Dr Natasha Danilova

Biography

Dr Natasha Danilova joined the University of Aberdeen in 2014. She gained a PhD in Politics from the University of Nottingham. Dr Danilova specialises in interdisciplinary research, particularly in the fields of Critical Military Studies, Feminist IR, Art/Visuality in Global Politics and Political Sociology. Through her academic career, Dr Danilova lectured on political theory, gender and politics, feminist international relations, research methods in social sciences, the global politics of memory, International Security and political/security developments in Russia and  across post-Soviet Eurasia. 

In 2016, Dr Danilova completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and achieved the status of Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK.

Research Overview

My current research interests are situated in the interdisciplinary fields of Critical Military Studies, Gender Politics and Feminist International Relations, Art/Visuality in Global Politics. In particular, I study issues relating gender and war, memory politics, art/aesthetics/visuality in engaging with the topics of war and peace, educational practices of teaching war, militarism and militarisation in Western and non-Western contexts. 

Current Research

In April of 2022, I restarted my new research project, 'Military and Arts Collaborations in the Era of the Global War on Terror: Comparison of the US and the UK', funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities in Scotland (April 2022-April 2023). As part of this project, I conduct auto-ethnography of military-themed theatre, interview artists and cultural industry professionals, and meet with military representatives involved in the organisation of cultural events. To develop this project in a new direction, I also study cultural projects and memorial projects focused on promoting peace and the value of non-violence. I work on this project with Marianne Fossaluzza, a PhD Candidate in Visual Culture (University of Aberdeen) as a Project Research Assistant.   

With Dr Jenny Mathers (University of Aberystwyth), I work on the analysis of women-led activism in Russia in the context of war in Ukraine, focusing on soldiers' mothers, military families and women-led anti-war resistance. This work has received support from the School of Social Science of the University of Aberdeen (Dec 2022-April 2023).  

I have continued working on a series of joint publications resulted from my research project, 'War Commemoration, Military Culture and Identity Politics in Scotland' funded by the Carnegie-Trust for the Universities in Scotland (Jan 2017-Jan 2018), and two rounds of follow-up fieldwork in 2018-19 supported by the School of Social Science of the University of Aberdeen, with Dr Emma Dolan (University of Limerick) and Dr Kandida Purnell (Richmond University, London), who initially worked as Project Research Assistants and now as co-authors. See updates: https://twitter.com/scot_war 

Past Research

Previously, I was a Co-investigator on AHRC-funded 'Hero Project', 2015-16 (AH/M006271/1), which explored the role of a popular hero in modern Britain. Working with Abbie Garrington (University of Newcastle, principal investigator) and Berny Sebe (University of Birmingham, co-investigator), I studied the generational and gender differences in the selection of popular heroes and co-authored a paper on this topic with Dr Ekaterina Kolpinskaya (University of Exeter). 

My doctoral research looked at the political discourses of war commemoration in the UK and Russia. In particular, it examined the deployment of war meaning-making practices centred on British and Russian military fatalities of modern conflicts from the 1980s to 2000s through the analysis of media coverage, physical and virtual memorials, and commemorative ceremonies. The findings of this research outlined in my book, The Politics of War Commemoration in the UK and Russia (Palgrave, 2016). 

Knowledge Exchange

Research Talk: 'Lady Haig, Scottish remembrance and support of Scottish disabled veterans', Local Heritage Group, in cooperation with the Stonehaven library and Live Life Aberdeenshire, https://www.abdn.ac.uk/socsci/events/18042/ (3 November 2022)

Warrior-Nation podcast with Forces Watch, @ForcesWatch with Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper @adamec87 and myself @Dr_Danilova, relating contemporary debates around memory/statues and how to move from feeling 'a wee bit uncomfortable' about British colonial history to critical engagement with colonial injustices, https://www.forceswatch.net/resources/warrior-nation-podcast-war-memory-statues-with-adam-elliot-cooper-and-natasha-danilova/  (3 June 2021)  

Collaborations

With Dr Emma Dolan (University of Limerick) and Dr Kandida Purnell (Richmond University London), I am a lead author in the co-authored book project, The (Un)Making of the Brave: Gender and Race in the Cultural Politics of Militarisation in Scotland. This book  interrogates  a variety of war meaning-making practices favoured by artists, cultural industry professionals and military organisers of cultural events (2001-onwards). This projects draws on over five years of research of military museums, state-funded war commemorations, art/theatrical productions, and war-themed educational projects across Scotland. 

With Dr Jenny Mathers (University of Aberystwyth), we collaborate on the study of gender dynamics in Russia's response to war in Ukraine (focusing on soldiers' mothers, military families and women-led anti-war resistance) 

With Dr Ekaterina Kolpinskaya (University of Exeter), gender/race (in)equalities and popular heroes in Britain

With Dr Marianna Poberezhskaya (Nottingham Trent University): I collaborated on the analysis of climate change coverage in Kazakhstan. 

Funding and Grants

PI on the research project, 'Military and Arts Collaborations in the Era of the Global War on Terror', April 2022-30 April 2023, supported by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. 

Principal Investigator on the research project, 'War Commemoration, Military Culture and Identity Politics in Scotland, funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (RG13890/70560), 2017-18 

Co-investigator on the AHRC-funded 'Hero Project' (AH/M006271/1), 2015-16

Post-Doctoral Bursary in the Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Nottingham, 2012-2013

Overseas Research Scholarship for a PhD programme, University of Nottingham, 2008-2011

Teaching Responsibilities

Please see a list of courses indicated above 

Additionally, I have taught the Hons option course, The Politics of Post-Soviet Eurasia (previously titled as Soviet Successor States in Global Politics) 

Areas of potential UG supervision: I would be keen to supervise dissertations relating to various aspects of gender politics and Feminist international relations, war and memory, art/aesthetics/visuality and war (inc. museums, memorials, theatre and any other cultural forms), identity politics and the imageries of emerging political and security threats in Russia and across Eurasian states.   

Areas of potential PhD supervision: I mostly work within the fields of critical military studies and Feminist International Relations, and Art/Visuality in IR. I will be happy to supervise any topics relating to gender and war, politics of war memory and commemoration; art/aesthetics/visuality and conflict (inc. museums, memorials, theatre as arenas of global politics); militarisation and militarism; identity politics in Britain/Scotland, regional politics and (in)securities in Russia and other Eurasian states.