Researcher Profiles Page - Folen Profilys a'gan Hwithroryon
The following listing shows the current membership of the Institute's research network. Just scroll down to view. The list is alphabetic by surname.
The following listing shows the current membership of the Institute's research network. Just scroll down to view. The list is alphabetic by surname.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Cornish Language, History, Dolly Pentreath, Henry Jenner, Language Extinction, Language Teaching
Kensa Broadhurst is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Institute of Cornish Studies. Her PhD studies, funded by the Cornwall Heritage Trust, examined the status of the Cornish Language between 1777-1904, that is, the death of Dolly Pentreath, the so-called last speaker of Cornish, and the publication of Henry Jenner’s Handbook of the Cornish Language which began the language revival. Kensa is also considering what exactly we mean by, and how we define language extinction, and hopes to contribute to developing a function and status for the Cornish language within higher education. Kensa teaches Cornish for the University of Exeter and is involved in teacher training and examining for the Cornish language community. Alongside her research, Kensa blogs and tweets in Cornish, and writes and reads the news in Cornish on Friday mornings for BBC Radio Cornwall.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
World War, Coastal, History, Oral History, Rural Communities
Michael is presently studying for an MPhil, and his research area is the impact of the World Wars on southern Cornish Coastal communities. Michael Bunney is chair of St.Goran Old Cornwall Society and his research complements his work as a community historian and the Cornish history classes he teaches locally. Michael's family descend from the Gorran and Mevagissey area and his research builds on the extensive local oral history and focuses on the transformative impact of the wars on rural communities in the period 1900- 1950.
https://cornishdemocracy.net
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Digital Humanities, GIS, Data Analytics, Linguistics, Onomastics, Toponymics, Historical Linguistics, Cornish Language, Kernowek, Devolution, Politics, Constitutional Affairs, Governance
Andrew Climo is studying for a PhD in Cornish Onomastics. His thesis rests on ‘three pillars’: The use of data analytics to systematically study Brittonic personal and place names; The study of Classical Brittonic and its development into Old Cornish; The use of geographic and social context to classify their usage.
He has been active in the Cornish language since the 1980s, was previously Chair of Agan Tavas, the Society for the Promotion of the Cornish Language, the founding editor of the bi-lingual magazine, An Gowsva, published a Cornish language course book, was involved in developing the first Cornish Language Strategy, securing language funding from central government, and the establishing a Standard Written Form.
He was also Head of Research for the Cornish Constitutional Convention, led the publication of three major reports on Cornish devolution and participated in discussions with government on both devolution and recognition of the Cornish language. Previously, his professional career spanned programme and project management in the manufacturing sector, quality management, voluntary and community sector governance, the development of a ‘kite mark’ for Cornish community groups, the publication of scientific journals, and finally university process transformation and training delivery.
Andrew edits the online journal and researchers resource sites for the Institute, and is co-lead for the Cornish Democracy unit, with Dr. Garry Tregidga. Andrew is also the editor of the Cornish Democracy, ICS Journals and ICS Research Community web sites.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
History, Emotive Experience, Environment, Nineteenth Century, Cornish Identity, Mining, Coastal, Farming, Artisan, Heritage, Handcrafts, Knitting History
Emily Cunningham is a PHD student of History at the University of Exeter and specialises in Everyday History in Cornwall. She is currently researching the emotive experience of environment in Nineteenth Century Cornwall, exploring the links between weather and landscape and how people felt about them. Through this research she is highlighting the Cornish relationship to different environments throughout the county – for example, mines, coasts and farming.
