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Mara Oliva

Mara Oliva portrait
  • 100
  • Associate Professor in Modern US History & Digital Humanities Academic Champion

Digital Humanities Community of Practice Lead

Module Convenor: US Foreign Policy and the Environment: from Nixon to Obama

                                         The American Century

                                         The US and the Cold War

                                         The US and China in the Historical Context, 1882-1989

Areas of interest

I am a political historian and a digital humanist. I work at the intersection of history and digital technologies. My research focuses on twentieth-century US history, particularly the US presidency, Soft Power, Climate Change Diplomacy, the Environment, New York and Urban Heritage. I am also the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø’s Digital Humanities . In my role, I promote an understanding of Digital Humanities as a discipline within the University, and the integration of cultures and principles from Digital Humanities into wider research practice. I lead the Community of Practice and provide mentoring and subject-specific advice for digital research projects

Postgraduate supervision

I am supervising PhD research on:

  • Aid, Oil and Human Rights: Re-evaluating U.S.-Guatemalan Relations, 1981-1986 (Richard Bolzano)
  • The Relationship between the United States and the Italian right-wing during the Nixon Administration (David Cardillo)
  • The San Francisco Ballet Company and the Cold War (Martha Hayakawa)
  • Representations of Race and Gender at the World’s Fairs and Expositions, 1983-1916 (Doug Stoke)

 

Previous PhD Supervision:

  • Spies, Civil Liberties, and the Senate: The 1975 Church Committee (Dr Dafydd Townley, funded GTA studentship 2015-2018)
  • Cultural diplomacy and the Anglo-American 'Special Relationship' in the Middle East (Dr Darius Wainwright, 2016-2019)

Teaching

 

Research centres and groups

Background

 

Academic qualifications

2012, PhD in United States Studies (pass, no corrections), Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, UK.

Awards and honours

External Funding

  • 2023, British Library Eccles Centre for American Studies Fellowship.
  • 2023, British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Follow-up Grant: Co-I for Project: Researching the felt and lived experiences of in/security: a methodological exchange.
  • 2021, British Academy, Co-I for Project: Researching the felt and lived experiences of in/security: a methodological exchange.
  • 2021, British Academy, Co-I for Project: The Vulnerability Studies Network.
  • 2020, British Academy UK-Canada Knowledge Transfer grant. Project: US Environmental Security.
  • 2020, British Association of American Studies/US Embassy Small Grants. Project: Women and BAME Women in US Foreign Policy.
  • 2020, AHRC/UKRI Engaging with Government Programme 2020.
  • 2020, Institute for Economic and Social Research and Policy, Columbia University, New York City, Digital History Fellowship.
  • 2017, British Association of American Studies Research Grant.
  • 2014, Scouloudi Historical Award, Institute of Historical Research.
  • 2014, European Association for American Studies Small Research Grant.
  • 2010, Fulbright Award.
  • 2009, Royal Historical Society Individual Research Grant.

Research Awards

  • 2020, Society of Historians of US Foreign Policy Global Scholar award for paper: “A Public Diplomacy Failure: Eisenhower and the US press in China”
  • 2019, ECR Research Output Prize (second prize) for Heritage & Creativity Research Division, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø, for monograph: Eisenhower and American Public Opinion on China (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018)
  • 2017, UROP Supervisor of the Year Award, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø
  • 2017, UROP Project Award for Heritage & Creativity Research Division, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø (student: Beth Snyder)

Teaching Awards

  • 2021, Winner of the RUSU Excellence Award, Academic Tutor, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
  • 2019, Nominated for the RUSU Teaching Excellence Award, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
  • 2018, Nominated for the RUSU Teaching Excellence Award, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
  • 2017, Nominated for the RUSU Teaching Excellence Award, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
  • 2015, Nominated for the RUSU Personal Tutor Award, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
  • 2015, Winner of the RUSU Research-led Teaching Award, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.

Professional bodies/affiliations

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Peer Review Editor: 

Associate Editor: 

Book Proposal and Manuscript Reviewer for 

Book Proposal and Manuscript Reviewer for 

Websites/blogs

Twitter: @maraolivaPhD

Impact and public engagement

 Appearances on BBC Radio 4, BBC5Live, BBC Radio Ulster, TRT

Articles for , , and

Contribution to 2021, House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Committee, report.

Publications

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