Claire Wood, University of York
Collaborative Research Training Scheme - Public Engagement Training
As many of us settle down in front of the TV to watch the classic movie Oliver Twist a group of students from York will be appreciating it in an entirely new way.
The famous passage where Twist asks for 'more’ food is so well known it is now something of a cliché, making it difficult to comprehend its original power. Researcher Claire Wood, from the University of York, decided that students would better appreciate this scene if they could taste the unpalatable workhouse gruel that Oliver requests. This bodily experience helped to develop an understanding of the text that mere reading never could. It also suggested what could be achieved if the other senses were used to explore and communicate ideas and stories in the humanities. The next step was the development of Sensory Stories.
Inspired by the BBC/British Museum project, ‘A History of the World’, Sensory Stories aims to train researchers how to communicate their work to different audiences. These research stories will be told through appeals to the senses, especially taste, smell, vision and touch, and by making use of objects, public spaces, and performance to reveal exciting aspects of current research.
Funded as a year-long AHRC Collaborative Research Training project, the initiative is organised by a team of postgraduates based in the Humanities Research Centre at the University of York. The students' diverse subject backgrounds has brought a unique dynamic to the project, with the team exploring innovative ways of working in collaboration with each other and the wider public.
In January the project reached its first milestone, providing a training day for sixty students from Northern universities. The event combined ‘spotlight’ sessions led by specialists in media communication, storytelling and the heritage sector with innovative practical workshops that soon had the participants developing these skills for themselves.
Students have been able to put this training into practice through a range of ‘Sensory Opportunities’ within the local community. From discussing Norse mythology with enthusiastic primary schoolchildren to capturing the memories of elderly care home residents, many new and exciting conversations are taking place. Another project has created a range of activities for the whole family based upon exhibits inside York Art Gallery, and will present them in the square outside. These experiences will be brought together at the culminating ‘Sensory Stories Café’ in June 2011 as part of the university’s new ‘Festival of Ideas’.
You can follow the project’s progress and inspirations both local and national through the ‘behind-the-scenes’ blog at http://sensorystories.wordpress.com/. Dialogue is at the heart of Sensory Stories so please add your comments to the blog or send an email to hrc-sensorystories@york.ac.uk.