Research Spotlight: Dr Anna Maguire

What is your role and what does it involve?

I have been Lecturer in Public History at UCL since May 2022. I co-lead the MA Public History, based at the UCL East campus, where our students learn the theory and concepts of doing history with and for the public and gain practical skills and experience in making history for different communities and audiences. I’m also a modern British historian and teach undergraduate modules on migration back at Bloomsbury. 

What do you find most interesting or enjoyable about your work?

For me, leading the MA Public History is a bit of a dream role; I started out working between academic and public history and heritage roles since the start of my PhD so to be able to combine the two has been fantastic. Watching students create and produce really innovative and exciting ways to communicate history to the past is definitely one of my favourite elements. Being able to continue my own public history practice, which is co-productive and participatory,  often working with artists, is one of the best parts of my job. I’ve also loved getting involved with community history projects in and around UCL East and getting to meet our neighbours.

Tell us about your research

My research could be broadly characterised by the question, ‘What happens when people move?’. In the past, that has meant writing about the experiences of colonial troops in the First World War when they were mobilised on behalf of the British Empire, especially in spaces beyond the battlefield. My current work is preoccupied with the idea of sanctuary for refugees in twentieth century Britain, positioning it as a set of processes rather than a space to get access to, to understand how activists, charities and refugees themselves were involved in processes of resettlement. I’m currently teaching with this research to our third-year undergraduates and it’s been really exciting to see their responses to the material.

What led you to pursue a research career in this field?

My family background is one of migration and we also moved quite a lot when I was a kid, from Glasgow to Liverpool to Coleraine in the North of Ireland, and it gave me a real desire to understand the experiences of migration and the structures that shape them. On the public history front, I have a background in performing arts so I feel very at home in getting stuck in to make something with different groups!

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

Last summer, I worked with Creating Ground, a migrant women’s organisation based in Greenwich, South East London. Using materials from my research – archival documents, photographs, campaign materials – and the women’s own experience of migration, we worked together to think about what we could learn from previous generations of campaigners and activists over a series of workshops. This led to a pop-up exhibition at the National Maritime Museum during Refugee Week. I was so proud of what we were able to achieve together.

What's next on the research horizon for you?

My next book! Tentatively titled Making Sanctuary in Twentieth-Century Britain, I’ll be bringing together both my historical research and my public history practice to explore the various processes – solidarity, hospitality, friendship – through which sanctuary has been made.

Can you share some interesting work that you read about recently?

A museum visit, rather than something I’ve read, but I really enjoyed visiting the recently re-opened Museum of the Home in East London. In their rooms through time, they offer fascinating examples of telling stories of home in London through the lens of migration, race, gender, class and politics.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I studied Irish for my A levels and used to spend summers in the Gaeltacht in Donegal speaking the language full time!

Links

• Dr Anna Maguire awarded the Outstanding Community-Engaged Learning Award
• Find out more about the Public History MA  
• Dr Anna Maguire's academic profile
• UCL History

Image Credit

James Tye

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