Thanks to all those who attended and supported History Lab North East’s ‘History outside the Academy’ workshop.
The day was built around a widely acknowledged problem facing researchers. On
the one hand historians (and academics more broadly) are increasingly required
and expected to disseminate their research to a non-academic audience. However,
they also face a range of challenges, problems and pitfalls in doing this. Academics
are expected to meet a wide range of criteria within academia – centred around results
driven research outputs as well as teaching responsibilities – leaving little
time for additional non-academic work. If time can be found, it is unclear how to
balance the types of broad narratives that are so often a part of public
history with the intellectual rigour and analysis expected in academic
research. There are also questions about how academic research can actually be
disseminated to a non-specialist audience? Without clear methods or directives
in place even if researchers have the time and desire to reach new audiences,
doing so is often dependent on their own initiatives. The workshop contended
with these issues in a variety of ways.
The first paper of the day was given by Ellen Crabtree who gave an enlightening account of Madeleine Rebérioux’s activities
during the Vietnam War. In particular, Ellen focused on the challenges that Rebérioux
faced as an academic when she stepped into an especially visceral contemporary
political debate and attempted to take action within that context. A notable
member of the Communist Party, Rebérioux formed a key part of a transnational
network that included American academics such as Noam Chomsky and which aimed
to supply books to Hanoi University. Such a scheme was plagued by both
practical issues and ideological fissures about the literature that should be
provided. Despite its problems, ultimately the scheme represented a new form of
academic militancy through which those in ‘Western’ institutions demonstrated
solidarity with their peers in Vietnam.
The
second paper of the day, presented by David Hope, gave an account of his
own work and experience of stepping outside of the academy. David highlighted
how Adam Smith’s seminal eighteenth century work The Wealth of Nations has been claimed by contemporary free-market
advocates and right-wing thinkers in a way that minimises the text’s historical
context. As a historian David seeks to critique this analysis of Smith but runs
the risk of becoming a political agent himself. How to place contemporary
politics in a proper historical context whilst avoiding becoming embroiled in
partisan political debate is a difficult question and one with which Rebérioux
must have also contended.
In
the third paper of the session, David Thom brought out many of the broad
themes of the day. An interesting comparison was drawn between history and
poetry, and specifically the comments of Jeremy Paxman about the necessity for
poets to connect with the public and not operate in closed artistic circles. As
David is himself embarking on a new research project that
looks at military service tribunals during the First World War, the centenary
commemorations present opportunities for public engagement activities. However,
as a PhD student with an expectation of rapid academic development in a strict
three year timescale there appears to be an inherent tension between public engagement
and academic research. With these seemingly conflicting expectations and the
limited time available to meet them David runs the risk of creating two
entirely different research projects – one ‘academic’ one ‘public’.
Following
these papers the group was joined by John Wynne-Griffiths and Jo
Moody from the National Trust who spoke about how the National Trust as an
organisation engages with the public. From this discussion two main themes
emerged. First, the techniques used by the Trust to ‘reach’ the public
highlights just how much work needs to be undertaken to effectively engage with
a broad audience. The Trust has to balance its own responsibilities as regards
conservation with the provision of a visitor-centred experience that attracts
high visitor numbers and ensures an enjoyable experience for people of all ages
and backgrounds. Second, the opportunity for postgraduate researchers to work
with and for organisations like the National Trust was explored, especially how
postgraduates’ specialist knowledge and abilities were valued by the
organisation. Postgraduate students were offered advice on how to approach charitable
organisations like the National Trust and broader issues surrounding
postgraduate employability were also discussed.
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| History Lab North East 2014 – Postgraduate researchers learn about the inner workings of the National Trust. |
The day concluded
with the History Lab North East AGM. The following topics were discussed
and will be addressed by the committee before the next event: 1) new
representatives need to be chosen by the different member institutions to
replace outgoing members; 2) a host institution and workshop theme need to be
decided for the next event (a take on ‘publishing’ was raised as a possible
theme); and 3) different ways to fund and raise the profile of future events
were discussed.
