Translating Cultures leadership fellowship (Phase II)

The second phase of the Leadership Fellowship will permit the further development of a number of activities relating to the 'Translating Cultures' theme. These will involve a number of past, present and future award holders, as well as a variety of other stakeholders from outside academia. Reflection on the legacies of the theme will also necessitate engagement with a broader range of researchers, including those at an early stage of their careers. Central to activity will remain support of the holders of large grants and innovation awards, as well as careful exploration of the ways in which the findings of research conducted under the theme will enhance its visibility and legacy. Although such collaboration and community building remain essential, significant time will as a result be dedicated in phase two to the refinement of a coherent narrative that unifies key elements of theme activity and underlines its distinctive intellectual agendas. This narrative will be developed and communicated through sustained dialogue with award holders and increased understanding of the outcomes and outputs of their projects. A range of research-based activities and publications (those envisaged include a special issue of a journal, a glossary of keywords and an exhibition) will demonstrate the ways in which the 'Translating Cultures' theme has delivered new findings, advanced different research angles, and permitted the elaboration or refinement of concepts, theories and methods that will have an impact across Arts and Humanities research, and beyond.

I will continue to enhance awareness of 'Translating Cultures' through the use of dedicated social media as well as by attendance at other relevant academic conferences and non-academic events. This strand of activity will include interaction with other parallel initiatives and programmes, both national and international, including HERA's 'Cultural Encounters'. Specific attention will be focused on the emerging connections between 'Translating Cultures' and OWRI. Theme development in the second phase of activity will also depend on the extension of collaboration with non-academic partners, particularly in the areas of policy and public understanding.

Central to the evolution of the Leadership Fellowship in its second phase will be more active collaboration with other AHRC themes ('Science in Culture', 'Digital Transformations', and 'Care for the Future'), as well as with the cross-Council programme on 'Connected Communities'. A number of bi- and tri-lateral initiatives are in development, relating to a variety of areas including big data, the medical humanities, the useable past and transnational cultural forms. These will allow the development of research at the intersections of these thematic areas (most notably ensuring the exploration of questions of translation, interpreting, multilingualism, cross-cultural mobility and international comparison). They will also contribute to understandings of the ways in which research across the 'Translating Cultures' theme has contributed (and might yet contribute further) to a variety of emerging directions in Arts and Humanities research - and in the interdisciplinary activity which the Arts and Humanities enhance). At the same time, the Leadership Fellows will pursue a programme of activities that will permit collective reflection on key areas of thematic activity, including interdisciplinary research, collaborative research and partnerships, and internationalization / transnational research collaboration. There will also be an event in 2018 to showcase the research in each of the themes, and to explore the ways in which this has advanced their respective fields.