Refugees in post-1945 Europe: Experiences in and beyond the DP camp

Project summary

AHRC Follow-On Project Grant, 2011-2012, with ongoing public engagement and impact activities.

Drawing on the findings of two earlier AHRC-funded projects on East European population displacement, this aimed (a) to create accessible educational and public resources for the study of refugee and migrant histories; (b) to promote wider public awareness of contemporary issues relating to displacement, migration and asylum, and (c) to transform perceptions of the refugee experience in the past and present. 

Our means of public engagement included a multi-site exhibition and an educational resource pack, which we developed in collaboration with teachers and students from the Greater Manchester and Nottingham regions, and launched at a Nottingham teachers' workshop in November 2012. Our project partner was the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust, and collaborators included the Society of Friends, Imperial War Museum, British Film Institute, and Nottingham City Museums and Galleries. 

The exhibition has since been displayed at the launch of the Centre for Advanced Studies (link opens in new window), University of Nottingham, October 2012; the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel, February 2013; Highfield House, University of Nottingham, May-June 2013; New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 16-23 June 2014, to mark Refugee Week; at the UK HQ of Kresy-Siberia, an international organisation dedicated to examining and promoting the history of the Polish diaspora, Manchester, October 2014; and at Friends House in Amersham, June 2015, and Friends House in Chesham, September 2015).

The project has also generated new collaborations. We have advised and supported 'Kresy-Siberia' (see above) in developing an online exhibition on post-1945 Polish migrations. I am currently also working with Ukrainian community historians to produce an educational resource and documentary film based on oral history interviews.