Engaging communities with co-creating histories that challenge the binary or hegemonic narratives often associated with divided societies.

In deeply-divided societies, history can be seen as part of the problem, something that is used or represented in public space to perpetuate and deepen division or to reinforce a particular view of the past that validates some perspectives and marginalises others.

In regions such as Northern Ireland, where historical narratives are deeply contested and therefore history is often avoided, engaging public audiences in a shared and meaningful exploration of their own past and that of others can be a particular challenge. This is particularly the case in areas of social and economic deprivation where the legacies of the conflict continue to run deep, yet the benefits of engaging in collaborative history to tell our stories and amplify marginalised voices are most needed.

Researchers associated with the Centre for Public History at Queen’s University are interested in how the past is communicated to and understood by public audiences, particularly in contexts where histories are contested, traumatic or used to reinforce division. Our research examines the potential of engaged public history in such contexts to disrupt reductive or hegemonic narratives, amplify voices that are often overlooked, build social cohesion and enhance wellbeing.  

Professor Purdue’s research focuses on the impact of engaged public history in divided or conflict-affected societies. Working in partnership with a range of local and national museums and communities in Northern Ireland, Jordan and the US she is exploring ways to engage different types of audiences in the exploration and co-production of their own pasts and those of others, and to assess the impact of such engagement on the individuals and communities involved. 

Drs Hulme and Casey’s AHRC-funded Queer Northern Ireland project has uncovered and highlighted forgotten histories of LGBTQ life in Northern Ireland, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Through histories of this marginalised community, the project has sought – through public lectures, radio interviews and workshops – to provide audiences with a greater sense of the diversity of the Northern Irish past. 

Professor O'Connell has examined the cultural and social legacies of deindustrialisation and urban redevelopment, the contested history of joyriding (or death driving as some preferred to label it) and, more recently, the history of mother and baby homes, Magdalene laundries and Workhouses in Northern Ireland. 

"Public history has a hugely important part to play in today’s society, and particularly so in societies where the past continues to resonate in divisive and painful ways.

Engaging with the public in developing a richer, more nuanced, understanding of such pasts, and communicating these pasts to public audiences, is challenging. But it is also vitally important."

- Professor Olwen Purdue

We have discovered that engaging different communities in the exploration of their own histories allows us to tell a story of Northern Ireland that goes beyond the binary identities of Catholic and Protestant that have dominated popular understandings for so long. Professor Purdue, having seen the benefits of engaging local and refugee communities in southern Jordan in telling and sharing their stories, is now working with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland on an collaborative oral history project developing an archive that will tell a shared history of everyday life on either side of Belfast’s notorious peace walls. 

By bringing together people from different communities and across generations to explore and share their histories, this project seeks to examine the potential of co-produced public history to build social cohesion and build a stronger sense of community.

Drs Tom Hulme and Maurice Casey, working with collaborators at Ulster University, are now developing exciting partnerships with artists and community groups that will share the histories of queer identity in Northern Ireland more broadly. 

Professor O’Connell’s research on Magdalene laundries and mother and baby homes was commissioned by the Department of Health and the report co-authored by O'Connell that emerged from it, in turn, has led to the creation of a Truth Recovery Independent Panel (with O'Connell as co-chair) which is continuing this research to prepare evidence for a Public Inquiry which will examine these institutions.

Such collaborative public engagement ensures that that more nuanced historical narratives are jointly told both by us, the academics who research this history, and by those who shaped it and live with its contemporary legacies.

Impact related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Learn more about Queen’s University’s commitment to nurturing a culture of sustainability and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through research and education.