Interacting with computer-based maps has made many tasks, such as navigating from one place to another, significantly simpler for many users. The technology behind these developments, however, depends on being able to pin-point roads, buildings, paths, and other features in a precise way. The space of the world people move around in day by day is not the only kind of space which it is important to represent on computers. For example, historical documents can describe where buildings were, or where events happened. Writings about journeys made in the past, can help us today understand our own environment and how it was shaped and is still being shaped by the ways it has been perceived and described. Narratives of journeys are significant too in imagined worlds whether created in literature, or through media such as film. Studying such journeys, as well as other kinds of imagined spaces in literature, also helps us understand the ways in which people tell stories as a way of communicating with each other. The digital humanities includes the study of history, literature, and many other aspects of human experience, through digital technology. Ths technology may be used to process large amounts of information, which might come from historical documents or literary texts for example. This enables scholars to find patterns in the information, through techniques including visualisation of the data. These patterns can generate new questions or new perspectives on the world from which the data came. The digital humanities has successfully used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the study of data using computer-based maps. However, what can be done if all that we know is that the church is next to the house, or that the path went through the forest, or that the flood covered most of the town? These examples all include qualitative spatial relations: 'next to', 'through', 'covered most of'. These kinds of relations have been studied in computer science because, although they do not give enough information by themselves to plot things on a map, they can be represented computationally using logic. One motivation for the study of Qualitative Spatial Representation (QSR) in computer science is that humans often don't use very detailed spatial information. We might say ''move the chair next to the window'' instead of having to calculate the exact distances and angles involved. This kind of flexibility when dealing with locations is very similar to the need in the digital humanities to handle events, objects, journeys, and so on that cannot be pin-pointed on a map. Thus, the digital humanities needs more flexible computer-based ways of representing spatial information, and computer science has extensive research on QSR. These two areas of study have had almost no interaction before now. This network brings together experts from the humanities in areas including history, literature, and archaeology, with experts from computer science in areas including artificial intelligence and geographical information systems. The network will focus on how the digital humanities can use adaptations of the ways qualitative spatial relations are used in computer science. Two workshops will explore detailed case studies based on documents and other resources from the participants' areas of expertise. A third workshop will encourage the formation of a cross-disciplinary community centred on spatial information in the digital humanities. This workshop will report on the case study explorations. It will also allow researchers, and organisations who make archives and other historical records accessible to the public, to plan together the work needed to build digital tools that will help people handle spatial information in the humanities which is qualitative, metaphorical, vague, uncertain or ambiguous .

In twentieth-century Britain, dying was both extraordinary and an 'everyday' experience. Whilst the death of a loved one was a momentous emotional event for the family involved, within the wider community death occurred regularly. This period of study, from 1900 to 1950, includes two world wars and the advent of the nuclear age and the Cold War. Life expectancy was increasing for most groups across Britain in the first half of the twentieth century. The crude death rate fell from 16.0 per thousand in 1901-05 to 12.8 in 1941-5, though mortality rates remained highly dependent on region and social class. Infant mortality dropped rapidly, from 142.0 per 1000 live births in 1900 to 31.2 per 1000 live births in 1950. Furthermore, these decades saw the development of different medical technologies and care options for individuals who were elderly and dying. This process culminated in the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, as the welfare state brought about a new level of care for all, 'from cradle to grave'. What did this mean for families themselves? This research will explore the testimonies of individuals to think about how death and dying were perceived and experienced in modern Britain. It also involves research into public discussions of dying, such as in the press, and how medical practitioners cared for dying patients. The research explores how attitudes to and experiences of dying and death could vary for different groups of people. In particular, I will compare experiences and attitudes to dying across three different regions within Britain, through case studies of Lancashire, Glasgow and Leeds. Furthermore I will consider how factors like an individual's social class, gender and religion affected perceptions and experiences of death and dying. Through this research, I will also investigate how families communicated about dying, and in particular how children learnt about death. The testimonies I will study will allow me to analyse how families coped with caring for a dying relative, and to consider their relationships with medical practitioners at these difficult times. Finally, the research will also consider how family memories and histories were used to help alleviate emotional stress associated with relatives dying. This fellowship will enable me to develop my leadership in the field of modern British social and cultural history. As well as allowing me to commence research in a new area and develop a book proposal as a result, the fellowship will open up new opportunities for me to apply for a larger grant in the long term, to investigate dying in comparative perspective, across different parts of Britain, and between different societies across the world, and to pilot new methods of engagement to maximise the impact of this research. In particular, the fellowship will involve development of an exhibition at Abbey House Museum in Leeds; develop new exhibition content and a loan box of handling items with the Thackray Medical Museum; organise a number of events for different audiences, including conferences and 'death cafes'; and work with amateur historians as they investigate their family histories.

