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Showing impact case studies 1 to 2 of 2
Submitting institution
Newman University
Unit of assessment
27 - English Language and Literature
Summary impact type
Cultural
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?
No

1. Summary of the impact

The Impact is chiefly in the Area: ‘Impacts on understanding, learning and participation’, and specifically in the type ‘Enhanced cultural understanding of issues and phenomena; shaping or informing public attitudes and values’. The work of Dr Helen Davies has contributed to a social change in the perception of diversity and comedy through links made between the Victorian freak show and Neo-Victorian culture in order to discuss contemporary attitudes towards gender, race, sexuality, disability and culture. The longer-term impacts are likely to include helping to break down barriers to positive perceptions of difference.

2. Underpinning research

Joining Newman University from Teesside University in 2016, Dr. Helen Davies has an established record in researching and analysing the ways in which contemporary fiction, film, and television have revisited the lives of nineteenth-century freak show performers. Linking the Victorian and Neo-Victorian she locates the freak show as a crucial forum for debating the politics of disability, gender, sexuality and race within the genre more broadly (evidenced in her monograph Neo-Victorian Freakery: The Cultural Afterlife of the Victorian Freak Show, Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 239 pp. ISBN: 978-1-137-40255-4).

Dr Davies’s work has long explored the politics of representation in neo-Victorian re-imaginings of freak show performers. The research draws upon work from both freak studies and disability studies to address the issue of bodily difference in a series of nineteenth-century and neo-Victorian texts, which are in danger of re-enacting the historical oppression of ‘freak show’ performers but, crucially, also have the potential to offer a more empathetic engagement with the figure of the freak. Neo-Victorianism is not a genre which is usually associated with comedy, as the various social power inequalities of the nineteenth century are hardly a laughing matter. However, Davies’s research asks to what extent can neo-Victorian comedy be used as a political strategy to challenge Victorian attitudes towards disability, as well as critiquing our own contemporary prejudices?

One strand of the research, for example, explores the representation of disability in the neo-Victorian television sitcom Hunderby (2012–2015). Davies argues that Hunderby’s depiction of two stereotypes of Victorian disability—the freak show, and the “cripple”—both reiterates and critiques ableist assumptions about desire and pity in relation to bodily diversity. The series pokes fun at the “seriousness” of neo-Victorian representations of the nineteenth century, but ultimately Hunderby tells us more about contemporary anxieties about disability than providing a meaningful challenge to Victorian ideologies of bodily difference.

In another piece of disseminated research, Davies and Ilott (2018) describe the representational strategies employed by comedy writers, producers and performers by offering Richard Dyer’s (1993) characterization: "how we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others is based on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation". Media representations and observational learning also play vital roles in construction of any gender's respect and importance in society. Their edited collection (Davies and Ilott below) interrogates the ways in which “humorous” constructions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, class, and disability raise serious issues about privilege, agency, and oppression in popular culture. Outlining the theories, contexts, and politics pertinent to debate, they demonstrate how questions of representation mediate the triadic relationship between teller, butt, and audience of jokes, and examine the dynamic role that humour plays in making and remaking identity and power relations in culture and society.

The Impact work of Dr Davies rests on “learning about different ways of being and living which can lead us to question our presumptions about ‘freakish’ Victorians as well as about bodily diversity in our cultural moment” ( Neo-Victorian Freakery 15).

3. References to the research

Davies, Helen. (2016) ‘A Big Neo-Victorian Society? Gender, Austerity, and Conservative Family Values in The Mill’ in H. Davies and C. O’Callaghan (eds.) Gender and Austerity in Popular Culture: Femininity, Masculinity and Recession in Film and TV. London: I. B. Tauris, (pp. 17-41).

Davies, Helen. (2016) ‘Written on the Body: Wounded Men and Ugly Women in The Little Stranger’ in C. O’Callaghan and A. Jones (ed.) Sarah Waters and Contemporary Feminism. Basingstoke: Palgrave (pp. 155-172).

