Geographical Projections: Lantern slides, science and popular geography, 1860-1960

In recent years scholars have shown the significance of visual technologies - including museums, lectures, exhibitions and photography - in the making of scientific knowledge. Studies have considered, for example: how visual evidence in maps, drawings and photographs was used to create authority within science; the roles of photography in the making and dissemination of geographical and anthropological knowledge; and debates over photographic evidence within nineteenth-century science. Little scholarly attention, however, has been paid to the widespread use of glass lantern slides from the 1860s in the creation, circulation and collection of forms of scientific knowledge.

From the 1860s onwards lantern slide shows became hugely popular forms of entertainment and education, catering to an increasing hunger for visual imagery (particularly photographs) in the age of empire, mass communication, science and modernity. Many lantern slides, from amateur makers and professional studios, catered in some way to the taste amongst Western audiences for photographs of exotic sites and scenes. While some scholars have begun to examine the social, aesthetic and technological aspects of lantern slides, few have considered their significance as forms of popular geography, and scant attention has been paid to how slides were actually made, circulated and displayed within networks of geographical science and education.

This collaborative doctoral project, between the University of Exeter and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (RGS-IBG), focuses on the RGS-IBG collection of lantern slides. While much of the collection has been cleaned, catalogued and conserved, no detailed, critical research has yet been done on this significant archive of (approximately 20,000) slides. This collaborative research project, focusing on the unique RGS-IBG collections, will examine the place of lantern slides within geographical institutions, ideas and practices, from their beginnings in the 1860s to their decline in the next century in the face of competition from film and 35mm slides. The overall aim of the project is to locate geographical lantern slides within their wider cultural, historical and setting in order to better understand their attractions and attendant meanings.

In particular, the project aims to examine how lantern slides were used to make and communicate geographical knowledge to different audiences; to locate lantern slides within wider settings of science, commerce and entertainment; to examine how lantern slides were actually used as objects as well as how they were viewed as projected images. Analysing lantern slides alongside associated records, correspondence and contemporary publications (focusing on RGS-IBG archives but also using parallel UK collections), the project will explore how lantern slides were employed to convey particular forms of geographical information, how they circulated within geographical circles and how different audiences responded to them. It will also consider how technology and location affected audiences' attitudes, perceptions and expectations. In the process this doctoral research will contribute to debates across various academic fields including the history of technology; historical and cultural geography; history and sociology of science; visual culture and cultural history.

This research project also has strong potential to impact on other audiences. It will work with RGS-IBG staff to generate better knowledge and understanding of the RGS-IBG lantern slide collection, and potentially to develop further projects of research and impact. Through planned dissemination strategies, including displays, presentations and publication (including contribution to the Geographical Magazine, and on-line material) the project will open up this unique visual archive to wider audiences, including RGS-IB

Who will benefit from this research?

1. RGS-IBG library and curatorial staff: The RGS-IBG staff's capacity to work with and disseminate the collections will be enhanced by this research project.
2. School groups, students and teachers: The research will allow facets of the Society's history and its collections to be disseminated to school and university students and teachers and so to enhance their learning and teaching.
3. The wider museums sector: The research will disseminate information about the RGS-IBG's lantern slides collection to other relevant museums and commercial picture libraries.
4. RGS-IBG members and Fellows: The research will give RGS-IBG members and Fellows a better appreciation of their Society's history and resources.
5. Visitors to the RGS-IBG library and archives, and to its online catalogue: The research will be used by the RGS-IBG to provide a more detailed inventory of its collections, and to encourage a deeper awareness of the history of geographical ideas, and of current geographical scholarship.

How will they benefit from this research and what will be done to ensure they do?

1. RGS-IBG library and curatorial staff: In the immediate term Staff's research and professional skills will be developed by providing them with a detailed study of the contents of one of their most significant collections. In the longer term they will be better able to benefit other users, including school groups, members, researchers and the wider public, who are interested in the collection.
2. School groups, students and teachers: A feature on the project will be included in one of the Society's education websites, with an associated 'Ask the Expert'. These online resources are used heavily by teachers and students and are accessed by about half of the secondary schools in England and Wales and used extensively in teaching of KS3, GCSE, AS/A level geography. The project will therefore have a wide-ranging and long-term impact on the geographical education sector.
3. The wider museums sector: The project will identify real and potential connections between the RGS-IBG lantern slides and related collections in other museums, and so will enable those latter institutions to better appreciate the wider importance of their own collections.
4. RGS-IBG members: A talk about the project, by one/both of the academic supervisors, will be given in the Society's Monday lectures to Fellows and members and also in one of its regional events in the southwest. The former are attended by 500-600 regularly.
5. Visitors to the RGS-IBG, to its headquarters and online: The research will enhance the detail provided in the Society's online catalogue and so will help members and visitors to understand, access and use its collections. Members of the project team will give afternoon talks as part of the RGS-IBG's 'Be Inspired' series, where users of the collections talk about their research. There will also be small exhibitions of the lantern slides, using the Society's display cases. Dissemination to the wider public will be further enhanced by an article in the Society's Geographical Magazine, which has a readership of more than 20,000. This will significantly raise awareness and interest in the collections.

The Department of Geography and the RGS-IBG will ensure that useful knowledge and outcomes are identified through regular supervisory meetings, whole project team meetings (including staff from the RGS-IBG) and regular reports on the applied aspects of the research. The student will work with the RGS-IBG to ensure that the research feeds into relevant projects. The supervisory team will call on the expertise of the University's Knowledge Transfer team to help maximize the impact of the research. The University has a dedicated team of KT specialists who provide expert support for postgraduate research. The student will work w