Dr Briony Widdis (QUB) ‘“The finest war canoe in Europe”: John Casement, displacement and ethnographic histories in Belfast’

Briony Widdis is an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of HAPP, QUB, leading the project 'Museums, Empire and Northern Irish Identity'. The project is being delivered in partnership with National Museums NI, the Irish Museums Association, the Northern Ireland Museums Council and the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates at the University of Maynooth. Its focus is on the legacies of empire and colonialism in Northern Ireland, and the role of museums in these debates. It seeks to use public anthropology and social history to explore how contemporary identities connect with colonial collections. Her interdisciplinary approach engages with both academic and museum research, including collaborating with living communities, and with historical perspectives represented within collections and archives.

Briony completed her PhD at Ulster University in 2020 on the subject 'Colonial Objects in Northern Ireland'. She is editor of Musuems Ireland, and previously she was Assistant Director at the NI Museums Council and a Heritage Officer and Acting Culture and Arts Manager for Belfast City Council.

(Image courtesy of National Museums NI)

This seminar will be hybrid, both in-person in 27 University Square 01/003 and online via MS Teams.

Please register via Eventbrite