RATIONALE Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals have reduced in-hospital v... more RATIONALE Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals have reduced in-hospital visitation. In these situations, virtual communication tools have helped maintain interaction between parties. The Frontline Connect program was designed to address communication and patient care challenges by providing data-enabled devices to clinical staff in hospitals. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify areas of improvement for the Frontline Connect program by: (a) evaluating communication needs, user experience, and program satisfaction; and (b) identifying potential barriers to device access or use. METHODS We administered pre-implementation needs assessment, post-use, and exit surveys to healthcare staff at a pilot hospital site in Ontario. Recruitment was through email lists and site champions using convenience sampling. We descriptively analysed survey responses and compared the initial need statements to post-implementation use-cases identified by users. RESULTS We received 139 needs assessments, 31 user experience assessments, and 47 exit survey responses. Most device use occurred in the emergency department and intensive care units and was facilitated by social workers, nurses, and physicians to connect patients, families, and care providers. Pre-implementation concerns were related to infection control, data security, and device privacy. In the exit survey, these were replaced by other concerns including Internet connectivity and time-intensiveness. Device utility and ease-of-use were rated 9.7/10 and 9.6/10 respectively in the user experience survey, though overall experience was rated 7.2/10 in the exit survey. Overall, respondents viewed the devices as useful and we agree with participants who suggested increased program promotion and training would likely improve adoption. CONCLUSIONS We found that our virtual technology program for facilitating communication was positively perceived. Survey feedback indicates that a rapid rollout in response to urgent pandemic-related needs was feasible, though program logistics could be improved. The current work supports the need to improve, standardize, and sustain virtual communication programs in hospitals.
This project centres on the continuing relevance of the 1947 Partition of India in texts that eng... more This project centres on the continuing relevance of the 1947 Partition of India in texts that engage with the national landscape of Pakistan. This approach proposes that Partition cannot be understood outside of a discussion of Pakistan, as Partition emerged through demands for liberty and enfranchisement for India?s Muslims that became articulated through the discourse of the nation-state; my analysis of cultural texts asks what the implications are of this proposal. This study moves beyond looking at Partition as an isolated series of events in 1947 and contextualises its processes, interrogating why Partition and Pakistan became such a persuasive demand, and what the ongoing ramifications are of its happening. This thesis also considers what the 1971 secession of Bangladesh suggests regarding the attempts of the original cartographic articulation of Pakistan to maintain a unified nation. This project seeks to understand Partition in new ways by utilising a framework that takes in...
The Russian military attack against Ukraine was the most aggressive development in Europe after t... more The Russian military attack against Ukraine was the most aggressive development in Europe after the Cold War. The EU and its western allies, applied sanctions against Russia, but could not compel Moscow to comply with the Minsk agreement, which not only highlights the weaknesses of the EU's CFSP owing to the internal friction between those states which have soft stance on Russia and those which have hardline approach against it in the EU process to impose the penalty packages, but also damage credibility of the EU which has discouraged countries seeking EU membership. Russia, which believes that the expansion of the EU and NATO to its vicinity undermines its core security interests, has adopted an aggressive diplomatic policy and engaged itself in international issues to break the containment policy of the west, that gave Russia a leverage to divide western countries on the issue of sanctions posing threat to the fundamental western interest.
This article argues that Shyam Selvadurai's 2013 novel The Hungry Ghosts is beholden to a number ... more This article argues that Shyam Selvadurai's 2013 novel The Hungry Ghosts is beholden to a number of myths that locate the text within the concerns of queer migration studies. The protagonist Shivan is invested in the mythological promises of the west and of wealth as offering him sexual freedom and recognition, yet these commitments mean he fails to see the contextual and political specificities that cause harm both to himself and to those around him. This article critiques the novel's conclusion by arguing that its investment in fate is a tool through which the effects of oppressive systems are elided, and the queer migrant is rendered a doomed subject.