Davies, Helen (2017) ‘“I raise the devil in you, not any potion. My touch”: The Strange Case of Heterosexuality in Neo-Victorian versions of Jekyll and Hyde’ in B. Poore (ed.) Neo-Victorian Villainy: Adaptations and Transformations in Popular Culture. Rodopi/BRILL: Amsterdam. *(*pp.236-51) ISBN: 978-90-04-32225-7

Davies, Helen (2018) ‘Saintly Cretins and Ugly Buglys: Laughing at Victorian Disability in Hunderby: Mocking the Weak’, in Comedy and the Politics of Representation Basingstoke: Palgrave (pp.153-170) DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-90506-8_9

Davies, Helen and Sarah Ilott (2018), ‘Mocking the Weak? Contexts, Theories, Politics’ in Comedy and the Politics of Representation London: Palgrave (pp.1-24). DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-90506-8_1

Davies, Helen (2018), ‘Gender, sexuality and the body in comedy: performance, reiteration, resistance.’ Comedy Studies 9(1):1-4. DOI: 10.1080/2040610X.2018.1437163

4. Details of the impact

The Impact is in an early stage and the gathering of data has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as has the staging of public engagement events in 2020. Further events were intended for 2020 but the difficulties of public gatherings resulted in only one event being staged in 2020, a virtual one at the George Marshall Medical Museum. Further events are intended for 2021 and beyond, though these again will be virtual for the foreseeable future.

The Impact is chiefly in the Area: ‘Impacts on understanding, learning and participation’, and specifically in the type ‘Enhanced cultural understanding of issues and phenomena; shaping or informing public attitudes and values’.

Impact to date draws on public appearances made by Dr Davies to engage people with the findings of her research over previous years. Examples of this engagement are given here:

1) Dr Davies contributed to Lucy Worsley’s ‘Encounters with Victoria’ series aired on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019. Dr Davies was interviewed about the life of Charles Stratton, otherwise known as General Tom Thumb, who was a Victorian freak show performer and the subject of previous work, published in Neo-Victorian Freakery: The Cultural Afterlife of the Victorian Freak Show, but also in current research towards her forthcoming monograph on Re-Reading the Victorian Freak Show: Texts, Contexts, Politics. You can listen to the podcast entitled Encounters with Victoria, 5: American Idols on the  BBC website. See sources marked * below.

2) On February 27th 2019, Dr Davies gave a public talk at Liverpool Hope University’s International Network of Literary and Cultural Disability Scholars on ‘Reading Down Syndrome. Past, Present, Future?’ The talk argued that we are at a crucial moment for thinking about the future of people with Down syndrome, considering that 2018 has seen the introduction of non-invasive pre-natal testing via the NHS. Evidence from countries such as Iceland suggests that the availability of NIPTs leads to very high percentages of terminations, and disability rights groups have argued that this trend is tantamount to a strategy of modern eugenics (Burch 2017, pp. 1085-1089). Drawing on her work on bodily constructions in literature and history, the talk explored the way in which various ‘futures’ of characters with Down syndrome are constructed in contemporary culture and how certain often still-unchallenged stereotypes of the condition were established by Victorian medical discourses. Drawing on Dr Davies’ studies of the Victorian Freak Show, the talk ends by examining how some contemporary artists more positively deploy aesthetic and political innovation to imagine futures with agency, dignity, and inclusion for their characters. Advertised and discussed on the Centre’s Twitter feed (609 followers), the talk was recorded on video and uploaded to YouTube where it has had over 250 views. See sources marked ** below.

3) Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Davies staged a Zoom talk on October 27, 2020: The Freak Show and Victorian Medicine (The Strange Case of Millie and Chris) at the George Marshall Medical Museum in October: https://medicalmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/2020/10/27/zoom-talk-the-freak-show-and-victorian-medicine-the-strange-case-of-millie-and-chris The aim of the talk was to reveal a hidden history of local significance and bring it to people’s attention alongside an attempt to raise public awareness of the Victorian Freak Show and the light the story can cast on contemporary attitudes. The talk focused on

Millie and Christine McCoy, who were African American conjoined twins, born into slavery in America’s Deep South in 1851. They were stolen from their family at an early age, and trafficked around North America and Europe until being discovered on exhibition in Birmingham. This talk by Dr Davies explores their extraordinary life, and focuses upon the sensational coverage of their rescue in the Birmingham local press. What can the strange case of Millie and Christine tell us about attitudes towards gender, race, and bodily difference in the context of medicine and the Victorian freak show? Despite the need to stage the talk online, all 100 tickets for the event were taken, with the actual attendance well over 60. The feedback survey established that many people had not visited the George Marshall Medical Museum before. Feedback through survey monkey was invited after the event, with 17 responses. Nearly 80% thought the event was ‘Excellent’, with all others rating it as ‘Very Good’. 83% rated the talk as ‘thought-provoking’ and 60% said it encouraged them to find out more about the subject with 70% saying it had increased their awareness of the subject. Feedback was also sought directly through email forms: nearly a dozen responses were received, with a majority of respondents confirming that the event was ‘thought provoking’, ‘gave a new perspective on the topic’, and ‘Increased my understanding of the subject's relevance to everyday life’. See sources marked *** below.