Emily is also working on the Cornish Artisan Heritage Project, which works to synthesise and maintain knowledge of Cornish Handcrafts in local communities. Her personal specialism is in Cornish knitting history, skills and techniques, and in her free time reproduces historical ganseys.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Critical Tourism Studies, Housing, Coastal Cornwall, Ethnography, Research Methods, Learning Sciences, Organ Studies
Lucy Ellis is currently a consultant in higher education, a research associate and editorial assistant. Her work in the field of critical tourism studies focusses on the supply of housing to host communities affected by tourism in coastal Cornwall and the host-guest relationship using the ‘ethnographic research cycle’ methodology. The research views tourism in Cornwall as dependent development. With Professor David Baker she is currently co-Editor of Future Directions in Digital Information: Predictions, Practice and Participation for the Elsevier Digital Information Review Series. In addition to writing for publication, Dr Ellis conducts other scholarly activity such as reviewing for scholarly journal titles including Information and Learning Sciences (Emerald) and Journal of British Institute of Organ Studies.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
World War 2, Literary Criticism, Film, Oral History, Latin, Classics, Teaching, Augustus, Roman City Life, Examinations, Ecclesiastical Latin, New Testament Greek
I am a postgraduate student at the Institute of Cornish Studies, researching film in Cornwall during World War 2 particularly looking at the depiction of Cornwall and the portrayal of the Cornish as seen both from within the county and from outside. I cover feature films, film shorts and newsreels. My main research has been using evidence from the social history of the time including local documents and oral evidence (such as still exists). I have found small local museums very helpful.
I am also able to offer support in translating early documents in Latin relating to Cornwall and am a member of the British Library. I have an MA in Classics and a PGCE teaching qualification. My specialisms are: Roman satire, Latin verse literature, the age of Augustus and Roman city Life. I spent over twenty years as a Principal Examiner at an examination board writing both GCSE and AS/A level papers. I am familiar with Ecclesiastical Latin and New Testament Greek having taught at a Seminary.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
James Dryden Hosken, Cornish Revival, Poetry, Social, Performing Arts, Theatre
I was recently awarded an M.Phil. degree from the Institute of Cornish Studies for my study of the Helston poet, James Dryden Hosken. This sought to assess Hosken’s importance within the Cornish Revival, focusing on his unique contribution as a labouring-class poet who had experienced hardship and emigration before being “barded” in 1928. The thesis included previously unresearched biographical information and some detailed studies of Hosken’s Cornish-themed poetry, particularly Reuben Quinion. Copies are now in the Morrab and Kresen Kernow.
I am continuing to research other lesser-known and mainly “labouring- class” Cornish poets of the nineteenth century, as well as the portable theatres of Cornwall in that time. I am long (!) retired and although I do not live in Cornwall, I visit when I can. Ernie Parsons M.A.(Oxon); M.Ed., M.Phil..
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Politics, Business Engagement, Innovation, Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics, Sociodigital Futures, Industrial Relations, Business
Harry is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and Director of Business Engagement & Innovation for Humanities & Social Sciences at the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus in his hometown of Penryn. His academic research and writing explores the politics and economics of fairer work futures in local and global context.
As part of the Institute of Cornish Studies Social & Economic Research Unit, Harry leads a programme of research and business support focused on “Good Work” in Cornwall as part of two Shared Prosperity Fund projects, Evolve Futures and Entrepreneurial Futures. He is also involved in the ‘Fairer’ strand of the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Civic Universities Agreement. Harry is a Fellow of the Institute for the Future of Work, a Co-Investigator of the Economic & Social Research Council Centre for Sociodigital Futures, Secretary of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University of Bristol Business School.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Participatory Research, Local Government, Transport, Footpaths, Environment, Sustainability, Health, Wellbeing, Housing, Landscape
My PhD uses a Participatory Active Research approach to engage the local town and parish councils and many individual users in co-creating improvements to the established Cornish footpath network. By examining the role of footpaths in the 21st Century within the narrative of both a climate and ecological crisis and an emerging low carbon economy, the focus moves from the original reasons for their creation to a more contemporary utilitarian engagement for health and wellbeing, integrating into the modern transport and housing infrastructure and for increasing the scope of ‘green corridors’ and nature connection.
