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Following on earlier research which re-examined the construction of modern Greece, in 2008-12 Beaton researched the contribution of Byron (and Romanticism) to the creation of the Greek nation-state in the early 19th century, and has published the results in his 2013 book (3.4). The principal impact of Beaton's researches has been to challenge traditional Greek cultural and social assumptions about the continuity of their national identity from the ancient world. The main pathway is his distinctive contribution to the 200-year Greek debate about their national identity which has been intensified by the current socio-economic crisis. The principal beneficiaries are the Greek people, as reflected in public discourse in their mass media, and the non-Greek public interested in these issues. Other nascent beneficiaries are the worldwide community of Byron enthusiasts through cultural enrichment in their knowledge and understanding of Byron's role in creating modern Greece.
Classical Receptions at the OU raises awareness of how Greek and Roman texts, ideas and material culture have been interpreted, used and reworked, particularly in society today. Our research provides cultural and arts practitioners around the world — translators, poets and actors — with the tools to interpret ancient texts in modern contexts. Much of our research is presented in open-access assets — website, journals, seminars, workshops, conferences — thus providing resources both nationally and internationally. Working with the creative industries and beyond, we also help the wider public to gain a fuller understanding of the place of the classical within the contemporary world.
The Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD) project approaches the understanding of Greek and Roman tragedies and comedies through gathering evidence about their performance and traces their evolving significance through the way they have been received in performance practice. The APGRD has had significant impact on theatrical performance through its lively interaction with practitioners in the theatre and other performing arts, which has expanded the repertoire of classical drama, and through the commissioning of new work. This research has provided significant cultural and pedagogical benefits through being presented in various public forums (radio, lectures, exhibitions) and through the creation of a searchable open-access online database of more than 11,000 productions from the Renaissance to the present.
Anne Featherstone's ongoing, scholarly research into neglected popular performance practices of the 19th Century has had public impacts well beyond the borders of academia. Popular media interest in her initial, academic publications prompted Featherstone to explore the popular historical novel as an alternative form for the dissemination of her historical research. Her two fiction-based outputs to date have translated original, historical research into the transnational domain of murder mystery fiction, and have been published in French, Italian and (soon) Portuguese versions, as well as in English. Growing recognition of Featherstone's historical expertise has led to numerous public speaking appearances and to the development of ongoing relationships with broadcasters including BBC Radio and TV, who have utilised her research as a means of re-visualising the significance of popular performance cultures for the general public.
University of Glasgow researchers have utilised cutting-edge 3D imaging techniques to enlarge miniature 4th century Greek theatre masks into life sized objects, transforming how these masks are displayed as museums artefacts and used in performance. Full-size reconstructions of the masks are now on permanent display in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow — seen by more than 1 million visitors annually — and exhibitions featuring the reconstructions have toured across the UK and Ireland. These masks are also now incorporated into the work of theatre groups in the UK and Italy, highlighting the influence of a lost European masked theatre practice on the foundation of modern drama.
Singing has been integral to the practice of Eastern Orthodox Christianity since antiquity. Its vast medieval repertories of Byzantine and Slavic plainchant gradually developed into native musical traditions spread across a geographic arc from Southern Italy to Alaska. Thanks to emigration and missionary work, forms of Orthodox singing are now also cultivated in diasporic and missionary communities throughout the world. Despite the historical importance of Byzantine chant as a sibling to Gregorian chant, the richness of the historical record and the vibrancy of contemporary Eastern Christian musical practice, these musical traditions remain largely unstudied and poorly known in the geographic and cultural West, in part due to transmission in non-Western languages and forms of musical notation. Dr Alexander Lingas' research undertaken at City University London has nourished the global dissemination, understanding and enjoyment of these music traditions. Building on scholarship that embraces music philology, performance practice and liturgiology, Lingas' research has had a broad international societal impact, achieved largely through his role as Artistic Director of Cappella Romana, an American-based vocal ensemble with an international reputation for promoting Eastern Orthodox music. Through encounters with music that was often previously unknown or inaccessible, listeners from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds have discovered the musical traditions of Eastern Christianity to be as historically significant, artistically rich and spiritually profound as its better-known masterpieces of iconography and architecture. This has in turn helped to broaden the repertories of early and contemporary vocal music in Western Europe and America to include the musical inheritance of Byzantium and its Slavic commonwealth. Through his research Lingas has also supported the creation of new forms of artistic expression and reconstructed older forms of Eastern Orthodox sacred music; influenced attitudes and perceptions of musicians, scholars, viewers, readers and listeners on an international basis; enriched cultural lives and aesthetic experiences in a range of performance and multimedia contexts; enhanced knowledge and understanding among different beneficiaries through the close integration of performance and educational work; and contributed significantly to the preservation, renewal, interpretation and dissemination of Eastern Orthodox Christian musical heritage.
Teaching and learning in Romanian schools is being transformed by the idea that the arts can have a cultural impact on learning and that drama can enhance everyday performativity. Thousands of students have been involved in this research, which has led to the foundation of the Educational Drama Association of Romania, an independent, sustainable and locally governed organisation whose aim is being achieved in schools across Romania. EDAR works to promote drama in education, both as an elective and extra-curricular activity, to develop critical thinking.
Research undertaken at the University of Southampton has supplied new ways of imagining literature written for performance, and performances described in the historical record. The work has had notable impacts on teachers and learners of all ages. Impact has been achieved through different types of educational activity, including public-facing websites and books, Continual Professional Development (CPD) for school and university teachers, Life-Long Learning (LLL) events, and practical workshops for primary and secondary school students. The research has brought financial benefit to the publishing industry, and has caused a major publisher to commission a new edition of the poetry of Stevie Smith.
Durham University research on Homeric epic has had four main forms of impact:
A. Broader and better informed public appreciation of Homeric poetry, established through collaborations with publishers, museums, and the media.
B. Enhanced learning and teaching of Homeric epic in secondary and tertiary education. This has been achieved through publications and collaborations with schools, teacher associations, private education and teacher-training providers.
C. Homer in the local community: in collaboration with community arts companies, and not-for-profit associations for cultural regeneration, Homeric research has reached new audiences.
D. Improved understanding, treatment and prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, through a close collaboration with a clinical psychiatrist and leading international authority on the condition.
Dr Kuhn's research has established him since the mid-1990s as one of the world's leading experts on the modernist poet, playwright and cultural commentator Bertolt Brecht. He has worked to increase the public understanding of Brecht's work, to make good translations with reliable commentaries widely available, and to enhance the quality of Brecht theatre productions. Besides his involvement with (non-academic) publishing, he has worked directly with theatres and drama colleges, providing advice and workshops, revising translations, writing programme notes, and improving the quality of performance of Brecht's work. Beneficiaries include theatre audiences, school students, general readers, the publishing industry, the performing arts, and cultural life in general.