Director of Research Development collaborates with TED-Ed on new animation

Norwich University’s Director of Research Development, Professor Alison Goodrum, collaborated with the team at TED-Ed to create a new animated short film exploring remarkable hats throughout history.

Alison is a dress historian, practising milliner and expert on the history of hats. She was approached by TED-Ed to help shape the animation, which is designed for school-aged children.

Alison worked with the US-based production team over the last 18 months, writing the film’s script and developing accompanying learning materials. This included discussion topics, quizzes and essay questions.

Animated by Abby Ouellette, the film and resources are now available to classrooms around the world via TED-Ed’s website and YouTube channel, which has more than 22 million subscribers.

Speaking about the project, Alison said:

“From beginning to end, the Hat History project has been a fun assignment and I’m delighted to see it come to fruition. The production team at TED-Ed has been exceptional and Abby Ouellette’s wonderful animation brings the project to life.”

“As well as entertaining and informing, my hope is that the film may ignite a spark in the next generation of historians, highlighting the importance of material culture in understanding the world around us.”

TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative, producing educational content for a global network of more than 650,000 teachers and their students globally.