Going Deeper than ‘Emotional Impact’: Heritage, Academic Collaboration and Affective Engagements

Abstract

Organisations such as the National Trust have recently looked to academia to assist them in the telling of their properties’ stories and contexts. Academia has similarly turned to heritage organisations and sites for audiences they can engage in their variously funded projects, and to fulfil the requirements of the REF (Research Excellence Framework) when it comes to research dissemination. However, the benefits of academic and heritage collaboration go much deeper than these initial mutual attractions. Collaboration can change the nature of audience engagement through affect theory and affective interpretation. This can cause a re-envisioning of what emotional engagement with a historic site means and highlight the affective potential of heritage visits. This article shows, through case studies, arguments taken from the disciplines of history and heritage studies, and personal experience, how using affective interpretation can convey more complex research in longer-lasting and more meaningful ways when academia and heritage work together.