REAlab

NEW NARRATIVE GALLERIES

The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) has as its mission the inspiration of all its visitors, including future scientists and inventors, with the story of how ideas can change the world, from the industrial revolution to today and beyond. Theirvision is to be a world-leading, inspirational museum about the potential of science and industry to change our lives. Currently working on a 10-year masterplan, MOSI’s ambition is to develop four major new narrative galleries.  In order to enrich their collections and the stories that they tell, they aim to diversify the content of their galleries so that they better represent their audiences.  They would like to reveal stories relating to people that are currently under-represented in their museum.  For example, this could include the role of women, BAME people, LGBT people and people with disabilities in the history and contemporary practice of science and industry in Manchester.

THE PROJECT

The challenge is to identify opportunities for the museum to broaden its future content to represent Manchester’s diverse, radical and global population:

• Review and report on available literature and archive resources.
• Identify key diverse stories/people that relate to the museum’s core themes.
• Identify possible academic and community partners for future collaboration.

MOSI RESEARCHER TEAM MEMBERS

Catriona McCallion, Ph.D. researcher in Pharmacy. Catriona is working with graphene for biomedical applications, she has strong interests in women in science and science education, in particular the role of education outside of the classroom, and beyond school age.

Natalia Moreira, Ph.D. candidate, School of Materials, Faculty of Engineering. Natalia is developing her research in the involvement of consumers in the development of new sustainable fashion products in the UK market. With a background in fashion and eco-design, she has lived in several countries and uses her cultural and technical expertise to improve SMEs in the country, combining different assets throughout the textile supply chain.

Matthew Stallard, Ph.D. Candidate, American Studies. His Ph.D. project is on economic, social, labour, and gender history in New Orleans in the early nineteenth-century, and the history of global capitalism, work, and slavery. Matthew works with large social and geographic datasets and is interested in the way in which modern technologies can generate new methods of engagement and analysis from both an academic and public history perspective.

Eleanor Ward, Ph.D. Candidate, Centre for New Writing. Her thesis focuses on identity and gender in contemporary poetry about disability. She is a published poet. Her background also includes work for a national children’s charity.