Dr Ceri Jones
Research Associate
+44 (0) 116 252 3757
As a Research Associate for the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG), I have worked in collaboration with colleagues on a number of research projects exploring the social role and impact of museums, galleries and a range of cultural organisations including libraries, archives and botanic gardens.
I joined the School of Museum Studies in September 2002 as a Research Assistant to support the piloting of the Generic Learning Outcomes as part of MLA’s Inspiring Learning for All initiative. Since then my confidence and skills as a researcher have grown enormously and I take an active role in many different aspects of the research process from fieldwork and data collection using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, to data analysis and interpretation, and the writing-up and dissemination of research publications. I enjoy working as part of a research team and the way in which RCMG’s work encompasses a range of critical themes for the 21st century, including:
- The social role and impact of museums, galleries, and other cultural organisations including botanic gardens
- The museum’s potential to engage with contemporary social issues, in particular, through collections, exhibitions and displays
- Learning and education, processes and outcomes
- Representation and access
- Museum communication and visitors’ interpretive strategies.
My own research interests include the impact of museums and historic sites on visitors - on their learning and the ways in which they make meaning about the world - and, more specifically, the role that museums and historic sites can play in the development of historical consciousness (or historical understanding) of children and adults. I recently completed my doctoral research, which explored the impact that living history at museums and historic sites can have on young people's historical consciousness.
I am currently Books Review editor for the independent peer reviewed on-line journal museum & society.
Prior to joining the School of Museum Studies, I worked as an enabler at Magna Science Adventure Centre near Sheffield, and as a volunteer for the Friends of the General Cemetery in Sheffield, a unique heritage site.
