Most of our cultural heritage is a\nproduct of family inheritance. The letters, diaries, and account books that\nfill archives, the artworks displayed on gallery walls, and the objects curated\nin museums often exist only because a family thought them an important\ninheritance that should be maintained and ultimately placed in our national\ninstitutions. Yet, why people hold onto particular objects or intangible\ninheritances, like stories, while discarding others, and the reasons why they\nchoose to relegate something to an attic, or retrieve it again, are topics that\nscholars are only beginning to grapple with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This research network draws on new methodologies from the history and sociology of emotions to investigate how and why family inheritances from a range of social, racial, and ethnic groups maintain their cultural power as they move across generations and from the private to the public spheres. This AHRC-funded network is led by Professor Joanne Begiato, Oxford Brookes University, and Associate Professor Katie Barclay, University of Adelaide, and supported by a steering committee. It builds upon and extends an ARC Centre of Excellence in the History of Emotions research cluster on \u2018emotions and family<\/a>\u2019. We are supported by the Local & Family History Centre, Leeds Central Library<\/a>, and the State Library of South Australia<\/a>. For more information about who is involved, please see Meet the Team<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n