H&P co-founder and Professor of Contemporary History at the Institute of Contemporary British History, Pat Thane’s research and engagement with the Department for Education formed an impact case study submitted by King's for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. The results of this national assessment placed King’s College London 4th for research impact (as measured against other multidisciplinary universities).
The REF assess the quality and impact of research submitted by UK universities across all disciplines. The ‘impact’ of research beyond academia on the economy, culture, public policy, services, health or environment is a new metric in the REF and represents 20 percent of the overall submission.
Professor Thane’s case study was one of 43 submitted by historians at King’s, where the History Department was ranked 5th in the UK for quality of research.
Professor Thane’s research and public policy engagement on families and marriage, in particular her publication Happy Families? History and Family Policy (British Academy 2010), led to an invitation from the Department for Education to convene H&P seminars on topics of interest to policy makers, including early years childcare, family policy, adoption, learning difficulties and education, youth policy and policies for children with emotional or behavioural difficulties.
Civil servants and NGO representatives who attended the seminar series, 2011-2013, heard from Professor Thane and Dr Bonnie Evans, both of King's College London, and other experts from the H&P network about the historical context to these issues.
Read Professor Thane’s case study: Happy Families? Debunking the myth
Currently H&P runs seminar series in the Treasury and Home Office. H&P also devises bespoke workshops led by leading historians for civil servants wanting hands-on engagement with documentary evidence and other historical sources that can throw light on how and why decisions were made in the past, and to what effect. Read more about H&P seminars in government: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/seminars
H&P is based at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London.
We are the only project in the UK providing access to an international network of more than 500 historians with a broad range of expertise. H&P offers a range of resources for historians, policy makers and journalists.
