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This study addresses the impact of researchers in the Writing and Environment Research Centre who have pioneered the `environmental humanities', contributing to public debate in a field of acknowledged political and cultural importance. Neale's work has been used by trade unions in the UK and overseas. Garrard's book is used in HEIs in the UK and abroad. Evans reaches public audiences with his BBC radio work and Guardian column; Kerridge with literary nature writing. Kerridge and Garrard have influenced the teaching of ecocriticism in numerous universities. Collectively, the centre contributes to public awareness of the cultural aspects of environmental questions.
Science fiction facilitates the exploration of pressing social, technological, cultural, ethical and philosophical issues, and our research engages with topics such as religious identity and what it means to be human, and also identifies and analyses changes in the way science, as a discourse and practice, has been defined and perceived. Our research, both critical and creative, has had impact through providing cultural enrichment to a range of individuals and groups, transferring the insights gained from this research to a wider audience. The dissemination of our research has challenged social assumptions, as well as created and interpreted cultural capital.
This study details the impact of the first British Library exhibition on science fiction, produced in partnership with the Discovery Channel. The exhibition attracted 114,878 visitors (target attendance was 100,000), far beyond any "core" readership, and featured over 200 books, films, recordings, manuscripts, magazines and objects. Exploring sometimes conflicting ideas of how science fiction developed over 2000 years, and what it does, the exhibition gave a cultural and historical context for science fiction as an international and historically rich form of speculative literature. It also generated new interest amongst diverse audiences — including in libraries, the media, and in schools — and transformed popular perceptions (of both core fans and literary disparagers) of science fiction as a genre, and the role of women in the genre.
Research on the history of literary readership from the late 19th century to the present has proposed that all reading is necessarily `critical', and promoted the value of serious reflection on contemporary writing of many forms, from genre fiction to poetry, and on the historical formation of literary taste. Through work with the Durham Book Festival, school teachers and an exhibition gallery, the research has helped to inform and to engage their audiences, to bring reading communities together, and to encourage wider critical interpretation. It has influenced the strategic development of the Durham Book Festival, contributing to a marked increase in attendance.
Rebecca Stott's research into evolutionary theory (2001-7) has informed public knowledge of the history and philosophy of science. Both her fiction and her creative non-fiction make comparatively unfamiliar aspects of early evolutionary theory accessible to the general reader, and have thus enhanced understanding of science as well as scientists' understanding of culture. Stott founded a tradition of exploring science-literature intersections within our department which has been carried forward by our creative writers Katy Price and Laura Dietz.
Bradford's exploration of the lives of modern British writers demonstrates how research can cross over into audiences beyond specialist academic markets. The impact of his research lies in:
This ICS exemplifies wide-reaching impact emanating from Morrison's creative outputs and his subsequent exploration of public reactions to it. Thus he has used different genres of writing to articulate the complexity of human relationships and emotions — for example via two critically acclaimed memoirs, an account of the Bulger trial, and, since being at Goldsmiths, a novel, South of the River (2007). Numerous readers described these books as resonating with them, highlighting the potential therapeutic benefits of reading serious literature (`bibliotherapy'). Morrison explored this idea systematically in a detailed review published as an essay in The Guardian (2008). The ensuing surge of public interest in bibliotherapy manifested in a transformative expansion of The Reader Organisation [TRO], which promotes and supports the establishment of community-based reading groups. In the UK these multiplied more than 5-fold over the following 3 years, and there was similar interest in Australia, the US, Denmark and Germany. Morrison subsequently became chair of TRO's Board of Trustees, and has promoted its activities to the public and policymakers internationally through public presentations, the media, and participation in policy fora.
Research carried out at The University of Manchester by the award-winning author Maria (M.J.) Hyland has both illuminated and challenged cultural assumptions about Multiple Sclerosis. Hyland's autobiographical and self-reflective writings have impacted on the public sphere in two ways: 1) they have opened up an international debate in the mass media, literary magazines and among those suffering from the condition about its relation to the practice of writing; 2) they have been used to train future practitioners outside academia such as authors and editors, enhancing the public understanding of writing as a profession and contributing to the success of the editorial consultancy company Hyland & Byrne, which she established in 2011.