Arts Impact Award 2012 Winner Announcement

Rachel Moseley and Helen Wheatley (Film and TV Studies) have been awarded this year's Arts Impact Award for their public engagement work on their research project A History of Women's Television in Britain, 1947-1989.

How this project has impact

• The research influences how film and television materials are archived and preserved
• The research raises awareness of the gendered politics of archiving practices in the late 20th century
• The research re-connects women with their television history by allowing them to contribute personal memories to the project
• How they have engaged the public

Among their activities this academic year, Rachel and Helen have organised television and film screening events (Leicester, Sep 2011 and BFI Southbank, Jun 2012) which included discussions with industry members. The team have produced a report for media groups about archiving, and have also reported these findings to the Women in Film and Television professional network. The project team organised a pop up exhibition in an empty Coventry city centre shop (May 2012) which featured documents, artefacts and a video feed of archive television. Their events have received substantial local and national press coverage (radio and newspapers) and they promote their research through social media.

Further details about the winning project and this year's nominees are available below.

The Faculty would like to thank and commend all of this year's nominees who represent the truly excellent research and public engagement with research taking place within all departments.

The Faculty would like to thank the judging panel of Jackie Labbe, Michael Hatt, Simon Swain and Liese Perrin.

Short List of Nominees

Drs Rachel Moseley and Helen Wheatley (Film and TV Studies), A History of Television for Women in Britain, 1947-1989

Led by Rachel Moseley, Helen Wheatley and Helen Wood (De Montfort University), this AHRC-funded project on the history of women’s television explores the gendered nature of TV production, consumption and preservation in Britain after WWII. Public Engagement events include a film screening day at the Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester (Oct 2011), an appearance on BBC Radio 4 Women's Hour (Aug 2011), a 'pop-up' exhibition in Coventry city centre (May 2012) and an exhibition at the BFI Southbank (Jun 2012). The project will have impact on television and film archiving policies, including at the BFI and BBC.

Dr Roberta Bivins (Centre for the History of Medicine, History), Improving the Delivery of Ethnically Appropriate Research, Services and Policy

This research network organised in collaboration with WMS, Sociology, De Montfort University and Cardiff Medical School is dedicated to improving and promoting high-quality research on ethnicity and health. The network has planned three workshops on Ethnicity and Clinical Trials; Diabetes and Ethnicity; and Obseity, Ethnicity and Health. The goal of the collaboration is develop new models for research on key ethnicity-linked issues to be used as widely as possible by research users: practitioners, policy makers, publishers, funding bodies and affected communities. Recent public engagement activities include Industry and Parliamentary Trust Policy Breakfast (Dec 2011) and IPT dinner (Mar 2012).

Professor Kevin Butcher (Classics), Classics Vodcasts

Over the past year or so, Kevin Butcher has recorded a series of videos on numismatics and history, covering topics such as the portrait of cleopatra, the identity of the so-called 'tribute penny' of the Bible, and the dating of the birth of Jesus. The videos are available on the Classics website. Kevin's skills for presenting and videomaking have attracted the attention of staff, students and visitors to the university, including IGGY (International Gateway for Gifted Youth) for whom Kevin has been head-hunted to produce interactive material for their members. A star in the making!

Professor Jon Mee (English), Celebrating Dickens

Author of the Cambridge Introduction to Charles Dickens, Professor Mee was invited to become the lead academic on a project by the university's Communications Office on the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth. Involving academics and students from the departments of History, Law, Health and Social Studies, Theatre and WMS, the project team have produced a documentary, interactive website with learning resources, podcasts and videos and an iPhone application. As of March 22, 2012, the iPhone application had well over 10,000 downloads.

Dr Eleonora Belfiore (Cultural Policy Studies), The Social Impact of the Arts

The research project, The Social Impact of the Arts, was funded by the AHRC from 2007 to 2010 and questioned the very notion that the arts have positive impacts on society. While the project itself has finished, Dr Belfiore continues to engage with policymakers, politicians, and arts funders and supporters about how they evaluate and assess the value of the arts in society. Recent engagements include meeting with the Shadow secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport to inform his proposed policy for the arts. She actively disseminates her research via Twitter @elebelfiore and a new blog.

Professor David Morley (English), Warwick Writing Programme

Founded in 1996, the Warwick Writing Programme continues from strength to strength. It's very premise is based on bringing key figures in the publishing industry into the university. Its annual events are some of the most high-profile held by the university, attracting participants and press coverage from around the globe. Just as important is WWP's contribution to the development of young writers which is manifested in its ongoing collaboration with IGGY. Last year, WWP and IGGY introduced a writing prize for young writers in collaboration with the literary magazine Litro.

Background and rationale

University research in the arts and humanities makes important societal contributions – from broadening knowledge about diverse cultures to re-evaluating government policies – many of which are under-appreciated. Further, many arts and humanities academics take steps to share their research, both the process and the outcomes, with members of the public regardless of the agenda proposed by the UK government and its research councils.

The rationale behind the Arts Impact Award is to recognize arts researchers for the time, hard work and consideration they put into engaging the public with the benefits of their research, and which is not otherwise rewarded within the university.

By acknowledging this important aspect of researchers’ work, it will help strengthen research-related impact as a core component of the university's research plans, and also place it at the heart of all research projects. It will encourage academics to reassess the ways in which research projects are created, carried out and disseminated so that they are conducted in such a way as to bring the greatest amount of benefits to the greatest number of people.

Criteria for Award Winners

Because of the time lag and typical long-term nature of research-related impact, this award seeks to recognize those individuals who have undertaken public engagement with the intention of achieving the greatest possible impact in innovative or interesting ways, rather than recognizing the achievement of impact itself.

Over the past academic year, 2011/12, nominated researchers should have:

• Involved the public in an aspect of their research
• Made efforts to disseminate research findings to non-academic audiences
• Involved the public through engagement or dissemination activities that are related to the researcher’s general research interests
• Activities may be related to one specific research project or a funded research project but not necessarily