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Samuel Jones

Telephone: 020 7367 6344
Email: samuel.jones@demos.co.uk

Samuel is a researcher at Demos. His interests include the arts, museums and galleries and creativity.

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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.

Hitting the Right Note

Authors: John Holden, Perri 6, Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2005-09-23
Publication Type: Pamphlet

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.

How old do you have to be to be an artist?

Authors: Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2005-10-30
Publication Type: Pamphlet

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.

So Giotto Drew On Rocks...

Authors: Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2005-06-30

The central role of cultural and creative production in preparing our young people for the world in which they will grow up.

Talk Us Into It

Authors: Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2006-09-14
Publication Type: Pamphlet

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.

Knowledge and Inspiration: the democratic face of culture

Authors: John Holden, Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2006-09-25
Publication Type: Report

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

Authors: John Holden, Rachel Briggs, Samuel Jones, Kirsten Bound
Publication Date: 2007-02-28
Publication Type: Pamphlet

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.

As You Like It

Authors: Samuel Jones, Peter Bradwell
Publication Date: 2007-03-15
Publication Type: Pamphlet

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.

Making Good Work

Authors: Samuel Jones, Shelagh Wright
Publication Date: 2007-06-15
Publication Type: Pamphlet

Building Cultural Literacy

Authors: Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2007-07-17
Publication Type: Speech

It's A Material World

Authors: Samuel Jones
Publication Date: 2008-11-28
Publication Type: Pamphlet

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.

Trust and local government

Jonathan Birdwell, Samuel Jones, Faizal Farook

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?

Cultural Diplomacy

John Holden, Rachel Briggs, Samuel Jones, Kirsten Bound

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.

As You Like It

Samuel Jones, Peter Bradwell, Kirsten Bound

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...

Talk us into it

Samuel Jones

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.

Making Good Work

Samuel Jones, Shelagh Wright

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.

Knowledge and Inspiration

John Holden, Samuel Jones

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.

Culture Online

John Holden, Samuel Jones

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.

RSC Ensemble Working

John Holden, Robert Hewison, Samuel Jones

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.

Common Currency

John Holden, Samuel Jones, Shelagh Wright

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.

Resilient Places

Samuel Jones

This project will investigate how infrastructure contributes to making places resilient and what opportunities infrastructure might provide in the future.

Samuel

Demos Staff overview

Samuel Jones