Making Sense of the Impact Agenda Jane Moody, HRC Director

1. Making Sense of the Impact AgendaJane Moody, HRC Director Intersections: Interdisciplinary Workshops for PhD students, Humanities Research Centre

2. Kinds of impact(not this...)

3. So what is impact? • Impact is increasingly being defined as the influence or effect of research outside the university on the economy, society, and culture. • Taking research to non-academic users

4. Public money: our paymasters

5. How will the impact agenda affect me? • Applying for an academic job in the UK: position yourself for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) • Applying for external funding: impact agenda in Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) • The way the world is heading... (museums/archives/libraries; universities outside UK

6. Impact and the Research Excellence Framework (REF) • What sorts of ‘benefits’ are envisaged? • economy • society • culture • public policy and services • health • the environment • international development • quality of life

7. Impact in the Jargon Arena • Public engagement: the range of activities and forms of communication and dialogue between academic and non academics which might lead to impact, rather than an active and intentional process of knowledge co-creation. • Knowledge transfer: ‘the processes by which new knowledge is co-produced through interactions between academic and non-academic individuals and communities’ (AHRC Knowledge Transfer Strategy). • Impact: ‘the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy’ (ie benefits, effects, results etc).

8. Why is the government so preoccupied with impact? • Exploit the knowledge being created in British universities • Justify the funding of the arts and humanities: currently receive £400 million in support from taxpayer (£100M AHRC, £300M QR) • Making research responsive to the needs of society

9. Is there an intellectual history/agenda here too? • Perceptions of increasing distance between academia and public culture. • See Public Understanding of Science agenda, getting public involved in order to raise awareness about complex decisions scientists make (getting ethical buy in) • Public’s interest in humanities/culture: festivals, book buying, media (radio programmes such as In Our Time; Nightwaves; popularity of ‘heritage cinema’ (see research by Andrew Higson, TFTV)

10. What are the public benefits of research in the humanities? • Cultural Performance and Expertise (CP). art exhibitions, concerts, theatrical performances, festivals, literary productions; radio and television broadcasts • Promoting Understanding (PU): promoting understanding of other cultures, religions and societies • Civic Society (CS) • Creative Industries (CI): contribute to expanding and strategically significant sectors of the economy e.g. creative and cultural industries, heritage and tourism • Shaping Public Policy (SP) e.g. through membership of major committees, non-governmental organisations, agencies and semi-public bodies • Educational curriculum (EC), content or practice

11. Academics with impact in the humanities

12. Mark Hallett: Tate Hogarth exhibition

13. John Local: Your voice tells people more about you than you might think The Vox Project, a three-part series made by Whistledown Productions

14. Tom Baldwin: using philosophy to address contemporary ethical questions

15. Jane Moody: impact and eighteenth-century theatre

16. A MAP for impact (Media, Audiences, Partnerships) • MEDIA • Print, broadcast and electronic media • Open access publication is a vital tool for making research available as widely as possible (and before formal publication). • Public formats e.g. webpages, performances, exhibitions • Web 2.0 media including blogs and podcasts

17. Audiences: the questions you need to start asking yourself • Who will benefit from this research? • How will they benefit from this research? • What will be done to ensure that they have the opportunity to benefit from this research?  Impact is something which we need to create rather than waiting for it to come to us.

18. Partnerships and collaboration • Crucial for the incubation and promotion of knowledge transfer in order for research to reach different audiences and communities. Key partners and networks in the arts and humanities include Museums, archives and librariesCultural producers, editors, correspondents in radio, TV, and film Government departments, policy makers and think tanks

19. The end of the lone scholar?

20. Or a different idea of the university?

21. Getting ahead of the game: postgraduate research and impact

22. Creating impact in your own research: a few ideas • Start thinking about which audiences beyond academia might be interested in yourresearch. Think both local and global.... • HRC Postgraduate Project grants: ££££ for impact • Public humanities programme in HRC including literature festival 2011 and events marking 400 anniversary of King James Bible—watch the blog, volunteer & get involved! • Web 2 media: culture programmes on radio/TV; literature and culture festivals; heritage films etc.

23. Coming up at the HRC... • ‘The Impact of Impact’: Packaging the Past conference hosted by IPUP, Thursday 20th May, Berrick Saul Building (free ticket required) • ‘One Previous Owner’: talk by David Pearson, Guildhall Library, about book provenance, Berrick Saul Auditorium, Thursday 27th May • Treehouse Creativity: Jane Elliott on novel writing after 9/11 and DeLillo’sFalling Man, Tuesday 8th June, Treehouse

24. And finally....the next Intersections workshops • International Networks. Monday 24th May, 3.15-4.45 pm. • Research Centres Talkback. Monday 14th June, 3.15-4.45 pm. All PhD students welcome. Come along. Bring friends. Make new friends.