Research projects
Our research is characterised by world-leading and internationally excellent research projects over a wide range of sub-disciplinary fields.
Featured projects
The Art of Fiction
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, ‘The Art of Fiction: Women Writers and the Decorative Arts’ investigates the connections between women’s writing and the decorative arts in the second half of the nineteenth century. The project considers how judgements of literary, aesthetic, and professional value affect women’s creative identities, and explores forms of artistic production that historically were neglected or considered inferior because associated with the feminine, the popular and the everyday. Until the later decades of the 20th century, decorative and ornamental craft work was often deemed nice but frivolous, a pastime followed by mainly female practitioners as a way of filling time. Dr Tricia Zakreski is working with project partners at MAKE Southwest and Killerton House to co-create contemporary embodied research in heritage and creative environments. In this way, the project involves participatory research and knowledge exchange with professionals and the wider crafting community.
Buzzard View and Riverlandia
Dr Ellen Wiles was commissioned by The National Trust to create two immersive literary audio works designed to engage diverse audiences in the landscape of the 12,500-acre Holnicote Estate and in their pioneering work to increase its environmental resilience. Buzzard View, a literary soundwalk, follows a route around the estate, exploring its history, wildlife, and the various ways in which the Trust has been working, including in partnership with local farmers, to increase biodiversity and reduce flood risk. Riverlandia is a fictional sound story inspired by the Trust’s landmark river restoration project at Holnicote. It tells a tale of a changing river valley, narrated by ten of its human and non-human inhabitants including a beaver, a sheep, a dragonfly, a ranger, and a teenage girl. Voiceover actors include Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones), Mike Wozniak, Tom Parry, Spencer Jones, and Bethany Antonia. Riverlandia was launched with a 5-day sound installation at The British Library in July 2023. In producing the immersive soundscapes for both works, Ellen collaborated with nature sound recordist Ellie Williams and sound designer Nicholas Allan.
Listen to the audio and find more information at www.ellenwiles.com.
Impact case studies
The magic lantern was the most important visual medium for entertainment and instruction across Europe and the world between 1860 and 1920, but its significance has been largely overlooked. Though magic lantern slides surviving in public collections contain a wealth of historically significant and beautiful imagery, they are fragile, costly to preserve and difficult to exhibit, meaning that the existence of much material remains unknown.
Hardy and Heritage’ is a collaborative PhD project between the University of Exeter and Dorset County Museum, led by Professor Angelique Richardson. The project aims to create a digital database of over 4,000 letters written to poet and novelist, Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928).
English
Creative Writing
| Buzzard View and Riverlandia | Dr Ellen Wiles |
| A History of Storms: New Approaches to Climate Fiction and Climate Literacy | Dr Ben Smith |
| Red River: Listening to a Polluted River | Professor John Wedgwood Clarke |
| Renewing Biodiversity Through a People-in-Nature Approach (RENEW) – Theme 2: Community Action | Professor John Wedgwood Clarke |
| Reservoir Stories | Dr Ellen Wiles |
Student stories
Buzzard View and Riverlandia
Dr Ellen Wiles was commissioned by The National Trust to create two immersive literary audio works designed to engage diverse audiences in the landscape of the 12,500-acre Holnicote Estate and in their pioneering work to increase its environmental resilience. Buzzard View, a literary soundwalk, follows a route around the estate, exploring its history, wildlife, and the various ways in which the Trust has been working, including in partnership with local farmers, to increase biodiversity and reduce flood risk. Riverlandia is a fictional sound story inspired by the Trust’s landmark river restoration project at Holnicote. It tells a tale of a changing river valley, narrated by ten of its human and non-human inhabitants including a beaver, a sheep, a dragonfly, a ranger, and a teenage girl. Voiceover actors include Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones), Mike Wozniak, Tom Parry, Spencer Jones, and Bethany Antonia. Riverlandia was launched with a 5-day sound installation at The British Library in July 2023. In producing the immersive soundscapes for both works, Ellen collaborated with nature sound recordist Ellie Williams and sound designer Nicholas Allan.
Listen to the audio and find more information at www.ellenwiles.com.