All of Dr Davies’s research examines the cultural construction of bodily difference and her engagement work seeks to make plain both Victorian and contemporary ambivalences towards alterity as well as raise public understanding of this construction.

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

* BBC website. Noting recorded appearance of Dr Davies on ‘Encounters with Victoria’. Radio 4 broadcast. Episode 5 ‘American Idols‘ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004sg1

** Youtube video recording of public lecture at Liverpool Hope University’s International Network of Literary and Cultural Disability Scholars Dr. Helen Davis: Reading Down Syndrome. Past, Present, Future? - YouTube

** Twitter account of Liverpool Hope University’s International Network of Literary and Cultural Disability Scholars announcing CCDS seminar by Dr Davies https://twitter.com/inlcds/status/1101123793106300928?lang=en

** Centre for Culture and Disability Studies Facebook page discussing disability and CCDS seminar by Dr Davies https://m.facebook.com/CentreforCultureandDisabilityStudies/posts/1226212467503480

*** Webpage details and booking form for Medical Museum event https://medicalmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/2020/10/27/zoom-talk-the-freak-show-and-victorian-medicine-the-strange-case-of-millie-and-chris

*** Event feedback via questionnaires and SurveyMonkey responses. Events Organiser, George Marshall Medical Museum

Submitting institution
Newman University
Unit of assessment
27 - English Language and Literature
Summary impact type
Societal
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?
No

1. Summary of the impact

‘Nurturing Healthy Diversity’ used empirical research into inter-religious dialogue and research in Church of England (CofE) schools in Birmingham to engage local schools in discussion about Religious Education (RE). The project resulted in impact on how involved schools approached RE, wider discussions in the Diocese through the publication of a booklet on diversity in church schools, and the development of an evaluation tool to help CofE schools address religious diversity for the SIAMs (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools). The tool was used in one school, St Michael’s Bartley Green, resulting in changes to the school curriculum.

2. Underpinning research

This project is underpinned by Stephen Pihlaja’s ongoing research on inter-religious dialogue and Muslim citizenship in the UK. This work has looked specifically at how people of different faith and no faith understand one another and recognise shared values when they interact and the different strategies that are used in inter-religious dialogue to find both highlight differences and find common ground (see publications). The research then moved to looking at inter-religious dialogue in community settings in Birmingham. Between October 2018 and January 2019, Newman colleagues Dan Whisker (Sociology), Stephen Pihlaja, and Lisa Vickerage Goddard (Education) conducted a series of focus groups and one-to-one interviews with school leaders, teachers, governors, parents, and clerics. These interviews were conducted in four Church of England schools of the Birmingham diocese, chosen for their range of social and demographic characteristics.

In collaboration with the Birmingham Diocesan board for Education and supported by a grant from the St Peter’s Saltley Trust (£2,238), the team published a booklet for the Grove Education series as a practical resource for school leaders in building diverse communities.

In each school, the research discovered common ways of talking about community, where interviewees presented narratives around social diversity which simultaneously identified social tensions and presented the functional community of values as the mechanism of their resolution. In each case, though the poles of difference were themselves different (along lines of social class and religious pluralism), the resolving mechanism was presented, emically, as the effect of the shared values of all faiths: as the work of the divine through diverse human cultures.

The team analysed talk about community building on two levels: the level of socio-linguistic construction of a space of shared values and the level of social practice, where shared values were embedded in individual identities through collective community action, especially worship and religious education. The team found that embedding these shared values was crucial for the successful day-to-day management of school life. The team also found that the accounts of these processes often revealed anxiety about incommensurable worldviews amongst participants, about the stability of the community being constructed and about the implications of this instability for the school and community.

Finally, the team identified successful examples of this community-building work and sought to understand their efficacy in relation to the specific social, cultural, and economic circumstances of each school. The most successful examples responded to the specific forms of diversity in the school and its adjacent community. Grove books are intended to serve as guides to practice for members of the Anglican community, and the book stemming from this research presented the four schools as models for schools to plan their response to the challenges of different types of social and religious diversity in the school and surrounding community. As of January 2021, the book has sold 537 copies — mostly to schools and churches. The project also served as a pilot study for Dr Pihlaja’s successful AHRC ECR leadership fellowship proposal entitled ‘Language and Religion in the Superdiverse City’ (£155,024 FEC).

