Professor Olwen Purdue, Director of the Centre for Public History at Queen’s, will begin her term as President in January 2026. 

Professor Purdue is an internationally recognised public historian who works closely with cultural organisations and communities at local and global levels. Her research focuses on the social and urban history of modern Ireland and on difficult public histories, particularly in divided or post-conflict contexts. 

Professor Purdue was Historical Advisor to Titanic Belfast, member of the Irish Museums Association’s Board of Directors, and sits on the Ulster Museum’s Academic Advisory Board. She is collaborating with colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution and US Holocaust Memorial Museum in projects involving difficult and contested pasts, led a project in Jordan to engage marginalised communities in sharing their stories, and is currently developing a community-based project in west Belfast to explore and communicate the history of everyday life through exhibitions, digital outputs and an oral history archive. 

Speaking about her election, Professor Purdue said:  

“I am honoured to have been elected to the leadership of such a dynamic organisation and look forward to working with its Steering Committee and members to grow and expand the vital work it is doing in supporting public historians globally over the next few years.” 

The Federation for Public History is an Internal Commission of the International Committee of Historical Sciences (CISH/ICHS), a global professional association that promotes and supports research, teaching and practice in the field of public history. 

It facilitates comparative and cross-cultural research on how history is practiced and communicated to the public through a biennial international conference, regular online workshops, an online peer-reviewed journal International Public History, published by De Gruyter, and its blog and news platforms. 

Professor Purdue’s term as President will run from 2026-2029.  

For more information, please visit: https://ifph.hypotheses.org/  

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk