On 19th September 2016, academic and community participants in research projects funded by the Centre for Hidden Histories convened for a ‘Shared Experience Workshop’ at Derby Riverside Centre. The day was organised by Impact Fellow, Dr Larissa Allwork, Community Liaison Officer, Mike Noble and Principle Investigator on the Centre for Hidden Histories project, Professor John Beckett. Participants presented their findings and discussed their experiences of working as part of an AHRC Connected Communities First World War Engagement Centre. The specific focus of the day was the ‘impact’ of their projects or what the AHRC defines as, “…the ‘influence’ of research or its ‘effect on’ an individual, a community, the development of policy, or the creation of a new product or service. It relates to the effects of research on our economic, social and cultural lives.” Academic participants included Professor Jane Chapman (University of Lincoln), Professor Kurt Barling (Middlesex University), Professor Panikos Paniyi (Leicester DeMontfort University), Dr Tim Grady (University of Chester), Professor Paul Elliott (University of Derby) and Dr David Amos. Community group leaders represented included Judith Garfield MBE (Eastside Community Heritage), Alison Jones (Knockaloe & Patrick Visitor Centre), Anne Marie Curtis (St. Werburgh’s Great War Study Group) and David Stowe (‘In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time’ project).
The day revealed the wide range of heritage, education and public engagement impacts that Centre for Hidden Histories research development fund projects have encouraged across the UK. These have particularly been in relation to: (1) raising awareness of World War I ‘hidden histories’ such as the experiences of Britain’s diaspora populations and the contribution of members of its colonies to the war effort; (2) the experiences of German and Austrian immigrants living in the UK and the British government’s internment of so-called ‘enemy aliens’ during the First World War; (3) the experiences of refugees during the 1914-1918 conflict.
To read the full report on the impact of Centre for Hidden Histories projects, please click on this link: Shared Experience Workshop and Impact of CHH Research Projects Report
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