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This case study draws upon the research of the internationally renowned scholar, Peter Hennessy (http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-hennessy-of-nympsfield/4189), and the public engagement organisation that he established, the Mile End Group (MEG — http://www.mileendgroup.com/). Hennessy's historically-informed understanding of constitutional and governance issues has enabled him to make direct interventions in key debates in the House of Lords and affect public debate and parliamentary democracy. Similarly, MEG has played a critical role in generating popular and public interest in its events and thus in the modern and contemporary history of British constitutional affairs and governance. MEG is a trusted environment in which historians, civil servants and politicians can frame decision-making with a proper appreciation of precedent, contingency and comparative studies. It has provided historical research and expertise in its work with No. 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office on the Cabinet Secretaries Project and with the Treasury for its in-house seminars `Learning the Lessons of Past Spending Reviews'.
Professor Rainer Schulze's research on the history of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp provided a new analysis of the singular role of Bergen-Belsen in the system of Nazi concentration camps. This research informed a new permanent exhibition at the Gedenkstätte (memorial site) at Bergen-Belsen. The new exhibition has educated hundreds of thousands of visitors since it opened in 2007, and has improved the reputation of the Gedenkstätte, allowing it to secure a donation from the Berlin Bundesregierung of €1million and to incr ease its permanent staff number. In the UK, Schulze's work has had effects on the teaching of Holocaust history in the UK, achieved through his participation in the annual University of Essex Holocaust Awareness week, his Key Stage 3 and 4 and A-Level workshops, and the establishment of the Dora Love Prize for schools in 2012.
Professor Sir Ian Kershaw's The End (2011) marked his `final word' on the Nazi state and so concluded research that fundamentally changed public understanding of Nazi power. A key stage in this transformation came with the publication of Kershaw's definitive biography of Adolf Hitler (2 vols: 1998, 2000), which during the assessment period continued to shape how the Third Reich was taught in schools and universities. Through his concept, 'working towards the Führer', Kershaw's publications have shifted public understandings across Europe of Hitler's relationship with the German people. A variety of publishing formats, including TV collaborations and a major exhibition at the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, testify to the extent of the impact while responses to the research culminated with the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding. Beyond the Nazi state, Kershaw's work has profoundly influenced contemporary understandings of the Holocaust by demonstrating the incorporation of ordinary citizens in the system of government that made it possible. His research has thus changed both scholarly and public understanding of the nature of Nazi power, within both Germany and the wider confines of occupied Europe. Kershaw's contribution to European reconciliation, as emphasised by the Leipzig Book Award judges [S4], lies in our deeper comprehension of the historical circumstances of the Second World War and the Holocaust, which has allowed current generations to come to terms with these events, both in Germany and elsewhere.
Prof Christopher Clark's book Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947 has had a broad impact both on academic debate and on public discussion. It served as the foundation for an hour-long documentary which aired on BBC4 and was awarded numerous prizes, including the Wolfson Prize. It was widely discussed in the German media. The author was invited to Bellevue Palace, Berlin to brief the then President of the German Federal Republic, Horst Köhler, on the issues raised by it. There were numerous podium discussions, public lectures and radio and newspaper interviews. Der Spiegel ran a four-page interview with the author and the book was credited with shifting the public mood in Germany on what had traditionally been a controversial subject matter.
Heimann's research findings reveal that the Czechoslovak state, throughout successive political regimes, consistently discriminated against, and often persecuted, its minority populations. Her book launched public discussion about nationalist (ethno-linguistic) chauvinism in Central Europe. Her research has changed perceptions of the Czechoslovak state as having been more liberal and tolerant than its Central European neighbours. The research was disseminated through: book sales (three editions); internet serialisation; a Czech World Service documentary; newspaper and magazine feature articles; blogs; radio and press interviews; public lectures (e.g. at the Slovak Embassy and to Czech and Slovak charities); public policy symposia (e.g. with the Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish and Slovenian ambassadors to Britain and a former US Secretary of State); internet discussion groups; a BBC Radio 4 play; book reviews; discussion in the National Theatre in Prague as part of the Prague Writers' Festival 2013; and 2-hour panel discussion with the former Prime Minister in the Czech Parliament (Senate) shown live on Czech TV.
This case study concerns two forms of impact from the 2012 BBC2 television series, The Crusades, based on the research of Asbridge (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b3fpw): on the public understanding of the crusades; and on the creative industries. Asbridge's landmark television series, which he wrote and presented, informed public understanding of the crusades as an historical event with contemporary echoes in international political debate. In this example of one area of the School's historical research, a Queen Mary historian has drawn upon two decade's research on the history of the crusades to mediate his findings for a national and international public audience. Asbridge's series presented his research in an accessible, non-technical form to over two million viewers in the UK and to audiences across the world from Australia to Russia. In achieving a major BBC television commission to produce a series based on his research, Asbridge also made a contribution to the creative industries. The Crusades led to employment and prosperity for a television production company (360 Productions — www.360production.com/) and to the development of BBC television history.
In 2011, Eritrea was the world's ninth largest source country of refugees just after Somalia. Fleeing a repressive regime whose human rights violations include indefinite conscription, religious persecution and widespread detention and torture, thousands of Eritrean refugees apply for asylum each year. Professor Richard Reid's research on the historical and current political dynamics in Eritrea and the Horn of Africa, in addition to influencing government policy, has proved indispensable to human rights advocates working in the region, and to those in Europe, North America and beyond, making daily decisions relating to the asylum claims of ethnic Eritreans.
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.
After losing the 2010 general election the Labour Party began an important debate about the Party's future direction, focusing in particular on how to advance Labour's traditional redistributive commitments at a time of economic austerity. Ben Jackson's research has informed some of the key discussions on this subject among politicians, advisors, commentators, and think tank researchers. His analysis of the ideological roots of these debates, especially of the distributive politics generated by economic austerity, has provoked and informed debate, and has contributed to the development of Labour's new direction under Ed Miliband.
Through a range of publications and public engagements, the research of Professor David Andress into the French Revolution and its international and historical ramifications has achieved a notable impact on students and teachers in the educational sphere, becoming an influential interpretation in syllabi at undergraduate and postgraduate levels across the English-speaking world, as well as for A-level studies within the UK. This research impact has also been extended into the broader culture through engagement with public audiences, with a highly positive response, and participation in a major BBC factual production.