This 30 month research project seeks to document, map, contextualize and critically analyse the development of the British antiques trade during the 20th century. The project will assess the cultural geography of the trade in antiques in a British context with a consideration of its international dimensions, especially the relationships to the European and North American markets. The project will document the trade in antiques, investigating a series of research questions related to the evolving business practices of the trade and the exchange and circulation of antiques, placing these practices into social, political and economic contexts and mapping these against the evolving cultural landscape of the consumption of antiques. It will result in a number of discrete, but interrelated academic and public-facing outputs, including an edited volume of essays, a conference and workshops, and a web-based interactive (keyword searchable) virtual map of Britain highlighting the locations of dealerships. Using GPS technology, and based on Google Maps, the interactive map will include consistent 'thumbnail' information and data sets, such as trading dates and biographical information for each firm; images of any significant objects that passed through the firm's hands; and links to any objects in public museum collections (in the UK, Europe and the USA). The website will also allow public participation in the research project through user-generated content, keying into the increasing interests of local histories through local heritage societies and family history groups. At the heart of the project will be discrete historical case study research projects into the history of a number of influential British-based dealerships utilizing previously unexplored archival material. An oral history archive based on interviews with retired and semi-retired members of the British trade will be assembled as part of a broader ethnographic study, concentrating on the more recent history of the trade, and in particular the transformation of the antique trade in the last few years of the 20th century. There has been a significant shift in emphasis in terms of art historical studies in recent years, with an emerging and consistent focus on the mechanisms and practices of the art market, and several major investigations into the history of the art market. But whilst there have been a small number of studies on antiques in terms of the history of collecting, the history of the British antiques trade itself remains a neglected subject. The preliminary mapping of the development of the 19th century antiques trade has already begun to highlight the significance of the development of the trade in the 19th century, but in terms of the 20th century trade there have been only a handful of published journal essays that have directed attention to this subject. Indeed, 'Memoirs of a 20th century dealer', the reflections on the trade in the period c.1940s-c.1980s by the late Roger Warner (2006), and 'Hotspur: Eighty Years of Antique Dealing', a celebration of the firm of Hotspur (2004), remain the only substantive pieces of writing on the subject of the 20th century trade, albeit emanating from the trade itself. This project will therefore direct further attention to the significance of antique dealers as active agents in the markets, highlighting the importance of their socio-economic and cultural practices. It will direct attention to the relationships between the history of the antique trade and the commercial antiques markets and established histories such as the history of 'decorative art', the histories of collecting, and the history of the public museum. It will also provide a new set of data that future studies and investigations can build upon, expanding the possibility of further analysis across a range of disciplines and approaches.

Where do the memories of those who have died live? In their homes? Their gravestone or where their ashes were scattered? In the places they loved to visit, such as a favourite beach or a beloved football ground? In an everyday object, such as the clothes they wore? Or even in something living, like a rose bush they planted in the garden? Using research into the history of death, dying and remembrance in twentieth-century Britain, this project involves the building and tour of an ordinary caravan full of interactive activities and works of art to get people thinking about how and why we remember those who we have lost. A visit to the caravan will involve the chance to read and listen to other people's experiences of remembering those who have died - perhaps someone from the past, or from a different cultural background. And a visit will also involve the chance to tell your own story - by adding to pieces of art in the caravan itself. This might include pinning a place on embroidered map representing somewhere that's special to you, or recording a short audio clip telling us how you remember someone you've lost. That way, the caravan will tell everyone's story of remembering over the decades. The caravan will tour a number of sites in June 2018 and collect the contributions of members of the public along the way. It's free to visit, and there will also be a chance to take part in associated events in some of the venues, such as Leeds and Glasgow. Overall, the aim is to get everyone involved to think a bit about what role remembering our loved ones who have died plays in our everyday life - and perhaps also how we would like to be remembered when we're gone.

For a world in which scientific innovation and historical tradition matter equally, a key resource for understanding both is the academic discipline of history of science and technology. But what of country houses, so often associated with the luxurious but extinct grandeur of Edwardian Britain? What of the upper classes who stereotypically cared more for the grandiose chandelier and silk furnishings than for the circuit-board or test tube? Surprisingly for some, there are deep and fertile connections that bridge the 'Two Cultures' divide between science and high society, in ways that history of science and technology is uniquely placed to mediate. Accordingly this project brings together the resources of social history with histories of technology and design, by drawing on the insights of PI Graeme Gooday's AHRB/AHRC-funded monograph Domesticating Electricity, to harness the role of such venues as key social laboratories in the late Victorian invention of electric lighting. After all it was at Cragside in Northumbria that electricity first lit the British home in 1881, with owner Lord Armstrong supporting the incandescent lighting experiments of his Newcastle friend Joseph Swan. Adopting the new illuminant slightly later, Lotherton Hall in Leeds and Standen in East Grinstead both still have original early electric lighting, marking them as pioneering sites of hi-tech illumination at the turn of the 20th century. Seen in this spirit, these sites offer an under-utilized resource for integrating public experience of social history and physical science for adults and young people alike. The proposed project 'Electrifying the Country House' will work with the houses to develop generic resources to help visitors understand both the science of electric lighting and how these (and other) country houses played a crucial role in bringing that science into the home. At the same time, the special history and circumstances of each house will be cherished with dedicated bespoke resources on electrical lighting history that epitomize what the National Trust highlight as 'The Spirit of Place'. To complement Gooday's expertise, Abigail Harrison-Moore brings a long-standing relationship with Standen, and the work of its designer, Philip Webb, especially in relation to the Arts and Crafts aesthetic of the period, as well as her experience in teaching about the country house. The two have recently co-published on the relationship between electricity and aesthetics, at Standen and elsewhere. Over the course of a year, the project's Postdoctoral researcher will work with the three houses to co-produce the specific kinds of visitor resources that each requires. These will include family packs and Key Stage 2 resources for schools, building upon a small-scale pilot project undertaken at Lotherton Hall with Gooday and University of Leeds colleagues last year. As well as training house staff how to deploy the resources supplied, the project will share activities and progress via Youtube, Twitter and a dedicated blog. Finally there will be a workshop for staff from other UK country houses to share best practice developed at Cragside, Lotherton and Standen, as well as contributing their own ideas on how this shared enterprise can continue after the project is completed. With the broader support of the National Trust to take this scheme forward nationally, and Leeds Museums and Galleries to pursue the project locally, we will facilitate a permanent shift in the overall roles of country houses as educational spaces, enabling them to enhance both the public understanding of science, and to appreciate the social history of country houses far beyond their traditional aesthetic appeal. Moreover, by ensuring that young people are familiar early on with the deep interconnections between science, history and art, the project can counter the tendency for secondary education to see an unproductive gender split into sciences for boys and arts for girls.