Samuel is an Associate of Demos. His interests include the arts, museums and galleries, and creativity.
Sam's primary interests are culture, the arts and international and intercultural communication. He has also written on Global English and conservation and the material world, the UK Film sector and the role of conversation in the public realm.
Working on the idea of cultural literacy, he has written on the importance of creativity and visual development in young people's education and has spoken in Shanghai on the role of culture in international and intercultural dialogue. In November 2008, his pamphlet It's a Material World drew attention to the importance of caring for the material symbols of the public realm, stimulating debate in the UK and overseas.
He is also a co-author of Cultural Diplomacy and has developed work on the international activity of cultural organisations, the subject of an article 'Diplomacy and Skills for the Cultural Age'. Prior to this, Sam contributed to the Demos collection, Production Values, which features his piece on 'The New Cultural Professionals', and also co-wrote Knowledge and Inspiration, which looked at the contribution of museums, libraries and archives to the cultural and social life of the UK.
In other work, Sam has published pamphlets on young people's creative production and a study into the future the English language and its implications for policy-makers (you can download the podcast here). He has also written a pamphlet about the role of conversation in the modern world. Following on from these research interests, Sam has spoken at various events on culture, conversations and the English language.
Elsewhere, Sam sits on the UK Executive Board of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). He has also worked with the BBC to investigate TV arts audiences, and has three years experience of brand and consumer consultancy. With this experience, he brings an understanding of people as people and how culture might fit into their lives more generally. He has a double first in History from Cambridge and an MA in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art.
The Sage Gateshead is the new home for music, and musical learning in the North East. This report examines its role at the heart of an ecology, investigating how a learning and cultural institution can fit its regional surroundings.
The conference How old do you have to be to be an artist?, was held at Tate Modern on 30 July, 2005. This essay reports on the conference, and argues that the teaching of art in schools is a crucial means of providing children with the creative skills essential in a changing world.
The central role of cultural and creative production in preparing our young people for the world in which they will grow up.
This report argues that people are not talking about public affairs less – the problem is that they are engaging less frequently in the means by which their conversation can become public. We need to reconnect these conversations with the public realm and bring back into discussion the interests that at the moment are so fragmented.
Produced in partnership with The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), this report looks at the changing face of our museums, libraries and archives.
Cultural Diplomacy argues that the huge global reach and potential of Britain’s world class artistic and cultural assets – from Razorlight to the Royal Ballet - should be at the heart of government relationship building abroad.
Around the world, the way that English is used has come to reflect the changing powers of globalisation; it is spoken in different ways, by different people, for different purposes. The UK has developed an unsustainable complacency to its native tongue. Opportunity and influence remain tied to English, but As You Like It argues that native speakers are at risk of being left behind.
What parts of our culture do we value and want to protect? This pamphlet explores the future of heritage conservation, and why to survive it must involve everyone.
As our politics, economy, and society undergo momentous change, we need spaces in which to renegotiate values, to express our beliefs, and to encounter those of others. Demos' new essay collection argues that culture and creativity are the spaces we turn to in these times of uncertainty.
This report looks at deep-rooted organisational change in the creative industries, following the Royal Shakespeare Company's story of organisational turn-around.
Towns, cities and landscapes are haunted by the ghosts of networks past. Disused railways, old routeways and quiet canals remain leftovers from the industry and commerce of yesteryear. This pamphlet argues that the heritage infrastructure of the public realm can play an important part in addressing the challenges of today.
Building on State of Trust Demos publishes Trust in Practice, a practical investigation of how local councils can increase public trust, which shows that relationships are just as crucial as structural reform.
This pamphlet focuses on the current, changing relationship between government and culture and lays out recommendations for policy in the future.
This collection reviews the legacy of Octavia Hill, social reformer and founder of the National Trust.
We've all got a sense that trust in government and public services is declining. But we very seldom step back and ask questions like: what do we mean by trust, how do people form trusting relationships, and how can public service organisations realistically develop more of those relationships?
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Following the recent public diplomacy review, now seems like a good time to revisit what we mean by cultural diplomacy and the ways in which culture helps to deliver Britain’s foreign, developmental, and sustainability objectives. This project asks what this means for cultural institutions and whether they could play a role in fostering public debate and engagement. It also set out a new and practical framework for policy makers and practitioners in the UK and beyond.
