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The history of exploration is central to public understanding of the purpose and making of geographical knowledge. It is often imagined as the work of exceptional individuals in extraordinary circumstances. Popular portrayals of exploration have long been cast as heroic individual dramas, in which the explorer is the central character. Historical geography research at Royal Holloway has challenged this way of thinking. It has emphasised exploration's wider cultural, economic and social significance, showing it to be a fundamentally collective experience, and making visible the vital roles played by local people and intermediaries. It has demonstrated too how the collections of major UK scientific societies and museums are shaped by and can communicate these histories of exploration. The key impacts of the research are therefore on: (1) the cultural understanding of geography and exploration, especially through public exhibitions and their secondary reach; (2) the development of heritage collections strategy in major institutions, notably at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (hereafter RGS-IBG).
The last twenty years has seen a gradual transformation of museums from being collections-focused to becoming audience-centred organisations. Graham Black, a `practitioner academic' with a proven commercial track record, has played an important role in enabling this change. His research has been instrumental in developing alternative approaches to display, activities and events, and online provision. Black argues that the speed of change in the external world - a `perfect storm' involving rapid demographic change, generational shift and the influence of new media —must be matched by an equally speedy response in the definition, mission and public practice of museums (`Developing Audiences for the Twenty-First-Century Museum', 2013). Through publications, talks and exemplar design practices his work has helped to shape public debates on museums and user participation/user generated content, and on museums and civil engagement, in the UK, Europe and beyond.
Marcus Waithe has carried out research that has resulted in a web-based `reconstruction' of the St George's Museum, a gallery and library for artisans founded in Sheffield in 1875 by the art and social critic, John Ruskin. Impact can be demonstrated in four areas:
The case study demonstrates how research conducted by staff in the Centre for Museology has informed the development of innovative display and interpretation practices in public museums in the UK and overseas. It shows how applied critical and reflexive museology has been used in a range of curatorial contexts, thereby directly affecting institutional practice and, in turn, providing visitors and volunteers with new opportunities for engagement. The impact is evident in the curatorial process, involving both staff and stakeholders, and in critical responses from practitioners and policy-makers.
The Ure Museum is at the heart of the Department of Classics, and a key part of the UoA's leadership in digital humanities work. The database has generated very considerable impact on: i) the development of the digital humanities beyond the discipline base, ii) digital animation work and pedagogical practice in schools, through thousands of visitor interactions, scores of workshop events, and several special projects and iii) activities in museums and the arts. The Ure Museum's ever-growing appeal among academics, students and the general public, quantified below, makes it powerful example of impact in UK Classics. All these impact-bearing activities stem from the Museum's function as a research collection and in particular Prof. Amy Smith's (Professor, Curator of Ure Museum, 2004- ) creation of its online database, constantly updated and enhanced, which disseminates knowledge of, and research on, the collection's holdings to as broad an audience as possible on a 24-7 basis; it is also part of the EU's digital library, `Europeana' as well as providing the data for a number of other impactful projects.
Public understanding of the classical world has been informed and enhanced through new editions of the prestigious and internationally acclaimed Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD) and its spin-off publications. These key reference items, which have sold in high numbers and been translated into several languages, are available in specialist, university, college and public libraries worldwide, thereby benefitting a wide range of users, including the general public, students, school pupils, and fellow professionals.
The History Department at York has a long-standing commitment (embodied in the work of James Walvin, Simon Smith, Douglas Hamilton, Henrice Altink and Geoff Cubitt) to path-breaking research into the history and memory of transatlantic slavery. Our researchers have worked closely with museums and educational practitioners to establish a `virtuous circle' in which research: (i) influences the content of heritage and educational presentations; (ii) reflects on those presentations, gauging public response and prompting stakeholder debate; (iii) provides constructive feedback to museums and others. This impact case study shows how research by members of the Department has contributed to each stage of this process. Professor James Walvin's research publications from 1993 until his retirement in 2005 revealed how slavery has shaped the nature of contemporary British society, a body of work that significantly contributed to the slave trade's inclusion in the National Curriculum in 2008. In addition to his on-going record as an exhibition curator, historical advisor and commentator on slavery, he advised and helped create the York AHRC-funded `1807 Commemorated' project (2007-9), principle investigator Laurajane Smith (Archaeology) and co-investigator Geoff Cubitt; Data Management Group Walvin. This project helped heritage professionals and other stakeholders understand and analyse the extensive museum activity on slavery generated by the 2007 Bicentenary of the Act Abolishing the Slave Trade, and led to innovations in museum practice and new collaborative relationships within the sector.
Research on the historian Herodotus, the history of the Achaemenid Persian empire, and the complex relationship between Greek and Persian worlds in the Classical period has had an impact in two main ways:
Research at Newcastle has been instrumental in developing an internationally recognised research collection of ancient Greek and Etruscan artefacts. Research insights directly influenced how the Shefton Gallery was presented in the Great North Museum: Hancock (GNM), and in particular informed the labelling and interpretation of the objects. By adding meaning and context to the artefacts, the research thus enabled museum staff to: i) deliver public lectures on the research collection thereby resulting in loans to national and international museums; and ii) develop educational resources and events (including worksheets, workshops and object loan boxes) to support innovative teaching in schools and universities. The research has therefore informed the understanding of the Ancient Greek and Etruscan past of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who visit the GNM annually as well as thousands of school-age children and students.
Research by Rutter and collaborators led to the production of Historia Numorum. Italy, a handbook of the coinages of pre-Roman Italy. HNItaly has become a tool for coin dealers, museum staff, and archaeological services alike, used both to identify, value and market goods, and to identify, label, study, and display holdings for public appreciation. In addition, HNItaly has been employed in the training of numismatists world-wide, including in the worlds of commerce and trade as well as public security.