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Highlighted Cultural Understanding case studies

The following are just a few examples of the cross-disciplinary work that Grand Challenges Cultural Understanding has supported and facilitated -Ìýhighlighting the impact the work has had in the world.

For more details of the impacts of other work funded by this Grand Challenge, view all ourÌýCultural Understanding projects.

Brexit Survey


Amid the turmoil of Brexit, Grand Challenge Cultural UnderstandingÌýsupported researchers from across UCL to undertakeÌýa survey asking over 5,000 representative UK voters to rank four Brexit outcomes in order of preference.

The survey (with fieldworkÌýconducted by YouGov) was carried out in March 2019 by Professor Christina Pagel (UCL Mathematics) and data analyst Christabel Cooper in collaboration with Dr Uta Staiger of the UCL European Institute.

The work looked at how Brexit attitudes have changed since the referendum in 2016, particularly among those who are struggling with their own finances. The research attracted significant media coverage with articles inÌý,Ìý, andÌý(full details of coverageÌýhere).

In addition,ÌýOwen Smith, Labour MP forÌýPontypridd, cited the survey's findings inÌý.Ìý

&²µ³Ù;ÌýUCL Research Cited in Call for Second Brexit Vote

UK voter survey

UCL Bi-Lingo


Kick-started by a Grand Challenge Cultural Understanding small grant, UCL BiLingo is a UCL-based Bilingualism/Multilingualism Education and Information Service that provides the community and key agencies with up-to-date research-based advice, information, support and training on childhood bilingualism/multilingualism and learning English as an Additional Language.

The project built collaborations between disciplines, undertaken public engagement work with parents and teachers setting up parents’ networks with schools, local authorities and speech and language therapists, and has led to the to examine the effects of early childhood bilingualism on the brain function and brain structure.

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Forced Marriage Research Leads to New Teaching for UCL Medical Students


Funding from the Grand Challenge of Cultural Understanding helped UCL health researchers hold a workshop on forced marriage.

The workshop set the scene andÌýexplored some of the key questions about forced marriage in regards to culture and honour, the law and police, education and health services.

Thanks to work started by the workshop, as part of the core curriculum UCL medical students now receive lecturesÌýon gender-based violence and training to recognise the signs of forced marriage, asÌý.

Seminars have also been set up, with the aim ofÌýraising awareness of forced marriage and encouraging dialogue on this difficult and misunderstood practice.Ìý

&²µ³Ù;ÌýForced marriage research leads to new teaching for UCL medical students

Dynamics of Globalisation


Globalisation has long presented both challenges and opportunities to societies, communities and economies around the world with the increased flow of peoples across national boundaries, the free movement of capital, and the exponential growth of global communication technologies.Ìý

Grand Challenge Cultural Understanding's Dynamics of Globalisation initiative supported sevenÌýprojects aimed at facilitatingÌýcross-disciplinary discussion and scholarship to shed light on how the processes of globalisation interact, and on how we may improve our ability to live with difference in meaningful and sustainable ways.

> Read details of the impact the funded projects have had

Gained in Translation


Through a series of five events, Professor StephenÌýHart, UCL Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies, expanded horizons in current thinking about translations. The series - organised with the Cervantes Institute and Poet in the City - included a focus on the mechanics of translation and an examination of how ideas are translated across cultures.

The events and subsequent discussions led to a first translation into English of a contemporary Peruvian novel,Ìý;Ìýthe creation of two films about two French poets, Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud: a documentary (No. 8 New College Street) and a drama,Ìý; andÌýselected papers of the "Gained in Translation" conference were selectedÌýin a book accepted for publication by Cambridge Scholars.

Following the project,ÌýProfessor Hart was awardedÌýaÌý, worth £97,155, from October 2015 -ÌýSeptember 2017.

    Lancet Commission on Culture and Health


    TheÌýLancet Commission on Culture and HealthÌýbrought together researchers from around the world to publish influential research on the important role of less well-studied health determinants, such as culture, play and the provisioning of equitable healthcare. It was led by UCL researchers brought together through UCL Grand Challenges.Ìý

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    > Read more on the partnership betweenÌýUCL and the Lancet