Context: My PhD addresses the locus of 'power' as the British administrative and information state grew rapidly in the first half of Britain's 'Imperial Century', between 1825 and 1855. The historiographical literature (Porter, 1999; Searle, 2004, Hyam, 2010) is replete with leadership figureheads, 'systems', and the development of a Civil Service. Yet in terms of the extension of State knowledge and reach we know next to nothing about how power was claimed, distributed, controlled and wielded at lower levels of the nascent State apparatus. Higg's magisterial 2001 analysis of the rise of the British information state acknowledged the need to study these lower levels of government to uncover the 'real' seat of power. None has been forthcoming. My project will fill this gap through the medium of the British Empire's domestic colonial administration. I focus on the Colonial Office (disbanded 1966) as opposed to other, perhaps more easily accessible and widely known, departments because although popular and academic discourse around the Empire and the nature of Colonial administration has grown rapidly, very little attention has been given to the importance of the administration of empire in shaping and formalising the power structures at the lower levels of the domestic Civil Service. We know much more about information and people flows and Colonial administrators in situ than we do about the importance of Empire for the domestic information state project. Key Questions: With which key individuals and officeholders did power reside? 7 / 22 What relationship existed between these individuals? How, individually and collectively, did they seek to defend, accrue and use political and administrative power? What is the legacy of this process and experience for modern British government institutions? Method: My project focuses on individual administrators at lower levels of government. It uses (see offsite activities) letters by Colonial administrators to colleagues, superiors, and subordinates, private journals, personal letters, government acts and gazettes, sessional papers, and confidential memoranda to reconstruct their individual and collective understandings of and relationships with political and administrative power. The work will adopt Higg's 2001 three strand definition of 'power' (assumed, devolved, discretionary) and transcribed data will be coded to identify linguistic patterns in relation to this definition. I will use NVivo to analyse the whole corpus and supplement this broad analysis with detailed case studies of individuals, particular time periods and particular events that emerge as waymarkers in the extension of the information state. Impact: There is a concerted attempt to decolonise the past and (more widely) to explore groups and individuals whose stories have been either ignored or suppressed. While it may seem that my project focuses on 'traditional' themes of politics and governance, this is not the case. In analysing the rise of the lower Civil Service I will both make a contribution to the literatures on governance and Colonialism but also uncover the stories of those outside the political elite who have risen to become a part of it from often humble beginnings, including a significant number of white and non-white immigrants by the 1850s.

The main research question this project seeks to answer is: to what extent does the treatment and representation of Levantine groups in Latin legal texts challenge modern interpretations of segregation, hostility, and exploitation in the Latin East? This new analysis of cross-cultural relationships between the Latins and their Levantine subjects is intended to challenge misconceptions of the medieval past and their impact on cross-cultural conflict in the Levant today. Latin Christians founded four polities in the Levant during and after the First Crusade (1095-1099). Nineteenth century European historians, influenced by contemporary colonial attitudes, presented the Latins' relationships with their heterogeneous Levantine subjects as mutually beneficial (Rey, 1866; Madelin, 1918). Conversely, mid-twentieth century historians, drawing parallels with contemporary Israeli/Palestinian conflicts, presented them as oppressive, exploitative and marred by 'apartheid' (Smail, 1956; Prawer, 1980). Such perceptions of the medieval past are influential in popular Israeli, Palestinian and Arab thought today, leading to conflict, as recently occurred at the Al-Asqa Mosque; likewise Western extremist groups misappropriate Crusades history to promote nationalism, white supremacy and Islamophobia (MacDonald, 2023; Esteve-Del Val, 2022; Roche, 2021). Orientalism and Colonialism, combined with ongoing regional conflict, have therefore encouraged a proliferation of powerful, 7 / 24 simplified interpretations of historical cross-cultural relationships which drive further conflict (Young, 2021; Ellenblum, 1998). Given continued tensions, a deeper understanding of the origins of cross-cultural relationships between Western settlers and existing Levantine populations, drawn from novel sources and methodologies, is required to complement contemporary work seeking to challenge those misrepresenting the past. This interdisciplinary study reappraises medieval cross-cultural relationships through an analysis of the treatment and representation of Levantine populations in the Latin East's large surviving corpus of legal texts. Levantine populations were generally ignored or vilified in traditional Western and elite-focussed Crusades chronicles, yet legal texts regulating everyday interactions with Levantine groups have been neglected (Jotischky, 2009; Mayer, 1978). Their study, using innovative approaches to legal history (Critical Legal History and Comparative Legal History) offers a contextualised view of cross-cultural relationships which challenges broad-brush interpretations of previous studies (Ibbetson, 2013; Sugarman, 2018). This project commenced part-time at NTU in January 2021. A case-study article inspired an invited paper at the Irish Research Council's New Approaches Conference (2022) and resulted in a publication in Nottingham Medieval Studies (2023). Further papers have been presented at the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (SSCLE) conference (2021); Northern Network for the Study of the Crusades (NNSC) workshop (2022); and NTU's Law, Human Rights and Religion Flashpoints Conference, 2022. Chapter 1 will be presented at Leeds International Medieval Congress, 2023. Positive feedback suggests this project has already inspired other scholars' utilisation of novel sources and interdisciplinary methodologies. Findings will be of interest to Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith groups and those with cultural heritage connected to the Levant. Preliminary findings have been published for wider audiences through NTU's Centre for the Study of Religion and Conflict (CSRC)'s blog, and Twitter. Further impact will be achieved by developing learning resources, hosting archive exhibitions, podcasts, and workshops.

