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Research by the University of Reading's Martin Parsons (Research Fellow 1990-date) on the separation of children from their parents during the Second World War is being used to inform organisations on how to deal with the anxieties experienced by children separated from their parent(s) following their military deployment. The research has gained wide recognition from the media, local authorities and policy makers and has already led one school to re-develop its pastoral and academic support systems, creating a successful learning environment for Service Children and paving the way for further trials of teaching materials geared towards such children both in the UK and overseas.
On the basis of the research in her book Cinesexuality (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), Patricia MacCormack gave nine public lectures at Treadwell's bookshop in London (2009-2011) to 450 people in total, rethinking traditional ideas of gender, identity, feminism and occultism in cinema. All nine lectures sold out. She also appeared on 16 DVDs being interviewed or as interviewer, explaining and distributing key concepts from Cinesexuality that question how we watch as gendered viewers, and what licit and illicit paradigms constitute transgression and the politics of cinematic pleasure. Impact occurred via:
1) Increasing public understanding of the relationship between image and spectator with reference to identity, alterity and ethics;
2) Enabling public participation with themes in contemporary philosophy that validate multiple subject positions, and encourage social inclusion and equality through creative practice in film and other arts, as consumers and producers.
Sondra Hausner's AHRC-funded project, Vernacular Religion, grew out of her existing work with Nepalis around the world, and especially in the UK. Conducted in close collaboration with the Centre for Nepal Studies-UK, an organization run by Nepali social scientists for the benefit of Nepalis living in Britain, Hausner's research has taken up the multiple religious identities of the Nepali community in the UK. Based on voluntarily collected social data, her team's work led to a much clearer recognition of the specific cultural, social and religious profile of this migrant community. This information, of vital importance as British Nepalis define their identity and their roles in the wider society of Great Britain and transnationally, was fed back into the community through various channels including the non-academic publication Nepalis in the UK: An Overview (Adhikari, ed., CNS-UK 2012), participation in community integration programmes, and feedback sessions where findings of the team's research were discussed with community representatives, religious leaders, and policymakers.