Our work with our Collections
Community collaborations
Over the years, we've been increasing access to our Collections through community collaborations. Community partnerships not only broaden the range of audiences accessing our Collections, they also offer new interpretations and contexts for items used in the projects. This contribution of knowledge and expertise from community representatives greatly benefits all users of the Collections.
Collaborative research on the Collections
For the last decade, supported by the AHRC, the Society has hosted PhD students working collaboratively on the Collections. Some of the research projects focused on the themes around inclusitivity and race, and other understudied aspects of the Collections.
Family History, Place and Diaspora
Locating family, community and national geographies. Research by Chandan Mahal
Terra incognita
Women on Royal Geographical Society-supported Expeditions, 1913-1970. Research by Sarah L. Evans
Hidden histories
Local knowledge & indigenous agency in the history of exploration : Studies from the RGS-IBG collections. Research by Lowri Jones
Public lectures
Some of our talks focus on critical engagement with our Collections and/or collections assembled as part of colonial projects in general.
In March 2021, we invited Professor Paul Basu to give a talk on how these type of archives and collections can play a role in repairing past injustices and building more positive relationships in the present.
One of our Be Inspired talks was delivered by Dr Kate Simpson and her work on the Society's Collections. She presented alternate narratives of exploration through which African women in the expeditions of David Livingstone can be restored, and to reinscribe their role within the historical archival record.