ICCHS is a nationally and internationally important centre for interdisciplinary research and consultancy into museum, heritage and gallery studies. Its staff members are renowned experts who have published widely on a uniquely diverse range of research interests and have undertaken important consultancy and engagement projects. Information about doing a research degree in ICCHS is available in the Research Programmes section.
The Centre's key research themes are:
We engage extensively with organisations in the museum, gallery and heritage sector who are frequently research partners and/or users of ICCHS research. This includes:
The Centre's work on the history and theory of museums and galleries and on community museums and ecomuseums has established a world-wide network of individuals, museums and other organisations working in these areas. We have strong links with the World Archaeological Congress, providing unparalleled access to a wide range of individuals and organisations working on diverse cultural issues such as repatriation, restitution and heritage management throughout the world. A few of the projects that we have successfully undertaken during the last few years include the Sense of Place project for the International Centre for the Uplands, an evaluation of education programme for older people for Channel 5, and the development of an Heritage Action Plan for Northumberland for the Northumberland Strategic Partnership.
The Centre’s staff convene the British Sociological Society’s Museums and Society Study Group and the Museums and Galleries History Group, and organises a number of conferences and one-day seminars. ICCHS staff have also developed a Continuing Professional Development Programme on Heritage Interpretation for the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in Rome.