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Professor Gill's research on the sexualisation of culture has had a significant impact on education, public discourse and policy-making concerned with young people, media and sexualisation. These ideas have been disseminated via the media through programs such as Thinking Allowed and Woman's Hour; have impacted on understandings of Internet safety and sexualisation among governmental and non-governmental bodies (e.g. the police, the NSPCC); and have directly informed policy debate via Professor Gill's expert witness statements to Parliamentary enquiries in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
The George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling (GEECS) is the only UK academic research centre devoted to the study of storytelling and its applications. Our research has supported the development and renewed public awareness of storytelling as a powerful, democratic art form. The impact of our storytelling research is both cultural and social as it has generated new understandings of community formation, connectivity and capacity through creative participation. Collaboration with 16 national, international and local partners since 2008 enables the impact of our research to secure both a wide reach within civil society and attain real significance within local communities.
The research in this case study explored how media and cultural practices of communities are transforming in the digital age, and addressed the ways in which digital tools can enhance the lives of communities. There have been two main areas of impact: (1) contributing to the preservation, conservation and presentation of cultural heritage of communities; and (2) enhancing public and professional understanding of digital transformations in communities. The two main beneficiaries have been (i) local communities, and organisations working with and for communities in the South East of England, and (ii) professional communities of journalists and communicators in the UK and Germany.
Currie's research into the role and nature of narrative and character has brought about a range of significant benefits in the fields of healthcare, education and public debate.
Research from the Creative Futures Institute (CFi) has generated original understandings of how social media has triggered change within the practice of journalism. The evidence shows how findings from 3 inter-related projects were a catalyst for skills development and generated new contributions to civil society and the creative community. Impact is demonstrated across 15 organisations where new community media collectives were developed around the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (W2 Centre & True North Media House) and London 2012 Olympics (#media2012 & #CitizenRelay). UWS research led these organisations to invest £115,000 additional funds and implement these findings in their current work.
Research undertaken in the School of English into the interrelations between memory, trauma, and narrative led to the `Storying Sheffield' project, which gives a voice to a diverse range of people, including long-term users of mental health services, people with physical disabilities, older people with degenerative conditions, migrants, and people in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. This has had significant socio-cultural impact for its participants, who have benefitted from an increased sense of well-being and belonging. There are also benefits for the wider community, through increasing understanding of these often marginalised sectors of society. In addition, the project has impacted on policy-making, through collaborations with Sheffield City Council, and emergency service providers, and on therapeutic training and practice, through collaborations with Rampton Hospital (a secure unit) and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Trust.
Research 2005-12 has opened up new perspectives on Herakles-Hercules, tracing links between the ancient hero and his post-classical incarnations, and laying the foundations for further study of Hercules' long-lasting cross-cultural significance. The impact has three strands: