Woman's Hour Wednesday 29th February 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/26/among-the-asexuals

Among the asexuals

'In a society obsessed with sex. It's hard if you have no sexual desire at all. Some are searching for a new form of intimacy'.

The Observer Sunday 26th February 2012

Church of England faces a fresh blow with the loss of leading role in prisons - read full article here

What is it like to be asexual?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16552173

Dr Eric Jensen presented on the results of the largest ever study of zoo’s educational impact on children and young people at top UK and EU zoo conferences in September and November. Speaking in the Education Plenary at the European Association of Zoos Aquaria (EAZA) annual conference in Verona (Italy), Dr Jensen revealed the headline finding that a study of over 3000 children and adolescents at ZSL London Zoo evidenced a statistically significant increase in science and conservation learning. At the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria (BIAZA) Communication and Education conference at Paignton Zoo (Devon, UK), these findings were further elaborated, with Dr Jensen arguing for expanded and research-informed educational interventions in zoos to enhance pro-conservation outcomes for visitors. This research is now being submitted for review by top scientific and social scientific journals.

Sam Lyle, one of our PhD students, was recently on local radio talking about the social class aspects of the recent royal engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  To catch up go to:    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00c3gqf#synopsis

 

Sam says "Speaking on BBC radio, local or national, is one of the more interesting ways that I get to engage people in sociological issues. It's great when events such as the impending royal wedding capture the popular imagination as it's an opportunity for sociologists to stimulate their own and the general public's sociological imagination."

Dr Eric Jensen co-organised a groundbreaking public engagement event at Durrell Wildlife Park in Jersey (Channel Islands) on the 25^th October 2010. Commissioned by the world-leading conservation society Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (www.durrell.org) and the European Commission-funded EU-Zoos-XXI project (www.euzoos-xxi.org), Dr Jensen presented on a meta-analysis of previous research on learning in zoos and facilitated the successful event. Twenty visitors spent just over five hours giving their views on how zoos could better communicate a conservation message to other zoo visitors. Their views will be analysed by Dr Jensen and form the basis of a ‘demonstration project’ in which their ideas will be put into action at Durrell through a complete re-design of educational materials in the Reptile and Amphibian House. This unique project aims to shift the direction of zoo education towards a more two-way, dialogical approach that takes account of public input and ideas to better engage visitors with wildlife conservation.

Sociology at Warwick is reaching wider audiences and increasing its global impact across the social sciences.  Professor Steve Fuller's recent lecture at the University of Uppsala on evolution vs intelligent design has been discussed on 29 September 2010 the Swedish 'thought for the day'.  For more go to : http://sverigesradio.se/sida/arkiv.aspx?programid=1165&date=2010-09-27

Here is a video clip of a field trip that members of a recently completed ESRC-funded project on ‘mimetic factors in individual behaviour’ (PI: Steve Fuller) took to the Bristol Robotics Lab, where the team examined first-hand how robots imitate each other’s behaviour. This visit helped to inform larger future projects that will explore mimetic processes in social ecologies co-habited by humans, animals and robots. The film was produced by Roger Stotesbury of ‘Jump Off the Screen’ and edited by Frances Griffiths (Warwick Medical School), an investigator on the project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxaRHcHziec