Aimee Walsh

My research examines the intersections, interactions and interstices in which republican feminism(s) existed and developed. The primary focus for this project is examining testimonies and political writing of gender and the nation between 1975 – 1986. This era is chosen as during this time republican prison protest was rife, and as such, fractures between the feminist and republican movements were opened. While it has been argued that there is a disjuncture between feminism and nationalism, I argue for a new consideration of feminist nationalism(s) in the north. I use the plural nationalism(s) as a way of encapsulating the variant iterations of nationalist feminism, from militant republicanism in Armagh Gaol to a passive non-violent literary nationalist feminism. My PhD project uses testimony and voicing of experience as a tool of disruption and resistance against the exclusion from masculinised dominant historical narratives. I draw parallels in literature, print and history between nationalism and feminism, and in drawing these comparisons I argue that women voicing their own history through these mediums act as a remedy to dominant patriarchal narratives which silence women. This examination of the interaction between nationalism and gender shows how women’s writing offers a paradigm shift in nationalist history as seen through a feminist lens.

I have teaching experience both at university and high-school levels in which I marked, moderated and planned lessons for both of these age groups. I have been awarded HEA Associate Fellowship status.

Beyond academia, I have experience with conducting interviews through my time as a staff journalist for a regional daily newspaper. I have received accreditation for my journalist skills from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).

Degrees

Queens University Belfast, United Kingdom, MA in Literary Studies
Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, BA in English Literature

Certifications

National Council for the Training of Journalists, Diploma in Journalism
Higher Education Academy, Associate Fellowship