The Arts and Humanities Research Council are pleased to announce that Professor Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies and Academic Dean for Arts at Queen Mary (University of London), has been appointed as Programme Director for the new AHRC 'Beyond Text' Research Programme.

With increased movement and cross-fertilization between countries and cultures, and the acceleration of global communications, we have entered an era 'beyond text'. Sounds, voices, images and material objects can be circulated more rapidly and widely than ever before. The AHRC has created the 'Beyond Text: Sounds, Voices, Images, and Objects' strategic programme to generate new understandings of and research into the impact and significance of these new methods of communication.

The programme is timely socially and politically. For example, this research could have an impact on educational practice and policy at a time when traditional forms of literacy are being supplanted by the manipulation of sounds and images via the Internet. The programme has a budget of £5.5 million over 5 years and runs from now to 2012.

Announcing the appointment of Professor Welch as the 'Beyond Text' Programme Director the AHRC Director of Research, Tony McEnery, said "This is a sensational appointment to a programme of international importance. I am confident that, under the direction of Professor Welch, this programme will produce outstanding research results."

Professor Welch brings extensive experience of collaborative scholarship to the post, having led a number of AHRC, Getty Foundation and Wellcome Trust funded projects, including the AHRC 'Material Renaissance' project which tracked values associated with Renaissance material culture. During her period at the University of Sussex until 2004, she served as Head of the Art History Department and as Pro-Vice Chancellor. Professor Welch will provide intellectual leadership and academic coherence in the development of the Beyond Text Programme. This will be a part-time (50%) position for the 5 year life of the research programme. This summer Professor Welch will be working with the Programme Steering committee to develop the full programme specification and the overall shape of the 'Beyond Text' programme.

Professor Welch said, "I am delighted and honoured to take on this key role. The 'Beyond Text' programme offers new opportunities for innovative, collaborative research across all of the AHRC academic communities and real possibilities for reaching a wide public audience. The programme should encourage us to think about the different ways in which groups communicated both in the past and in the present and I have no doubt that we will have a very exciting range of results, many of which will themselves be 'beyond text'."

The first call for the 'Beyond Text' Research Programme is planned to be in Autumn 2007.

Media Contact

For further information or to arrange an interview with Professor Welch please contact Jake Gilmore, AHRC Press and Public Affairs Officer, j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk; tel: 0117 987 6773.

Editors Notes

Arts and Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £90 million to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,500 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

Beyond Text: Sounds, Voices, Images and Objects:
A draft consultation document for the programme has been developed. It outlines potential research themes as well as possible opportunities for interdisciplinary and collaborative work. This specification will help to form the basis of future consultation for the development of the programme.

The AHRC has recently held two 'Beyond Text' Consultation Events, which provided opportunities for participants to contribute to the development of the Beyond Text Programme, through discussion and the exchange of ideas. Reports of each event are available via the links below.

• Wednesday 28 March 2007 - Teacher Building, Glasgow (see report)
• Wednesday 4 April 2007 - RSA, London (see report)

In addition, the Beyond Text Online Consultation has been extended to Friday 29 June. Academics wishing to provide additional feedback with reference to the consultation document and the event reports, or more generally about the Beyond Text programme, should please complete the feedback form and return it to Lee Novak (l.novak@ahrc.ac.uk) by Friday 29 June. The feedback received will be compiled in a report to the Programme Director for use in developing the full programme specification.