3. References to the research

Publications:

Pihlaja, Stephen. (2018) Religious Talk Online: the evangelical discourse of Muslims, Christians, and atheists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781316661963

Thompson, Naomi & Stephen Pihlaja (2018) Temporary liberties and uncertain futures: young female Muslim perceptions of life in England. Journal of Youth Studies 21/10: 1326-1343. DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2018.146802

Pihlaja, Stephen & Naomi Thompson. (2017) “I love the Queen”: Positioning in young British Muslim discourse. Discourse, Context, & Media 20: 52-58. DOI: 10.1016/j.dcm.2017.08.002

Richardson, Peter, Pihlaja, Stephen, Nagashima, Miori, Wada, Masako, Watanabe, Makoto and Kheovichai, Baramee. (2019). Blasphemy and persecution: Positioning in an inter-religious discussion. Text & Talk, 40/1: 75-98. DOI: 10.1515/text-2019-2049

Whisker, Dan, Pihlaja, Stephen, and Lisa Vickerage-Goddard. (2020) Diversity and Success in Church Schools. Cambridge: Grove Books.

4. Details of the impact

The research demonstrated that effective community building around shared values was a central part of the self-identified ‘mission’ which socially and religiously diverse church schools. To explore how to translate specific instances of good practice from our findings into effective practice in the wider RE sector, the team hosted ‘town hall’ meetings in the schools where the research took place, with over thirty participants across the four schools. These meetings, in the Autumn of 2019, served to disseminate the findings of the research and to facilitate dialogue and planning for scalable approaches amongst community stakeholders. The project also began conversations begun within the schools about religious diversity among teachers, governors, and parents. The publication of the Diversity and Success in Church Schools booklet allowed schools to share their own good practices in a national context (see support letters R1-5).

Feedback from school leaders and governors in these meetings suggested that SIAMS reports on inspections conducted using the new (2019) evaluation framework, derived from the Church of England’s ‘Vision for Education’ (2016) under reports were the most useful and objective metric of successful responses to challenges around social diversity. Consequently, the team began to liaise with other schools to do the following:

1) Diagnose effective responses to requirements for ‘Diversity’ work in extant SIAMS reports

2) Draw on the successful case studies identified in the research to provide models for successful community-building projects.

3) Connect schools with community groups in existing professional networks and facilitate dialogic planning and initiation of projects to respond to the needs identified in SIAMS reports.

This stage of the been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the limits on staging public events in primary schools in the autumn of 2020. Despite these challenges, from October to December of 2020, the team worked with the leadership and RE lead of St Michael’s Church of England School in Bartley Green, and conducted a close analysis of their previous SIAMS reports and of the demographics and history of the area.

First, this analysis reviewed the school’s articulated vision and its theological underpinnings in relation to the social context of the school, helping the school to identify the kinds of outstanding practice which it most needs to, and can most effectively, pursue.

Second, it systematically worked through the grading criteria in the current SIAMS evaluation schedule and explored ways to map the existing outstanding practice in the school onto these, helping to maximise how effectively the SIAMS inspector will be able to recognise the ways in which the school is meeting the aims articulated in its vision.

Finally, it reviewed the previous SIAMS inspection for suggested points of improvement and identified ways for the school to respond to these. This identified points of practical action for the SIAMS lead, the school leadership, and the wider school community to take in maximising the school’s effectiveness in living out its Christian mission.

The review of the vision with school leadership impacted how the leadership subsequently addressed religious education and the school ethos more broadly (R4). In partnership with stakeholders, we designed a new curriculum resource for Key Stage (KS) 1/2 by working with LEAF Creative Arts and St Michael’s, to introduce the Paper Trails Project in St Michael’s, which is a structured curriculum element designed to help children across KS1 and KS2 to connect with elders from the surrounding community, in care homes and supported living, as part of their RE curriculum, through a pen-pal system of writing letters and exchanging experiences and memories of different religious festivals. St Michael’s leadership reports that this has changed the school’s approach to the community and helped The SIAMS analysis and consequent genesis of the Paper Trails project have shaped the development of St Michael’s strategy for nurturing the school’s SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development), and has created impact in the development of the school’s thinking about Religious Education, their relationship with the community, and how to approach the SIAMs (R5&7).

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

R1 Church of England (Jill Stolberg) support letter

R2 St Peter’s Saltley Trust (Ian Jones) support letter

R3 St Peter’s Church (Graeme Richardson) support letter

R4 St Peter’s School (Evelyn Murphy) support letter

R5 St Matthew’s School (Paulette Osborne) support letter

R6 St Michael’s School (Jane Bruten) support letter

R7 LEAF Creative Arts (Susie Milne) support letter

Showing impact case studies 1 to 2 of 2

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