Dr Natasha Danilova

Biography

I joined the University of Aberdeen in 2014. I hold a PhD in Politics from the University of Nottingham (2012) and a Candidate of Sociology (kandidat nauk) (2003) from Saratov State University with the European University in St Petersburg. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK (2016). 

I specialise in Critical Military Studies, Feminist International Relations, Memory Politics, Art/Visuality in Global Politics, and Russian and Eurasian politics.

Before Aberdeen, I worked at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus), University of Nottingham (inc. campuses in the UK and in Malaysia), and the National Research University Higher School of Economics (St Petersburg). 

Throughout my academic career, I lectured on gender and politics, feminist IR, research methods in social sciences, political theory, international security, and comparative welfare regimes, and delivered analyses of political and societal developments in Russia and across Eurasia. 

Prizes and Awards

AUSA: Shortlisted for Best UG Supervisor (2019)

University of Exeter (Cornwall) Student Association: Shortlisted for Best Lecturer  (2014)

Post-doctoral award from the Centre for Academic Development, University of Nottingham (2012-2013)

University of Nottingham (UK): Overseas Research PhD Scholarship (2008-2011)

Rector’s List for Outstanding Academic Achievements, National Research University, Higher School of Economics (St Petersburg Campus, Russia) (2007, 2008)

Research Overview

My research interests lie in Critical Military Studies, Feminist International Relations, Memory Politics, Society-Military Relations, and Militarism and Militarisation. In particular, I study issues relating to gender and war, memory politics, heroes and heroism, and militarism and militarisation in democratic (e.g., Britain and the US) and non-Western contexts (e.g., Russian and Eurasian politics). 

Current Research

I am currently working on a co-authored manuscript with Dr Emma Dolan (University of Limerick) on the cultural politics of militarisation in Britain (under contract with Edinburgh University Press; Advanced Critical Military Studies Series) (2026-2027). 

With Dr Jenny Mathers (University of Aberystwyth) and Dr Katerina Krulisova (Nottingham Trent University), I have been collaborating on the role of military families in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Dr Mathers and I have published a full-length paper in Cooperation & Conflict (2025), and three short analytical pieces in The Conversation (2023), Open Democracy (2023) and The Conversation focused on military wives' protest (2024).  

Past Research

Between 2017 and 2023, I was a PI on two Research Incentive Grants from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. My first research grant, War Commemoration, Military Culture and Identity Politics in Scotland, explored the roles of military museums (see here), state-funded commemoration panels (see here), and remembrance education (see here). In my second project, Military and Arts Collaborations in the Era of the Global War on Terror: Comparison of the US and the UK, I explored the role of the British Army in utilising performative arts to advance inclusive soldiering (see here) and manage society-military relations. I am a lead author in a co-authored book with E. Dolan (University of Limerick) Gender and Race in the Cultural Politics of Militarisation (contracted with Edinburgh University Press, Advances in Critical Military Studies Series for 2026-2027). 

Previously, I was a Co-I on the AHRC-funded 'Hero Project', 2015-16 (AH/M006271/1), which explored a popular hero image-making in Britain; led by Dr Abbie Garrington (Durham/Newcastle), Professor Berny Sebe (University of Birmingham, Co-I), and the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland. Building on this project and using comparative survey-based data in the UK and the US, I studied generational, gender and racial differences in the selection of popular heroes and co-authored two full-length research papers with Dr Ekaterina Kolpinskaya (University of Exeter) (see here (2020) and here (2024)). 

My doctoral research and later a book, The Politics of War Commemoration in the UK and Russia (Palgrave, 2015), compares the political discourses in the UK and Russia centred on British and Russian military fatalities between the 1980s and the 2000s, using media coverage, physical/virtual war memorials, and ceremonies. 

Knowledge Exchange

Public Engagement Talks: Women in Scottish Remembrance at the University of 3Age (Banchory), and Forgotten Heroines: Lady Haig, The Scottish Poppy and Supporting Disabled Veterans, Aberdeen Art Gallery (2024). 

Media work, 'Why are women and people of colour overlooked as heroes?' (2024)

Public Engagement Talk: 'Lady Haig, Scottish remembrance and support of Scottish disabled veterans', 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), I am a lead author in the co-authored book project, Gender and Race in the Cultural Politics of Militarisation in Britain (contracted with Edinburgh University Press, 2026-2027). 

With Dr Jenny Mathers (University of Aberystwyth), I collaborate on the study of gender dynamics in Russia's response to war in Ukraine, focusing on military families.  

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

Funding and Grants

Aleksanteri Institute Visiting Research Fellowship, 'Gendered Responses to Russo-Ukrainian War', University of Helsinki, 2023 (€6,800) 

A pilot project, 'Where Russia's Soldiers' Mothers' Now? The Gendered Responses to Russo-Ukrainian War', supported by the School of Social Science and the University of Aberdeen Development Fund, with Dr Mathers (Aberystwyth), 2023 (in total £3,450)

PI on the research project, 'Military and Arts Collaborations in the Era of the Global War on Terror', supported by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, 2022-2023 (£13,509) 

The Scottish Warrior Public Engagement grant with the Gordon Highlanders Museum, Nov 2017 (£500)

Principal Investigator on the project, 'War Commemoration, Military Culture and Identity Politics in Scotland, funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (RG13890/70560), 2017-18 (£7,226) 

Co-investigator on the AHRC-funded ECR Care for the Future Programme, 'The Hero Project' (AH/M006271/1), with Dr Garrington/PI (Durham) and Professor Sebe/Co-I (Birmingham), 2015-16 (£4,225 UoA share; a total value of grant £50,000)

Post-Doctoral Bursary from the Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Nottingham, 2012-2013 (£10,000)

Overseas Research Scholarship for a 3-year PhD programme, University of Nottingham, 2008-2011

Between 2002 and 2007, my research and publication work was supported by a range of international funders, including The Kennan Institute of the Woodraw Wilson International Centre for Scholars (2003-2005), The Ford Foundation (2005), Penal Reform International (2004), The EU Tempus TACIS programme (2006-2007) and the publication grant relating to civil-military relations in the EU and Russia (a monograph, Armed Forces and Society: The Principles of Interaction (Norma, 2007)), The Henrich Bell Foundation (Germany; 2002; 2006), and The Academy of Finland Research Mobility grants (2003; 2005).         

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 heroes, and politics and security of Russia and across Eurasian states.   

Areas of potential PhD supervision: I primarily work in critical military studies, feminist international relations, society-military 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.