This study examines the fi gure of the Native American, considering the image of the 'Indian' in ... more This study examines the fi gure of the Native American, considering the image of the 'Indian' in the British cultural imagination and unpicking the ways that this image informed defi nitions and ideological expressions of British national identity. The study utilises a wide range of arguments, archival research and textual engagements to illustrate how the Native American was used as a symbol in Britain, refl ecting both its identity and relationship with America. This was done for a number of political and romantic reasons and marks a transnational movement of cultural myth, image and folklore. Most importantly this work shows how the Native Americans themselves were part of this movement, as material beings rather than simply as symbols. The study begins by setting out how the image of the Indian became integral to the new nation of the US during the 19th century; informing its expansion, internal policies, national identity and refl ections on history. In turn this image is also central to the British conceptualisations of the American continent. The book analyses the emerging dominant trope that Indians belonged to the past, or to an atavistic world that needed to be abolished. The 'Indian' was understood as an 'a-historical other' that the narratives of modernity could be inscribed against. Flint's introduction frames Britain in terms of its empire, emphasising its role as a global imperial power. The relationship between Britain and the US can be seen as contentious: the former colony's increasing imperial drive meant that it was needed as an ally as it was increasing in power, but it also could not be trusted as an honest rival. In this sense the author implicates empire, and in particular Britain, in the negative treatment of the Native Americans whilst also showing that sympathy for their cause could be utilised in the service of imperial identifi cations.
HE articles featured in this special issue emerged out of the ‘Transnational Feminisms’ conferenc... more HE articles featured in this special issue emerged out of the ‘Transnational Feminisms’ conference organised by myself and Clare Tebbutt at the University of Manchester in December 2009. For this conference we were keen to consider how women are affected and constructed by politics in a global climate, and to reflect the plurality of transnational feminism as it is articulated within and from different positions. For us, the term ‘Transnational Feminisms’ lent an implicitly political stance to the content and structure of the conference. Taking the work of Caren Kaplan, Inderpal Grewal, and Chandra Mohanty as our inspiration, we understood the transnational to be that which operates across national boundaries whilst paying heed to and respecting the inevitable differences that emerge in these crossings. Transnational feminism is about movement across borders, but specifically it is movement that is multi-directional, that learns from a plurality of locations and resists the biases of a centre and its periphery. As such, it contains within it an ideological insistence that this movement be undertaken ethically and with an awareness of the unequal power dynamics that characterise the globalised world. The potential for feminism to encourage movement and push for solidarity across borders was reflected in many of the papers at the conference. There was a consistent and dynamic engagement with the role of the state in policing the movement of people. The movement of states themselves was also addressed as occupying and war-waging forces that create implications for feminist citizenship. In addition, there was discussion of border-crossings that are the result of 1 I would like to thank the co-editor of this issue, Clare Tebbutt for her involvement in the development of this introduction. Thanks are also due to Kaye Mitchell for her input in the early stages of the special issue, and to Barbara Rosenbaum at Women: A Cultural Review for her patience and support as Clare and I edited the issue. Finally, special thanks are due to Anastasia Valassopoulos for her comments on an earlier draft of this introduction, and her unstinting encouragement and guidance as the issue was put together. T w H U M A I R A S A E E D ................................................................................................ .......
