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This study details the impact of the first British Library exhibition on science fiction, produced in partnership with the Discovery Channel. The exhibition attracted 114,878 visitors (target attendance was 100,000), far beyond any "core" readership, and featured over 200 books, films, recordings, manuscripts, magazines and objects. Exploring sometimes conflicting ideas of how science fiction developed over 2000 years, and what it does, the exhibition gave a cultural and historical context for science fiction as an international and historically rich form of speculative literature. It also generated new interest amongst diverse audiences — including in libraries, the media, and in schools — and transformed popular perceptions (of both core fans and literary disparagers) of science fiction as a genre, and the role of women in the genre.
Science fiction facilitates the exploration of pressing social, technological, cultural, ethical and philosophical issues, and our research engages with topics such as religious identity and what it means to be human, and also identifies and analyses changes in the way science, as a discourse and practice, has been defined and perceived. Our research, both critical and creative, has had impact through providing cultural enrichment to a range of individuals and groups, transferring the insights gained from this research to a wider audience. The dissemination of our research has challenged social assumptions, as well as created and interpreted cultural capital.
Rebecca Stott's research into evolutionary theory (2001-7) has informed public knowledge of the history and philosophy of science. Both her fiction and her creative non-fiction make comparatively unfamiliar aspects of early evolutionary theory accessible to the general reader, and have thus enhanced understanding of science as well as scientists' understanding of culture. Stott founded a tradition of exploring science-literature intersections within our department which has been carried forward by our creative writers Katy Price and Laura Dietz.
There are two ways in which Erle's research on William Blake, Physiognomy and text-image relationships have achieved public impact. First, a display and a Scholar's Morning on "Blake and Physiognomy" at Tate Britain (2010-11) and there were also invitations to give public lectures for "Haus der Romantik", a Literature Museum specialising on Romanticism in Marburg (Germany) and for the Blake Society, a London-based but international organisation of Blake scholars and enthusiasts. Second, an online-exhibition on Lord Alfred Tennyson's copy of Blake's Job for the Tennyson Research Centre (2012-13) and a display on Blake, Tennyson and Anne Gilchrist in Lincoln Public Library.
Research on the history of literary readership from the late 19th century to the present has proposed that all reading is necessarily `critical', and promoted the value of serious reflection on contemporary writing of many forms, from genre fiction to poetry, and on the historical formation of literary taste. Through work with the Durham Book Festival, school teachers and an exhibition gallery, the research has helped to inform and to engage their audiences, to bring reading communities together, and to encourage wider critical interpretation. It has influenced the strategic development of the Durham Book Festival, contributing to a marked increase in attendance.
Research carried out by the University of Southampton into the cultural implications of eugenics and epigenetics has contributed to a greater public understanding of heritability, and built a foundation for an accurate, informed dialogue between the humanities and the sciences. Specific impacts have included the establishment of forums for dialogue between writers, biomedical scientists, creative practitioners, and the general public, and the provision of tools for teachers to address biomedical ethics issues at secondary school level in New Zealand.
Glennis Byron's and Dale Townshend's research on the Gothic, including that undertaken through Stirling's `Global Gothic' project, has had a significant impact on new student audiences, media professionals and curators, broadening and challenging their understanding of the Gothic as a mode of cultural production. The underpinning research focused on expanding and modifying the category of the Gothic as a critical descriptor. During the REF period this work improved the ways in which media professionals, curators and members of the general public have understood and interpreted Gothic forms, and enhanced A-Level students' learning experiences in the UK. The impact has significant reach locally, nationally and globally, with, for example, Stirling's Gothic Imagination website receiving c. 7000 visitors per month, and 290 A-level students across the UK attending Townshend's online seminar.
This case study refers to the impact of the work of one member of the submitting unit. The assertion is that the work of Zubillaga has had impact on civil society, cultural life and public discourse. It has: illuminated a repository of cultural capital (through archival research) and interrogated cultural values (specific to a Latin American context) enriched the imaginations of those who have viewed his films; enhanced sensibilities with regard to the cultural themes they explore; and extended the range and improved the quality of evidence, argument and expression to enhance public understanding of Venezuelan and more broadly Latin American cultural and political memory.
Established in 2003, Queer@King's provides a focus for queer studies research and a meeting place for queer scholars and wider LGBTQ communities, including activists, artists, advocates, curators, performers, school educators, and writers, in which to share ideas and shape public discourse. Through Queer@King's, academics have enhanced queer life and civil society in London, and developed a remit around cultural production and advocacy that is both national and international. Impact includes shaping public discourse and informing public understanding about queer histories; challenging dominant assumptions about sexual minority lives, including those of transsexuals; and informing educationalists and law makers. Submitted projects relate to the research of Prof. John Howard, Dr. Robert Mills, and Prof. Mark W. Turner.
This case study focuses on the impact of the research of one member of the UCL English Department, John Mullan. It describes the impact of his introduction of techniques of narrative analysis to the general reader and to secondary school teachers and students. This has involved making accessible to the general public an informed historical understanding of the development of English fiction, communicating techniques of critical reading that assist the appreciation of both canonical and contemporary novels. This has meant acting as a bridge between contemporary writers and readers, and communicating via print, radio and television the history of the genre. It has also meant delivering the benefits of a specialised critical vocabulary to teachers teaching fiction at secondary school level.