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REF impact found 34 Case Studies

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The Renaissance effect: the role of marvel in the rebirth of Lorraine

Summary of the impact

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

  • provided 24,295 visitors (from Nancy, Lorraine, rest of France, the EU and rest of world) with increased knowledge of the rich cultural heritage and worldview of Renaissance Lorraine
  • increased the flow of visitors (11,467 first-time visitors) to the museum itself
  • raised the museum's profile through the French Ministry of Culture's formal designation of the exhibition as a `cultural event of national importance'
  • attracted 5,000,000€ of public and private funding for this and its sister exhibitions in Nancy
  • enhanced public perceptions of the image of the museum
  • acted as a flagship for the museum's ambitious programme of expansion and renovation
  • enhanced public perceptions (locally, nationally and internationally) of the historical and cultural importance of both town and region
  • renewed civic pride and regional optimism following a period of industrial decline

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Anglo-Norman Dictionary Case-study

Summary of the impact

The main aim of the Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND) in impact terms is to provoke a revision of the understanding of the role of Anglo-Norman in the development of English and to demonstrate how the language (especially the vocabulary) of the incoming Normans impinged on and fed into English. The project and its freely-available online dictionary (www.anglo-norman.net) have attracted considerable attention from the educated lay public with interests in language history, genealogy, family names, aspects of language use in Britain in the Middle Ages, and social history.

Impact has been achieved by speaking to non-academic groups; contributing to audio and visual displays in museums; and by being interviewed by Radio 4; Trotter appeared as an expert in a National Geographic film on broadly related matters to do with medieval literature; and the AND has been awarded a prestigious French prize. The AHRC decided to feature the AND as a project on their website in autumn 2012, suggesting that it is perceived as beneficial to their own impact and publicity strategy.

Submitting Institution

Aberystwyth University

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Linguistics, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Charlemagne in England: Supporting local regeneration through the delivery of cultural projects

Summary of the impact

Research produced by the University of Reading's Charlemagne in England project played a key role in a successful bid to develop community-based street theatre cultural projects in Walsall as part of a regeneration programme. Four plays have been performed in the area to date, helping to strengthen local identity. International links have been established with audiences in countries such as Canada through video-streamed performances, and there are plans to take the plays to Belgium and France. Set to become an annual tradition, the project has already brought about significant local cultural change in a relatively disadvantaged part of the country.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

The Soldier in Later Medieval England, and the Battle of Agincourt

Summary of the impact

University of Southampton research into the Battle of Agincourt, and on the late medieval soldier more generally, has impacted widely on the public, enriched popular understanding and enjoyment of history, and challenged widely held beliefs. The work has inspired individuals, groups, students and academics — in the UK and across the world — to explore their family and community heritage, thereby enriching the quality of life. Notable outputs included an online database of soldiers in Henry V's army, which received over 3.4 million hits in the three months after its launch in July 2009. Further impact has been made through television documentaries, media coverage and contributions to museums in England and France.

Submitting Institution

University of Southampton

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Re-Presenting Heritage through Community Research: Poltimore House

Summary of the impact

Professor Henry French's research into the use of landed property and the lives of the English gentry, undertaken since his appointment at Exeter in 2001, has contributed to a Knowledge Transfer Fellowship community engagement project. This project trained volunteer groups to explore the history and archaeology of the estate and gardens of Poltimore House, Exeter. By transforming the capacity of Poltimore House Trust (PHT) to run outreach activities, it significantly enhanced its educational work with young people and schools. By enriching the history of the estate's almost unknown gardens, it gave the PHT a beacon project to publicise and enhance its wider re-development plans. By training community volunteers in historical and archaeological research, it made public involvement central to interpretation of historic landscapes, creating a template of sustainable heritage research that can be applied elsewhere.

Submitting Institution

University of Exeter

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture
History and Archaeology: Archaeology, Curatorial and Related Studies

Grotowski redrawn: enhancing theatre practice and teaching, enriching culture

Summary of the impact

The AHRC-funded British Grotowski Project has enhanced international theatre practice and the teaching of theatre in schools, as well as broadening cultural understanding in the UK.

The project enabled the development of new theoretical and embodied understanding of Jerzy Grotowski's oeuvre within and beyond the theatre profession, enhancing theatre skills in actor training and directing amongst professional practitioners, schoolteachers and pupils. Many project events took place under the auspices of the Polish government's Polska! Year in the UK and UNESCO's Year of Grotowski, both 2009, which broadened the global impact.

Submitting Institution

University of Kent

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies

The Candide App: Engaging School Students with Classic Literature

Summary of the impact

Professor Nicholas Cronk, has in collaboration with others, created an app which is an enhanced edition of Voltaire's Candide, freely available, for use on tablets. Candide is a timeless and universal text with perennial appeal, and this digital edition renders it accessible to a wide variety of new readers. Cronk has been encouraging engagement with Voltaire's texts through more traditional channels but this latest innovation has won new readers for Voltaire, especially among a young generation often more familiar with new media than with traditional books. The app, with its dual level of annotations, illustrations, manuscript images, commentaries, and the Polyadès recording, has been well received by a wide range of readers, and functions in a curatorial capacity to preserve an important work of French classical literary heritage in a new, sustainable format. The Candide app represents a revolutionary tool for both independent learning, and also for classroom teaching.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

The London French: Liberty, Equality, Opportunity

Summary of the impact

The French currently constitute a significant presence in London, yet there is little consistent research into their experiences, or the development of this presence. This is a ground-breaking study heralded by the French Embassy/Consulate, and used by the constituency office of the French MP for Northern Europe and the London Section of the French Socialist Party, and the British Library (for inclusion in the UK Web Archive). It has attracted considerable media and popular interest, notably programmes for French Radio London, and at the Bankside Bastille Day Festival. The research assesses the motivations, experiences and occupations of London's French residents, both historically and today, and their contributions to culture, society and business.

Submitting Institution

University of Westminster

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
Language, Communication and Culture: Other Language, Communication and Culture
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Samuel Beckett’s Legacies

Summary of the impact

The impact activities described in this document are dedicated to altering cultural perception of the creation, production, and performance of modern literature through re-presentation of the work of the Irish writer Samuel Beckett in a variety of informed contexts. Beckett research at Reading is underpinned by the university's exceptional archival resources, which include manuscripts of his writings alongside rare editions, letters, production notes for his dramas, and intriguing ephemera. Our impact-generating activities around the archive are focused upon the deployment of those resources in ways which enhance understanding of the processes behind the creation of literary works and dramatic performances. This approach to impact has involved researchers in the Department of English in the curation of exhibitions relating to the archive; in giving talks at sites crucial to Beckett's literary development; and also in the digitization of materials relating to Beckett's major works. Out of this has come testimony from a variety of people and organisations to the change that has come about in their attitude and response to a variety of creative phenomena.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Jones

Summary of the impact

Dr Jones's research on the obsolescent Norman French dialects of the Channel Islands has had a significant effect back in Jersey, Guernsey and Sark. The island communities are extremely interested in the research and there have been events to mark it involving public figures and other members of the community (2008, 2009). Dr Jones's research is featured regularly in local media and she has been invited to collaborate in local language planning and revitalization initiatives (2008-13). The publicity this work has received has raised the profile of these dialects and her findings have given impetus and direction to their revitalization.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Language Studies, Linguistics, Literary Studies

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