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The Spinoza Research Network (SRN) contributed to public discourse through online presence, public lectures and radio interviews, with impact through increased understanding and awareness, and changes in behaviour. The project had impact on cultural life through engagement with artists and impact on their practice. The SRN was a 2-year AHRC-funded project for researchers in multiple disciplines working on Spinoza with non-academics. In 2008-10 SRN gained 200 members from over 16 countries. Membership is currently around 250. The outputs were an interactive website, two conferences, and an edited book, public speaking, a Facebook group, a reading group, and two radio interviews.
The project makes accessible the history of philosophy `without any gaps' to a global audience. It capitalises on one of the Unit's research strengths, the history of philosophy, and brings this expertise to the general public maintaining a high level of intellectual rigour while making it accessible both intellectually and practically, thus maximizing reach. The public has access to the research through a series of podcasts (downloadable audio content) available on the project's website: www.historyofphilosophy.net, via software like iTunes. The podcasts are free to download and have been accessed more than 4 million times by thousands of listeners around the world. Because of their detail and format (often interviews) the podcasts convey advanced ideas and the fruits of recent research to this broad audience. The impact of the project lies in its ability to present our intellectual heritage in an accessible form, transforming the imaginations and sensibilities of individuals, enriching and expanding their lives and, given the nature of the topics discussed, informing and influencing their intellectual, cultural and personal development.
Promoting public diffusion of philosophical research via new and online media, The 10-Minute Puzzle podcast series seeks to engage lay audiences with some of the central puzzles driving contemporary research in analytic philosophy. As of September 19th, 2013, there had been over 63,000 downloads.
The series has two interrelated aims: to provide an innovative springboard for listeners (who may have had no previous exposure to philosophy) to engage with these puzzles on their own, and to provide a new, free resource for educators at all levels to stimulate interest in contemporary philosophy at any age.
As of September 19th, 2013, the three episodes of The 10-Minute Puzzle described in this case study had been downloaded 14,418 times, with downloads continuing steadily.
Queen Mary's research in Renaissance Studies has informed curatorial practice at cultural institutions in the UK and abroad, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Cini Foundation in Venice, producing displays that have reflected new conceptual approaches to the Renaissance and that have captured the imagination of large, general audiences. Their success was due, in part, to the close synergies between curators and Queen Mary scholars, including shared PhD student supervision through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award scheme and through co-curation. Novel research ideas influenced the conceptualisation and approach to exhibits on Renaissance topics, manifested in new ways of presenting images and objects and their accompanying interpretative materials, such as catalogues, wall texts, events, and engagement with the media.
The impacts of Hutchinson's and Crome's separate, yet closely interlinked bodies of research emerge from their shared commitment to the value of philosophical literacy. They have both argued that professional practice across the domains of Education and Public Health is subject to the effects of cognitive and conceptual frames, which Philosophy can help to identify, appraise and improve. Crome follows this strategic path in his work on pedagogy, which seeks to highlight the theoretical assumptions that support key elements of current teaching and learning policy. Hutchinson is pursuing a collaborative partnership with Public Health professionals concerning the correlation of shame, stigma and sexually transmitted infection (STI), for which Hutchinson's work on shame provides part of the conceptual and methodological rationale. The end users and beneficiaries of their shared promotion of philosophical literacy are professionals and patients in the healthcare sector and teachers and their students in education.
This case study demonstrates the impact of research on Philosophical Dialogue and Rhetoric in the context of the marketisation of Higher Education. In this context, impact was (and is) created through the facilitation of Socratic dialogues, and the dissemination of reflections on the pedagogical nature of these dialogues against the increasing marketisation of Higher Education. This case study aims to show a change in awareness, attitude and understanding of individual participants, especially a (philosophical) revaluation of their own experience. It also aims to change the pedagogical attitudes and practices of participating teachers and lecturers.
Rai Gaita's work brings a distinctive conception of good and evil to bear on a range of central and abiding moral questions. His work has shaped and changed the understanding of core moral and political issues by the general public in Australia and in other countries, and it has influenced the attitudes of policy makers and lawyers. Some of his books are on the reading list for the Higher School Certificate in Australia and have therefore had an immediate impact on the moral sensitivities of young Australians.
Not many contemporary moral philosophers have had such impact beyond the academic sphere. Why and how has Gaita achieved this impact? While academic philosophers tend to present their ideas in more technical form, Gaita's work crosses the boundaries between philosophical inquiry and literature. He brings philosophical issues to life by using the narrative form. For instance, his book Romulus, My Father, which uses biography to meditate on the human condition, has reached and influenced vast numbers of people. It was adapted into a film of the same title internationally released in 2007 and 2008. The inextricable connection between form and content in Gaita's work enables non-philosophical audiences to engage with, and respond to, his moral philosophy. In addition, his work has made a substantial contribution to the publishing and creative industries through the outstanding success of his books and related outputs.
Research on Presocratic philosophy by Catherine Rowett (formerly Osborne) has had impact on the wider public, both at home and abroad, in two key areas: (a) it has helped to satisfy the intellectual and cultural curiosity of people in the UK and beyond; and (b) it has extended public understanding of the potential risks and rewards of stock-market investments. Impact (a) is achieved (i) via public engagement, including publication and distribution of a book for the popular market, both in English and in translation, and via public lectures and talks, and (ii) by inspiring others to use the results in for example, radio broadcasting. Impact (b) is achieved by way of a guidebook for those new to investment in stocks and shares, underpinned by (among other things) Rowett's work on Presocratic Philosophy.
This case study concerns the impact of a major translation and publishing project unique in its scale and ambition. The surviving ancient Greek commentaries on Aristotle were published in a series titled Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca (ed. Diels, 1882-1909). This made the texts available to readers of ancient Greek, but their length and technical nature meant that even classically trained scholars made rather sparing use of the commentaries. The Ancient Commentators Project was initiated in 1987 in order to translate these texts into English. The project has now succeeded beyond all original expectations. The 100th volume was published in December 2012, and nearly the entire corpus of late antique commentaries is now available in English.
By making the commentaries accessible to a vastly increased audience, the project has made a contribution to the preservation and presentation of our cultural heritage. This impact has been felt especially in the field of education: the availability of these primary sources has influenced deeply and widely the design and delivery of curricula of ancient and medieval philosophy at HEIs internationally.
In recent years, few institutions have contributed more intensively than Southampton to the wider appreciation of two of the 19th Century's most influential thinkers, Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. By way of a determined campaign of public engagement, we have shared our research on Schopenhauer and Nietzsche with over three million members of several different publics. This has resulted in genuine cultural enrichment: our interlocutors have encountered new approaches to topics that they find intrinsically compelling, and have been prompted to think and feel differently about issues that are — or that have come to be — of real significance for them.