David Foster Wallace’s essay, ‘Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky’ (in Consider the Lobster and Other Essa... more David Foster Wallace’s essay, ‘Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky’ (in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, Abacus, 2005), is notable for its praise of both the achievements of Dostoevsky-critic Joseph Frank and those of Frank’s object, Dostoevsky himself. Where Frank is primarily exalted for his dedication, including the heroic ‘library time’ put into penning four thick volumes on the Russian writer’s life (257), Foster Wallace holds Dostoevsky up higher, far above his biographer, as a model literary figure. The author is admirable, in Foster Wallace’s eyes, for the compelling nature of his stories, his mastery of characterisation, and his weighty subject matter. Dostoevsky wrote ‘about identity, moral value, death, will, sexual vs. spiritual love, greed, freedom, obsession, reason, faith, suicide’ (265). Thus the novelist’s greatest strength for Foster Wallace is his commitment * not his commitment to this or that political stance or to the simple act of writing itself, but his commitment to understanding the demands of being; his commitment to his characters and through them an assessment of life; his commitment to exploring, directly and unflinchingly, questions ‘about the stuff that’s really important’ (265). These days, the essay concludes:
This article explores the Partition narrative put forward by Mumtaz Shah Nawaz's novel The Heart ... more This article explores the Partition narrative put forward by Mumtaz Shah Nawaz's novel The Heart Divided (1948), which is set in 1930s and 1940s colonial India. It argues that the novel's teleological narrative proposes both the inevitability and desirability of Pakistan as it emerged from and through nationalist liberation movements for Indian independence. It utilizes theories of affect to illuminate the ways in which affects of belonging power much of the drive for the creation of Pakistan in the novel, and are used to consolidate a sense of Hindu-Muslim difference. The article furthermore proposes that emotions exist in tension with bureaucracy, and that affects of belonging to the nation repress the violence that characterized Partition. The analysis engages with the novel as a Partition narrative that does not address the human cost of Partition.
... They deserve my thanks for the fiction, non-fiction, conversations, political insights, and i... more ... They deserve my thanks for the fiction, non-fiction, conversations, political insights, and innumerable kindnesses. I would also like to thank the writers Bina Shah, Tabish Khair, and John Siddique for their friendship and patient proofreading. ix Page 12. ...
... of the burgeoning Pakistani independent film industry by women directors, Sabiha Sumar&am... more ... of the burgeoning Pakistani independent film industry by women directors, Sabiha Sumar's Khamosh Pani [Silent Waters] (2003) and Mehreen Jabbar's Ramchand ... the border, one man speaking up for it as without these borders no-one would be Pakistani, Hindustani, Bengali. ...
RATIONALE Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals have reduced in-hospital v... more RATIONALE Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals have reduced in-hospital visitation. In these situations, virtual communication tools have helped maintain interaction between parties. The Frontline Connect program was designed to address communication and patient care challenges by providing data-enabled devices to clinical staff in hospitals. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify areas of improvement for the Frontline Connect program by: (a) evaluating communication needs, user experience, and program satisfaction; and (b) identifying potential barriers to device access or use. METHODS We administered pre-implementation needs assessment, post-use, and exit surveys to healthcare staff at a pilot hospital site in Ontario. Recruitment was through email lists and site champions using convenience sampling. We descriptively analysed survey responses and compared the initial need statements to post-implementation use-cases identified by users. RESULTS We received 139 needs assessments, 31 user experience assessments, and 47 exit survey responses. Most device use occurred in the emergency department and intensive care units and was facilitated by social workers, nurses, and physicians to connect patients, families, and care providers. Pre-implementation concerns were related to infection control, data security, and device privacy. In the exit survey, these were replaced by other concerns including Internet connectivity and time-intensiveness. Device utility and ease-of-use were rated 9.7/10 and 9.6/10 respectively in the user experience survey, though overall experience was rated 7.2/10 in the exit survey. Overall, respondents viewed the devices as useful and we agree with participants who suggested increased program promotion and training would likely improve adoption. CONCLUSIONS We found that our virtual technology program for facilitating communication was positively perceived. Survey feedback indicates that a rapid rollout in response to urgent pandemic-related needs was feasible, though program logistics could be improved. The current work supports the need to improve, standardize, and sustain virtual communication programs in hospitals.
