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Archives of Religion and Belief in Contemporary Britain: Sustainability, Inclusion, Digital Transformation and Community Memory
This project examines how the landscape of religious archives across the UK has changed and identifies strategic interventions needed to safeguard collections.
This PhD project will examine how the landscape of religious archives across the UK has changed since the 2010 Religious Archives Survey. This was a partnership between The National Archives, Archives and Records Association and the Religious Archives Group. It will also identify the strategic interventions needed to safeguard, diversify and sustain these collections in a rapidly changing social and digital environment.
Using the 2010 survey as a benchmark, the student will undertake a comprehensive reassessment of the sector through a mixed-methods approach. This will include national surveys, interviews, case studies, policy analysis, network mapping and community-based participatory research. The student will investigate how archives documenting religion and belief are currently created, managed, preserved and accessed. For this, they will generate the first substantial evidence base on the condition of religious archives in more than fifteen years.
The research will explore key issues of sustainability and resilience, including:
- Which archives are most vulnerable to loss
- what stewardship models best support long-term preservation
- how collaboration between faith-based, local authority, and university archives can be strengthened
For more information about this project, please get in touch with The National Archives’ project team: Liz Harper.