Cornish Studies and the Royal Cornwall Museum: applying a decade's learning
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Exeter
Department Name: History
Abstract
The Royal Cornwall Museum (RCM) is Cornwall's leading museum, which advances the 'education of the public ... with special reference to Cornwall'. The RCM does this through its exhibits, its library and archive and its outreach programme of educational activities. Recently in receipt of funding to improve its gallery designs, the RCM plans to replace its existing displays, felt to be old-fashioned, with a more coherent and thematic story of the social and economic development of Cornwall to the present day. In addition the RCM wishes to re-establish its role as a base for research on Cornwall and its past. It is therefore very keen to ensure that its redisplay is informed by the latest scholarship in the field of Cornish Studies. But its staff, although subject specialists, are not necessarily experts in Cornwall and its past.
The Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS) is a research institute located at the University of Exeter's Cornwall campus. Founded in 1970, the Institute is part of a major expansion of humanities teaching at the Cornwall campus beginning in 2007. The current ICS staff have researched and written on a range of issues related to Cornwall, including religious history, oral testimonies, politics and nationalism, the Cornish identity, the Cornish family and surnames, migration, emigration and the Cornish overseas, and literature. This body of research has been supported recently by grants from the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the European Social Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Moreover, work both at the ICS and elsewhere, encouraged by its annual publication Cornish Studies, has stimulated a collective reassessment of Cornish history.
Nonetheless, the body of knowledge generated by the ICS - existing in books, academic journals, databases and the unique collection of audio recordings amassed as part of the Institute's Cornish Audio Visual Archive project / could be disseminated more widely amongst new audiences in Cornwall. This would interface with the considerable popular interest in Cornwall's heritage and its historic identity and the growing role of the cultural industries in Cornwall's regeneration.
This project aims to transfer the knowledge held by the Institute and its staff to the RCM so that the Museum's redisplay reflects the latest academic research. Under the leadership of the Knowledge Transfer Fellow the ICS core staff will help the Museum identify new themes and link these to existing research. The University will employ a half-time Research Assistant for two years, who will be located within the Museum's Redisplay Project Team. The Research Assistant, with extensive prior experience of working with the museum sector, will liaise with the Knowledge Transfer Fellow and act as the day to day link between the RCM and the ICS, communicating the aspirations and needs of the Museum to the University and helping to translate the research knowledge of the academic team into practical display outcomes.
The project has two phases. In the first key themes will be identified and tested, in consultation with museum staff and users. They will be matched against objects in the RCM collections and to the body of knowledge of the ICS. In the second phase, the emphasis moves from scoping the redisplay to its practical implementation. The Knowledge Transfer team will provide input into the Museum's production of information panels and interactive audio-visual material. They will initiate a joint lecture programme, work with the Museum in producing publications and written material of relevance to the redisplay themes and produce teaching resources relevant to the higher education sector and adults. Both publications and teaching resource material will be produced in a variety of formats, ensuring its suitability for web delivery, thereby both helping the RCM reach new audiences and bringing the work of the institute to those audiences.
The Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS) is a research institute located at the University of Exeter's Cornwall campus. Founded in 1970, the Institute is part of a major expansion of humanities teaching at the Cornwall campus beginning in 2007. The current ICS staff have researched and written on a range of issues related to Cornwall, including religious history, oral testimonies, politics and nationalism, the Cornish identity, the Cornish family and surnames, migration, emigration and the Cornish overseas, and literature. This body of research has been supported recently by grants from the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the European Social Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Moreover, work both at the ICS and elsewhere, encouraged by its annual publication Cornish Studies, has stimulated a collective reassessment of Cornish history.
Nonetheless, the body of knowledge generated by the ICS - existing in books, academic journals, databases and the unique collection of audio recordings amassed as part of the Institute's Cornish Audio Visual Archive project / could be disseminated more widely amongst new audiences in Cornwall. This would interface with the considerable popular interest in Cornwall's heritage and its historic identity and the growing role of the cultural industries in Cornwall's regeneration.
This project aims to transfer the knowledge held by the Institute and its staff to the RCM so that the Museum's redisplay reflects the latest academic research. Under the leadership of the Knowledge Transfer Fellow the ICS core staff will help the Museum identify new themes and link these to existing research. The University will employ a half-time Research Assistant for two years, who will be located within the Museum's Redisplay Project Team. The Research Assistant, with extensive prior experience of working with the museum sector, will liaise with the Knowledge Transfer Fellow and act as the day to day link between the RCM and the ICS, communicating the aspirations and needs of the Museum to the University and helping to translate the research knowledge of the academic team into practical display outcomes.
The project has two phases. In the first key themes will be identified and tested, in consultation with museum staff and users. They will be matched against objects in the RCM collections and to the body of knowledge of the ICS. In the second phase, the emphasis moves from scoping the redisplay to its practical implementation. The Knowledge Transfer team will provide input into the Museum's production of information panels and interactive audio-visual material. They will initiate a joint lecture programme, work with the Museum in producing publications and written material of relevance to the redisplay themes and produce teaching resources relevant to the higher education sector and adults. Both publications and teaching resource material will be produced in a variety of formats, ensuring its suitability for web delivery, thereby both helping the RCM reach new audiences and bringing the work of the institute to those audiences.