Using ‘walking and talking research methodologies’ this thesis explores people’s relationships and connection to local landscape, place and space. The study asks the questions of whether individual needs and values can be aligned with other users’ perception and needs for the benefit of the community within the heightened sense of urgency brought about by the climate and ecological emergency. The relationships between people and landscape along the footpath network is at the core of developing the concept of a ‘Network of Needs’. Understanding the complexity and contradictions of dealing with disparate users of the network I will use walking as a methodology where the network becomes a site of both praxis and research. By working together with 9 parishes surrounding Mabe, which makes up around 9% of the population of Cornwall, I ask if there is potential for a collective local response to reconnecting people with their locality, landscape and environment (Ingold and Vergunst 2008; Tilley 1994) to help transition to a local low carbon economy.
http://cornishstory.com/
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Culture, Heritage, Society, Oral History, Ethnomusicology, Political History, Celtic Studies, Maritime Churches
Garry Tregidga has been a pivotal member of the Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS) since 1997. He is currently a co-Director of the Institute and is developing its Culture, Society and Heritage research strand. Research interests include oral history, ethnomusicology, and the political history of Cornwall since the 1880s in a wider Celtic and British context.
Garry is also project leader of Eglosyow Morek Kernow/Cornwall’s Maritime Churches, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and seeks to explore the religious culture of maritime communities through time. This is envisaged as a key project in extending the work of the Institute in relation to digital humanities and democratic scholarship. Garry coordinates our Culture, Heritage, and Society theme.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Social Anthropology, Socioeconomic Inequalities, Industrial Change, Welfare State, History, Community, Social Policy, Research Methods, Widening Academic Participation, Social Policy, Housing, Heritage, Nostalgia, Bureaucracy, Coastal Communities, Rural History, Critical Realism, Social Ontology, Social Class
Christie van Tinteren is an ESRC-funded PhD student working within the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He researches socioeconomic inequalities, industrial change, and the welfare state in rural Britain, as well as experiences of (and ideas about) time, history, and community.
He is originally from Truro and is currently conducting a 15-month fieldwork project in Newlyn. Before his PhD, Christie studied social anthropology at the LSE and social policy at the University of Oxford. He is interested in combining research methods and approaches, widening academic participation, and making the products of research more accessible.
His research interests include: social policy; housing; heritage; nostalgia; bureaucracy; industrial change; coastal communities; inequality; rural British history; critical realism; social ontology; and class.
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Visual Archives, Politics, Diaspora, Political Philosophy, Political Governance, Sustainable Economy, Knowledge Sharing, Local Government, Ecology, Geography, Geology, Materialism, Rural Studies, Population, Planning, Local Economies
My research focusses on the entangled relationship between people, how they organise into communities, and the landscape that they are situated in (geography, geology, and ecology). I use the New Materialisms to explore the politics and economics of entanglement, and the implications of a more-than-human politics on social and environmental justice. In practical terms, I often find myself exploring rural economic development, and local government. My Fulbright All Disciplines scholarship (ethnographic inspired) fieldwork explores what an entangled politics looks like, drawing on case studies in Appalachia, New Orleans, and California. My research has been published in journals such as The Journal of Rural Studies, Sociologia Ruralis, Political Studies, Environment and Planning C: Population and Space, and British Politics. I recently published my book Affective Assemblages and Local Economies, (with Rowman and Littlefield) where drawing on ethnographic, embodied research in peripheral parts of the US and the UK, I imagine regions as complex adaptive regional assemblages to explore a more effective regional development.