This project centres on the continuing relevance of the 1947 Partition of India in texts that eng... more This project centres on the continuing relevance of the 1947 Partition of India in texts that engage with the national landscape of Pakistan. This approach proposes that Partition cannot be understood outside of a discussion of Pakistan, as Partition emerged through demands for liberty and enfranchisement for India?s Muslims that became articulated through the discourse of the nation-state; my analysis of cultural texts asks what the implications are of this proposal. This study moves beyond looking at Partition as an isolated series of events in 1947 and contextualises its processes, interrogating why Partition and Pakistan became such a persuasive demand, and what the ongoing ramifications are of its happening. This thesis also considers what the 1971 secession of Bangladesh suggests regarding the attempts of the original cartographic articulation of Pakistan to maintain a unified nation. This project seeks to understand Partition in new ways by utilising a framework that takes in...
The Russian military attack against Ukraine was the most aggressive development in Europe after t... more The Russian military attack against Ukraine was the most aggressive development in Europe after the Cold War. The EU and its western allies, applied sanctions against Russia, but could not compel Moscow to comply with the Minsk agreement, which not only highlights the weaknesses of the EU's CFSP owing to the internal friction between those states which have soft stance on Russia and those which have hardline approach against it in the EU process to impose the penalty packages, but also damage credibility of the EU which has discouraged countries seeking EU membership. Russia, which believes that the expansion of the EU and NATO to its vicinity undermines its core security interests, has adopted an aggressive diplomatic policy and engaged itself in international issues to break the containment policy of the west, that gave Russia a leverage to divide western countries on the issue of sanctions posing threat to the fundamental western interest.
This article argues that Shyam Selvadurai's 2013 novel The Hungry Ghosts is beholden to a number ... more This article argues that Shyam Selvadurai's 2013 novel The Hungry Ghosts is beholden to a number of myths that locate the text within the concerns of queer migration studies. The protagonist Shivan is invested in the mythological promises of the west and of wealth as offering him sexual freedom and recognition, yet these commitments mean he fails to see the contextual and political specificities that cause harm both to himself and to those around him. This article critiques the novel's conclusion by arguing that its investment in fate is a tool through which the effects of oppressive systems are elided, and the queer migrant is rendered a doomed subject.
This study examines the fi gure of the Native American, considering the image of the 'Indian' in ... more This study examines the fi gure of the Native American, considering the image of the 'Indian' in the British cultural imagination and unpicking the ways that this image informed defi nitions and ideological expressions of British national identity. The study utilises a wide range of arguments, archival research and textual engagements to illustrate how the Native American was used as a symbol in Britain, refl ecting both its identity and relationship with America. This was done for a number of political and romantic reasons and marks a transnational movement of cultural myth, image and folklore. Most importantly this work shows how the Native Americans themselves were part of this movement, as material beings rather than simply as symbols. The study begins by setting out how the image of the Indian became integral to the new nation of the US during the 19th century; informing its expansion, internal policies, national identity and refl ections on history. In turn this image is also central to the British conceptualisations of the American continent. The book analyses the emerging dominant trope that Indians belonged to the past, or to an atavistic world that needed to be abolished. The 'Indian' was understood as an 'a-historical other' that the narratives of modernity could be inscribed against. Flint's introduction frames Britain in terms of its empire, emphasising its role as a global imperial power. The relationship between Britain and the US can be seen as contentious: the former colony's increasing imperial drive meant that it was needed as an ally as it was increasing in power, but it also could not be trusted as an honest rival. In this sense the author implicates empire, and in particular Britain, in the negative treatment of the Native Americans whilst also showing that sympathy for their cause could be utilised in the service of imperial identifi cations.
