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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.
The Kindertransport was the movement to rescue 10,000 mainly Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia and bring them to the UK in 1938/39. This project focusses on archival research as well as qualitative social research to reassess aspects of the Kindertransport. The aim of this project was to influence public discourse and civil society and to provide new perspectives to stakeholders such as the former Kindertransportees themselves, both in the UK and abroad, the Jewish community and the interested public in general.
The research is being disseminated through public events, the media and publications. The focus of the Kindertransport: New Perspectives project was to revise common assumption and introduce new critical perspectives regarding the commemoration, memorialisation and reconciliation of the Kindertransport to different groups of people.
UCL research improved public understanding in Portugal of the important role that Lisbon played in WWII as an `open city' where both sides in the war operated. In particular, it showed and publicised the city's role as an exit point for thousands of refugees (mainly Jewish) trying to escape German-occupied Europe and get to North America or Palestine. This was achieved through a best-selling publication and a photographic exhibition in Lisbon attended by 10-14,000 visitors. Both were widely reviewed as providing important insights supported by research into previously unpublished archives.
Dr Brocklehurst's research has provided a challenge to conventional wisdom on the school age teaching of global politics through critiques of approaches that under-estimate children as political bodies. Her research has subsequently influenced a global provider of education, the International Baccaleurate organisation, in the planning of a service, namely a new Global Politics curriculum. Her research has also stimulated practitioner debate among stakeholders in the publication and provision of global politics texts for children to review them for risks posed by bias, inaccuracies, insensitivity and militarism. Her research has provided resources to enhance professional practice among stakeholders to help them to interpret problems in existing texts, and her research has led to her delivering training for stakeholders and teachers. Her research has also changed practice among stakeholders towards the adoption of a review culture to identify problems and improve children's literature in these sensitive subject areas.
In a contemporary world preoccupied with the protection of children, it is profoundly shocking to learn that child labour played a key part in Britain's industrial revolution. Indeed that this pioneer economic transition would not have happened in the way that it did without child labour. Jane Humphries draws this startling conclusion from a study of more than 600 working-class autobiographies. These offer unprecedented insights into child labour, family life, careers and schooling. Seen from below, through the eyes of history's everyman, the costs and benefits of industrialization acquire new edge. The impact of Humphries' work has been to change public understanding of this momentous divide by integrating humanity back into economic history and trauma back into the Industrial Revolution.
The Los Niños oral history project has added a new voice to the discourse around conflict and migration, and in doing so has brought a forgotten chapter of Spanish Civil War history to the attention of the public and media. The insights gathered have found resonance locally, nationally and internationally, as people across three generations gained greater awareness and understanding of the experience of exile. Outputs have been widely disseminated through a digital archive of life stories, a popular oral history book, a virtual and a touring exhibition, a set of online education resources and two documentary films.
Speaking in 2012, David Cameron declared proudly that the Great War is `a fundamental part of our national consciousness'. But what is acknowledged far less is the role of minority groups in the conflict. Jews, national minorities and colonial troops all fought and died at the front. Tim Grady has helped to push this knowledge to the centre of the public's understanding. His talks, magazine articles, podcasts and consultancy work have raised awareness of the diverse range of voices involved in the First World War, highlighting the impact of other combatants, as well as the involvement of the Jewish community.
As a result of Professor David Reynolds' research on Stalin, Churchill and the war on the Eastern Front, 1941-2, he was invited by the BBC to write and present a 90-minute history documentary. This was first shown on BBC4 (13 June 2011) and repeated on four subsequent occasions, in addition to several late-night repeats. Total audience figure was in excess of two million.
This work led to Reynolds receiving a judges' nomination (2012) for the Grierson Prize, awarded for the best historical documentary screened in 2011-12. Nominations are for the four finalists. Reynolds was invited to write articles about the film for the Daily Telegraph, 13 June 2011 and BBC History Magazine, June 2011, and the film has subsequently been sold to and screened in seven foreign countries.
Key questions face Western military establishments and governments concerning the likely form of future defence needs and, consequently, the size and shape of their armed forces. Following dashed hopes of a long-term `peace dividend' after the collapse of the USSR, came recognition that defence remained a fundamental concern, but that military needs might be manifested in different ways. The debate about a `war on terrorism' post-9/11 further intensified questions about the nature of future conflict. Through his research on strategy, and his guiding role in the Oxford "Changing Character of War" programme, Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War (since 2002), has made a major contribution to these debates and has helped to shape military policy making in the UK and the USA.
LSE research on German debts after the two World Wars has received considerable public attention since the start of the Eurozone crisis. By raising awareness of Germany's own debt history between the Wars, Professor Albrecht Ritschl has influenced public opinion on Germany's harsh debt policies towards Greece. Ritschl has influenced public opinion in Germany and internationally by using the media and public engagement opportunities to emphasise that Germany's own post-war recovery under the Marshall Plan was, in essence, the result of debt forgiveness, and that a similar approach to recovery will be needed for Greece. His argument has also influenced political debate in Germany.