Public History in Practice
For Helena, public history brings rigorous research into direct relationship with people, place and cultural memory. Her work moves between archives and manuscripts, archaeological and material evidence, field research, oral and community knowledge, heritage interpretation, public lectures and digital storytelling.
The aim is to make rigorous historical research accessible without making it less rigorous — and to create forms of interpretation through which communities and wider audiences can encounter the past as something connected to living places.
Primary sources · archives · material culture · fieldwork · archaeology · comparative research
Historical reconstruction · narrative development · heritage interpretation · cultural memory · multilingual research
Exhibitions · talks · heritage events · digital resources · documentary · education · community participation
The public-facing outcome may change; the evidential foundation does not.
Case Study · Waterford · Public History in Practice
Growing from Helena's MA research in Public History & Cultural Heritage, the inaugural Waterford Templar Historical Day, co-founded with Brendan M. Rohan and OSMTH Ireland, translated historical research into a public programme of remembrance, archaeology, interpretation, medieval re-enactment, a mounted procession, community participation and an afternoon conference. Rather than reproducing the full event here, it serves as a case study in how archival and field research can become a shared cultural experience rooted in place.
The Munster Express · 21 October 2025
Explore the full Waterford Templar Historical Day →International Scholarship · Arad, Romania · 24 April 2026
Helena was invited as a keynote speaker at the international conference St Martin, Precursor of the Christian Knightly Orders in Arad. Her paper, The Sacred Feminine in the Knights Templar, Suppressed by Christianity and Scholarship, brought her research on religion, spirituality, gender and Templar symbolism into an international scholarly and cultural setting.
International Conference · Arad · 24 April 2026
Invited Keynote Speaker
Religion · Sacred Feminine · Templar Spirituality
Primary Sources · Historiography · Material Evidence
International Keynote Address
The conference also formed part of Helena's wider research into Hungary and Transylvania as an often-overlooked frontier within Templar studies, connecting documentary history, Marian traditions, sacred landscape and the meeting point between Eastern and Western Europe.
Conference Abstract · Keynote Speaker
Official keynote abstract · Helena B. Scott · Arad · 24 April 2026
From the Keynote · Selected Slides
Three moments from Helena's Arad presentation trace the movement from the keynote's central research question to manuscript evidence and Bernard of Clairvaux's In Praise of the New Knighthood.
Watch Helena's Keynote Presentation
Research on the Road · Budapest · Hungary · Transylvania
The journey to Arad became part of the research itself. Travelling through Budapest and onward towards Transylvania opened connected enquiries into medieval Hungary, Marian kingship, sacred landscape, healing traditions and the knightly orders — strands that continued beyond the conference into Helena's Research Journal.
Museums · Heritage Bodies · Universities · Cultural Organisations · Documentary
Helena works with organisations that want rigorous research to become meaningful public experience — whether through a historic site, an object, an exhibition, a lecture, a film, a digital resource or a programme rooted in place.
Sites, objects, sacred landscapes and cultural memory.
Archival research, historical interpretation, specialist writing and narrative development.
Lectures, masterclasses, conferences, heritage events and educational programming.
Research-led digital resources, exhibitions, interpretive experiences and public-history projects.
Research Beyond the Page · Public History · Museums · Interpretation
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