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This work examines the implications of current trends in the English Language for policy agendas. Run in association with Cambridge Assessment, and ESOL Examinations at the University of Cambridge, it will identify not only areas in which policy makers will have to change to meet the challenges posed by the emergence of variants of English - Englishes - but also how government and others can work with providers to take advantage of the many opportunites that 'Englishes' present...
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Conversation has long been the cornerstone of our society. New technologies enable us to speak to people anytime, anywhere. However, there is growing concern – both in the UK and elsewhere - that we are talking less than we used to. This work suggests that this is a misconception and that the issue is actually much more complex.
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This research explores what is meant by quality in the field of children and young people's cultural production. It investigates what 'high quality' or 'quality' means to those working within and with Creative Partnerships, namely within the education and cultural sectors.
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This project highlights the evidence for the central importance of museums, libraries and archives to our future. By understanding their role as a public service, delivering public value, it will demonstrate what the sector does in terms of values that are intrinsic, instrumental and institutional, and show what they mean in practice.
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Culture Online has pioneered a project-based approach to bring new audiences to arts and culture using new technology. In this it differs significantly from the portal approach of many cultural websites. Demos is working with Culture Online to place their achievement in a wider context of policy development, and to articulate lessons for practitioners and policymakers.
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We are working with the Royal Shakespeare Company as it embarks on a major programme of change in the way it is led and managed, to mirror the physical transformation of its home in Stratford-upon-Avon.
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One of the most successful sectors of the British economy is the creative and cultural sector - creativity has become increasingly important in other sectors as well. This series of seminars brings together representatives of successful and creative organisations to identify common challenges and examine what lessons there are in how they have each met them.
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This project will investigate how infrastructure contributes to making places resilient and what opportunities infrastructure might provide in the future.
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This collection explores the lasting impact of thinking and action by Octavia Hill, founder of the National Trust.
MoreAn article from Wired suggesting that one of the challenges to cultural diversity lies in the media dominance of the English language.
With new cuts to arts funding, small theatres will be the first to suffer ... but their importance to communities has never been greater.
Under Sarkozy, France is currently debating the merits of free access to museums.
Ensemble, from Wikipedia.
Next season at the RSC, reliant upon an ambitious ensemble.
An update on the Starbucks mentioned in As You Like It ... it's now been replaced by a cafe serving more traditional Chinese fare.
Local government theatre funding is facing severe cuts after councils across the country complained they have received their worst treasury settlement in a decade.
'Nearly 200 arts organisations in England have been told that their funding will end from next April in the biggest and most bloody cull since the Arts Council was set up more than 50 years ago'
Maev Kennedy's article in The Guardian relating the threat of closure faced by the world-renowned Textile Conservation Centre
Sam Jones thinks politics is running to catch up with our cultural preferences.
18/08/09 Samuel Jones considers Chicago's drastic cost-cutting measures...
6/07/09 Today, we launch a new collection of essays, Expressive Lives, at the...
Public Art is in the media eye at the moment. There’s Channel Four’s...
Time has been called on the South Bank Show. This moment gives us pause for thought. ITV...
This morning, I attended an interesting session at the RSA run by Demos Associates Indy...
Next month, the British Museum will open its new exhibition Shah Abbas: The Remaking of...
In his video for It's a Material World, Tom looked at street art and interviewed one...
A couple of years back, Peter Bradwell wrote a blog about emotion maps. They're...
We've just launched our latest pamphlet - It's a Material World.It deals with the...
James Surowiecki - he of the Wisdom of Crowds - has an article in this week's New Yorker...
This article in the New Statesman points out the rich range of cultural influences that...
In the work we're doing with Camberwell College of Art, we're looking at a series...
Last week, I spoke at the Edinburgh International of Politics at an event which asked...
We're currently doing some work on heritage conservation and the importance of caring...
Earlier this week, we held the second of our two seminars on The Cultural Age.It focused...
Last week, I spoke at the launch of Peckham Space, a project run by Camberwell College of...
Last week, I spoke at a summit on Conservation Education convened by the Textile Conservation...
A couple of months ago, I wrote a review of Provoking Democracy, a book about the role of...
