Conflict in Cities is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council of Great Britain (grant number: RES-060-25-0015)
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Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge
1-5 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge CB2 1PX, UK
Annie Kane-Horrigan
Educational Background and Experience:
Attended Wesleyan University with a major in Modern European History but after a study abroad year at University College Cork in the Republic of Ireland, suspended US studies in order to complete education within the European system instead. Eventually earned a BA in International Political Studies from University of Ulster at Magee in Northern Ireland.
MA in International Media Studies at the University of Ulster at Coleraine in 2005 and another MA in Irish Studies (within School of History and Anthropology) at Queen’s University Belfast in 2010.
Currently in first year of PhD research within the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast. She is an affiliated graduate student of the Conflict in Cities project.
Many years’ experience in the work force in New York City. Experience as a freelance writer and editor, a baker, and also as a programme co-ordinator and manager at several non-profit cultural exchange organisations that work to bring international youth to the US.
Working Title of Thesis:
An Ethnography of the Lisburn Road
Abstract/Main Argument/Field of Enquiry:
This research starts with the vague premise that South Belfast has, at least partially, managed to bury some of the city’s long-standing divisions based on the traditional Protestant-Catholic divide. This is, to a certain extent, an illusion buoyed up by a degree of economic prosperity and superficial cosmopolitanism. Borders and boundaries remain, although they are more slippery and undefined than in other parts of the city. The continual addition of newcomers to the area creates a dynamic that doesn’t allow divisions to ossify in quite the fashion they might if the neighbourhood had a completely settled population. However, there are long-term residents and strong divisions that are palpable to some and invisible to others.
This research will look at newcomers and how their presence can be both an indication of a conflict city’s transformation into a ‘post-conflict’ one, and a tool to be utilized in that transformation. Working from the notion that ‘the city’ is never experienced in its entirety, but only in fragments as viewed/framed/experienced by individuals, this work will involve collecting life stories from a variety of sources who share a geographic proximity but come from very different backgrounds. Churches, community centres and annual commemoration events will be examined as sources of fixity within a fluid urban environment that seems poised to leave a conflict-tinged past behind.
Contact email address: akanehorrigan01@qub.ac.uk
PhD Students:
Anita Bakshi
Architecture, University of Cambridge (Nicosia)
Giulia Carabelli
Sociology, Queens University Belfast (Mostar)
Monika Halkort
Sociology, Queens University Belfast (Nahr al-Bard refugee camp, Tripoli, Lebanon)
Konstantin Kastrissianakis
Architecture, University of Cambridge (Beirut)
Karl O'Connor
Politics, University of Exeter (Brussels, Nicosia and Beirut)
Linda Rootamm
Sociology, Queens University Belfast (Berlin)
Kelsey Shanks
Politics, University of Exeter (Kirkuk)
Affiliated Graduates
Gruia Badescu
Architecture, University of Cambridge
Brendan Browne
Sociology, Queens University Belfast (Ramallah/Belfast
Andrew Hoolachan
Architecture, University of Cambridge (London
Irit Katz Feigis
Architecture, University of Cambridge
Annie Kane-Horrigan
Sociology, Queens University Belfast (Belfast)