Jennifer Thorburn

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Giving back to the community and communicating research in ways that are accessible to non-academics are important aspects of my work.

To further develop my skills, I recently participated in Research in Translation, an AHRC-funded programme for Early Career Researchers who are interested in disseminating their work to the public via museum displays and exhibitions. The main output of this workshop was an exhibition where each participant created a display showcasing her research. The exhibition was on display at the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester until February 2016. (Images of the participants' amazing work by following @Res_Translation on Twitter.)

My display was about the Múin Béarla project, showcasing the similarities in experiences between 18th and 19th century Irish emigrants and the growing migrant population of present-day Northern Ireland. Here are some pictures of my display as we were putting it up:

Near Omagh, Northern Ireland

In collaboration with my Múin Béarla project colleagues at Newcastle University, I also contributed to the design of a touring exhibition with the same basic concept that is touring through libraries in Northern Ireland. The exhibition launched on 04 June 2015 at the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies and circulated through LibrariesNI and the Linen Hall Library through October 2015. You can learn more about the exhibition and see examples of some of these migrants' stories by visiting the exhibition website.

The exhibition also included objects that these present-day migrants had brought with them from home (graciously loaned by families from Dungannon, NI) and objects that we thought Irish emigrants might take with them.