I have been PI or Co-I on AHRC and ESRC research projects, have been awarded a Fulbright All Disciplines scholarship for 2022-23. I have contributed to a number of Parliamentary Inquiries, such as the House of Lords Select Committee on the Rural Economy “Time for a Strategy for the Local Economy”, and the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s “Fixing Fashion: Clothing, Consumption, and Sustainability” and "Green Jobs" reports. I am invited to present my research internationally in both policy and academic settings, including the European Union Committee of the Regions (with the European Association for Local Democracy), The European Parliament (with the European Free Alliance), the University of California Berkeley, the Virginia Tech Office for Economic Development, Feile Belfast, the National Association of Local Councils, and the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government. I am co-director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, a former trustee of the Political Studies Association, co-convenor of the PSA Local Government and Politics specialist group, and help to coordinate EdgeNet, a Regional Studies Association network which explores questions of peripheral and rural development. I have been interviewed by local, national and international media (TV, print and radio), including the BBC, NPR, The Guardian, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Follow me on Twitter on @JoanieWillett
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Music, Organ Music, Organ Manufacture, Victorian Era, Methodism, Religion, Preservation, Church, Chapel
I am studying the History and Rise of Pipe-Organ building in Cornwall from the Middle of the Victorian era to the Outbreak of World War II. Having recently relocated to my native county after some 40 years away working as a professional organist and church musician, I have become interested in the rise of pipe organ building in Cornwall from the time of the rapid growth in this field, with particular reference to those Cornish firms that flourished briefly but whose fortunes declined rapidly in the years between the two World Wars, and whose output is now largely forgotten. From around 1850 the expansion of Methodism in the county of Cornwall created a demand for many more pipe organs than had been the case previously. This demand was met by a number of local organ building firms, some of which were break-away firms set up by employees of already established companies from outside of the county, for example, Fleetwood of Camborne, who had worked for Sweetland of Bath. There were, though, others who established themselves independently. Perhaps the most successful firm in this respect was Hele & Co who set-up a business in Truro in 1864 and, during the remainder of the century expanded exponentially, firstly to Plymouth and then to Exeter. Then there are those smaller firms whose work remained local in the county and about which little has been done by way of research. Brewer of Truro, Heard & Co and Trudgian of St Austell are but three other firms who flourished successfully for a time, but who have long-since ceased to trade. It is possible to uncover excellent examples that have survived in original condition, though many have suffered at the hands of later firms that have sought to 'improve' the original concept, often with disastrous results, while many others have been lost as the result of church and chapel closures.This research ties in with my related activities and roles within the British Institute of Organ Studies www.bios.org.uk (I am the Historic Organs Co-Ordinator), the Diocese of Truro www.trurodiocese.co.uk (Organs Advisor), and St Ives Parish Church www.stiveschurch.co.uk (where I am the Director of Music and Principal Organist).
Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter
Socio-Economic Research, Housing, Migration, Economy, Employment, Public Sector, Third Sector, Project Evaluation, Social Sciences, Methodology, Quantitative Methods.
Malcolm Williams is originally from St.Just, where before going to university as a mature student, he was a local councillor and trade union official. He has lived for 30 years, just about as far away as you can get from St.Just, but still be in Cornwall – in Saltash! For many years he worked at the University of Plymouth and led a research group which conducted many socio-economic research projects in Cornwall. These projects included research on housing need, migration and economy and employment, as well as the evaluation of several public and third sector projects. Much of the research was collaborative with local councils and charities.
From 2010 Malcolm was a Professor and for some years the Director of the School of Social sciences, at Cardiff University. He retired from Cardiff University in January 2024, and is now an Emeritus Professor of Social Statistics. As well as research on Cornwall, he conducts research in the methodology of the social sciences and the teaching and learning of quantitative research methods. He has published over 100 papers and 11 books.
Malcolm sees his role in the Institute of Cornish Studies as a return to his research roots. 'I believe passionately in the social and economic potential of Cornwall, but to tackle these problems we need rigorous and wide ranging social research. We need to create an effective research community. Since I joined ICS I have worked with colleagues in the public, private and tcharity sectors to expand our knowledge of the socio-economic landscape of Cornwall.’ Malcolm is currently working with Cornwall Council on the largest housing survey conducted in Cornwall for decades. Malcolm's latest book brings together his research interests in a complex realist framework: Williams, M (2021) Realism and Complexity in Social Science'. London: Sage.