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Chartism (1838-58) was effectively Britain's civil rights movement. Professor Malcolm Chase's research has helped drive a reappraisal of Chartism that has asserted the movement's relevance to contemporary British democracy and citizenship. The work has directly shaped Parliament's representation of its own history and inspired a change in its curatorial policy. It has also fuelled a broader rediscovery of the movement as a grass-roots political and social movement engaging all levels of society. Working with broadcast and print media, Chase has developed public awareness of the political, social and international dimensions of the movement and its centrality to the fight for democracy. The work has also had significant impacts in Australia, promoting an informed understanding of the black Chartist William Cuffay, and on the family history community.
The publication of a book in both English and French versions on this subject led to many media interviews in several countries, wide press coverage in the UK and USA especially, the appointment of Robert Tombs to the Franco-British Council, many invitations to lecture to diverse audiences, and to take part in private discussions and seminars with French and British diplomats. Diplomats, whether French or British, now rarely have more than minimal historical knowledge, and this research enables them to understand the cultural and political ramifications and ambiguities of a relationship central to both countries' foreign policy.
In contrast to many European countries, public performance of music in languages other than English is still rare in the UK. French specialist Peter Hawkins has been researching and teaching the genre of chanson as a key element of French popular culture for most of his career. His research has fed into a regular series of public engagement activities over the past decade and beyond, including public performances of French chanson at a variety of venues. In a set of concerts given in spring 2013, Hawkins performed his own English translations of French chansons by the sometimes controversial Monegasque writer Léo Ferré, who is exceptionally well-known in France but much less so in the UK. The aim was to bring this particular type of musical poetry to a non-French-speaking audience. Feedback from the various audiences shows that some 70% feel that singing French chanson in English was a success and significantly extended and enhanced their cultural experience.
This case study concerns the public understanding of history as a practical discipline. Through a series of high-profile research publications, popular articles, and textbooks, Professor John Tosh's research has had an impact in two distinct ways. Firstly, these publications have been incorporated into teaching and lecturing practice internationally, influencing students' understanding of the discipline. Secondly, they have had an impact on wider public understanding of history as a practical discipline. The reach and significance of this impact is demonstrated by publication sales and readership figures, high-profile critical reception, political debate and wider public discourse.
The research examined the causes, events and public memory of the violent repression of a peaceful, pro-independence demonstration of 40,000 Algerians in Paris (17 October 1961). Initially covered up, these events resurfaced to become one of the most controversial episodes in Franco-Algerian history, formally recognized by the French state in 2012. This project's key impacts have been on civil society and public discourse in France and Algeria, changing and increasing both public understanding and visibility of the massacre. Further important impacts were enhancing inter-ethnic and inter-generational understanding and citizenship, by providing social knowledge to campaigning groups, as well as enabling former demonstrators to speak publicly.
Brad Beaven's research into the changing character and form of popular culture in the English city between 1850 and 1945 underpinned the `Portsmouth Voices' project, a collaboration with Portsmouth City Museum supported by a £223,500 Heritage Lottery Fund award. Previous exhibitions had presented rather narrow and parochial narratives of Portsmouth's history. Beaven's research significantly structured the project's engagement with class, gender and ethnicity in narrating the city's past, and played a guiding role in the curation of a major exhibition that successfully challenged preconceived ideas on generation, race and sexuality. In presenting both an inclusive and challenging story of Portsmouth's history, the exhibition attracted significant visitor numbers and a new section of the public who engaged with the Museum for the first time.
Stefan Collini's research on the character of universities and their relations to their host societies has had a major impact on public discourse in Britain. Grounded in historical evidence concerning the growth of institutions and disciplines, and on the ways public debate about the functions of universities has evolved since the mid-nineteenth century, it has influenced political argument about legislation, the content of reporting on higher education, and public understanding of universities more generally. There is extensive evidence for the uptake of these ideas in documents produced by public bodies, citations in the media, and other published reports on policy debates.
Bamforth's research on the Renaissance scientific marvel contributed to a major French exhibition The Birth of Modern Lorraine (Musée Lorrain, Nancy, 4 May-4 August 2013). The exhibition
This case study concerns two forms of impact from the 2012 BBC2 television series, The Crusades, based on the research of Asbridge (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b3fpw): on the public understanding of the crusades; and on the creative industries. Asbridge's landmark television series, which he wrote and presented, informed public understanding of the crusades as an historical event with contemporary echoes in international political debate. In this example of one area of the School's historical research, a Queen Mary historian has drawn upon two decade's research on the history of the crusades to mediate his findings for a national and international public audience. Asbridge's series presented his research in an accessible, non-technical form to over two million viewers in the UK and to audiences across the world from Australia to Russia. In achieving a major BBC television commission to produce a series based on his research, Asbridge also made a contribution to the creative industries. The Crusades led to employment and prosperity for a television production company (360 Productions — www.360production.com/) and to the development of BBC television history.
Hodkinson's work has significantly affected children's learning of history and has been instrumental in the formulation of the new curriculum for 2014. He has been called upon over the past 15 years to provide expert advice to the media (television and newspapers), curriculum planners and Government Ministers. His research on chronology has also significantly impacted upon, Initial Teacher Training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), teachers' pedagogy and is employed by Her Majesty's Inspectorate in their work with schools as an example of effective teaching. Most recently all schools in England received a pamphlet on the teaching of the new history curriculum which included exemplar material based upon Hodkinson's research work in chronology.