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The research project `The Cult of the Duce: Mussolini and the Italians 1918-2005' has facilitated a better understanding of fascism and its legacy by challenging preconceptions about Benito Mussolini and examining the legacy of his leadership `cult' in Italy and beyond. The project achieved impact on CULTURAL LIFE through collaboration with a professional curatorial team in an exhibition at a significant UK gallery, the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London, engaging in the process with a wider, non-academic audience. The project's public engagement activities and the production of teaching resources in a variety of media have also had an EDUCATIONAL impact, improving public awareness of the propaganda strategies of Fascism.
Christopher Duggan's research at the University of Reading into Italian history since the French Revolution has tackled a number of themes relating to the development of the Italian nation-state, and has contributed, in ways that are exceptional for an academic historian, to debates about the country's `national identity'. These debates have become intense with the political and economic crisis that has engulfed the country in recent years. The arguments around Duggan's work have involved leading politicians, journalists and members of the general public, and have taken place in many different media and forums, including television, radio, newspapers, schools, and public meetings.
The Case Study illustrates how research into cult, fantasy and horror films has been used to engage organisers of film festivals — most notably the `Abertoir' festival based in Wales and the `Offscreen' festival in Brussels — contributing to enhanced educational content which provided new audience experiences at both festivals. The primary activity was the incorporation of the presentation of research findings to audiences within festival programmes. The impact derives from the resulting changes in the way that the festivals were organised, programmed and contextualized for audiences and consequent changes in the profile of the festivals concerned. The main benefit relates primarily to the organizers; in particular, the enhancement of the educational content of the Abertoir Festival has enabled it to bid for additional funding from the Film Agency for Wales during the census period.
Dr Alexandra Wilson's research on the reception of Puccini's operas was disseminated to a large non-specialist, international audience, principally via numerous opera house programme essays, but also via radio broadcasts, pre-performance talks, a podcast and a book for general readers. Accessible yet authoritative, her research on the historical contexts of Puccini's operas has transformed the way in which they are written about for a general audience, challenging outdated stereotypes. Her work has deepened audience understanding, particularly of Puccini's lesser- known works, encouraging audiences to explore other unfamiliar repertory. It has helped both operatic newcomers and seasoned audience members to engage more effectively with the art-form as a whole and influenced the way in which opera is written about in the media.