This research focuses on the marginal or uncontainable space occupied by the early modern stage and how this effected and responded to conventional power structures. In doing so, it will consider seemingly peripheral and minor figures such as fairies, fools, rogues, bawds, actors, witches, ghosts, and magicians, and the manner in which these liminal figures were given authority on the stage. This thesis discusses the case for radical power politics within early modern theatre in the way it gives voice to marginalised figures. Subversive elements of early modern theatre have been the focus of extensive research since the 1980s and the emergence of cultural materialist and new historicist ideas of power. Dollimore, Sinfield, Montrose, and Laroque are just some of the scholars who have contributed to the body of work on the performative elements of transgressive theatre and the theoretical debate surrounding containment and subversion of power from political and ideological perspectives. However, there is surprisingly little attention given to the voice of the liminal character and the potential of these marginal figures to play with the parameters and balances of power. Up until now there have been studies that have approached certain marginal characters either taxonomically or discursively. The purpose of this study will be to fill the gap in current research by addressing these marginal figures in the context of their effect on the balance of power maintained within their texts. This study will expand on the complexity of narrative perspectives inherent in plays and present a 'multivocal' and 'interactive' reading of power structures (Williams, 1994). What will make this research both new and important is that it will offer an interpretation of authority and influence in the exploitation of political, cultural, and ideological forces that considers the interaction of place, performance, and critically, character stocks, that until now have only been addressed cursively and individually. So too will it impact the area of debate surrounding containment and subversion - notably, the argument that a place within a hierarchy of power, even one on the edge has the potential to upset, destabilise, and challenge the social order. Much of the work that has been produced on the liminality of the stage has been directly in relation to Shakespeare's plays. Whilst some of these plays will be considered there is the need for a work that is not a single-author entity. Hence, my study will encompass works contemporaneous to, and including Shakespeare. Jonson, Greene, Middleton, Beaumont, and Marlowe each utilized the unique space of the stage, and the stock of liminal characters within their works. Their inclusion will produce a holistic vision of power play on the stage. Particular attention will be paid to the inversions and dichotomies of authority a contemporary audience would witness, as well as the different readings and production potentialities they enabled.

In the UK, more than 2,500 people a year die from high-grade gliomas each year, rising to more than 190,000 people globally. The most aggressive of these have only a 12-15 month survival rate, with the tumours invariably recurring after treatment. The resurgence of the tumours is both unpredictable and highly irregular therefore the current 3-6 month MRI scans are often picking up this regrowth too late. The EDUCATE study (Early Detection of recUrrence of CAncers of the brain using lateral flow Tests) seeks to use the science behind work undertaken throughout the pandemic by the team, to develop a lateral flow test which can detect this tumour recurrence at the very early stages and thereby give patients the very best chance at treatment through far earlier intervention. We will do this through the 3 main arms of the EDUCATE study. Firstly, advanced lateral flow test (LFT) development will take place to detect these very early warning signs of recurring gliomas. We will use a range of the most recent technologies to find the smallest amounts of statistically significant biomarkers which can predict this tumour recurrence and offer patients a weekly testing opportunity. These LFTs will then be used as part of our blinded EDUCATE feasibility trial on patients at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust to assess the cross-validation and implementation of this technology in a real-world and clinical setting. Finally, with the data gathered throughout the first two phases of the EDUCATE study, we will be in position to combine our understanding of these predictive biomarkers into a model which can also supplement current MRI scanning. This will add advanced information to the images seen by the clinicians and link that to our metabolic, genomic and transcriptomic data obtained in phases 1 and 2. The EDUCATE study will offer the first opportunity for at-home recurrence testing, dramatically increasing the early detection prospects for brain tumour recurrence with state-of-the-art lateral flow testing, and opening up further opportunities to widen this as a platform technology for cancers of unmet need more widely.

Key research questions 1. How do local communities and individuals understand post-industrial/mining environments and how does this relate to the physical form of the landscape? 2. What narratives about landscapes are passed across generations and socio-economic/cultural boundaries, how does this occur, and what influence do they have? 3. Where are there overlaps/disconnects between knowledge and memories preserved in communities and the landscape itself, and how might these be blended and harnessed to positively impact communities? Specifically, the research topic is the interrelation of cultural and natural (post)industrial landscapes on the Isle of Portland. The research will examine the way cultural and social memories are linked to the landscape and the way the landscape preserves "memories" of its natural evolution and human influence in its topography. The Isle of Portland (Dorset) offers rich insight into a long history of mining and quarrying and is thus an ideal case study for examining the interrelation of human activity and natural landscapes. A mixed methodological approach, spanning several scientific disciplines, will be applied to ensure an extensive analysis of community and individual understandings of post-industrial and mining environments and future imaginaries of life in these landscapes. Archival research, oral history interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and GIS techniques for mapping the topography of significant sites on Portland will be employed in conjunction. The research project aims to develop scalable theoretical and methodological approaches to similar post-industrial landscapes and their communities, to examine the ecological, economic, social and cultural values of such spaces and how these can be extracted and turned into positive impacts for the communities inhabiting them.