Email: M.Beard@brighton.ac.uk

I am a Techne funded PhD student working on a collaborative project which involves the critical exploration of the strategies and practices devised by the Dúchas Oral History Archive, situated in West Belfast, to acknowledge and deal with a conflicted history of the Troubles.

Broadly speaking, I am interested in the theories, histories and debates related to the practice of community oral history in post-conflict contexts with a specific focus on their perceived contribution to local processes of conflict transformation. I am also specifically interested in the interpretation of community archives in such situations, drawing upon oral history and cultural memory studies to inform critical discussions about their ‘re-use’.

Collaborations

I have been affiliated with  Falls Community Council for several years, where the archive is housed. In the academic year of 2022/2023, I hope to encourage an exchange of ideas with other PGRs working on Northern Ireland and beyond by attending various events (2022)

I will also be presenting at Queen University in the HAPP series in October (2022)

Publications

• Belfast – archiving all the voices of the Troubles’. The Conversation. 2022
• ‘Listening to sound archives in Northern Ireland’. UCL Press (2022)
• ‘Rethinking Oral History: a Study of Narrative Performance’ Rethinking History Journal: (2017)