Log in
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.
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.
James Davidson's research has overturned a decades-old consensus about the nature of sexual identity and same sex relations in Ancient Greece. The research has been communicated to wider publics through print and online media, popular publications and public events. The public interest in and recognition of the research testify to the impact of the research on the public's consciousness. It has particular resonance for GLBT communities who have embraced the arguments put forward as justifications for same sex marriage equality.
Public understanding of the classical world has been informed and enhanced through new editions of the prestigious and internationally acclaimed Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD) and its spin-off publications. These key reference items, which have sold in high numbers and been translated into several languages, are available in specialist, university, college and public libraries worldwide, thereby benefitting a wide range of users, including the general public, students, school pupils, and fellow professionals.
Research undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) highlights how limited resources and poor coordination at the heart of the Greek government (the core executive) have circumscribed Prime Ministerial authority and severely hampered the ability of successive governments to develop and implement policy. This issue is particularly pressing, as many of Greece's recent economic woes can be attributed to this weak `reform capacity'. The research had a direct impact by changing party policy and informing the drafting of two new laws on restructuring the Greek core executive, in 2011 and 2013 respectively. These changes have survived the turnover of two different governments. Research findings have also been given extra impetus, with the strengthening of the Greek core executive identified in 2012 as a key priority by Greece's international creditors — namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB).
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:
The Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics Series is central to the University's commitment to the teaching and spread of knowledge of Greek and Latin at a time when these languages are under increasing pressure in schools and HEIs. Hardie, Hunter and Oakley are General Editors of a series of Greek and Latin texts with commentaries aimed at a broad public readership, from the higher levels of school onwards. This series, now numbering 94 volumes in print, has, through its international adoption in schools and colleges, greatly broadened the range of texts which are accessible at all levels and changed the way these texts are read and studied. The series has huge brand recognition as `the Green and Yellows' (or `Green and Golds' in the USA) and has had considerable economic impact within the book market.
The LGBTIQ Social Justice project Queering Paradigms (QP) grew out of the research theme on Sexuality, Gender and the Body. Driven by the UoA member, Prof. Scherer, QP is a global and local academic-cum-activist network with international reach to Germany, Nepal, Australia, US, Ghana, Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil. QP has informed and improved LGBTIQ Social Justice, it has led to policy changes at HEIs (UK, US); sustained engagement with and support of local activists; improved awareness and changed attitudes; informed policy debates inspiring further activism for social change; and changed of religious attitudes (Nepal).
Research at Newcastle has been instrumental in developing an internationally recognised research collection of ancient Greek and Etruscan artefacts. Research insights directly influenced how the Shefton Gallery was presented in the Great North Museum: Hancock (GNM), and in particular informed the labelling and interpretation of the objects. By adding meaning and context to the artefacts, the research thus enabled museum staff to: i) deliver public lectures on the research collection thereby resulting in loans to national and international museums; and ii) develop educational resources and events (including worksheets, workshops and object loan boxes) to support innovative teaching in schools and universities. The research has therefore informed the understanding of the Ancient Greek and Etruscan past of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who visit the GNM annually as well as thousands of school-age children and students.
Ian Ruffell significantly contributed to the critically acclaimed production of Euripides' Bacchae by the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS), which toured London, New York and Scotland in 2008. Ruffell re-translated the work and acted as academic advisor on the script and production, helping to create an accessible, modern yet rigorously accurate interpretation, which moved away from traditional performances of Greek tragedy to draw out the humour, gender and self-reflexivity in The Bacchae. The production attracted audiences of 33,529 in the UK and 9,338 in the US, and Ruffell's work facilitated their engagement with and better understanding of the ancient Greek drama's relevance to modern life.