Last week, we hosted the first of our Cultural Age Seminars. It addressed education...
I've just written a review of Caroline Levine's book, Provoking Democracy: Why we...
Simon Jenkins wrote an article in Good Friday's Guardian in which he made the case that...
Conservation tends only to figure in the media, and hence the public imagination, when individual...
In the wake of recent events involving the British Council's offices at Yekaterinburg...
Literature, the arts and cultural production are one of the most crucial means by which...
Kwame Kwei-Armah's Statement of Regret, currently playing at the National Theatre, is...
The new extension to Coventry's Belgrade Theatre was opened in September of this year...
More than half the population have a library card and the number of visits to public libraries...
Just a brief post to draw attention to this article in the Guardian.Apparently, the English...
We were very sorry to hear of the passing away of Anita Roddick earlier this week. ...
Today sees the opening of the First Emperor exhibition at the British Museum. As the...
In the latest Pixar film, Ratatouille, a rat called Remy discovers in the process of his...
One of the themes of Cultural Diplomacy is the shift of focus in how nations and groups...
This article in the Jamaica Gleaner makes some interesting points about the relationship...
There's a fascinating article in the Guardian today about Fish and Chips. It charts...
Last month, I spoke at a conference at Fudan University in Shanghai. The paper I gave...
Tomorrow, we're launching our new pamphlet, Making Good Work with Estelle Morris. ...
This strikes me as well worth seeing.
Last year, we published Talk Us Into It, which examined the role of conversation in the...
An article on Newsnight the other day discussed the role of art as providing a space for...
On 26th and 27th June, I'll be at a conference on Museums and International Collaboration...
Coming face to face with a tiger on Shaftesbury avenue might not be everybody's idea...
Despite years years of priority action relatively few women are achieving key positions...
I spoke at a debate for Resonance Fm at the Pumphouse Gallery last night.Here's a text...
David Sillito has written a piece on the BBC's website in which he looks at Blair'...
The Tanzanian Parliament has recently debated the idea of English or Kiswahili as the medium...
There's an article on CCTV (China Central Television) about children in Shanghai learning...
Sir John Tusa, Director of the Barbican Centre has written a piece in today's Times...
We’re currently developing some work around the idea of cultural literacy. Both Cultural...
As You Like It has been reviewed by Salon.com. You can read the review here.It begins...
Jamie has just pointed me in the direction of an article in Newsweek that chimes with As...
In Cultural Diplomacy, we talk about the defining characteristics of a new era in which...
Cultural Diplomacy was debated in the House of Lords yesterday, there's a full transcript...
Last year’s Demos report A Perfect Storm? predicted that there would be widespread...
Today, we launched Cultural Diplomacy at the V&A Museum in South Kensington. ...
'We have nothing against the Brits or the American ... But we simply cannot accept that...
“This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in...
Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote of the 'strange unsociability and reserved and taciturn...
On the back of last week's Dearing report into language learning in schools, the UK...
I've been meaning to blog this for a little while. A couple of weekends ago, I...
I recently came across a quote that has real relevance to the work we are doing here. ...
This is a really interesting article by Pratap Bhanu Mehta about the dynamics of politics...
One of the most commonly heard criticisms of Tate Modern is the paucity of its collection...
Following on from Charlie's comment below, I think that his story connects pretty strongly...
Our recent publication, Talk Us Into It, has been covered today in the Times.The pamphlet...
A recent article in the Chinese paper, the People's Daily, demonstrates just how global...
There's an interesting article in Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper today. Mrs...
Following our trip to the US for the Cultural Diplomacy project, it's interesting to...
One of the key themes of Talk us into it is the idea of deep conversation. Quite often...
In her book, The Language Police, Diane Ravitch focuses on the content and diversity that...
After yesterday's launch of Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy, debate has...
The Guardian's Charlotte Higgins has written an article on John's new pamphlet Cultural...
Sadly, a fire has destroyed some of Britain's most loved cultural products. The fire...
The DCMS have recently launched a consultation document, asking 'what property should...
A value way beyond painting the numbersAugust 3, 2005Economics aside, the arts have huge...
So Giotto drew on rocks�Children�s Art, Creativity, and Everyday DemocracyIn...