HE articles featured in this special issue emerged out of the ‘Transnational Feminisms’ conferenc... more HE articles featured in this special issue emerged out of the ‘Transnational Feminisms’ conference organised by myself and Clare Tebbutt at the University of Manchester in December 2009. For this conference we were keen to consider how women are affected and constructed by politics in a global climate, and to reflect the plurality of transnational feminism as it is articulated within and from different positions. For us, the term ‘Transnational Feminisms’ lent an implicitly political stance to the content and structure of the conference. Taking the work of Caren Kaplan, Inderpal Grewal, and Chandra Mohanty as our inspiration, we understood the transnational to be that which operates across national boundaries whilst paying heed to and respecting the inevitable differences that emerge in these crossings. Transnational feminism is about movement across borders, but specifically it is movement that is multi-directional, that learns from a plurality of locations and resists the biases of a centre and its periphery. As such, it contains within it an ideological insistence that this movement be undertaken ethically and with an awareness of the unequal power dynamics that characterise the globalised world. The potential for feminism to encourage movement and push for solidarity across borders was reflected in many of the papers at the conference. There was a consistent and dynamic engagement with the role of the state in policing the movement of people. The movement of states themselves was also addressed as occupying and war-waging forces that create implications for feminist citizenship. In addition, there was discussion of border-crossings that are the result of 1 I would like to thank the co-editor of this issue, Clare Tebbutt for her involvement in the development of this introduction. Thanks are also due to Kaye Mitchell for her input in the early stages of the special issue, and to Barbara Rosenbaum at Women: A Cultural Review for her patience and support as Clare and I edited the issue. Finally, special thanks are due to Anastasia Valassopoulos for her comments on an earlier draft of this introduction, and her unstinting encouragement and guidance as the issue was put together. T w H U M A I R A S A E E D ................................................................................................ .......
David Foster Wallace’s essay, ‘Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky’ (in Consider the Lobster and Other Essa... more David Foster Wallace’s essay, ‘Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky’ (in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, Abacus, 2005), is notable for its praise of both the achievements of Dostoevsky-critic Joseph Frank and those of Frank’s object, Dostoevsky himself. Where Frank is primarily exalted for his dedication, including the heroic ‘library time’ put into penning four thick volumes on the Russian writer’s life (257), Foster Wallace holds Dostoevsky up higher, far above his biographer, as a model literary figure. The author is admirable, in Foster Wallace’s eyes, for the compelling nature of his stories, his mastery of characterisation, and his weighty subject matter. Dostoevsky wrote ‘about identity, moral value, death, will, sexual vs. spiritual love, greed, freedom, obsession, reason, faith, suicide’ (265). Thus the novelist’s greatest strength for Foster Wallace is his commitment * not his commitment to this or that political stance or to the simple act of writing itself, but his commitment to understanding the demands of being; his commitment to his characters and through them an assessment of life; his commitment to exploring, directly and unflinchingly, questions ‘about the stuff that’s really important’ (265). These days, the essay concludes:
This article explores the Partition narrative put forward by Mumtaz Shah Nawaz's novel The Heart ... more This article explores the Partition narrative put forward by Mumtaz Shah Nawaz's novel The Heart Divided (1948), which is set in 1930s and 1940s colonial India. It argues that the novel's teleological narrative proposes both the inevitability and desirability of Pakistan as it emerged from and through nationalist liberation movements for Indian independence. It utilizes theories of affect to illuminate the ways in which affects of belonging power much of the drive for the creation of Pakistan in the novel, and are used to consolidate a sense of Hindu-Muslim difference. The article furthermore proposes that emotions exist in tension with bureaucracy, and that affects of belonging to the nation repress the violence that characterized Partition. The analysis engages with the novel as a Partition narrative that does not address the human cost of Partition.
... They deserve my thanks for the fiction, non-fiction, conversations, political insights, and i... more ... They deserve my thanks for the fiction, non-fiction, conversations, political insights, and innumerable kindnesses. I would also like to thank the writers Bina Shah, Tabish Khair, and John Siddique for their friendship and patient proofreading. ix Page 12. ...
... of the burgeoning Pakistani independent film industry by women directors, Sabiha Sumar&am... more ... of the burgeoning Pakistani independent film industry by women directors, Sabiha Sumar's Khamosh Pani [Silent Waters] (2003) and Mehreen Jabbar's Ramchand ... the border, one man speaking up for it as without these borders no-one would be Pakistani, Hindustani, Bengali. ...
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