Communicating Time and Culture: Championing a Global Perspective in the History of Science and Technology through Public Engagement

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Communicating Time and Culture: Championing a Global Perspective in Science and Technology through Public Engagement (CTC) will create a suite of public-facing, interactive cultural events and workshops and develop learning resources that support and foster an understanding of global histories of science and technology. It will also raise awareness about the significance of British-Chinese creative collaborations in the past and present. CTC will develop impact by disseminating the important findings of the original AHRC project, Time, Culture and Identity: The Co-Creation of Historical Research and Co-Development of Visitor Experience in China and the UK (TCI). It will do so by developing a programme of events for a range of public audiences. Through the outcomes of the events and learning resources, it will engage new local, national, and international audiences for the Science Museum Group and its collaborating partners. Documentation of the events, and the bespoke resources created during CTC, will be preserved digitally, maintaining the project's legacy to subsequent online visitors to the Science Museum Group's website.The original TCI project was designed to bring together British and Chinese expertise in interpreting the history of science and technology, by designing a digital heritage resource that supports visitor experience. TCI was developed with a view to foster collaboration with the Chinese museum and heritage sector and creative industries, to shape science capital, and generate new museum and heritage experiences. The focus on 'time' as a starting point for understanding the shared experiences of Britain and China in the history of science and technology emerged from a scholarship on timekeeping - particularly the production of precision timepieces and the dominance of Western views of time, which were seen as central to 'industrialised nations.' Not only did the historical clock trade provide a useful example of Euro-Sino technological transmission, but this inquiry opened the door to examine the cultures and identities of time, which largely supported further understandings of British-Chinese relations. The forthcoming exhibition, Zimingzhong: Clockwork Treasures from China's Forbidden City, will showcase the unrivalled horological collections of the Palace Museum - objects that embody the historical clock trade. This exhibition was a natural extension of TCI, but not officially part of the original AHRC project. The follow-on project CTC will act as a conduit that brings together the exhibition with the academic findings of the original TCI project. In doing so, it will use these two major resources to inform our public-facing programme and highlight how the two interact to create new understandings of the historical clock trade. TCI's understanding of the cultural differences of museum audiences and the experience of working with creative companies to create innovative museum experiences about the Imperial clock collections will inform CTC's initiative to develop cross-cultural and creative interpretations that will ultimately enhance audience experience.CTC will run for 9 months to deliver four work packages including 'Creating Learning Resources' (WP1), 'Designing Cultural Events' (WP2), 'Knowledge Exchange' (WP3) and 'Producing Summative Documents' (WP4). Designed and led by PI Dr Tilly Blyth and Co-I Dr Carol Lo Yun Chung, in collaboration with creative practitioners, cultural advocates, museum professionals, and academics, CTC will have impact on an average of 3,500 to 4,500 people at Science Museum Lates events, and an estimated 30,000 visitors to the Zimingzhong exhibition across 5 months (September 2020 - January 2021). CTC's impact will be tracked by Co-I Chung through post-events evaluations. Findings will be disseminated through summative papers and documents informing museum practice on audience engagement.