Briefing Notes: Ecologies of Modern Heritage Forum, Open University, 8 July 2009
A one day forum was convened by the Open University (jointly financed by the Department of History Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology) on 8 July 2009. The forum participants included Bletchley Park trustees, leading science heritage researchers and practitioners and a significant number of interested individuals who self-nominated through a call of interest advertised on heritage, archaeology, geography and science jiscmails.
The day began with an introduction to the concept of ‘Ecologies of Modern Heritage’ and to the structure of the day, which was arranged around research group presentations, questions and open debate. An emphasis on discussion and interaction between attendees was paramount throughout the day. The first section of the programme involved presentations from the four research groups: Decay, Transmitting, Systems, and History/Memory. Each presentation was 20 minutes long; presentations incorporated slide presentations, videos, and music. After each group presented their concept and their proposals for its progression as a research agenda, questions and discussion with the audience ensued.
The remainder of the day consisted of a number of presentation relevant to both the specific site of Bletchley Park and the development of the group research proposals. The afternoon began with a presentation on the development and future of the site by its Director, Simon Greenish. This was followed by demonstrations of previous research projects related to Bletchley Park, including a presentation by Dr Zdenek Zdrahal on his cipher technology project, and a demonstration of a musical composition created by Matthew C. Applegate in collaboration with the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.
The final element of the afternoon centred on discussions, which were convened to allow members of the audience to question and discuss research proposals with the groups on an informal basis. The four groups hosted lively conversations, and the movement of certain participants was promoted to enhance discussion and the sharing of expertise. The day concluded with final remarks by Dr Rodney Harrison (Lecturer in Heritage Studies, Open University) and Professor Simon Lavington (Emeritus Professor in Computing and Electronic Systems, Essex University). The Forum came to a close with discussions about how the research groups that had emerged during the Cluster could to move forward with developing funding applications in the light of comments and discussion.
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