Taking cue from the UNESCO definition of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage', this multidisciplinary research group broadly aims to encompass unwritten, unofficial histories and vernacular culture relating to all forms of media, events, traditions, rituals, spaces and places.
Our priority is to bring together a community of researchers from across the university through talks, seminars, and collaborations, with the aim of growing Sheffield Hallam's national and international reputation and expertise in cultural heritage research.
Our research interests
Vernacular culture and contemporary folklore is often unrecorded or overlooked, and ranges from that which might be seen as historical and ancient to the extremely contemporary.
Our interests concern unearthing, preserving and archiving material with clear links to cultural contexts, and building professional approaches to archiving, creating and sharing knowledge.
Our interests span unrealised cultural visions: unbuilt cinemas; oral histories; unproduced, hauntological or lost visions of film and television; and shadow histories of what might have been.
This approach of media archaeology aims to examine as yet unearthed media, stories and legends that remain untold or unexamined: what might have been, that which is everyday (past, present and future) and how and why ideas, events, traditions, narratives and stories may (or may not) have come to be/pass.
Recent projects
Examples of recent and current research projects in Cultural Heritage include:
Past events
Work with us
The research group has an ongoing dialogue both with individual scholars, groups and societies that share our research interests both within the UK and internationally. These include the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR), The Folklore Society and The Centre for Folklore, Myth and Magic.
Contact James Fenwick, David Clarke or Diane Rodgers to discuss collaboration.
