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Eamon Duffy has made a major contribution to the rediscovery of the lived experience of traditional religion in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, enabling a re-assessment of the role of Catholicism during the English Reformation. His work has impacted on:
(i) Public discourse. Duffy's research is debated in circles well beyond higher education institutions, as is evidenced by the wide variety of publications in which his books are reviewed, the BBC's frequent use of his expertise in debate, and the numerous and well attended public talks he has given;
(ii) Cultural life. Duffy's work has influenced TV documentaries, museum exhibitions, RSC productions and other aspects of cultural life;
(iii) Education. Duffy's work has influenced the teaching of history both within the UK and internationally.
This case study describes contributions to the public understanding of the King James Bible in the UK and US, achieved through organisation of public exhibitions marking the 400th anniversary of publication, a mobile app, educational and cultural events. `Manifold Greatness', exhibited first at the Bodleian Library, told the story of the commissioning of the KJB and how the many translators working `by committee' achieved its famous `perfection of style'. The exhibition debunked myths about the KJB, educated school and adult audiences, and informed and energised public debate in 2011-13 about the place of the Bible in British and American culture.
The history of cartography research group at Queen Mary have exploited their research on the cultural history of maps in the early modern period to enhance public understanding of mapmaking and the knowledge that maps create. They have taken their academic research to a wider audience through authored television and radio programmes, research council-funded books, public lectures and reviews across a range of media. In this way, their research has generated significant economic impact, contributing to the economic prosperity of the creative sector, including trade publishing, print media journalism, television, and literary festivals, and improving the quality of evidence, argument and expression in public discourse on contemporary map-making.
Twenty-first century concepts of faith, community, and division were forged in the early modern period: an age of Reformations, unprecedented cross-cultural encounters (especially between Christianity and Islam), and new understandings of religious, personal and social identity. The research of Ziad Elmarsafy, Kevin Killeen, and Helen Smith, in this field, has impacted upon a wide range of publics, individuals, and institutions, who have gained a new understanding of national and international attitudes to religious life, and a changed perspective on pressing contemporary debates about belief and society. Beneficiaries include school students, interested members of the public, and staff, volunteers, and visitors at Hardwick Hall and York Minster Library. These latter collaborations paved the way for national impact, benefitting the National Trust, and Cathedral Libraries and Archives.
The impacts of Professor Eaglestone's research fall into two main areas:
Queen Mary's research in Renaissance Studies has informed curatorial practice at cultural institutions in the UK and abroad, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Cini Foundation in Venice, producing displays that have reflected new conceptual approaches to the Renaissance and that have captured the imagination of large, general audiences. Their success was due, in part, to the close synergies between curators and Queen Mary scholars, including shared PhD student supervision through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award scheme and through co-curation. Novel research ideas influenced the conceptualisation and approach to exhibits on Renaissance topics, manifested in new ways of presenting images and objects and their accompanying interpretative materials, such as catalogues, wall texts, events, and engagement with the media.
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.
Dr Paul Chirico's research has directly shaped the work of the John Clare Trust. Dr Chirico has played a leading role in the work of the Trust, which he founded in 2004 with a view to the purchase of the poet's birthplace in Helpston, near Peterborough. Through the John Clare Cottage and the work of the Trust on which it depends, he has since 2008 achieved direct impact on the conservation, preservation and understanding of culture. He has had an impact on education through the materials he has developed for visitors to the Cottage, both school parties and the general public.
This case study details Professor Nicola Humble's pioneering research and its impact on popular engagement with cultural heritage. Humble's research has increased awareness of the study of cook books as literary texts, of the middlebrow fiction of the first half of the twentieth century and the cultural politics that surrounded it. Through a sustained programme of public engagement including popular publishing, journalism, public speaking, radio and television broadcasting, her work has presented new forms of cultural heritage inspiring new forms of literary engagement amongst wide public audiences. The significance of this impact is demonstrated by the long legacy of her work and the increased public awareness of the approaches she pioneered; its reach by the frequent references to her work in a variety of forums on topics as diverse as baking, reading, crafts, eating, book collecting, feminism and parenting.
Newcastle's extensive and authoritative study of the medieval manuscripts that originated in the Lüneburg convents has led the Protestant successors of these female religious communities to a more informed and in some cases considerably revised interpretation of their medieval heritage. As the convents prepare for the quincentenary of the Lutheran Reformation, they have drawn on the underpinning research to run interactive workshops for the general public on liturgical singing and calligraphy and mount new exhibitions in their museums for the thousands of visitors visiting the convents.